Love

There is nothing greater and yet more painful than love and even more true when you give without conditions with chaste. True love can build you to be the person that you truly are inside as it brings out the best in you. There is no greater gift than the gift of love if it is given without hesitation and without rules. And yet that very reason can break you and turn you into something that you hate. Love truly has no bounds.
I once loved and still do but I know I will never have it for it is beyond my grasp though I understand it thoroughly and truly. I have always given everything when I love and always without conditions save one – love me for who I really am and not what I was or what my past has made me to be. The pains of life effects each of us on a different level and it is also that pain which moulds us into who we are to become. So when you love someone love them without rules and without anticipation and without lust or eagerness. Just love it for while it is there for it can take you far.
Cry when love is lost for it shows that it means something, that it wasn’t just a passing. Cry for it is right, for you have that right to cry for it. Cry for love for it is human and humane. Our tears is what makes us real. Our thoughts can muddle our emotions and our logic can kill our heart. Only love can save us from such a fate as death. If you had only love once in your life, then let that be your saving grace. Let that show you that somewhere out in this vast universe there is a God of some sort that made us out of love.
Sacrifice. That is the payment for love. Sacrifice is the bane of love and yet it is needed. Sometimes you just have to let go of the one thing that you love the most because you love it. You have to let it go if you know that your love will imprison it and suffocate it. Let it go when you know it will hurt the most. That is true love. There can be no greater present than releasing the thing you love most. For love must be free. Love must choose itself. That is the difference between love and lust. Lust will always imprison love.
So, when you love; when you find that one true love; love without rules. Love freely and never chain it down and maybe one day, just maybe, love will love us in return.

Dead Sea Scrolls to Cyberspace

I don't know if any of you would find this interesting but I thought I'd share this information with you. If you have not heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is a series of documents discovered between 1947 and 1979 in eleven caves in and around the Wadi Qumran on the west bank of the Dead Sea. These scrolls are of great religious and historical significance, as they include practically the only known surviving copies of Biblical documents made before 100 AD. Publication of the scrolls has taken many decades, and the delay has been a source of academic controversy. As of 2007 two volumes remain to be completed with the whole series (Discoveries in the Judean Desert) running to thirty nine volumes in total. Many of the scrolls are now housed in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

On Wednesday the 27^th of August 2008, The Guardian, UK reported that scientists and scholars in Jerusalem have begun a programme to take the first high-resolution, digital photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls so they can be made available to the public on the internet. Now begins the task of photographing some 15 to 20 thousand fragments to make up 900 scrolls. The project is estimated to take up to 5 years and millions of dollars starting with coloured photography, then infra-red and finally a sophisticated multi-spectral imaging camera, that will distinguish the ink from the parchment and papyrus on which the scrolls were written. The imaging spectroscopy, a borrowed technology used by NASA, will for the first time allow the condition of the scrolls to be properly monitored in a non-invasive way to aid conservation by detecting any changes in the scrolls before they become visible to the curators. Pnina Shor, the head of the Artefacts Treatment and Conservation Department, Israel Antiquities Authority said, “The aim in the end is that you can go online and call up the scrolls with the best possible resolution and all the information that exists about them today. We want to provide opportunities for future research on the scrolls. We feel it's part of our duty to expose them to the world as a whole.”

The significance of the scrolls relates in a large part to the field of textual criticism of Christian Theology. Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible were Masoretic texts dating to 9th century. The biblical manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls push that date back to the 2nd century BC. Before this discovery, the earliest extant manuscripts of the Old Testament were in Greek in manuscripts such as Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus. Although a few of the biblical manuscripts found at Qumran differ significantly from the Masoretic text, most do not. The scrolls thus provide new variants and the ability to be more confident of those readings where the Dead Sea manuscripts agree with the Masoretic Text or with the early Greek manuscripts. Further, the sectarian texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, most of which were previously unknown, offer new light on one form of Judaism practiced during the Second Temple period. Because they are frequently described as important to the history of the Bible, the scrolls are surrounded by a wide range of conspiracy theories. There is also writing about the Nephilim related to the Book of Enoch.

See additional links for more information or contact me for a translated copy of the Book of Enoch.

Not Here

An ode to Nirmala

The sun coloured soundless wheat fields

Stared across the olive green walls

Beside it I stood tall

You were not here

The light broke through the darkened clouds

Spreading across my doors

There I was, in awe

And you were not here

Butterflies in the garden fluttered purposefully

A beautiful dance orchestrated

There, I hesitated

For you were not here

Lavender fields whispered softly in the winds

Far beyond my wondering eyes

There I stood beguiled

Still you were not here

Under the oak tree on the hill by a restless brook

Taking in all that is God’s beauty

Here, I rested lightly

However you were not here

And when the evening purple seized the horizon

Swallows danced in the sky

By now, weary grew I

Why were you not here?

I cried out your name but you never passed

I called and called but all in vain

Still you never came

You were not here

The stars that painted the heavens looked down on me

The zephyr wind on my skin

Where have you been

You are not here

Sadness filled my soul, loneliness consumed my heart

The wars of nine hath passed

The salten sea still steadfast

What tis I hear

A cradlesong, a sweet, sweet lullaby blew into my ears

Sweetly, softly, gently ‘twas

My heavy heart I toss

You were here

In my grieving I hath forgotten your laughter and your smile

Your pleasant words and your caring touch

It was I who did not much

Were you not here

A voice descended consoling, comforting, soothing

In my dreams a soft whisper

Beside me you always were

“Always I was here”

So in my dreams when sadness slumbered you came

With divine providence cradled me

These words you spoke to me

I am here

In the sun coloured wheat fields on the olive green walls

That watched you in your marbled melancholic hall

I was here

In the light that parted the clouds brightening the skies

Butterflies I sent to please your eyes

I was here

In the lavender hue with the breeze I whispered

In the oak that kept you while you rested

I was here

In the evening skies with the swallows I peeked

By the waters of the creek

I was here

In the starry night and the zephyr winds

And always in your dreams

I was always near

I am and always will be here.

Comic Onslaught

It all started in the summer of 2000 with the release of the X-Men; the movie that spawned a new generation of comic book movies. This was what comic book collectors the world over have been anticipating for over a decade and even then we were already taking our pick at who should play what character in the movie. Nothing prepared us for what was to come. Our favourite comic book heroes on screen, larger than life and more realistic than we could have ever imagined.

Prior to 2000 - Blade, Barb Wire and Dick Tracy were probably the only comic book movies to have made an impact on the masses; and even then, Dick Tracy was probably the only character that was known by the public to have originated from the pages of a comic book. Every other production fell short – Spawn, The Flash, Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Witchblade, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The public’s perception of comic book heroes in the movies was that they were for kids. Then X-men came and changed everything. Suddenly heroes could die; villains lived on. Sex, violence and carnage spread across the screen like never before and a “PG-13” tag had to be placed on it. The real people behind the books came up and started a revolution. They showed Hollywood that when you take a comic book hero, you don’t rewrite the plot. Just take the freaking book as the storyboard you dummies. It’s all drawn out in full colour.

Thus far we have seen the silver screen’s rebirth of the Dark Knight, The Man of Steel, Punisher, your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman and The Incredible Hulk. To add to an already spicy dish we have since been served with Constantine, Ironman, 300, Sin City, Aeon Flux, Catwoman, Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Hellboy, V for Vendetta and then some.

I was so amazed with the realism of Tony Stark’s suit that I watched Ironman 5 times in a fortnight. The Incredible Hulk was just as amazing in the way they brought to life the comic book Hulk and still manage to add a little television sentimentalism to it. Tonight I will be watching the sequel of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. To prepare for his role as the Joker, Ledger locked himself in a hotel room for a month drawing inspiration from Alan Moore’s comic "Batman: The Killing Joke" and "Arkham Asylum” and from characters from Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange”. Sir Michael Caine is of the opinion that Heath Ledger did better than Jack Nicholson’s Joker.

"If you gotta go; Go with a Smile!"

Dark Knight - Bank Heist Scene

There is more to come. Before the year ends, I’m going to catch Ray Stevenson in Punisher: War Zone and Frank Miller’s “The Spirit” (assuming this makes it through our censorship board). Next year, the fallen return in the Transformers’ sequel and the Watchmen investigates the death of an ex-superhero. In 2010 we can look forward to Thor and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Stan Lee has already thrown at us collectors a little bone in the Ironman and the Incredible Hulk. Samuel L. Jackson appeared at the end of Ironman as Agent Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD. He mentions the “Avenger Initiative”. Then at the end of The Incredible Hulk, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) makes an appearance and speaks to the General about the Avengers. The Avengers movie is set to release in 2011 and would most likely comprise of Wolverine, Mr. Fantastic, The Hulk, Ironman, Spiderman and Thor.

For those who didn’t read comic books or were born after 1983.

• Lou Ferrigno who played the Hulk in the television series back in the seventies appeared in both Hulk (2003) and The Incredible Hulk (2008). He was also the voice of the Hulk in the 2008 release.
• In X-Men, when Wolverine complaint about the suit he was made to wear, Cyclops asked him if he’d rather wear yellow spandex. Wolverine’s original suit in the comic is predominantly yellow spandex.
• Original promotion for Spiderman showed the World Trade Centre as a feature of New York City. These were later removed after 9-11 though you can still catch a blur glimpse of the WTC in the movie.
• Nicholas Hammond the actor who played Spiderman in 1978 appeared at the World Unity festival scene.
• The Iron Man Mark I armour weighed 90 pounds
• In the scene where Pepper discovers Tony removing the damaged Iron Man armour, you can clearly see Captain America's shield partially constructed on a workbench.
• Paul Soles who portrays "Stanley", the owner of the pizza shop, provided the voice for Dr. Bruce Banner in the 1960s "Hulk" (1966) animated series

Stan Lee (co-creator of the Marvel Comic characters) did a cameo appearance in all Marvel character movies:

X-Men - Man at hotdog stand when Senator Kelly comes out of the water.

X3 - Man holding water hose in beginning of movie

Spiderman - Appears in the scene where the Green Goblin attacks the balcony at the World Unity Festival.

Spiderman 2 - Saves a bystander form falling debris during the battle to save Aunt May.

Spiderman 3 - Appears as the man who tells Peter how great Spider-Man is.

Fantastic Four - Willy Lumpkin, the Fantastic Four's kindly old mailman.

Fantastic Four 2 - Rejected wedding guest.

Ironman - Man with 3 blondes that Stark mistakes for Hugh Hefner at the charity event.

Incredible Hulk - Man who drinks the soft drink contaminated with Bruce Banners blood.