"Monolithic" Pop Culture References #63

Ever searching for news about Rapa Nui, this blog's administrator comes across many references to Rapa Nui and its famous moai. Often, these references are quite comical and have nothing to do with the island or the culture of Rapa Nui. Other times, they appear to be speculative, based more on misconceptions than reality, or downright bizarre. Here are some of the more recent references:

New World Syndrome
Atlantic Online - Jul 25, 2007
(Easter Island, in Polynesia, was then supporting a population of at least 7000 with roughly the same land mass and a less hospitable climate. ...

Maldives: Islands in the sun
Ceylon Daily News, Sri Lanka - Jul 25, 2007
... from ancient mounds bore a striking resemblance to figures he had investigated on Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean, almost 12 time zones away. ...

JUST ASKIN': XLI
Ether Zone, IL - Aug 3, 2007
And along those lines, do the icons on Easter Island bear a remarkable resemblance to Hugo Chavez? Just askin’: Is Juan Williams the poster boy for feigned ...

Barry Bonds Home Run Watch: Celebrating Hank Aaron
Bleacher Report, CA - Aug 3, 2007
... that the pursuit of such a hallowed record has turned into such a sideshow (think World’s Strongest Man meets one of the big heads of Easter Island). ...

BlizzCon 07: Wrath Of The Lich King Impressions
Game Informer, TX - Aug 4, 2007
The Borean Tundra is home to the Tuskar, and while they weren’t shown, we did see their Easter Island-like stone monuments (with tusks, of course) and a ...

'Meerkat Manor' burrows into your heart
Los Angeles Times, CA - Aug 7, 2007
Standing stock still as they scan the horizon for food and predators, their tiny faces are as watchful and wise as the statues of Easter Island. ...

World of Roleplayers sponsors the "Find General British" Beta event
MMORPG blog - Aug 8, 2007
... as well as learn about how the artists themselves drew inspiration from the ever-so-mysterious Easter Island, with its gigantic monoliths. ...

Critique of New7Wonders

Why Go? The World’s ‘New 7 Wonders’
Sara Benson, L.A. Times Travel Deal Detective
Los Angeles Times
Aug 8, 2007

Critique: Not everyone was excited about the ‘New 7 Wonders’ contest, from residents of Easter Island to the British, who didn’t cast enough votes for Stonehenge. I’m not a checklist traveler, although obviously a lot of people are (just look at the popularity of the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die, now a TV show on the Discovery Channel). When it comes to the wonders of world, the most impressive that I’ve been to is Cambodia’s Angkor Wat – and yes, I did vote for it in the N7W contest.

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Royal Caribbean to visit Rapa Nui

Royal Caribbean Announces 2008-09 Seasonal South America Cruises
Earthtimes.org
Aug 7, 2007

Depending on the itinerary, guests onboard Radiance of the Seas have the option of the Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls cruisetour or a five-night Easter Island and Chile cruisetour, which includes hotel stays and sightseeing tours in Santiago, Chile, and the ecological preserve of Easter Island.

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Theme park in Shenzhen has "Easter Island" replica

Switzerland comes to Shenzhen
Catherine Jiang
Asia Sentinel
06 August 2007

Shenzhen, itself, with virtually no authentic cultural or historic attractions of its own, hardly lacks for theme parks. Window of the World was the city’s first stab at giving tourists a global experience on a reduced scale, with smaller versions of the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Easter Island, the Matterhorn, Notre Dame, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Stonehenge, Mount Fuji and more, including bikini-clad women prancing to “Sex Bomb” in the “Cultural Palace.”

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Moai-inspired topiary in Essex, England

The Leylandi-eyes on guard in my garden
Daily Mail
Last updated at 19:23pm on 1st August 2007










Mr Geiger used gardening clippers and string to create the characters, which are styled on the faces of the Moai statues on Easter Island in the South Pacific.

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New7Wonders not including Rapa Nui

List of architectural wonders announced
HeraldNet, WA - Jul 15, 2007
... the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the stone statues on Chile's Easter Island, Australia's Sydney Opera House, Cambodia's Angkor, ...

Tourism prospects enhanced for the seven ‘new’ wonders
Monday Morning, Lebanon - Jul 26, 2007
Losing out among the frontrunners on the short-listed sites were the Acropolis in Athens, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the statues on Easter Island, ...

Rapa Nui: We're a World Wonder오
마이뉴스, South Korea - Jul 27, 2007
I had all my fingers crossed just to hear Ben Kingsley saying that Easter Island's moai were chosen to be one of the new wonders... but it didn't happen. ...

Machu Picchu's Odyssey from Hidden Treasure to New World Wonder
PR.com (press release), NY - Jul 28, 2007
The finalists were the following: The Acropolis, Greece - Alhambra, Spain - Angkor, Cambodia - Statues of Easter Island, Chile - Eiffel Tower, ...

Make your own Moai at the Woodbury Public Library

At the Woodbury Public Library
The Photo News
Jul 28, 2007

Monday, July 30, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Middle School “YNK - You Never Know” activity program at the Central Valley branch entitled “History’s Mysteries.” Explore Atlantis, Stonehenge, crop circles and make your own Easter Island Moai. Open to all residents of the Town of Woodbury and the Monroe-Woodbury School District who are entering Grades 6-9. Call 928-2114 to sign up.

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Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes for book club reading

Book groups, other resources available
Holly Teasdle
South Lyon Herald
Jul 26, 2007

Nov. 21, 2007: Easter Island: a novel, Jennifer Vanderbes. It is 1913. Elsa Pendleton travels from England to Easter Island with her husband, an anthropologist sent by the Royal Geographical Society to study the colossal moai statues, and her younger sister. What begins as a familial duty for Elsa becomes a grand adventure.

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