Oprah Winfrey introduces Yosemite National Park to her audience

by Kraig Becker on

When it comes to influential television personalities it is difficult to top Oprah Winfrey. After all, the queen of daytime television has been making authors rich for years with her book club and its no secret that her endorsement of a product, sends her audience out to the shopping malls. Now, the National Park Service is hoping they’ll be the recipients of a little Oprah magic thanks to two high profile episodes about her recent camping trip to Yosemite National Park.

Oprah, along with her best friend, the ever-present Gayle King, spent a week in Yosemite awhile back, “roughing it” in a pop-up RV and exploring the stunning landscapes that the park is so well known for. They also found some time to do a little fly fishing, go hiking, and even cooked their meals over an open fire. The first episode of Oprah’s camping adventure aired last Friday and the second is due to be broadcast today. (Check local listings to see when it airs in your area.)

The excursion came about after Ranger Shelton Johnson, who has spent 18 years working for the Park Service, wrote to Oprah asking her to consider visiting Yosemite. Johnson, who is African-American, told the talk show host that not enough black people visited the parks, and that perhaps she could help change that with a visit of her own. With African-Americans making up less than 2% of the visitors, Oprah has her work cut out for her, but these two episodes may bring Yosemite some much needed exposure. It is likely that for many viewers, these shows are giving them their first ever glimpse the place.

Encompassing more than 1200 square miles of California wilderness, Yosemite is best known for it’s legendary rock formations, Half Dome and El Capitan, both of which are popular draws for rock climbers. The park also offers beautiful alpine meadows, giant sequoia trees, and deep mountain valleys, allowing visitors to hike more than 750 miles of trail or bike the 12 stunning miles of the Yosemite Valley. For adventure travelers it is quite the outdoor playground and visitors who just come to take in the view will find plenty to love as well.

As for Oprah, it’s unlikely that she’ll be back soon. While it seems that she and Gayle had a reasonably good time on their outdoor adventure, she did tell her audience “I’d never do that again” in reference to their camp out. I guess we can’t expect her to be hiking the Appalachian Trail after she retires from television next year, huh?

[Photo credit: Oprah.com]

Archaeologists discover buried wall around the Sphinx

by Sean McLachlan on


Archaeologists excavating at the Sphinx have discovered a 3,400 year-old wall around the famous monument.

The wall was built by the pharaoh Thutmose IV (reigned c. 1401-1391 BC) who had a dream in which the Sphinx told him it was choking on sand. The Sphinx itself was probably built during the reign of the pharaoh Khafra (c. 2558-2532 BC), who also built one of the nearby pyramids at Giza.

The archaeologists also found part of a settlement believed to have been for priests tending the cult of Khafra. Egyptian pharaohs were worshiped as gods and had temples dedicated to them. Some Roman Emperors also had mortuary cults and temples.

Now a modern wall is going up around Giza. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the number one tourist draw in the country, the Supreme Council of Egypt wants to keep away artifact hunters as well as the pushy touts who are one of the few downsides to a trip to Egypt.

[Photo courtesy LadyExpat via Gadling’s flickr pool]

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You can help save an ancient Egyptian palace

by Sean McLachlan on


The palace of Egypt’s most enigmatic pharaoh needs your help. Akhenaten ruled from c. 1351-1334 BC and is famous for his devotion to the god Aten, an aspect of the Sun. His worship became more and more exclusive over the years and while he wasn’t a monotheist in the strict sense of the word, he certainly alienated the priests of other temples. He also left the traditional capital and built his own by the Nile at Amarna.

Since 1997 the Amarna Project has been restoring this one-of-a-kind site for posterity. In the spring of 2011 they’re planning a major project to finish work on the Royal Suite, where Akhenaten himself lived. They’ve set up a webpage at JustGiving where you can contribute to the project. Conservation Architect Surésh Dhargalkar and his team will be doing the work, and the donations will go toward their pay and materials. You can read more about their work here.

Once Akhenaten died, the worship of the Aten fell out of favor and his city was abandoned to the sands. Thus Amarna makes a unique slice of time for archaeologists to study and an important place to preserve.

Special thanks to Andie over at the Egyptology blog for bringing this to my attention.

[Photo of Aten temple at Amarna courtesy user Markh via Wikimedia Commons]

San Francisco World Series victory a total riot on FourSquare

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Oh, how the times have changed …

It used to be that fame-whores would look for television cameras at riots. With all the beating and smashing and mayhem around them, these unique individuals would invariably find the news crews and get their 15 minutes.

Not this time around.

When the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, a riot broke out … and the check-ins began. The locals were looking for points. I strongly suspect a handful of people were trying to figure out how to become mayor. Riots began to pop up on social media site FourSquare, and there were even tips to help you figure out where the action was.

The most popular was on Polk Street: “Giants Riot On Polk St!!!” There were 208 check-ins and nine tips, including:

  • “Hide yo kids Hide yo wife”
  • “Swarm= 50 || Super Swarm Badge= 250 || Super Duper Swarm=500 || Epic Swarm=1000 … Can we get all of our swarm badges in one night?”
  • “After you get your super swarm badge remember to go vote”

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[Thanks, @SceneByLaurie, via Gawker, photo by alecdet via yfrog]

Eerie underwater sculpture finished in Caribbean

by Sean McLachlan on


If you go diving off Isla Mujeres near Cancun, Mexico, you’ll see more than the usual coral reefs and colorful tropical fish. You’ll see a ghostly crowd of people standing on the bottom of the sea.

Silent Evolution is the creation of Jason de Caires Taylor, who specializes in underwater sculptures cast from real people. Taylor uses inert, PH-neutral concrete that doesn’t pollute the water. The figures attract sea life and become platforms for coral and other marine creatures. With coral reefs on the decline around the world, a little extra help from artists can come in handy. Check out the gallery below to see how life begins to grow on the figures, transforming them from realistic replicas of living people into something alien and a bit spooky.

Taylor took eight months to install the sculptures in a big crowd of talking, walking, and thinking people. The exhibition encourages repeat visits to see how “sea change” transforms the art into a living ecozone.

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