July 8, 2005 B

"Many Miles Away"
1:43pm

While Julia and I were off on our vacation day, seeing the treasures of King Tut, senseless acts of terrorism were happening in London. The latest BBC article reports at least 50 people were killed and 700 injured in five separate attacks. I know from 9-11, how these attacks feel like an attack upon the whole nation, so my heart goes out to everyone living in England.

Does it seem too abrupt to just go back to more images from our trip? Perhaps a more fitting transition is needed. I don't know. I send strength and wisdom to all effected.

That said, here are more trip pictures. Rancho La Brea has the largest and most diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world. Since 1906, more than one million fossil bones have been recovered representing over 231 species of vertebrates. In addition, 159 kinds of plants and 234 kinds of invertebrates have been identified.

Julia looking at a giant mammoth skellie

These 404 Dire Wolf skulls represent only a portion of the more than 1600 wolves whose remains have been found in the La Brea tar pits. It is thought that packs of Dire Wolves attempted to feed on animals trapped in the asphalt and became mired themselves.

The museum had a display with pull poles to show just how sticky the tar is. Whatever falls in, isn't getting out without superhuman (superanimal) strength.

The Antique Bison is the most common plant eater found at Rancho La Brea. At least 159 of these animals have been retrieved. This extinct bison had a larger body, greater shoulder hump and longer horns than the modern buffalo.

All kinds of critters fell into the tarry goo. Scarabs (aka Dung Beetles) were not immune:

"Scarabaeinae"

Was the fossilized scarab like the ones in Ancient Egypt? There are over 20,000 species in the family Scarabaeidae, so it's at least a distant relative. Dung Beetles occur on all continents except Antarctica, for they don't like cold weather.

Busy beetle...

One species, Onthophagus gazella Fabricius, was introduced by USDA scientists in the 1970's because they are beneficial, thereby reducing the habitat for filth-breeding flies by eighty percent in some areas. Australians also found their fly problems were history when they imported 45 different species of dung beetles.
There aren't a whole lot of Egyptian items at LACMA. I did manage to photograph a few, but alas, I didn't record their particulars.

Egyptian funerary mask...

the item in the center is a djed pillar...

July 9, 2005 A

"Restless"
12:43am

I don't know why I can't sleep. It certainly isn't because I haven't done anything today. Julia also shares this condition, and is poised before her computer.

In addition to two journal entries today, (okay, now it's officially 'tomorrow'), I added two pictures to the Photo Gallery. The one from the La Brea Tar Pit Path, and one of the Bateman Mercury with his impressive backside, had to belong.

Then I got the idea to place a candid pic of Laura for the Friday Photo challenge. While there, I discovered an interesting weblog called Hoarded Ordinaries. The author has an artistic sense in her photos very close to mine.

At her journal, she gave this quote which seems to be making the rounds:

"If, as you live your life, you find yourself mentally composing blog entries about it, post this exact same sentence in your weblog."

There's quite a sizeable 'rounds' for it to travel. While at Lorianne's site, I saw a link which said, I am a statistic, which intrigued me, so I clicked. I found a survey of webloggers, AKA journallers, to take. I took. I learned that as of my taking it, 53458 people also answered it! That breaks down into 19659 males and 32729 females.

My answers were by and large, the most common except for age, (few in their forties do this, most are in their 20s) and for when I started. I may have been their earliest, almost none started as soon as I did, October 1996, (when they didn't call them web logs.)

Also, my answer was unusual for number of times changing the journal's URL, (But as most of them began in 2004, that could explain that.) First there was our then ISP, azstarnet.com, with ~gallae. Then casagrande.com, with ~gallae (there was another URL, too, as we had two accounts, and the website split on both as they wouldn't fit on one. I think it was ~cybele.)

That ISP was shaky, so I then got the idea to get a domain name back in April 2001, and we've been with Dreamhost ever since, even though changing ISPs quite a bit since then.

Now it's 1:18am, Julia has given up her post, and has gone to bed. After checking the BBC news to see if any new developments have occurred regarding the bombings, I think I am at last sleepy enough to follow suit. Good night, all!

July 9, 2005 B

"Needing Strength"
3:36pm

A weariness fills me. My eyes feel sticky and my throat feels scratchy. The lemonade Julia made from a real lemon is most soothing. Although I am tired, I can't seem to spend very much time just laying around. Earlier, I scanned a photo of the faience Was scepter I saw at the Tut show, and made a page about that.

Here's one item I saw at LACMA that I really like:

Aquamanile (ewer)
Northern Germany, Lower Saxony, Hildeshiem?, c. 1250
Brass (copper alloy)

"Hildesheim was a major metalworking center in northwestern Germany during the thirteenth century. The aquamanile was a vessel to contain water for washing the hands. It was often made in the form of a lion which was a symbol of power and strength." (From the label)

The following is a tiny lion I bought when at the Met Museum. The original small gold lion was part of a treasure recovered from the village of Tod, a site near Luxor. The reproduction is, of course, only electroplated with gold.

Lions were a symbol of power to the Egyptians as well, in particular divine and royal.

Egyptian Lion 12th Dynasty, 1991-1786 BCE
1 3/4in (4.5cm)

Behind it appears one of the small pyramids I ordered from an online shop in Cairo.