Movies and Readings: This week I was watching an older film, "Valley of the Kings", starring Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker made in 1954. Since I love ancient history I am a slam-dunk for films with a historical or archaelogical plot (although I must admit this one wasn't what you would call historically accurate). As I began watching this drama though, it seemed like deja vu. Although this film was produced in 1954, the plot was extremely similar to Robin Cook's novel "Sphinx" published in 1979 and later made into a 1980 movie starring Lesley -Ann Down.

Young woman interested in archaeology encounters artifact from a heretofore undiscovered tomb , learns of antiquities smuggling ring, gets involved in love triangle that includes the leader of the smugglers who tries to prevent her from finding the royal treasure. In the 1954 version, Eleanor Parker plays the daughter of an archaeologist (after all, in 1954 women usually didn't have scientific careers of their own!) In the 1980 movie, Lesley-Ann Down is an archaeologist (my how things have changed!). In the 1954 film, Parker's new husband is the head of the smuggling ring. In the 1980 film, Down's romantic interest who directs the Department of Antiquities ends up as the head of the smuggling ring. Fortunately, for Robin Cook's lawyers, the middle of the 1954 film varies quite a bit from the 1980 film so the cinematographers of 1954 could use almost every famous ruin in Egypt as a panoramic backdrop for key scenes. Although this added to the visual richness of the film, it was very misleading from a geographical perspective. Except for the camel journey in the desert scene, extended travel was not depicted but the main characters managed to view "the shadow of Mt. Sinai", ancient Christian monasteries (most notably found in Ethiopia), and the ruins of Ramses III's temple at Abu-Simbel.

The middle of the film reminded me of another novel "The Seventh Scroll" by Wilbur Smith written in 1995. The protagonists in this novel also visited ancient Christian monasteries to find clues to a hidden cache of treasure left by followers of the first monotheist ruler, Akhenaten, or Amenhotep IV. In "Valley of the Kings", Parker's character also searches for the treasure of the first monotheist ruler, "Herotep"???. Although Hollywood got the dynasty right (18th) for some reason they shortened the pharaoh's name (maybe Taylor and Parker couldn't pronounce Amenhotep!) Anyway, although I found both "Sphinx" and "The Seventh Scroll" reasonably interesting, I fell asleep in "Valley of the Kings". I had to ask my husband how it ended. He says the smuggler-husband fell off a statue - that figures, at the end of "Sphinx", a statue falls on the smuggler-lover!

While looking up a couple of link references for this narrative I came across a terrific Egyptian site - The Tomb of the Chihuahua Pharaohs! Taco Bell's ad meisters can't hold a candle to these guys! There's learning materials for teachers and students, beautiful Egyptian motif backgrounds, buttons, fonts, and clipart...a treasure trove of graphics and information about everything from Corkankhamun's explanation of mummification to Neferchichi's lessons for aspiring scribes! Who said history can't be fun!

I also want to mention a new feature now offered by American Classic Movies. AMC is now offering, on the SAP frequency, a narrator who describes the visuals of a film for visually impaired viewers. I think this is a tremendous advance in sensitivity to people with physical disabilities. It makes the experience similar to listening to an audio book. I know when I come home after hours of reading information on a computer screen my eyes are often watery and difficult to focus. I can usually watch a little television (thanks to a 60" screen) but I struggle trying to read the latest issue of National Geographic or Biography Magazine. It would be so nice to have audio versions of their articles available on the web in a highly compressed format like MP3 that could be downloaded to something like the Rio player to give our poor tired eyes a break.

Software: The Chihuahua Pharaoh images above made me think about my experiments with the new Adobe Photoshop 5.5. It's new "erase to transparency" eraser does make it easier to remove the face from one image and insert another on the layer underneath. I tried inserting my face into a picture of Anne Boleyn's wax sculpture at Madame Tussaud's museum but I didn't think about the need to have a picture with no flesh showing. It's too hard to match the flesh tones and make it look natural.

Other: I traded off my little Bronco II this past week for a "new to me" Ford Explorer. Although I felt a little like I was selling the family pet, I must admit the Explorer sure has some nice features. I like the automatic digital average mpg readout. It acts like a biofeedback mechanism to help you avoid driving behaviors that result in reduced gas mileage. I also like the digital thermostat. I have it set at an even 72 degrees and the computer simply switches between heat and air conditioning as necessary to maintain an even temperature - no more burning up then freezing yourself out trying to cool things down. I also didn't realize how much the tinted glass all around helps minimize the interior heat when the car has been sitting in the parking lot all day. I'd estimate the interior temperature is at least 50% cooler than a vehicle without tinted glass side and rear windows. As a woman who frequently drives alone, I also like the interior lighting coming on when I unlock the car or even grasp the door handle. I also like the automatic door locks which engage when I put the car in drive. I've had someone at the curb try to open the passenger door when I was stopped at a stop light once and it's scarey! Since music and audio books are an important part of my commute each day I really appreciate the sound system, too. I still find myself reaching for the gear shift and my left foot still hunts for the clutch occasionally but I'll get over it!