Wednesday - Homeward Bound

Despite the ship’s roll in the heavy swells, I slept like the proverbial log. I feel sorry for folks who are afflicted with mal de mer because they must miss a lot. 

Today began with a mistake, but it turned out ok. I thought I was going to Dr. Schroder’s lecture on mummies, instead I ended up listening to Johnny Beerling ramble on about The Beatles. He was the BBC Radio 1 producer tasked with creating the multi episode program The Beatles’ Story: A 20th Century Fairytale in 13 Parts which aired on BBC Radio 1 beginning May 27, 1972. While some of the audio clips of people he interviewed were interesting, most were so garbled that I couldn’t understand what was being said. The video clips were nearly as bad, as many came from home cameras. I wished Jacks DeYoung’s father were here, as he would have cornered Beerling and had a most delightful chat. I was kind of bummed when Beerling announced that the intricacies of copyright made it impossible for the program to be sold, though he had encountered a few bootleg copies in the US. One tidbit I wondered if Jack’s dad knew was that the night the group appeared on Ed Sullivan for the first time, the viewers numbered 93 million and the NYPD recorded the fewest number of hubcaps stolen in one night in more than 40 years! Another tidbit for Mr. DeYoung was the audio clip of a parody of “Come Together” created by WABC’s Bill Meeks as a promo for the Beatles' American performances. 

After that was darts in the Golden Lion. Intriguing to watch, but, alas, another sport at which I utterly sucked. I’m beginning to believe anything requiring physical coordination and competency is not in my future, other than walking and swimming. 

I was intrigued by the lecture on knowing your roots, until I realized it was basically a plug for ancestry.com, so I scooted out of there and headed for a walk through the shops, just in case anything struck my fancy. I did find tins for Letreze, Rhoda and Jean, which when emptied can be used for needles or pins. Nothing for Janet has appealed to me. I also have trinkets for Dr. Munipalli and Audrey. I’m kind of glad my souvenir shopping is nearly ended. 

RADA performed Much Ado About Nothing, one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies, so I spent an hour bemused and amused, by the Bard in modern dress and staging. 

Ran into Karen and Richard at high tea in the Queen’s Room. I really enjoy the atmosphere of this event, but loathe the elbow-to-elbow conditions as so many folk are crowded in a small space. That said, warm scones and cream can make up for a lot of inconvenience. 

I missed knitting to hear Dr. Schroder’s lecture. I arrived early enough to chat with her for a few moments about Neanderthal in Siberia crossing the land bridge into Alaska and the North American continent. She said there was mo evidence to suggest that happened but there were Native American myths and stories and some art suggesting pale-faced, blue-eyed demons came from far away to cause strife in the tribes. She also offered there was no evidence to suggest Neanderthal had any boat building abilities, despite The Mediterranean and Black Sea being integral to their stomping grounds. I found her fascinating. 

“Unwrapping Mummies” was as informative and entertaining as her previous lectures. I didn’t know how many other civilizations had mummies. Despite Egypt producing nearly 7 million, only a few exist of their type as they used to be buried at the edge of the Nile and moved when the annual inundation occurred. Mummies have also been found in the southwest USA, Peru and Japan. One particular mummy type is peculiar to the Chinchara of Panama. They skinned the corpse, cleaned out the innards, stuffed the bones with leaves, twigs, and loam to reshape the. body, put the skin back on, then covered the whole thing in clay and painted it when it dried. Somehow as I type this, it seems totally gross, but when I listened to her, it was just intriguing. She offered the tidbit that famous painting, The Scream, was created after the Bosch (I think) saw an exhibition of a  Chinchara mummy who’d lost the clay around its mouth. And back to teeth. Egyptian mummies have awful teeth because the grit from sand was in everything they ate and literally ground down their enamel. She showed a 5,000 year old mummy who had a gold bridge made for his front lower teeth, to hold two teeth not of his DNA in place so he had a full set. I was also fascinated by the CT scans as they revealed muscle, tissue and arteries before being taken to a high lever of scanning to show the bones. 

Dinner was Room Service. What a wonderful indulgence! 

I saved a seat for Karen at the cocktail party. Captain Hashmi revealed a great sense of humor as right after he was introduced, he turned and brought a chair from the bandstand, putting it behind/ him and remarking, just in case the roll is too great. Not 2 minutes into his welcome, the ship gave a huge roll and he immediately sat. Something Chris Wells would never have done. I was ticked the Dr. Yvonne and her husband won the award for most traveled. She’s the white-hired, curls for a pompadour traveler. 

The folks who sat with me and Karen kept ordering drinks, so we were a bit looped. I declined to hear the Big Band night entertainment and headed for my cabin and a shower and bed. 

Another good day.