Passing the Time

When I am in between cases at work, I find myself surfing the net reading up about all that interests me. Today during my first break, while I was reading an inspirational fiction by Elizabeth Peters, I found myself inspired (go figure) to get online and learn a little more about a necropolis where some of my book's key players were buried. While I was looking into it, I stumbled upon a real gem here on blogspot all about the latest Egyptological news (now linked at right). The blogger (Andie) is dedicated to her passion. She is apparently trained as an archaeologist and is currently pursuing post-graduate work in the field. I suppose that is neither here nor there. What I do appreciate is that she makes it very easy for the amateur Egyptologist *coughmecough* to find out what is going on and when. Usually, I wait for the newest issue of KMT to come out (this is a quarterly publication I buy without fail).

I often wonder where I would be right now had I chosen to pursue Egyptology as I had planned to do right out of high school. Since I would have settled for no less than the American University in Cairo, I would certainly speak fluent Arabic by now which would be very marketable under current conditions (required for all AUC students). I would have gotten to spend a good 4 years minimum in the country that has been the source of such unreachable longing I cannot find words appropriate enough to express it. Perhaps I would have gotten to do some work in the impressive KV5 with one of my heroes Dr. Kent Weeks. Then again, maybe I would have found a position working on the animal mummy project with one of my heroines Dr. Salima Ikram. Or, perhaps I would have spent time working on any of the myriad other projects they have going on. Most certainly, I would have made it a point to meet many of my favorite authors and authorities on the subject. I would have made an excellent archaeologist. I once went on an archaeological preservation expedition when I worked at American express to preserve an ancient Hohokam mound. Mundane as that was to many that came, I was overcome by archaeological fever. How, then, would it feel to put my hands to work in some ditch in Abydos, repiecing fragments of pottery in Tanis, or - better still - been a part of an excavation that discovered the tomb of a king? The speculation is titillating - I aint gonna lie. Part of me wishes I had grown a pair when I was 17 and made it happen. Lord knows I could have. The option was there. I knew the people fairly well. I have never met an Egyptian I didn't like, and I have known many. What kept me from doing it? Who knows?

I like to think that it has entirely to do with what would become my family. If I went to Egypt to go to college, I never would have met Kristin, we never would have had our kids, and the good life I have now with both family and friends would not exist as I know it. With particular emphasis on the former, I would not trade that for two lifetimes of Egyptological study.

So what stops me now from pursuing Egyptology at U of A or something? Economics. The pay is crappy. Certainly not enough to reliably raise a family. The ones with money write excellent books on their findings and make "talking head" appearances on Discovery Channel documentaries - and they are far and few between. Careers in finance, on the other hand, does make good money. Enough to pay for annual trips to Egypt in a decade or so.

It is too bad one can't have their cake and eat it too.

So what was I talking about before sprining off on this wild tangent? Oh yeah, the new link. I definitely recommend it if history is in any way your thing. There is hours of reading to be had. Thank you, Andie for putting the site together!

When A Train Wrecks

No, I am not referring to the Olympics...hur hur hur.

Last night, Mike, Jeff, Roxy, Debbie, and I went out for an evening of rock and/or roll. We started the evening at Four Peaks for some Thai Hummus and drinks - though my drink consisted of naught but aspatamaliciousness. Anyhoo, after "dinner", we made haste for the Marquee Theater in Tempe. The concert: Extreme with special guests King's X and Rock N' Roll Fantasy Camp. The latter is exactly what it sounds like. If you have the money, you can play live with rock stars. Though we caught the tail end of the janitors, exterminators, accountants, etc playing with none other than Kip freakin' Winger (remember Winger?), the impression I had was quite positive. For a bunch of non-professionals, they played pretty well. After they got off stage, we were treated to the "counselors" of the camp doing a short set of covers. It took me a second to recognize some of them because I was not expecting to see them. The only person I was expecting was Kip Winger (the prick ages all too well). Some of the others I have never heard of. All of them I never expected I would ever see in person, so I took it as a little treat. So here is the star-studded lineup of this supergroup. Their band affiliations are parenthetical:

Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses)

Mark Slaughter (Slaughter - I took him for Anthrax's guitarist for some dumb reason)

David Ellefson (Formerly Megadeth, now F5)

Earl Slick (David Bowie, John Lennon - kinda looked like an old Izzy Stradlin)

Glen Hughes (Deep Purple)

Chris Slade (AC/DC)

Mark Hudson (songwriter and producer for Aerosmith and a fantastic performer).

Kip Winger (Winger)

After their set, it was time for King's X to take the stage. They performed better than I have ever seen them (this being my second time). One thing that strikes me dumb is how music that sounds so terrible as a studio recording sounds so amazing live. I do like the band, but I can't listen to their studio stuff. This makes lyric memorization difficult. I would have had even more fun had I known the lyrics. Ah well.

Next up was Extreme. They put on a fantastic show as one would expect, but they ran into a snag. During the opening song - maybe 30 seconds into it - I noticed something was amiss. Oh, it was the guitar. About 30 seconds of no Nuno later, the band stopped playing the song altogether. The roadies quickly fixed the problem, and the band resumed playing...the next song. No - they didn't just start again or even pick up where they left off. There was a show to put on, so on they moved. This is one of the worst kind of train wrecks a band can experience, and the audience could see the embarassment. It's okay - things happen, right? So on the show went. They played all of the songs a fan would want them to play. "Play With Me" was my highlight. And you know they played "More Than Words". The band effectively got everyone to sing along with them. At first, I felt a little ghey doing it, but as I looked around, so was everyone else. I felt confident that what happens at an Extreme show, stays at an Extreme show. So on the show went. Then, in the middle of another song, Nuno drops out again. Now the boy is pissed. He gets on the mic and tells us that he has blown two heads. For those of you who don't know what a head is, it is the aparatus that supplies the power, volume control, and all else to the speakers of an amplifier. So the roadies had to put another on. Judging by the time it took for it to appear, I am guessing they had to fumble around the gear bus to find it. We now find out this head is the last one. During the interim, Extreme tried to keep the dead air down by telling jokes (they do have a decent sense of humor). Gary Cherone made it a point to plead with us not to blog about it. Sorry, Gary. Again - train wreck. Finally, they were able to finish out their set without any other hicups. All in all, the show was great. The equipment failure actually enhanced the experience to a degree. I think it has to do in large part to the band not getting their panties in a bunch over it. They laughed it off, and so did we.

On the way home, I learned that a rectal tounge-bath after defecation is the epitome of decadence. And no, I was not given said bath. But I trust my source has which must be why he knows.

As I was on my way to dreamland, I was thinking about all the bands I have seen. The number is quite high, but there are so many more I still want to see. For your boredom, I shall list the bands I have seen:

Rush
Dream Theater
Metallica
Guns N' Roses
Faith No More
Mr Big
Candlebox
King's X
Godsmack
ZZ Top
Ted Nugent
Journey
Styx
Foreigner
REO Speedwagon
Extreme
Whitesnake
Scorpions
Dokken
Spin Doctors
Screaming Trees
Soul Asylum
Phish
Iron Maiden
Dragonforce
Joe Satriani
Trans-Siberian Orchestra

I may have seen more, and I know there are meaningless opening acts whose names I don't care about. As impressive as that is, Mike and especially Jeff can list much more.

This morning I was dragged out of bed to operate the chainsaw and groom my mesquite tree. The heat sucked and it most certainly was no good for my back in its present condition, but chainsaws are \m/, so I suppose my morning was a wash. Now I have a 7-foot pile of mesquite branches (some weighing close to 50 pounds) in my front yard awaitinfg bulk trash in a week and a half. After that, I mowed the lawn which took all of 15 minutes.

Tomorrow night there is a pool party at Michael and Lori's which should be fun. I will be going alone because it starts an hour before the baby goes to bed. I will be having a gathering back at my place in September so my wife can participate. All you folks here in AZ will be notified when a date is set.

No time to post

Seriously, I have none. Nothing new has happened yet. Although, last week I was flipping through channels, and as I came across MTV2, I heard the VJ mention aband I didn't think really existed. Now I come to find they will be blowing through this sun-soaked state in October. They made their first "mainstream" appearance as a bonus song in Guitar Hero 2. They have 2 songs in Rock Band and one on the way in the latter's sequel. They consist of three guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, and about 9 - 21 vocalists (depending on who they recruit at any given show to compliment their "permanent" singers). Their songs are entirely choruses and guitar solos, and their nameconsists of the "two hottest words in the English language". They are Bang Camaro, and the song is "Push Push (Lady Lightning)". This is the song from GH2.

Star Wars Sans Lucas = \m/

I took one of the children today to see the Clone Wars movie. I knew walking into it that the only influence George Lucas has was the green light to make it. Otherwise, he had no creative influence. Based on episodes 1-3 and the latest Indiana Jones movie, I thought this was probably a good idea. How good an idea it was manifest itself in the most fun Star Wars experience since Return of the Jedi. This movie is apparently the first episode of the forthcoming television series. So the main plot of the movie makes a little more sense if you know this going in.

Anyway, I recommend this movie. The next movie I would like to see is Tropic Thunder. A small group of liberals are boycotting this movie (it uses the word "retard"...boo hoo). Because of that, this movie will get my money.

So, is metal your religion? If so, it is time to go to church. This week's anthem is "Badlands" by Metal Church: