Saturday Trivia

A new non-alcoholic wellness drink being launched in the UK is putting the sparkle into ancient Egyptian recipes.

Pharaoh’s Wellness Drinks are non-alcoholic, bottled drinks in five refreshing adult flavours: carob, hibiscus, tamarind, peppermint and liquorice.

Their launch comes as interest in all things Egyptian is set to soar with the opening of the “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibition in London this week (15 November) in the UK for the first time since 1972.

Pharaoh’s make a pleasing alternative to the usual non-alcoholic alternatives, and as the Christmas season approaches, are ideal for drivers.

Their inspiration comes from the ancient Egyptians, who three thousand years ago used the fruits, leaves and roots of the carob, hibiscus, tamarind, peppermint and liquorice plants to prepare medicinal recipes.

So some of the poseurs on America’s Next Top Model got weaves last night. It hurt. A lot. “I just felt like my scalp was bleeding,” said Ebony. Girlfriend, women have been crying over weaves for 5,000 years.

That’s the age of the weave (pictured, above) found in an ancient tomb by archaeologist Renee Friedman, director of the Hierakonpolis Expedition. The hair extensions were woven to the mummy’s real hair were … also her real hair. She must have grown it, cut it off, then had it woven back on for a little hairdo height. (Big hair was really popular in 3600 B.C.) The weave woman also dyed her hair with henna for color that really lasted – we’re talking millennia!

Eager fans of all ages will be turning their eyes to LUXOR this holiday season. Leading casual game developer and publisher, MumboJumbo, proudly announces the expansion of its own epic, action-shooter puzzle franchise, LUXOR. The latest chapters include LUXOR 3 and LUXOR: Pharaoh’s Challenge, both offering casual gaming fans new Egyptian worlds to explore and addicting puzzle play to conquer.

Since first launching in 2005, the ancient Egyptian franchise has been downloaded over 65 million times worldwide and has sold over 500,000 units at retailers nationwide. MumboJumbo enlisted their recently acquired development team, Ritual Entertainment, to integrate its traditional game development expertise into LUXOR 3, presenting never before seen features and animation. Winner of numerous awards, including the #1 casual game of 2005, the franchise truly reaches new heights in design quality and gameplay mechanics with LUXOR 3.

Amazing Adventures: The Lost Tomb is definitely not a casual game that everyone is going to enjoy. It's one of those find-the-image games, where you must locate a list of specific objects in a room crammed to the rafters with random junk, which for some players amounts to little more than eyestrain. Others may find its simple challenge to be oddly relaxing, despite the ever-present timer.

The rooms of The Lost Tomb are all related to the game's Egyptology theme, but that aesthetic largely ends with the backdrop for the scenes you'll search. The objects you have to find have little to do with tombs, lost or otherwise, unless King Tut stashed a fire extinguisher, high heels, and a harmonica in his sarcophagus and I just don't know it.

The first production of Verdi's Aida, in Cairo in 1871, was designed with the advice of the eminent French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. English National Opera's new staging, its first for more than 20 years, is designed by the wacky British fashionista Zandra Rhodes. O tempora, O mores! In the wake of other such recent hirings by ENO - its new policy, in the words of artistic director John Berry, of 'engaging with practitioners from different art forms' - this seems proof positive that the current regime is intent more on visual than aural treats.