'The Seventh Proficiency' by Alfred D. Byrd

Al has just released a new novel for Kindle: The Seventh Proficiency. It is a fantasy adventure about a group of emerald-eyed wizards travelling through the Sahara Desert.

If you like fantasy and sci-fi, you might be interested in this.

The cover is really lovely too, I must say.

This is the blurb from the novel's Amazon listing:

Crossing the deep desert to lead the woman whom he loves to a marriage with his hated enemy, Timbalis, an emerald-eyed mage of seven proficiencies, learns that the caravan is being shadowed by a trans-lunar spirit of unknown, but surely dangerous motives. To make matters worse, an imperial guard joins the caravan with a mission of vengeance, and perhaps of kidnapping the woman whom Timbalis loves. The worst danger of all, however, lies within him, where his seventh proficiency conceals a secret of life and death, but for whom?


Buy it here.

While you're at it, you might also want to check out Al's other offerings on Amazon, Smashwords and Lulu. He has some free offerings on Smashwords, by the way.

Drowned Egyptian City Found

A lost city and vital port known as Heracleion to the ancient Greeks and Thonis to ancient Egyptians was thought to be nothing but a memory until a team from the European Institute for Underwater Archeology (IEASM) discovered the mystical city submerged in the Mediterranean Sea.

Traces of Thonis-Heracleion were found four miles off the coast of Egypt, 30 feet below the Aboukir Bay in 2000. The team, under French underwater archaeologist Dr. Frank Goddio’s direction, discovered many ruins, among them a monolithic chapel, a giant red granite statue of the god Hapi and the largest known concentration of ancient ships. It was the chapel that tipped off Goddio that it was in fact the lost city.

Full article here.

Many thanks to Al for showing me this.

Schoolhouse Humour

This is one of those fwd emails. I assume this is in the public domain. But if for some reason this should not be posted here, please inform me and I will take it down immediately.

Many thanks to Al for sending this to me.

~*~


The following excerpts are actual answers given on history tests and in Sunday school quizzes by children between 5th and 6th grade ages in Ohio. They were collected over a period of three years by two teachers. (Believe it or not, but they are funny)

Ancient Egypt was old. It was inhabited by gypsies and mummies who all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate Of the Sarah is such that all the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.

Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandos. He died before he ever reached Canada but the commandos made it.

Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines. He was A actual hysterical figure as well as being in the Bible. It sounds Like he was sort of busy too.

The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a young female moth.

Socrates was a famous old Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. He later died from an overdose of wedlock Which is apparently poisonous. After his death, his career suffered a Dramatic decline.

Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out "Same to you, Brutus."

Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw for reasons I don't really understand. The English and French still have problems.

Queen Elizabeth was the "Virgin Queen," As a queen she was a success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all shouted "hurrah!" and that was the end of the fighting for a long while.

It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood.

Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper which was very dangerous to all his men.

The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter.

Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He Wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Since then no one ever found it.

Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence.

Franklin discovered electricity by Rubbing two cats backward and also declared, "A horse divided against itself cannot stand." He was a naturalist for sure. Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.

Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest Precedent. Lincoln's Mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation. On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got Shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show.
They believe the assassinator was John Wilkes Booth, a surpassingly insane actor. This ruined Booth's career.

Johann Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died from 1750 to the present. Bach was the most famous composer in the world and so was Handel. Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large.

Bethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf that he wrote loud music and became the father of rock and roll. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.

The nineteenth century was a time of a great many thoughts and inventions. People stopped reproducing by hand and started reproducing by machine. The invention of the steamboat caused a network of rivers to spring up.

Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbits but I don't know why.

Charles Darwin was a naturalist. He wrote the Organ of the Species. It was very long. People got upset about it and had trials to see if it was really true. He sort of said God's days were not just 24 hours but without watches who knew anyhow? I don't get it.

Madman Curie discovered radio. She was the first woman to do what she did. Other women have become scientists since her but they didn't get to find radios because they were already taken.

Karl Marx was one of the Marx Brothers. The other three were in the movies. Karl made speeches and started revolutions. Someone in the family had to have a job, I guess.

Good Friday

It is Good Friday today, and I thought to re-post what I wrote on Good Friday of last year. It is edited though (and I edited the original as well).

I love The Passion of the Christ. I have only seen it twice though as it is not an easy movie to watch. If you have seen it, you know what I am talking about.

As heartbreaking and violent as it was, I think it is nevertheless good that the movie did not shy away from showing the reality of Christ's suffering. Most movies about Jesus often sanitise this part of His life, probably because the film makers know that many audiences will not be able to take the violence. Still, that is not how it really was.

The second time I saw this movie was with some friends at a church showing. For me, it is better to see the film with other people, as it contains an immense level of intensity and emotion which I find hard to contain.

I think most of us had seen The Passion before, as some people were equipped with boxes of tissue. I forgot my tissues alas, but my handkerchief sufficed.

By the time my credits rolled, my handkerchief was thoroughly drenched, and not a dry eye was to be seen.

And everyone was quiet. Really quiet.

Our host had prepared some snacks, just for courtesy's sake. But nobody could eat or talk. As my host so perfectly said, this is the kind of movie that makes you still and silent for a long time.

I love how they had the movie in the original language of its setting. I heard the filmmakers were originally intending to have no subtitles. I am glad that they rejected that idea, as the subtitles did not ruin the film's authenticity in any way.

There was one particular scene that perplexed (and frightened) me: while Jesus is carrying His cross, Satan looks on while carrying an eerie-looking "baby." The "baby" then smiles malignantly.

Remembering this scene makes me shudder.

According to the filmmakers' commentary (or interview), the demon baby was a symbol of how things that are good and pure can be distorted. And taking into consideration that this movie was made by a Traditional Catholic, a lot of it was based on the visions of a 19th century nun named Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich.

It was Al who informed me of that last bit, by the way.

Sometime ago, he spoke to me about the speculated sites of Jesus' tomb. The first one is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is the most widely accepted among scholars. Several religions are also laying claim to the Church. Part of it is claimed by the Catholics, part of it is claimed by the Ethiopian Church, and a part of this Church is even a mosque.

The other site is the Garden Tomb, near the Arab bus station. The possibility of the Garden Tomb was proposed by a 19th century explorer named Sir Charles Gordon. Apparently, Gordon saw a skull-shaped hill near the tomb, which brings to mind the Bible's mention of "Golgotha" - the Place of the Skull.

Whatever the site of Jesus' tomb is, one thing is for certain - He is not in it anymore!

By the way, a few entries ago, I mentioned an unnamed young man in the Gospel of Mark who fled away after Jesus' arrest. No one knows for sure who he might be.

Some people surmise that he might have been an allusion to Joseph fleeing from Potiphar's wife. The Gospel says that when the unnamed man fled, he left his garments behind. Quite like what happened to Joseph.

Others conjecture that the mystery man might have been Mark himself. In ancient writings, authors often referred to themselves anonymously. Mark might have been implying that he was an eyewitness to Jesus' arrest.
According to Al, Mark's family might have provided the room in which Jesus and the Apostles had the Last Supper. Mark then might have been following Jesus in the hopes of hearing more of His teachings.


I also learned from Al about the historical and cultural background of the brutal practice of crucifixion. This was the most degrading form of punishment in the Roman Empire, as it was meted out to the lowest of the low criminals. Roman citizens could not be crucified. Therefore, when the Apostle Paul was later martyed, he was beheaded.

To the ancient Romans, the people of Judea were not citizens but subjects, good for only labour and taxes. They were also subject to the Jewish crown - the puppet royal family of the Herods - which in turn was subject to the Emperor.

In one of the special features on my DVD copy of The Passion, it was mentioned that the word "excruciating" actually came from "crucifixion."

There is a widespread story of the Apostle Peter dying on an upside down cross. He chose to die that way because he declared he was not worthy to die the way Christ did. This story is not mentioned in the Bible, but has been accepted by theology scholars.

By the way, I highly recommend this article on Al's website:

SEVEN SAYINGS OF THE CROSS: A Lesson on the Crucifixion

Interview with Author Hannah Fielding

I am thrilled to have a guest on my blog today: author Hannah Fielding. I met her at the World Literary Cafe, and she informed me that she was born in Alexandria. Yes, the Alexandria, where the Ptolemy royal family ruled.

Naturally, I was eager to hear more about her life in Egypt. She was gracious enough to tell me about it, along with her interesting travel stories and, of course, her writing.


A warm welcome to my blog, Ms. Fielding. Perhaps you would like to begin by telling us a little about yourself.

I was born in Alexandria, Egypt, a city founded in the year 332 BC by order of Alexander the Great, a Greek king of Macedonia. The rambling house I grew up in was built on a hill facing the Mediterranean, commanding the most breathtaking views of the ever-changing sea, with its glowing sunsets and romantic moonlit nights overlooking a scintillating ocean.

I went to a convent school, and after I graduated with a BA in French literature, my international nomadic years started. I lived mainly in Switzerland, France and England, and holidayed in other Mediterranean countries like Italy, Greece and Spain.

I met Nicholas, my husband, in London at a drinks party: it was love at first sight, just like in the romance books that were my constant companions. We settled in a Georgian house in Kent where I brought up two children, Christian and Alexandra, while looking after horses and dogs and running my own business renovating rundown cottages.

My children have now flown the nest and my husband and I spend half our time in our Georgian rectory in Kent and the rest in our home in the South of France, which overlooks the Mediterranean. In Kent I write in our library surrounded by books overlooking our garden, and in France I write most of the time in a sunny room with a fabulous view of the sapphire blue sea, or outside in my gazebo looking at the colourful flowers and plants blooming in the golden Mediterranean sunshine.


Please tell us about life in Egypt.

Egypt is a many-faceted country and to write about all of it would be difficult and would, I think, diminish its beauty. So I will tell you about two places in Egypt that are very dear to me.

Alexandria:

I left Egypt some time ago, but the wonderful memories of Alexandria, where I grew up, are still very vivid in my mind. The Alexandria of my childhood was a very cosmopolitan city. Wherever you went there was a wonderful mixture of Oriental and European dress and languages. Whether in the road, in restaurants or at the cinema, you would hear a medley of languages. There were Egyptians, Italians, Greeks, Armenians and English people, Christians, Muslims and Jews, all happily cohabitating under an azure sky, in beautiful old villas built in the Italian Belle Époque style, with lush gardens and fragrant orchards.

The beaches were beautiful: golden sand strewn with shells of all sizes; a peacock-coloured sea with secret sandy coves and rocks were you would fish for baby crabs, rock-fish and tiny translucent shrimps; palm trees waving their elegant leaves in the breeze and laden with red or orange dates; and the sun, of course, which makes all the difference (for me, at least). Some names come to mind: Montazah, the fabulous grounds and beach of King Farouk’s palace which, after the revolution in 1952, were opened to the public are set in Alexandria itself. Agami: miles of sugar white sand so fine that it is difficult to wash off, very different from the golden sand found everywhere else. It lies outside Alexandria and the road to it is peppered with small wild fig trees and carob trees. Marasa Matrouh: 250 kilometres west of Alexandria, it has limpid turquoise waters and an almost primitive feel to it because of its unspoilt wildness. These are wonderful places to take a picnic or to spend a few days away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Aswan

For me, Aswan in southern Egypt is one of the most romantic places in the world. The dominant impression here, is one of deep-abiding peace. Instead of flat, monotonous banks of sand and mud, there are masses of rock, broken up into grotesque and fantastic forms, called for that purpose the Elephantine Islands.

Here you will see feluccas, graceful lateen sail-boats used since antiquity that are moored on the shores of the Nile. Small villages with endless green fields stretch afar, with mud houses peppered among slender palm trees and egg-shaped dovecots. Donkeys graze on the banks, and women walk up and down the narrow, dusty lanes carrying huge water jugs on their heads. Then, if you are lucky to see them, strings of camels slowly amble on the horizon, silhouetted against a glorious sunset.

These are all picture postcards depicting peace-abiding people living today as they had lived a thousand years ago. You can never in your thoughts detach the Egypt of the past from the Egypt of today.


How envious I am that you have been able to travel around Egypt extensively. And how eloquently and beautifully you describe the country. Your passages sounded like something out of a Pauline Gedge novel. Which brings me to: how and when did you begin to write?

Stories and writing have always been part of my life. My father was a great raconteur and my governess used to tell the most fabulous fairy stories – I could listen to them for hours. When I was seven she and I came to an agreement: for every story she’d tell me I would invent one in return. That is how my passion for storytelling began.

At school I consistently received first prize for my essays and my teachers often read them aloud in class. As a teenager I used to write short romantic stories during lessons and circulate them in class, which made me very popular with my peers (but less so with the nuns!). In addition, since a young age I have kept some sort of a diary where I note my feelings, ideas and things that take my fancy (or not).

During my twenties I had no time to seriously write; I was too busy discovering what the world had to offer – and once I was married and had children, I had even less to time to indulge in my passion. So once my business was flourishing and my children had flown the nest I decided to put pen to paper and channel my creative imagination into something that has always been gratifying for me and given pleasure to the people around me.


Do you have any particular writing routine/habits?

I have a very rigid routine which has served me well. Having researched my facts thoroughly, I plan my novel down to the smallest detail. Planning ahead, I have found, makes the writing so much easier and therefore so much more enjoyable. I use my plan as a map. I never set out on a long journey by car without a map, and the same applies to my writing.


What are your planned books for the future?

I have written a number of books and I have been travelling extensively, searching for new pastures in which to set my future novels.

I have written a passionate, fiery trilogy set in Andalucía, Spain, spanning three generations of a Spanish/English family, from 1950 to the present day.

I have also just finished writing a touching, deeply romantic novel that takes place in Venice and in Tuscany, Italy in 1979/1980. It opens with the Venice Carnival that has returned after a cessation of almost two centuries.

I still have many books in me. I am now in the process of researching my next historical romance trilogy, which is set in Egypt and will take my readers from 1945 to the present day.

Greece is also on the map for a new Hannah Fielding romantic novel. I know that captivating country and its people very well, and Greek mythology was part of the literature course I read at university. Greece is not far from Alexandria, where I grew up, and I have many Greek friends; besides which, I bought my wedding dress in Athens and my husband and I honeymooned on the beautiful island of Rhodes.

I so enjoy researching these books (what better excuse to visit Venice, Cadiz, the Greek Islands), and they are in the pipeline for publication in due course. I very much enjoy the publishing process and hearing from readers of my books. But for me, being a writer is not about publishing. It is simply about writing – writing from the heart the books that I most want to read.


What inspired the Kenyan setting for your novel Burning Embers?

Burning Embers began not as a story, but as a vivid landscape in my mind. The seed of the ideas was sown many nears ago when, as a schoolgirl, I studied the works of Leconte de Lisle, a French Romantic poet of the 19th century. His poems are wonderfully descriptive and vivid – about wild animals, magnificent dawns and sunsets, exotic settings and colourful vistas.

Then later on, I went on holiday to Kenya with my parents and I met our family friend Mr Chiumbo Wangai, who often used to visit us. He was a great raconteur and told me extensively about his beautiful country, its tribes, its traditions and its customs. I was enthralled, and when I put pen to paper Burning Embers came to life. Burning Embers had to be written; there was too much about the place and its people that I felt passionate about.

I have had some of Leconte de Lisle’s beautiful poems translated into English by a friend, Mr John Harding. You can find them on my website.


Aside from writing, what are your other hobbies?

I read: I love reading romantic novels – the thicker the book, the better.

I cook: I love cooking, using the various produce of our vegetable garden. Jams, chutneys, stuffed vine leaves (dolmadis), stuffed savoury and sweet filo pastry cushions that I serve as nibbles when I entertain, and stewed fruit for winter crumbles.

I entertain: I find nothing more satisfying that having friends over; and as I often travel, it’s great to catch up with all the news.

I travel: To research my books. I find it exciting and exhilarating to discovering new places, new people, new traditions and new cuisines.

I collect antiques: Chinese porcelain, Japanese sculptures and French and Italian glass, so you will often find me rummaging in flea markets and dark second-hand shops in the hope of discovering a treasure.

I go for long walks: I love the countryside in England and the seafront in France especially. There are many places I go for inspiration or when I have writer’s block.


It seems you have done quite a good deal of traveling. What countries have you been to?

The list of countries I’ve visited is long. The places that have stuck in my mind and in which I plan to maybe set my novels one day are Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Turkey, Kenya, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Thailand, the USA, and Egypt, of course. I have never been to Russia, to India, to Quatar or to China, and they are very much on my list.

 
Are there any authors that have influenced you?

I am the third generation of authors in our family. My grandmother was a poet: The Virgin Heart by Esther Fahmy Wissa, and a feminist. I had great admiration for her and wanted to emulate her.

My father, who was a great raconteur, wrote a book about our family: Assiout: The Saga of an Egyptian Family by Hanna Fahmy Wissa, and he always encouraged me to write. He used to read the short stories I wrote as a teenager and he often told me that one day I’d be published. I wish he was alive to see that I have fulfilled my dream of becoming an author.

Though my governess was not a published author, she used to tell the most beautiful fairy stories. She was the one who taught me how to maximise my imagination and she helped me develop the art of weaving a good tale.


What are your favourite books and genres?

I read almost anything, but I mostly read romantic novels. I also enjoy reading mystery books, psychological thrillers, books about customs and traditions in various countries, and books of quotation and dictionaries.

My real idols are the French classic romantic authors of the 19th century that I grew up with. I devoured their books during my teens and still re-read my favourite stories and poems. Victor Hugo, Theophile Gautier, Balzac, Stendhal, Chateaubriand and Leconte de Lisle, to name just a few. If you would like to learn more about them, I have written some blogs on this subject that you will find on my website.

I enjoy reading many modern authors, but maybe the one closest to my heart is M.M. Kaye, author of The Far Pavilions and The Shadow of the Moon. Why? Because her fabulous descriptions transport you to a time and a place as if you are there and then. If you have not read her books, I do recommend them… pure escapism… pure romance.


How was your journey to publishing your first book like?

I was lucky: after six months of submitting my book, Omnific Publishing was kind enough to believe in me and give me my first chance. From there, the editing process took some time, and at times this was difficult – no writer likes to be edited! But once the book was published, I was delighted with the result.


Congratulations, it is a huge accomplishment to land a publishing deal. What advice would you have for aspiring writers?

First and foremost, write from the heart. Be true to yourself and don’t compromise to please the market. Markets change, fads come and go; your work will remain.

Research your facts thoroughly. A writer today has no excuse for not getting his/her facts right. Use all the tools available to you. Travel, internet, books, films, documentaries: they’re all there to enrich your experience and make your writing journey easier.

Plan your novel down to the smallest detail. This will make your writing so much easier and therefore so much more enjoyable. A plan is your map. Would you set out on a long journey by car without a map?

Read, reread and reread. Edit, edit, edit. Go through your manuscript again and again and edit it. I know that it will break your heart to delete a phrase or even one word you have spent time agonising on, but sometimes less is better than more. Not easy advice to follow, but in the long run it does work. If you can leave the manuscript alone for a few weeks and revisit it at a later date, reading it as if it were someone else’s, then that’s even better.

Do not get discouraged. Continue to write whether you think your work is good or bad. There is no bad writing. There are good days and bad days. The more you write, the better at it you get.


I love dogs, and I hear you have a Rhodesian ridgeback named Sasha.

Unfortunately, my lovely Sasha died last December aged twelve. She was a sweet-natured watchdog who loved sitting in the kitchen in winter close to the Aga. She is dearly missed. You can see a photograph of her with her constant companion Bertie, my loveable and gentle black Labrador who also died, aged fourteen, last October, here. For days Sasha went looking for Bertie all over our grounds; it made me very sad. I think Sasha died of a broken heart. Both of them died at a ripe old age and are now buried at the bottom of the garden. I will soon be looking for another guard dog, if not two; they are such loyal friends and wonderful to have around.


I am very sorry to hear about that. I know how you feel, as I myself lost a beloved furbaby last October. I do hope that you can get another dog (or dogs) soon, certainly not to replace Sasha and Bertie but to fill in the void they left behind and to once more have the joy and companionship of canine friends, as you said. Besides, there are always dogs in need of good homes.

Thank you so much for this lovely interview, Ms. Fielding. It was wonderful to hear your stories, and you tell them so eloquently. I wish you great success!


Hannah Fielding is a novelist, a dreamer, a traveller, a mother, a wife and an incurable romantic. The seeds for her writing career were sown in early childhood, spent in Egypt, when she came to an agreement with her governess Zula: for each fairy story Zula told, Hannah would invent and relate one of her own. Years later – following a degree in French literature, several years of travelling in Europe, falling in love with an Englishman, the arrival of two beautiful children and a career in property development – Hannah decided after so many years of yearning to write that the time was now. Today, she lives the dream: she writes full time, splitting her time between her homes in Kent, England, and the South of France, where she dreams up romances overlooking breathtaking views of the Mediterranean. 

Get to know her at her Website, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads


About Burning Embers:

Coral Sinclair is a beautiful but naïve twenty-five-year-old photographer who has just lost her father. She's leaving the life she's known and traveling to Kenya to take ownership of her inheritance – the plantation that was her childhood home – Mpingo. On the voyage from England, Coral meets an enigmatic stranger to whom she has a mystifying attraction. She sees him again days later on the beach near Mpingo, but Coral's childhood nanny tells her the man is not to be trusted. It is rumored that Rafe de Monfort, owner of a neighboring plantation and a nightclub, is a notorious womanizer having an affair with her stepmother, which may have contributed to her father's death.

Circumstance confirms Coral's worst suspicions, but when Rafe's life is in danger she is driven to make peace. A tentative romance blossoms amidst a meddling ex-fiancé, a jealous stepmother, a car accident, and the dangerous wilderness of Africa. Is Rafe just toying with a young woman's affections? Is the notorious womanizer only after Coral's inheritance? Or does Rafe's troubled past color his every move, making him more vulnerable than Coral could ever imagine?

Available at Amazon UK, Amazon, WH Smith, Barnes & Noble

Cuteness

Some stuff which was too cute not to share.

Meet the puppies and their friends - the Puppy Bowl event complete with hedgehog cheerleaders and a kitty show

The most popular dog in America - I was delighted to hear the dachshund was one of the most popular breeds!

Pictures of cute baby sloths - Have a look at the rest of Cute 'N Tiny while you're at it


And...

Would you snuggle with a puggle?

(Many thanks to Al for showing me all of this.)

A Modern-Day Joseph

Sometime ago, I was browsing through WORD's online catalogue.

I then saw a DVD entitled Joseph's Gift. The title alone sounded like it was about the Joseph, but the cover looked a bit peculiar. That is to say, it was not what I was expecting for the ad of a Joseph movie. I suppose I was expecting it to look more Ancient Egyptian or Canaanite.

Nevertheless, I was curious and checked it out. When I read the description, my jaw nearly hit the floor.

It was a modern-day retelling of Joseph's story.

I had never heard of any book or movie doing a modern retake on Joseph before. Straightaway, I ordered it.

I was like an excited adolescent when the DVD arrived. And the movie lived up to my expectations, in more ways than one.

The modern-day adaptations were clever. Pharaoh became a New York executive, the 7-year famine became an economic downturn, Jacob and Potiphar became the owners of clothing factories (with Potiphar's starting out as an illegal underground operation but eventually refining its act thanks to Joseph),  the nefarious Mrs. Potiphar became a fashion model turned bored trophy wife, and Joseph's incarceration became confinement in a mental hospital.

And his fabulous coat of many colours became a stylish black leather jacket.

Also worth noting is the restructuring of Jacob's family, and especially how the number of his sons was reduced to half the original. Given the circumstances though, having 6 sons instead of 12 would be more feasible. But the way the film makers adapted this complex family for a 20th century setting was really clever and innovative.
(The movie, by the way, takes place in California and New York in the 80s and 90s.)
The 4 older sons and Diana (Dinah) were from Jacob's first wife Leah, who had passed away. He then married Rachel who - of course - bore him Joseph and Benjamin. Leah's children were on good terms with their stepmother though, even addressing her as "Mother."

Oh, and "Pharaoh's" office had Egyptian memorabilia, obviously a nod to its ancient counterpart. Very clever indeed.

The acting was good, the story was good. I was completely glued from beginning to end. I was oblivious to everything but the film. 

Freddy Rodriguez was a pretty good Joseph. He really brought his character's emotions to life: excitement over his new job (working in the family business - with a higher position than his brothers', might I add, even though he had just graduated), eagerness to try and connect with his brothers despite their hatred of him, despair and disappointment. He was quite cute, too.

I also have to give mention the infamous villainess, who was played by Caroline Ambrose. What can I say: like her ancient counterpart, she was refined and sophisticated outside, coarse and vile on the inside. When she was practising her crocodile tears in front of a mirror, I wanted to hurl something at her.

Which brings me to another aspect I loved about this film. It made me think about how despite the differences in time period, underlying circumstances and situations are still the same. Favouritism creates problems. Jealousy among siblings occur. Bored, silly people attempt to have affairs - and unleash hell when they are unsuccessful ("hell hath no fury like a woman scorned").
And there are those who make incredible rags-to-riches journeys, whether it be from the prison to Pharaoh's palace, or from a dodgy mental hospital to Wall Street.

That is what I have always loved about Joseph's story. It is timeless. It is as relevant as today's news, as Al likes to say. It is ancient wisdom for a modern world. Joseph was very upright but he was also very human.

But back to Joseph's Gift. Its only weak point was that the ending was too abrupt. It was supposed to be a tear-jerking, dramatic moment: Joseph's reunion with his brothers. Yet the scene was too rushed and therefore left me feeling awkward instead of moved.

Still, this was an excellent and extremely intelligent movie and I highly recommend it. It seems to be one of those little-known films. But that is sometimes the case with some of the best films I've seen.

Now, if only someone would write a really good novel about a modern Joseph....

Though there actually might be one out already. There are so many good things out there I have not heard of.
So if you do know of one, do tell me ASAP. I would greatly appreciate it.


That reminds me. Spotting the modern-day Asenath in this movie might be a bit tricky. When I first saw it, it went over my head. It was Al who pointed out who the Asenath character was. He is far more perceptive than I am.

It seems like she was implied, if that makes sense. Watch the movie and see if you can figure it out. Hint: she appears in the New York sequence as a shy blonde girl.

Pyramids in Sudan!

35 ancient pyramids discovered in Sudan necropolis

At least 35 small pyramids, along with graves, have been discovered clustered closely together at a site called Sedeinga in Sudan.

Discovered between 2009 and 2012, researchers are surprised at how densely the pyramids are concentrated. In one field season alone, in 2011, the research team discovered 13 pyramids packed into roughly 5,381 square feet, or slightly larger than an NBA basketball court.

They date back around 2,000 years to a time when a kingdom named Kush flourished in Sudan. Kush shared a border with Egypt and, later on, the Roman Empire. The desire of the kingdom's people to build pyramids was apparently influenced by Egyptian funerary architecture.

Full article here.

Thanks to Al for showing me this.

The Adventures of Al & Anna Revisited

Al has created a blog about our recent trip, so you can now read about the events from his point of view. In other words, rich and in-depth historical information, laced with his classic sense of humour.

Day Trips From Lexington KY

As you will see, he additionally presents it in such a way that it gives tips and advice to potential visitors to Lexington (which is one of the loveliest cities I've ever seen). So if you're thinking of heading there and want a travel guide, Al's blog would be a good place to start.


While I'm at it, I ought to mention that Al has a free Egyptian ebook offering. It is entitled Egypt's Light, and it is an epic poem retelling the glorious history of Ancient Egypt, both the mythological and the historical aspects. Epic verse is a very beautiful but sadly forgotten art, so this is really worth something looking into.

This be a short blurb:

Relive the mystery and the magic of Ancient Egypt. Witness the creation of the Gift of the Nile amid the primeval waters and the struggle of the gods to bring kingship to the land. Follow the triumphs and the tragedies of Pharaohs, priests, and people as they built wonders that dazzle us today -- wonders of which only ruins remain. Relive a life that will dazzle the world as long as humans endure. 

So, click here to get it from Smashwords. Did I mention it does not cost a single cent?

(And while you're at it, you might want to look up Al's other offerings on Smashwords. Some are free, some are not - but very, very cheap.)

Meet Choco

Well, let me introduce my new furbaby. This is a long overdue post, by the way, for she has actually been with me for about three months now. But I wanted to bide some time before writing about her, as I wanted to get to know her well.

I was not ready to get another dog so soon. However, some people advised me that it would be good to do so, certainly not to replace Chestnut, but to fill in the bleak void she had left behind.
And I suppose they do have a point, because there are always puppies in need of good homes.

Then, my 'rents gifted me with this:

Meet Chocolate. Choco, for short.

Though I was undoubtedly happy to have Choco in my life, I was also overwhelmed at first since I was still dealing with my grief. However, little Choco quickly warmed her way into my heart.

Just recently, I discovered that she is actually related to Chestnut! Several times removed though; especially being that Choco is a mini dachshund while Chestnut was a standard.
But still! It's like having a part of Chestnut still with me.

However, Choco is - I guess you could say - the "anti-Chestnut." She gets easily spooked at even the slightest noises or movements. She hides a lot too. And she's not a bottomless pit.

But she is still a dachshund, so she still has some of that "fire" in her. She goes after cats and barks at new people. Her bark is surprisingly deep and resonating for a little dog; I guess that is what comes with being a hound. (I remember reading of one woman who said of her furbabies, "They're not dogs. They're hounds.") On the day I got Choco from her original humans, I saw her nipping at the family's older dogs and running in their paths - obviously trying to dominate them.

Choco is a bit more sociable than Chestnut was, in the sense that she won't try to drive visitors away. However, she does shy away from them and prods me to carry her. I suppose she is afraid that the new people will take her away.

After Choco got used to her new family, she got in touch with her hunter's instincts. Like Chestnut, she loves to walk around the garden with her nose to the ground. Once in a while, I see her eating random objects - leaves, seeds, etc. The other day, she ate a scrap of paper.

Also, like Chestnut, she's fairly independent. Sometimes, she likes to do her own thing. She's not needy. I think a lot of dachshunds are like that, and that is what makes them easy to care for.

She will be turning 1 year old this coming 17 March.

And - she has eyelashes that look almost like a person's.

Welcome, Choco!

Just recently, I noticed that she has a little round pink belly which becomes especially prominent when she lies on her side. Look, she's sleepy.... zzzz...