Saturday Trivia

You do have to wonder, sometimes, what Ramesses II and his peers would have made of all that the Egyptian civilization inspired.

Isis - The Secrets of Isis: The Complete Series
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releaseinfo.cfm?releaseID=6733
"When science teacher Andrea Thomas (JoAnna Cameron) discovers an amulet on an archaeological dig, she discovers something else: that the amulet can grant her the powers once wielded by the mighty Egyptian Goddess, Isis. Soaring as the falcon soars, running with the speed of gazelles, the transformed Andrea fights crime and rights wrongs in addition to imparting the wisdom of the ages. Her closest friends, fellow teacher Rick Mason (Brian Cutler) and students Cindy Lee (Joanna Pang) and Renee Carrol (Ronalda Douglas) are unaware of her secret identity and mystical powers… the only one who knows the truth is her pet crow, Tut!"

Stargate, Blu-ray (1994)
http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=2796
For anyone who is hooked on the original Stargate movie (the one with Kurt Russell and James Spader) this is a review of a new DVD edition, comparing previous releases and accompanying material with the Blu-ray version.

The Quest - Wilbur Smith
http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3847070&fSectionId=441&fSetId=251
"After the River God, The Seventh Scroll and Warlock, we follow Taita as he gains the Inner Eye with which he may see the aura of every living soul and tell if they are of The Truth or living The Lie. The Nile has dried up and the people of Egypt are suffering, plague and famine rule the land, and the Pharaoh has summoned Taita. They do not know what lies ahead but their quest will take them through swamps, mosquitoes and cannibals to their final destination which, at first sight, seems to be the ultimate haven."

Darkfall Dev Journal #8: The Sands of Rubaiyat
http://df.warcry.com/news/view/71873
Alright, I've read this a couple of times and I'm still none the wiser. I am assuming that it is the scene-setting for a game that is about to be released, but I could well be missing the entire point. Here's a flavour anyway: "During the Usurper Wars, a powerful deity established himself as god-king of Rubaiyat, calling himself Ur-Khamset, or the Red Pharaoh. He slew or imprisoned the local deities of the desert continent, subjugated its people, and then began shaping his subjects into a powerful army with which to contest the rulership of Agon and force access to the Halls of the Goddess.
Ultimately, the Red Pharaoh was defeated by an alliance of rival gods. But as he expired, the Red Pharaoh cast one final, terrible spell which drained all his human subjects of life and liquid, leaving only skeletons to be buried by the desert. Thus Ur-Khamset took his people with him into apparent oblivion, leaving his conquerors with nothing but bone-strewn ruins to rule.
Unbeknownst to all, Ur-Khamset had foreseen his demise and prepared for it by constructing the Red Pyramid at the bottom of Lake Angra. He imbued the pyramid with spells that would summon and preserve his own-life force at the moment of death, and then resurrect him when the stars were right for his return.
As the Red Pyramid rose from the lakebed, a thousand bony hands clawed their way out from under the accumulated sands of millennia."

More re geocaching and Tutankhamun
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/7641382.html
Imagine the thrill British archaeologist Howard Carter felt when he discovered King Tut's tomb after scouring the Egyptian desert for years.
Can't see yourself unearthing gold artifacts and the king's sarcophagi? Then try to remember going on childhood scavenger hunts, scurrying around the neighborhood for soda bottles, a library card and a picture of Mike Schmidt.
Add a bit of 21st-century technology, and you have geocaching - a craze that is spreading around the world.

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