The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium

Yesterday - David and I ventured out to San Jose's Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium. It had been on our adventure list for months - and we finally did it. It is situated rather unassumingly in a residential neighborhood. Suddenly across the street from Herbert Hoover Middle School - is an Egyptian temple.

I laughed with David that it reminded me a lot of the Luxor in Las Vegas... very stylized and almost amusement park in it's landscape and park design. The complex takes up a city block - with a "peace garden" and an auditorium/planetarium. We started at the exhibits - which seperated the subject matter into birth, living, afterlife and royalty. The museum specializes in the ancient city of Tell el Amarna, the city of the King Akhenaten, Tutankhamen's father.

Although most exhibit pieces are 'recreations' - they museum had some astounding pieces and was presented very well. I learned all sorts of new things about the civilization and particularly new things about the role birth played in society. Apparently a good 50% of Egyptian births ended in the death of the child or the mother - a successful birth - particularly amongst royalty was seen as a generous gift from the gods and was celebrated with a week long set of rituals. The Mother and child would spend the first few days in isolation - with only priestesses attending to them. Apparently this was true of even the poorest of families - then the mother and child would be lifted up on a platform and paraded through town showing that the new child was strong and the mother would become the spiritual guide for the child.

In another section of the museum they showed the influence of other cultures - and included a "scroll" from Nebecanezzar from 604 BC. (pictured right) The scroll, written on a cylinder, was written in cuneform and the museum kept it in a sealed vacuum temperature controlled chamber.

David and I spent a couple of hours walking through the space - and it included a lovely room talking about the afterlife and the different tombs of the Nile. Since the dynasty the museum specializes in is that of King Tut's father - there is a replica of Tut's sarcophagus and a discussion (in great detail) of how mummies were made - and there were several different things I learned. Kings in particular - were buried with dozens of cats and baboons who were euthanized and mummified and buried with the same care as the body of the deceased. The Egyptians believed that we had two spirits - or "Ka" - and that one lived outside our body - and the other was the living spirit in our body. and that when one dies - that the two twins merge into one spirit and proceed to the afterlife. Cats and baboons were favorite pets of male kings - while cats and gazelles were the chosen pets of female royalty. And what king wants to head to the afterlife without a few pets to take along, right?

We continued to go to the Planetarium show - which was well - not that great. One parent commented afterward was we were leaving "the kids were very well behaved considering how painfully boring and lame that was."

If you are ever in the area and looking for a truly unique museum, that at least I wouldn't have thought would be hiding in across the street from a middle school in San Jose - it gets a high recommend. Just skip the planetarium and save it for a really great one - perhaps at the Academy of Sciences.

Click here for the full photo set

St. Lawrence String Quartet

David's boss gave us her tickets to this afternoon's performance by the St. Lawrence String Quartet. It was interesting to discover this originally Toronto-based quarter now calls Stanford University here in Palo Alto home - so they played to an enthusiastic home crowd. Their program included the Strauss String Sextet from Capriccio, Berg's Lyric Suite and finally the Dvorak Sextet in A. For their 20th anniversary concert - they played as a sextet with the two members who had moved onto other projects over the 20 years. It made for a thrilling program. The Strauss was playful, lyrical and stunning. The Berg, the ever-modern bizarre atonal music was very intense. It included sounds by the violinists playing wood side down on their bows - and at times hitting the body of the instrument. The contrast between the first two pieces could not have been starker. After intermission they played the beautiful and instantly recognizable Dvorak. Overall a fine fine program. David and I both noticed the "San Francisco factor" at this performance. When you go to the symphony or opera in SF - you see all ages including children. But down here in Palo Alto - it was a much more mature crowd. I was probably the youngest man in the house. It made me wonder what will happen when this generation of benefactors and audience moves on to the afterlife. The St. Lawrence String Quartet is worth seeing if you see them on your classical performances venue's calendar. Check them out at their website.

baked chicken with garlic greens and rice

I baked chicken tonight - lightly breaded and seasoned with red pepper and paprika, served it with long grain rice and a side of Heidi Swanson's Garlicy Golden Kale.

David struggles with greens. We discussed over dinner that they fall somewhere between onions (abomination) and brussel sprouts (simply an affront to the pallette that is never cooked 'properly'). He said after trying the greens that he'd prefer brussel sprouts. The organic produce boxes have introduced David and I both to all sorts of new veggies and seasonal fruit. So perhaps Kale isn't going to be a winner with Dave - it's good for him - and it'll give him stamina for keeping up with me. That is a monumental feat in itself.

Tonight we'll cuddle up on the couch and watch one of my favorite movies based on a favorite book, "Snow Falling on Cedars" which takes place in the San Juan islands north of Seattle prior to, during and just after World War II. It stars the beautiful, delicate and talented Ethan Hawke in the lead.

As usual - it is not as good as the book - but it's a beautifully filmed moody love story and courtroom drama. "...Lingering memories of World War II, internment camps and racism helps fuel suspicion of a Japanese-American fisherman, a lifelong resident of the islands..." It is a story of everyday people pushed to the limit by unforeseen and sometimes tragic circumstances. It's a stunningly filmed story - with cinematography by Robert Richardson who took home Oscars for his work in The Aviator and JFK and was nominated for this film when it was released in 1999. It is also directed by Scott Hicks, who directed award-winning Shine with Geoffrey Rush in 1996.

Many people who haven't read the book aren't as "taken" with this film as I am... but it's a favorite - and I'm very excited to share it with Dave.