How to make it as an archaeologist
CNN
This dates to December 2006, and has been posted in this blog before, but for newer visitors here it is again just for fun, thanks to David Petersen.
Following news that archaeologists in Rome have discovered a sarcophagus containing what they believe to be the mortal remains of St. Paul the Apostle, we offer a few tips on how to get in on the world of excavation. Forget the bull whip
It might have got Indiana Jones out of a scrape or two, but then Indiana Jones has little if anything to do with real archaeology. Excavators these days are far more likely to be armed with a theodolite and laptop than a whip and pistol, so if you are working on the assumption that archaeology = glamour you're going to be sorely disappointed. Mind you, if you find yourself digging somewhere hot then an Indiana Jones Fedora might come in useful.
See the above page for more useful tips. Back in the 1980s I spent many hours, days, weeks and montys digging Roman sites in the south of England and Palaeolithic caves in Wales and Cumbria. I was either baking like a sacrificial offering, or freezing cold and soaking wet. At all times I seemed to be covered from head to foot in dirt of all sorts of unsavoury varieties. The message that archaeology is far from glamourous is a good one!! :-)
Box Office Prophets
A review of The Mummy films, with a brief look at the upcoming third movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor:
With regards to the changes from The Mummy Returns to The Mummy 3, there are some big alterations. Rachel Weisz, fresh off of winning an Academy Award, declined an invitation to return to the role of Evie. Another actress with indie cred, Maria Bello, will replace her in portraying the same role. As mentioned previously, Alex is no longer a kid, so Luke Ford of The Black Balloon has been cast in the role of him as an adult. The Mummy franchise once again takes a play out of the Indiana Jones playbook with this move, accidentally making Brendan Fraser the decrepit Sean Connery in this scenario. Jonathan, Evy’s brother, is also expected back though it’s not yet announced if actor John Hannah will reprise the role. Oded Fehr has stated that his character, Ardeth Bay, will not return, though that’s probably fluid.
Reviving Nefertiti - The musical
Metromix
The first "King Tut" exhibit spawned headlines and long lines, so a musical about this unusual queen and her pharaoh, Akhenaten, seemed a natural. But, like so many stage musicals, "Nefertiti" stumbled. The Tribune dubbed the 1977 premiere at the old Blackstone Theatre here "one quarter top-notch old-fashioned musical comedy and the rest noble failure."
That's despite impressive pedigree. The book for the musical was written by Christopher Gore, who went on to earn an Oscar nomination for writing "Fame" -- a rare hit movie musical in its day.
But, like the mummies of horror legend, "Nefertiti" won't die. Three decades later, she's about to get a revamped, revised reincarnation, courtesy of Deeply Rooted Productions and its artistic director Kevin Iega Jeff -- one of the more tantalizing undertakings of the fall dance season.
CPAK 2007
Business Wire
History is history, right? Not so, according to the researchers, scientists and history theorists that will be gathering at the University of San Diego in La Jolla California next month.
The 4th annual "Conference on Precession and Ancient Knowledge" (CPAK 2007), sponsored by the Binary Research Institute, is likely the largest meeting of alternative historians" in the world and one that is sure to raise questions about our past. Many of the authors, researchers and scientists scheduled to present hold unusual theories about history . . . .
Other presenters this year include Dr. Robert Schoch, the Boston University Geologist famed for re-dating the Sphinx (much older than heretofore believed), Graham Hancock, Explorer and best selling author of Fingerprints of the Gods, and other books suggesting our ancient ancestors were more intelligent than most anthropologists infer, Robert Bauval, engineer and author of The Orion Mystery, and Emmy Award winning rebel Egyptologist John Anthony West, who suspects ancient Egypt might have its roots in an earlier culture - possibly Atlantis.
Harrods Department Store Hires Security Snake
Egypt Daily Star
I confess. Bar the most tenuous of all links (that Harrods owner Fayed is Egyptian and that this appeared on an Egyptian website) this has nothing at all to do with Egyptology, Egypt, archaeology, geology or any of the other threads by which I hang my usual tenuous positngs. It did, however, make me giggle rather a lot, so here it is:
The notorious London department store went to great lengths to protect a luxury shoe collection — with the help of a live Egyptian cobra.
The slippery security guard was on duty for Monday's launch of exclusive footwear including a $120,000 pair of ruby, sapphire and diamond-encrusted Rene Caovilla sandals. Whether hiring a poisonous snake is, strictly speaking, the most effective means of guarding haute couture shoes might be a moot point with security experts. But it makes for an effective photo opportunity. A spokeswoman for Harrods admitted that the cobra had been hired strictly for Monday's launch.
Incorporating Egypt into Aida
The Kansas City Star (Paul Horsley)
When it comes to researching a stage production he’s about to design and direct, nobody outdoes Thaddeus Strassberger. The 31-year-old Oklahoma native is responsible for the Lyric Opera’s “Aida,” which opens this weekend.
First, Strassberger meticulously examined ancient Egypt in books and images. But he needed more. So he booked a ticket to Cairo and crossed the Atlantic to see the
place for himself. It was a sort of mini love affair with a land at once timeless and modern, he said. “It’s the warmest hospitality I’ve ever felt anywhere in the world,” said Strassberger, who lives in New York but is proud of being a member of the Cherokee nation. “It’s like a feeling of timelessness and inevitability. It’s very chaotic in the city itself, but there’s a lot of stasis in the midst of all this chaos. There’s all this traffic swirling around you, and there’s a huge military presence, but then there are these people who appear to be part of the architecture almost, they’re like fixtures. “There’s a laziness to the heat, but at the same time they’re all tightly sprung. Everyone is prepared to spring into action.” Strassberger has tried to re-create some this tension for “Aida” through minimalist designs and explosive, dynamic human conflicts.
See the above pages for more.
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