‘Egyptomania’ grips Houston

by Sean McLachlan on

The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, has just opened a new exhibition exploring the West’s fascination with ancient Egypt.

“Egyptomania” collects forty objects from the Egyptian revivals of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. This was the time when the West became widely aware of the great civilization of Egypt and started excavating there. Cutting open mummies became popular entertainment, the rich collected Egyptian artifacts, and it seemed like everyone wanted to own something in the Egyptian style — like this Art Deco perfume bottle shown here in a photo courtesy MFAH. It was designed by Baccarat c. 1930. Other items on display are Egyptian-style furniture, garden sphinxes (much cooler than garden gnomes) and even Egyptian asparagus tongs.

Visitors to the museum can get a double dose of ancient Egypt right now because the traveling exhibition “Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs” is on display through April 15. This exhibition features more than a hundred artifacts, most of which have never been shown in the U.S. prior to this tour.

If this isn’t enough to stave off your Egyptomaniacal cravings, I suggest a trip to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium in San Jose, California. This place is a strange hybrid of serious museum and cultish quackery founded by a modern spiritual group inspired by ancient Egypt.

“Egyptomania” runs from March 18 through July 29.

Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California

by Elizabeth Seward on

A little over a year ago, when I flew out to Tahoe to learn how to ski, I didn’t expect to wind up traveling north on Highway 1 looking for a Glass Beach. My ski weekend evolved easily and quickly into an extended stay in Northern California wherein I rented a car to both drive and sometimes sleep in as I explored the Bay Area and beyond. On a whim, I decided to spend my birthday at Vichy Springs in Ukiah. The alluring springs took me north but I took the long route, the route that parallels the Pacific Ocean. My plan was to get as far north as Fort Bragg for the sole purpose of setting my eyes on Glass Beach and then to loop back down to Ukiah. Glass Beach was once a dump, but once-sharp pieces of broken glass have now dulled and polished naturally, creating a multi-colored beach like no other. I never got to Fort Bragg. I pulled over on the side of the serene highway for a nap and woke up with barely enough time to make it to Ukiah before midnight. C’est la vie. One day I’ll visit Glass Beach. If you’d like to get there yourself, learn more about the special beach by reading this story from UnfinishedMan.com.

Photo of the Day: another Internet cat photo

by Meg Nesterov on

If you spend much time searching the Internet, you’ll find millions of photos of cats. People spend hours browsing sites like ICanHasCheezburger? and CuteOverload to find funny or adorable images of animals. You might say that cat photos (okay, probably porn too) are the backbone of the Internet. Animals are a favorite photo subject of travelers as well, whether we’re marveling at the number of street cats in Istanbul or whale watching in California. Flickr user canomike spotted this lady in Thailand about to contribute more cat photos to the world and having a great time with her subjects.

Share your favorite animal photos in the Gadling Flickr pool for a future Photo of the Day.

Serene sunsets and self-reflection in Southern California

by Jessica Festa on

Who doesn’t love a gorgeous sunset? While nothing compares to seeing one in person, these photos of Southern California sunsets by Nick Chill are just as good, if not better, than viewing a setting sun with your own eyes. According to Chill, the trick is getting away from the developed coastline and clean, sandy beaches.

“You can still find high cliffs, rocky surf, and other beautifully natural settings from which to view the warm Pacific sunsets,” he explains in an interview. “Another challenge to photographing sunsets in Southern California is the inherent lack of clouds. While this is a dream for tourists, photographers aren’t so enthusiastic about a clear sky. Clear blue skies tend to make for less dramatic images.”

While most people can agree sunsets make for moving moments, it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint exactly why this is.

For Chill, it is a magical time of day. “As the sun gets low in the sky, it casts a warm light over the land that seems to make everything beautiful. It’s sometimes hard to see the beauty of life when you are toiling away, at work or at home, but the magical light of sunrise and sunset is always there to remind us that life is beautiful. To watch the sun set over the horizon reminds me of the impermanence of life. It’s really a very spiritual, self-reflective experience for me, and I do my best to try and share that experience with the viewers of my work.”

To get a better idea of what he means, check out the gallery below.

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California cooking classes teach artisanal, local food-crafting

by Meg Nesterov on

Cooking classes are nothing new, but how about learning how to roast your own coffee beans, brew beer at home, or even prepare a roast chicken from scratch, including catching the bird? The Southern California-area Institute of Domestic Technology brings farm-to-table eating to a new level with workshops focusing on hyper-local food-crafting of everything from dairy products to artisanal mustard.

Classes are currently posted for March and April, with a few more on the schedule for early summer. Most workshops are around or under $200 including ingredients and lunch, and held at or near the Institute’s headquarters at Mariposa Creamery, north of Pasadena. The coffee roasting class will be held on April 28 with fees of $95 for supplies and snacks. The classes are a tasty way to take a piece of California home, and learn how to eat locally, wherever you are.

Photo courtesy Institute of Domestic Technology Facebook page.