Rivals of Jesus

Rivals of Jesus - a programme produced by National Geographic

1. Apollonius of Tyana (13 March 2 – 98?)

2. Simon the Magician

3. Simon Bar Kokhba (revolt in 132AD)

4. Mithras (from 2nd and 1st centuris BC)

5. Isis (firstly found Egyptian record 2498-2345BC)

6. John the Baptist (30AD) - Mandaeanism

7. Nag Hammadi Library (buried around 400AD)

Match Point

The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn't and you lose.



Theme Song: Una furtiva lagrima by Enrico Caruso
downloadable at http://www.archive.org/details/Caruso_part2

(L'elisir d'amore)(One tear that falls so furtively)

Una furtiva lagrima

Negli occhi suoi spunto:

Quelle festosee giovaniInvidiar sembro.

Che piu cercando io vo?

M'ama, lo vedo.

Un solo instante i palpiti

Del suo bel cor sentir!

I miei sospir, confonderePer poco a' suoi sospir!

Cielo, si puo morir!Di piu non chiedo.

SYNOPSES(L'elisir d'amore)

Nemorino is in love with a wealthy girl, but she says she isn't interested in poor boys like him. Desperate, he buys a "Love potion" that only turns out to be cheap red wine. And yet, Nemorino believes the "Elixir" will work. When he sees her cry, he knows she has fallen for him at last.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

One tear that falls so furtively

from her sweet eyes has just sprung,

as if she envied all the youths

who laughingly passed her right by.

What could I want more than this?

She loves me! I see it.

One moment just to hear her heart,

beating so close next to mine,

to hear my sighs like they were hers,

her sighings as if they were mine!

Heavens, please take me now:

All that I wanted is mine now!

Leonardo Da Vinci

1. Highlights of his Life

2. His signatures and writing style

3. His messages in his paintings, esp. fingers

Last Supper

Look deeply into this master piece !

For zoomable version http://milano.arounder.com/da_vinci_last_supper/fullscreen.html

Left-side Characters (in group of three):

1. Bartholomew, James the Lesser and Andrew

2. Judas Iscariot, Peter and John

Right-side Characters (in group of three)

3. Thomas, James Major and Philip

4. Matthew, Jude Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot

The Last Supper (in Italian, Il Cenacolo or L'Ultima Cena) is a mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Lodovico Sforza. It represents the scene of The Last Supper from the final days of Jesus as depicted in the Bible. The painting is based on John 13:21, which Jesus announced that one of his 12 disciples would betray him.

The fresco is 460 × 880 cm and can be found in the refectory of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy.

Leonardo began work on The Last Supper in 1495 and completed it in 1498 — however, he did not work on the piece continuously throughout this period.

Trivia:

1. The different knotting style of the table cloth:

2. Peter(?)'s left hand was holding a knife

3. Leonardo's self portrait appeared in the painting

4. Where's the cup, the chalice, the holy grail?

According to "The Secret Supper" by Javier Sierra. The sequence of the apostles can unveil a pharse as follows: BELIEVE IT OR NOT !!!!

From Left to Right(Looker View):

1. Bartholomew (Mirabilis- He Who is Miraculous)

2. James the Less (Venustus- He Who is Full of Grace)

3. Andrew (Temperator- He Who Prevents)

4. Judas Iscariot (Nefandus- The Abominable One)

5. Peter (Exosus- He Who Hates)

6. John (Mysticus-He Who Knows the Mystery)

7. Jesus Christ (A)

8. Thomas (Litator- He Who Placates the God)

9. James the Elder (Oboediens- He Who Obeys)

10. Philip (Sapiens- He Who Loves High Matter)

11. Matthew (Navus- He Who is Diligent)

12. Judas Thaddeus (Occultator- He Who Conceals)

13. Simon (Confector- He Who Fulfills)

The order of the alphabets is "MVT NEM A LOS NOC". In Latin, V=U, so the revised order will be "MUTNEMALOSNOC". The secret writing style of Leonardo leads the writing order to be "CONSOLAMENTUM" which means Baptism of Holy Spirit in accordance to Carthars, a heretic religion.

On the right side of the table, there is a different knot from the smooth knot on the right side. On the Left side, it's the most LIGHT and BRIGHT region where Leonardo painted himself as Judas Thaddeus. It's very obvious to convey the region of Gnostic ideas- Dualism, the light and dark, the good and evil, and Leonardo is at the bright side.

Dracula

Inspired when reading "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova (Her first debut)

Vlad III Dracula (November or December, 1431–December 1476), has also been known as Dracula (also Drăculea — see below, or Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş in Romanian). Vlad III was the voivode, or prince, of the principality of Wallachia (what is today an informal region in southern Romania). His three reigns were in 1448, from 1456 to 1462, and 1476.

He led an independent policy in relation to the Ottoman Empire, and in Romania at least he is best remembered as a Christian knight crusading against Islamic expansionism into Europe. He is known in Turkish as the Impaler Prince, and is a popular folk hero Romania even today.

He got the title of vampire and acted as the main character firstly appeared at Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.

Vlad was very likely born in the Transylvanian city. He was hostaged in Ottoman empire during his early life with his younger brother, Ruth.

I missed

It must a long while I didn't come here to drop a few lines.

I plan to make this Blog as my reading journey, to note what I'm going to read, what I have bought, etc. It must be fun and interesting.

The very previous book I read and I can recall is "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. It's not exciting book which full of poetic senses and European Medival atmosphere. The story is about Dracula.

I don't tell anything about Takaki Naoko. I read all her pictures which have been translated into Chinese. I should have read the Japanese versions but I feel lazy to check up JPN dictionary for this kind of leisure reading.

Now, I'm reading "Secret Supper" by Javier Sierra. Anything about Da Vinci is top heat recently. I read twice Da Vinci Code within the last 2 years. This Secret Supper, read about 150 pages. I don't know I should blame the author or the translator. The English version is not very good. The plot is not very page catching nor page turning. This story takes advantages of the recent Da Vinci heat, looking another angle of the fresco in Saint Mary church in Milan - Last Supper. So far I sensed the subtle elements like "the different knots on either side of the table. I checked that the right one is called "Knot of Isis", and there is a painting of Mary Magdalene whose dress shows this knot too. Author mentioned the similar look between James and Jesus.

One week before I start this Secret Supper. I bought a BBC documentary DVD about Life of Leonardo Da Vinci. It helps a bit for me to understand the background of the story.

I watched the movie version of Da Vinci Code last Sunday. This movie is sucked. I hate the look of Robert Langdon by Tom Hans. His long hair ......gag me. Main actress' English has very heavy French accent. The movie changed partly the original story. I mostly can't stand Tom Hans argue with Sir Leigh about Holy Grail and the marriage with Mary Magdalene. Robert Langdon is not a christian. I can't find point why he argued with Sir Leigh. Anyway, I feel asleep a while in IFC theatre.