Separating fact from fiction

Last year I blogged about the controversial Lost Tomb of Jesus which had generated a lot of bitter and heated arguments around the globe. Subsequently while everyone thought the issue had sunk like the great Titanic, it was resurrected in the recently concluded Talpiot Tomb Conference organised by Princeton Theological Seminary.

Experts appearing in this major conference to discuss the validity of the claims as publicised by the producers of Discovery Channel in a more academic manner, consisted not only of archeologists, but also theologians, statisticians, epigraphers, DNA forensic experts and patina specialists. Opinions differed greatly from highly unlikely to possible that this was the tomb belonging to the Jesus family. The documentary team felt vindicated. According to director/author Simcha Jacobovici, 'My work with James Cameron was the catalyst for an international symposium that has finally considered the evidence and is opening the door for further research. It's time that the world seriously considered that the Jesus family tomb may very well have been located'.

From the statistical point of view, everything seemed to be dependant on whether one of the inscriptions actually referred to Mary Magdalene. If this is so, the probability will greatly favour the claim. Andrey Feuerverger, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Toronto revealed for the first time that his statistical model has now been peer-reviewed and accepted by the leading statistical journal Annals of Applied Statistics and will be published in their first issue of 2008 in February.

As I have also suggested in my earlier post, more patina tests need to be done on neighbouring ossuaries as a form of random sampling and this was the similar conclusion coming from patina experts.

This grand meeting of some highly intellectual debates experts of various disciplines (and perhaps we were told, some highly tensed encounters as well), provided an emotive highlight in the form of a frail lady coming up on stage to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of her deceased husband who was the original excavator of the tomb:

The widow of the Israeli archeologist who led the excavation of a hugely controversial First-Century burial tomb in Jerusalem’s Talpiot neighborhood 28 years ago said on Wednesday that her late husband knew he had found the burial place of Jesus and was afraid the discovery would trigger a wave of anti-Semitism because of the apparent challenge to Christian beliefs.

Ruth Gat unleashed her archeological earthquake when accepting a lifetime achievement award on behalf of her late husband, Yosef Gat of the Department of Antiquities, at the conclusion of a four-day academic conference in Jerusalem, at which leading archaeologists, epigraphers, biblical experts, statisticians and other scholars gathered to evaluate “the Talpiot Tomb in context.”

A small-framed, frail-looking lady, Mrs. Gat told the scholars calmly that her husband knew he had found “the burial tomb of Jesus Christ,” and that he had “serious concerns and fears” over the consequences of his discovery. She noted that Yosef had been a child in Nazi-occupied Poland, and that with his bitter childhood memories still in mind, he had feared “a wave of anti-Semitism” might erupt as a result of the Talpiot find. She said she was relieved that the world had “changed for the better,” and that this feared reaction had not come to pass.

Speaking briefly to The Jerusalem Post after her address, Mrs. Gat said her husband had been “staggered” by the discovery, and that he had discussed it with her “at the kitchen table.”

Gat died soon after excavating the Talpiot tomb in 1980, and left only minimal notes of what had been found there. source

In conclusion, I echo the thoughts of Prof James Charlesworth, the co-organiser of the conference:

'the possible discovery of Christ's tomb will illicit mixed reactions among Christians. Most, he believes, will view it positively. The faith of some believers, he says, will be buoyed by historical proof that Christ, the son of Joseph and Mary, did exist. "I don't think it will undermine belief in the resurrection, only that Jesus rose as a spiritual body, not in the flesh." He adds: "Christianity is a strong religion, based on faith and experience, and I don't think that any discovery by archeologists will change that."'

Prof Charlesworth has been tasked to lead a team to reopen and reinvestigate the Talpiot Tomb.

Starlight Serenade @ Bintang Walk

I spent part of my childhood in and around Bukit Bintang area in the early 1970s. I was staying at a shoplot that sold vinyl record albums located just opposite Blue Boy Flats. At that time, Pavilion and Cathay cinemas were just a stone's throw away. A&W opened its first outlet around that area. I remember my dad used to bring me to the famous BB Entertainment Park. I can recall the rides, game stalls, funny mirrors, theatres and even a boxing ring. It was also the place where the red hot cabaret striptease queen Rose Chan used to perform. I could not remember having a peek at her shows but I could still recall the roaring laughter and cheers from the audience. It was a real all-in-one open air carnival located at the present BB Plaza. It was so unlike today where there are all kinds of specialty stores especially at Pavillion and Starhill. Not too far from BB Park, which stopped operating a few years later, was the infamous red light district, Jalan Alor but I was too young to understand then all the vice activities going on. Not many recreational parks and football fields were to be found. I spent most of my naughty outdoor activities by venturing with the neighbouring boys into the Chinese Maternity Hospital compound!

Bukit Bintang was and still is the heartbeat of KL, especially towards nightfall .

The World according to Terragen

It's that time of the year to change format! As you will notice in my recent postings, I've put off my oil painting for quite awhile. Apart from the fact that my art supplies are running low, I don't want to be too 'specialised' in traditional oil painting. I'm trying out some new art platform - this time it's Terragen, a photorealistic landscape renderer. I could just create a whole new world without lifting a brush - traditionally or digitally speaking. Once I've created my terrain, I just need to fiddle with the built-in camera angles and positions to arrive at the best viewpoint that I can capture. So, beauty really is in the eyes of the beholder.

Terragen has actually been around for around 5 years now and its free for non-commercial use. Although the images are computer generated, to get to that final image which I like doesn't come without lots of work in terms of color picking, presetting, scaling etc. In short I have to adjust all possible parameters to create my desired terrain, followed by grass cover, sand, rocks, snow, clouds, water level and atmosphere. Most of the time, as I've mentioned, is spent playing around with the camera. Below are some results from a first-timer:









Perhaps soon, with the appropriate plug-ins and without transporting to any other platform, Terragen will allow me to introduce other stuff like birds flying, boat riding, fishing or even mountain biking! We can only imagine what the future holds. Until then, here are some hauntingly beautiful landscapes rendered by experts. Give Terragen a try and travel the world. With luck, you could find yourself in the Land of Hobbitts!

Flight of the Homeless

We Stand Together

In conjunction with the World's Human Rights Day sanctioned by the United Nations on Dec 10th. Here is a message from last year's event: Poverty is a cause and a product of human rights violation.

Take time off to attend a unique human rights festival organised by the Malaysian Bar Council at KL's Central Market on Dec 9th 9 a.m. with the theme: “As I Believe: Freedom of Expression through Art, Music, Culture and Conscience”

Attacking the enemy fortress

I don't usually play attacking chess, but when the occasion arises its usually a do or die situation for me. This game below which I have just played over the internet at Playchess , as with most Open Sicilian games, has many tactical traps and complicated ramifications. Its pointless going for material gain when the position demands the breaking up of the king's castle and probably a few heavy piece sacrifices. This, coupled with the fact that it is a 5 minute a side game, makes it an exciting evening, at least for me!

As for the local chess scene, here's some breaking news - Yeoh Li Tian has managed to obtain 4th placing in the recently concluded World Youth Chess Championship Under 8 category in Turkey. This is the best achievement ever for our country. We may not be a traditional chess playing nation but the nation can also be proud of its 4th placing in the Asian Indoor Games held at Macau last month. We were just behind China,India and Vietnam, all of whom have strong grandmasters in their respective countries (The current classical world champion is Anand Viswanathan from India). Furthermore, Malaysia won bronze in both the men and women individual events and achieved 5th position in the team blitz category. Alas, such impressive accomplishments were not reported in the mainstream newspapers.

Playchess is one of the top chess servers with thousands of players at any one time playing in the main hall, including many of the world's top grandmasters. If you happen to be there at the right moment, you can look me up (my handle is Converse32). Come join the world's premier internet chess league!

The Two Towers

Just try to imagine Earth without wars and mass poverty,
Without raging forests and haze,
Where all human species are of one race,
Where each share the wealth of Earth's abundant resources;
There you find no chemical pollution,
no clogged drains,
no alien invasion,
and no mass migration either.

Supposingly, you have got your wish,
Now, try to imagine....
this Earth where most of her 6.5 billion peole could be spirited away tomorrow,
to be transported to a galaxy far, far away,
and be rehabilitated on the importance of love and benevolence.