Royal BC Museum - Egypt in the Time of the Pharaohs

The Royal BC museum brought in an exhibit on Egypt in the time of the pharaohs and will be here until the 31st of December. My wife and I took her parents whom were in town and we all quite enjoyed it.

It was divided into eight areas that each told a different part of life in Egypt during that time: landscape and climate, Religion and the Gods, the pharaohs, sacred spaces, script and the emergence of state, personal adornment, and secret spaces.

Some of the artifacts features are over 4000 years old and are types that I had not seen in person before. The flow of travel through the exhibit give an excellent view of Egyptian life as a jumping off point for more discovery.

 Bronze shrew, 6th to 3rd century BCE. It was quite tiny!

 Wooden boat from ~1800 BCE.

Stele and statues of Bes, the Egyptian god who defended households, mothers, children and represented childbirth. Started before the dynastic Nile times and spread to Syria and the Roman Empire.

 Glass from 1550-1200 BCE.

  Tomb Stela of Ta-Mut-Ankh, daughter of a priest, 664-525 BCE.

 Statue of the Falcon avatar of Horus of Nemty. 

 Stela of a female singer, 3rd century BCE.

 Painter's palette with five colours, 1550-1100 BCE.

 Collar with pomegranate pendants, 3rd to 1st century BCE.

 Stela of Iunu, an important administrator for King Khufu whom was given the title of "son of a king". One of the best preserved of its kind. It shows all the preferred foods that Iunu would like to eat in the afterlife.

Looking forward to next years exhibit on the Maya.

Cornish Orchards Ginger Beer

Cornish Orchards Alcoholic Ginger Beer is a delicious ginger beer and low in alcohol %. It had been a while since I had seen a new ginger beer in the area and gave it a try. Delicious, great ginger taste, and refreshing. I'd buy it again.

Reinhart Red Apple Light Cider

Reinhart Cider is from a family owned company over 100 years old. I decided to try it as it was new to the area and low in % of alcohol, my preference for ciders. It was delicious and had a strong taste of apples, as a good cider should. Highly recommended.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 12 September 2018

Indonesia Traditional Songs: This fellow is an ethnomusicologist and is traveling in Indonesia recording musicians and making them available to listen to. Cool.

Tolerance for Ambiguity leads to more Trust:  Interesting study at Brown University indicates that trust occurs more in groups that are more willing to accept uncertain outcomes.

All the Cities founded by Ancient Greece that still Exist: Very cool!

New way of Coating metal for Electronics: It bonds the platinum/gold mixture not for hardness resistance but by temperature resistance.

A Collection of Music Played at K-Mart: Seriously. For those that want a different kind of elevator music playing in the background, this guy has digitized a bucket load of tapes from the K-Mart he worked at.

Telling Depression from Bipolar: Using an MRI, the Westmead Institute can look at the neurons in the amygdala. This part of the brain reacts differently depending on the condition.
New Insulin Drug Repairs Pancreas: By regrowing the insulin making beta cells in the pancreas, it means no more insulin shots and a cheaper cost for government sponsored health care.

Hornby - Wine, Mead, and Cider

We stopped off at three places on Hornby that produce alcohol.

The first was Fossil Beach Farm. It is set by the shore in an 80 acre plot of land that they are leasing from the original decendants of the family that own it. They have cleverly crafted a cider for every taste: Hops based for beer drinkers, lime infused for margarita lovers, dry for wine drinkers...etc.

 They also have yurts to rent for glamping.

 Next was Isla de Lerna (the original Spanish name for the island). Their wines were nice and I really liked their blackberry dessert wine. They also have a kitchen on site with pizza, wings, baked goods, and more.

 Lastly was Middle Mountain Mead. Be warned, do not bike up the mountain unless you are in shape to do so. We made that mistake several years ago.

 As you can see from the view it is quite high up. We had a flight of meads and I purchased a three liter Magick Mead. That's right, they sell three liter tetra packs!

Hornby - Helliwell Park

Always a great park to walk through, Helliwell Park always pleases the eye.

  Be aware, stay away from areas marked with these signs. They probably mean that there are loose rocks on the edge but could also mean that either aliens can abduct you or rapture incidents occur here.

The safe areas are marked with these concrete pucks attached to rope on the ground.

 A pack of otters swam by and it was fun to watch them.

Honby - Heron Rocks Beach

Heron Rocks always has nice relaxing vistas and things to see.