Tuesday, July 31, 2007

39 and all laid up - but not in a good way


Well, last week saw me edge that little bit closer to 40, but I spent the bulk of the week a little poorly. Shivers, sweats, joints throbbing, head aching etc. Fun.

A positive though was the opportunity to spend two sick days familiarising myself with Egypt (we fly out on 1 Oct): watched the four hours of Mankiewicz's Cleopatra (spectacular and ordinary at the same time), and the much more wonderful six hour BBC documentary Egypt. What extraordinary people were the likes of Jean-Francois Champollion, Giovanni Belzoni and Howard Carter - passionate, driven, quirky and not suffering fools. And then there's Cleopatra - character actors playing characters, stars playing themselves, and Liz' costumes getting a billing all their own. Was there any higher light than Richard O'Sullivan (Robin from Robin's Nest, Man About the House etc) and his star turn as the spoilt brat Pharaoh Ptolemny XIII - whining and pouting to give Liz a run for her money.

Two stars from me. And four stars for BBC's Egypt.

2 comments:

Will said...
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Will said...

I didn't realise you were so old, I think you could probably get away with 29. Glad you are feeling better and I look forward to more info on your Egyptian itinerary.

I can so recommend Luxor and Luxor and Karnak Temples. Life changing stuff and far better than the valley of the kings.