Persepolis (previously known as "The Richest City under the Sun")...keep in mind as you scroll through that this place is over 2,500 years old..."The Gate of All Lands"The Apadana Palace...where Dariush I the Great and his predecessors would hold the New Year's Eve Festival...envoys from 28 satrapies would come bearing gifts as a symbol of their renewed loyalty to The Great King...people from all over the then "Known World" (stretching as far West as Northern Greece to Southern Egypt/Ethiopia and as far East as the Indus Valley along the Indus River) would bask in indiscriminate, friendly celebrations and festivities... EntranceDariush I Palace (aka "The Hall of Mirrors" because the glare in the black marble would allow for you to see your own reflection)...A relief of Dariush I the Great receiving tribute "gifts" from a subject nation...Ardeshir (Artaxerxes in Greek) III's Tomb in the hillside...the mountain was chiseled away from scratch until an appropriate tomb could be set up there...An overhead view...Me & my luvly cuzin...The Persepolis reliefs that remain in good condition have nearly all been transferred to the Louvre Museum in Paris, France...I'm not disappointed though, the French take better care of our shit than we do...plus, countless tourists from all over the world visit the Louvre every year (not very many go to Iran)...so, at least all those people get to see...there's an entire wing at the Louvre dedicated to Ancient Iran...The Lion devouring the Bull was a symbol of the reigning in of the New Year with new vigor...A top part of a pillar from a palace...One of the symbols of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (see map above)...Pasargadae, another one of the UNESCO's (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Sites...the name came from the Greeks as they referred to it as 'paradise' due to it's massive four-fold garden setting...A private palaceThe tomb of Cyrus (II) the Great (Peace Be Upon Him)...it was under repair...inscription reading: "O man, whoever thou art, from wheresoever thou cometh, for I know you shall come, I am Cyrus, who founded the empire of the Persians. Grudge me not, therefore, this little earth that covers my body."A gift given to Cyrus by the Jews for liberating them from slavery under the Chaldeans (Assyrians) in Babylon, returning them home to Jerusalem from exile, and ordering their destroyed temple rebuilt...they refer to him as a prophet in the Old Testament, hence the angel wings...for more info on Cyrus's accomplishments, see blog entitled "Cyrus Cylinder: First Charter of Human Rights"fun times w/friends & family, the acquisition of knowledge, martial arts, philosophy (particularly Eastern), music, trippy movies, various sports (playing, hate watching), video games, and ultimately...ascending to a higher conciousness & changing the face of the world for the better...luv Muay Thai & Wing Chun...
a woman who could make me feel for her...what a vampire does for the innocent, pretty maiden...when willing to supress his forbidden bloodlust..."Truth be told...if you're looking for the guilty...you need only to look in the mirror..."Family Guy - Bin Laden
I probably love them more than I do myself...
The Last Samurai soundtrack, electronica (trance, house, jungle, ambient, trip hop, breaks), some 80s, rock, alternative, hip hop, RnB...and anything else pleasant to the ear that stimulates emotion
V for Vendetta, House of Flying Daggers, Ong Bak-Thai Warrior, Matrix trilogy, Kill Bill Vol. I, Pulp Fiction, Sin City, Blow, Best of the Best, Bloodsport, Rocky series, Karate Kid II, Terminator 2, Fist of Legend and other badly dubbed kung fu movies, various Japanime
Ali G show, Family Guy, American Dad, Nip/Tuck, Prison Break, 70s show, various japanime
Cyropaedia Vol I & II (favorite book of all time), History of the Persian Empire, Herodotus's History Book I, Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, History & Campaigns of Alexander the Great, Ghenghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, 36 Strategies of Ancient China, [Eastern Philosophy: Secret Tactics, Hagakure, Tao Te Ching, Siddhartha, Yogi Philosophy], [Western Philosophy: The Apology, The Republic, The Symposium, The Prince, Communist Manifesto, State and Revolution, Wealth of Nations], a handful of books on martial arts, Lord of the Flies...and various school-related books on business, politics, and economics...
CYRA THE GREAT, NASIM THE GREAT, Cyrus (II) the Great, Alexander the Great, Ghenghis Khan, Ardeshir Babakan (the Great), Dariush I the Great, Shahpur (II) the Great, Shahpur I, Che Guevara, Ieyasu Tokugawa, FDR, Lenin, Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, Socrates, Plato, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Aristotle, Niccolo Machiavelli, Albert Einstein, Siddhartha Guatama, Bodhidharma, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Mohatma Ghandi, Bruce Lee...and any other man or woman whose global influence knows no time.