No Jesting

This car can be seen in Tel Aviv, Israel. ("you jest!") Nope, no jesting.

Happy Passover

In celebration of my favorite movie of all time--and I'm not kidding--I always watch at least part of the Ten Commandments on Easter. That Christian holiday came so early this year that instead I've bumped the tradition to Passover. It is appropriate, for Passover was the similitude foretelling of the redemption of Easter. And so, on this the last day of Passover, I watch again the lovely Debra Paget singing "death cometh to me."

I'm obsessed with this movie. I even own a 1956 commemorative book filled with concept art painted by, ironically, my favorite artist-- Arnold Friburg--the 94 year old genius of iconic imagery. I know random trivia about the whole movie too. For example: did you know that Debra Paget, who plays Lilia, was the only slave who wore shoes in the film? Apparently her feet were misshapen by the 1950's heels of the time, and to hide the fact and preserve authenticity, Cecil DeMille made her wear moccasins? Ha!

When we watched the movie at the Jerusalem Center, I spouted tons of information (during the credits only) and my friends made me swear to keep quiet during the film. I was silent. ...and it was really hard. I LOVE this movie. And the Sinai scenes are even more spectacular to me now, because I mingle my own memories of climbing its peak to the scope of the film. How majestic are the mountains of the Sinai! And what spirit they possess.

This time I noticed something new, and I nearly choked for laughing. When talking to Jethro, Moses says "Health, prosperity, and life to you, Sheik of Midian." That is a near reproduction of a common Egyptian phrase, "Life! Prosperity! Health!" used when mentioning the Pharoah. (I learned this in my Ancient Texts class this semester.) It's kind of like saying "King Rupert...may he rest in peace." It appears in some texts so often that translators abbreviate it, if you can believe that. Every other sentence sometimes has "LPH!" in it. Dig Cecil DeMille and his details. WOW, that's funny.

Oh, and another funny-- upon learning of Charlton Heston's recent death, my friend Greg said "Wow. Moses finally died." AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAA! Way to go, Greg, that was hilarious.

Can You Picture That?

http://www.3disrael.com/jerusalem/kotel_prayer.CFM

Now YOU can go to the Western Wall too. In all its heyday. Take a "virtual tour" of Israel at this site, and you'll get to see a clear picture of what I really did see for myself. That link will take you a virtual tour of a 'prayer at kotel.' The "Kotel Tunnel Tour" lasts 45 minutes, and they take you underground modern Jerusalem to the base of the Western Wall. I'm not sure exactly what "kotel" is, but it must have something to do with the wall. Anyway--do the virtual tour! I order my family to do so (you hear me, guys?) Eh. They'll love it anyway. It was new for me too--I got to see the men's section.

The funny thing is that I saw this picture before I saw the date and I said to myself, "hey, this is really recent." I could tell because the flag that's flying in the courtyard has a rod in the top keeping it straight, and that feature wasn't added until December. Which is when they took the photo for this tour. :D

If you don't watch all of them (even though you should,) I strongly recommend the Muslim Quarter tour, and Church of All Nations 1 & 2. If you view Church of the Holy Sepulcher tour (holiest site in all Christendom, or so I'm told) be sure to scroll up to the ceiling or you'll miss the best part. Trust me, I used to stare at it for minutes at a time--and yeah, it's that big. Seriously, do them all. You won't regret it. "Yehuda Market" is in West Jerusalem--frequent visits there--dig the Jewishness. It's a really odd angle of it though. Not even a long shot of the fruit stands or the bakeries with the pastries. HA! What a funny rhyme.

Ask questions and I'll discuss details--feedback, people!

P.S. Zoom and self-controlled scrolling features exist. Use them!

PPS, My posts are low because I'm having troubles uploading pictures. Aggravating. Sorry.

Rachel's a Sweep

This winter semester I've been taking Bro. Ludlow's Isaiah class at BYU. It has a reputation for being...difficult. We had a project due--an 8 page outline of an Isaiah topic. We were told to be creative in our topic and to make it interesting. I have a genetic talent for writing, so it wasn't that difficult to be clear, concise, and to do it with the proper grammar. Besides which, it was an outline, and thus did not require intricate-formulated-paragraphs, so you'd think it would be easy schmeasy. But no. Not with Bro. Ludlow. It has to be perfect. Being familiar with his teaching style (having spent hours with him daily in Jerusalem,) I didn't spend too much time on it, thinking that I'd do okay. That's really all I was expecting.

I designed a lesson outline targeted for early-morning seminary students. I called it "discovering Isaiah through latter-day hymns," and I tried to show how much Isaiah is in hymns we sing frequently... just to show kids that they needent be afraid of Isaiah because they already know more of his verse than they think. I also attached a chart that I had made of every Isaiah hymn, with the theme of the doctrine, and the scripture reference along with it. (There are over forty, by the way.) I also mentioned how Janice Kapp Perry and Kenneth Cope quote Isaiah in their albums as well. Surprise, kids! Isaiah isn't that daunting.

Who knew? Like I said, I didn't spend that much time on it. In fact, I think it was short of the length requirement even. But guess what? I got a 96%. Ah ha! That's right, hail me--I got the second highest grade in all of his three sections. You can't tell, but I'm extremely smug about it. I totally swept the curve!

Too bad that the score I'll get on the final will drag my grade down so far that it won't do me any good. I'm taking it tomorrow morning. Holy-finals-of-doom, Batman!

Off the subject. Sorta.

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS, by Rick Riordan.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF
THE SEA OF MONSTERS
THE TITAN'S CURSE
THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH (coming soon)

I've fallen in love with a new children's fiction series! Yay! I luhhhhhhhhhhhhhve: PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS. Imagine a cross between Harry Potter and a series of unfortunate events, cram it full of mythology, and you'd have this. The first three books are out, and the fourth comes out May 9th. I'm dying to get my hands on it.

What is it about?

Percy Jackson is a sixth grader suffering from ADHD and dyslexia who discovers that his teachers are not quite...normal. Then he sees the fates knitting socks. In a flashwhirl of events, Percy learns that the Greek gods are currently living on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, and that his long-lost father is... one of the olympic gods. (I won't tell you which, it'll give the story away.) Anyway. Because of who his father is, Percy is accused of stealing a "divine" artifact of great importance, and to clear his name he undergoes a quest to the underworld. Along the way he meets dozens of characters from Greek mythology.

I love ancient stuff. Hence, my major. I owe most of this to my favorite teacher of all time, Pam Fossum, sixth grade, Wasatch Elementary. She introduced me to many of my life's passions: astronomy, good stories, and ancient history by locale: Roman, Greek, and Egypt especially. I still take notes the way she taught me to. I still measure my timelines by the duct-tape measuring sticks she had along the ceiling of her classroom. (I ran into her last week and recommended Percy Jackson. I was surprised she hadn't heard of it. She's excited to read it now, as should you be.) t was during her class that I was exposed to greek mythology, and I tell ya--this book is what her class was all about: exposure to things you hadn't heard of or considered in fun ways you want more of.

The books are hillarious! The similies and metaphors are classic. At one point, Percy describing the way monsters smelt said it was "as if a skunk had been living off leftover mexican food." Great mirth and merriment gained from these books. Furthermore, it helped with my mythology class by familiarizing me with the Greek olympians. I was the only one who remembered who Dionysus was on our last quiz. Huzzah!

READ THEM. Screen them for your kids, see if you're okay with them reading it, whatevs. I strongly recommend them.

if you wish to read more of my pretending-to-take-notes-during-ancient-texts-blogging-surreptitiously ramblings, continue, otherwise, goodbye:

I love to read, but I am picky. I don't like to waste my time on "classics," because I so often disagree with whoever decided that they were "classic." Who makes those lists, anyway? Take Wuthering Heights, for example: he digs up her corpse and cradles it in his arms, weeping. After she's decomposed for ten years! Sick. Not a classic in my book. The Scarlet Letter? Don't get me started. I'm sorry, call me uneducated if you wish, I know that so many of my college friends adore reading Les Miserables for enjoyment purposes. In French, even. And yes, I've heard that Dostoevsky has a "beautiful soul made evident in his literary pain." But so help me, no English teacher will ever again compel me to read literature from Walden, Nietzsche, or Shakespeare. Nor am I likely to listen to a friend's endorsement. If I like the plot, and the first chapter is engaging, I might. Otherwise--forget about it, pal. I'm picky. Most of the things I read are targeted for children. Again, call me crazy, but I get more out of those than I do the er... "adult" "dignified" texts. Besides which, I'm a sucker for stories. Yaaaaaaay for rambling!