It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon. Or, rather, I’m being lazy this Sunday afternoon. In a little over 24 hours, I’m supposed to leave for Turkey and Egypt for three weeks, and as of this moment I haven’t lifted a finger to begin packing. I am relaxing, as it were.
It’s been a heck of a couple of weeks. I’ve run three workshops — the last one was the orientation for another group going to Turkey who left yesterday morning. Now that they’re gone, I’m barely able to grasp the concept that I, myself, am leaving. Tomorrow. So, instead of getting ready to go, I’m going to blog about it instead. Ha!
Ray’s parents were visiting — they left this morning. I barely got to see them since this last workshop was the sort that involves me playing host at breakfast, lunch, and dinner (I did eat well). Yesterday, before my marathon two hour nap that is part of my effort to not begin my trip already physically exhausted, we all went to see the new Transformers movie, Revenge of the Fallen.
Some things you might be interested in knowing about it up front:
- Even Ray, the one who really wanted to go, said it was “OK.” This is tantamount to saying it wasn’t very good.
- Megan Fox is not a good actress, but she’s hardly the worst actress in the movie.
- Shia LeBeouf is going to have to stop playing a teenager soon.
However, the part of the movie that started making my head hurt was the utterly ridiculous sequence set in the Egyptian desert in which the filmmakers used very famous landmarks apparently banking on the audience not knowing where they are located. That and the continuity gaffes were appalling.
To whit (potential spoilers ahead):
Part of the plot involves, for no particular reason as far as I can see, the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, which our friendly geography specialist announces, “is where Egypt and Jordan meet.” Thats’ not quite true: Egypt and Jordan don’t meet there because Israel is located between them. Lest the movie be accused of being anti-semitic for pretending Israel isn’t there, Jordan seems to be flexible. By which I mean, it apparently gets up and moves out of the way when it would be too inconvenient to recognize that an international border is being crossed.
In fact, based on all of the GPS technology and maps, it would appear that the climax of the film takes place in Saudi Arabia, another country denied its due as a member of the club of countries that border the Gulf of Aqaba (Jordan having only 9 miles of coastline).
Lest this be a problem in and of itself, the pyramids of Giza are conveniently relocated (by Michael Bay) to be located on the Gulf of Aqaba itself. (Again, in what should very clearly be Saudi Arabia). To be fair, they’re never specifically identified as the pyramids of Giza, but if that were the case they could have used less recognizable pyramids.
The pyramids of Giza, for those not in the know, are no longer on the outskirts of Cairo — now, they’re kind of within the urban area itself. At various times during the scenes that follow, you might be able to see Cairo itself in the background. Sometimes it’s replaced by desert, giving the sites the appearance of being out in the middle of nowhere. Once it seems to have inexplicably been replaced with Los Angeles, with the telltale skyline quite clearly visible in the background.
We won’t even get started on the concrete quarry located at the base of the pyramids itself.
There’s another intriguing play with geography involving John Turturro’s character. The pyramid that plays a critical role (I won’t say what it is) is quite clearly the number two pyramids: the pyramid of Khafra (sometimes spelled Kahfre or Chephren). It’s distinctive because part of the smooth limestone casing remains covering the top portion — it’s the only one of the three at Giza that still has part of that original casing. Turturro is shown at the bottom of this pyramid, and then, when we go to close up, it appears behind him while he’s supposedly still standing at the bottom of it. Clearly those scenes were filmed at the base of the next one over.
Another interesting move in the film is that Karnak temple, located 350 miles south of Cairo, is relocated to the foot of the pyramids. Which were supposedly undiscovered. Next to a big city. Next to a source of navigable water. And — another favorite — within shouting distance of the ruins of Petra … which, in a nod to Jordan’s new geographic flexibility, is located in Egypt.
I’m willing to forgive oversights in geography from time to time, but this was too much for my brain to handle. I instead amused myself by identifying where the scenes were filmed (this being how I noticed LA suddenly replacing Cairo in one take).
Anyway. My vote on the movie as a whole is to save it for video … if you’re really interested.
The drier has dinged and it’s probably time to drag out the suitcase now. Happy weekend!
