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his Week:Condé Nast Traveler HOT LIST PARTY, The Real Face of Jesus?, The Bloodline of Jesus, 101 Things I Learned In Film School, UNLV, Rob Goald and “Ken Park,” Trash Humpers, Ken Walther, Spycraft by Robert Wallace, and more…

The Real Face of Jesus? The History Channel ran a compelling 2-hour program on The Shroud of Turin, a 14-foot cloth in which I and many believe Jesus Christ was buried. It is the most studied artifact in history—and the most controversial.

The first documented reference to the shroud dates back to the 14th century. Historical records suggest it changed hands many times until 1578, when it wound up in its current home—the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

The first direct examinations of the cloth were conducted in the 1970s, most famously by the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), a team of scientists led by physicist John P. Jackson of the University of Colorado. The group found that the markings on the cloth were consistent with a crucified body and that the stains were real human blood; they also suggested that the image’s shading patterns contained three-dimensional information.

In 1988, scientists removed a swatch of the shroud for radiocarbon testing. Three independent laboratories concluded that the material originated between 1260 and 1390, leading some to deem it inauthentic. Since then, however, further studies have cast doubt on those results, suggesting that the shroud may indeed date back to the time of Jesus Christ’s life and death.

In March 2010, researchers unveiled a revolutionary radiocarbon dating method that could allow scientists to safely establish accurate ages for precious artifacts like the Shroud of Turin. The entire object is exposed to an electrically charged gas without causing damage. This means that, someday soon, the world may have a more precise estimate of the Shroud of Turin’s real age.

The Shroud of Turin will be available for its first public viewing in 10 years, scheduled from April 10 to May 23.

On the History Channel Community Board—I’m a member—someone, obviously a Shroud fanatic, had some astonishing things to say about what really happened to Jesus that is clearly marked on the Shroud. Here is only two items that I then researched on another website:

“There should be a mark on the right side of His face just to the right of His nose a little where the spear first touched Him before it removed His right eye. The top of His scalp was ripped off from front to back (like the horseshoe effect that men have today with baldness).”

“And if you check near His hands, you’ll find there a second DNA near them, that is not His. And if you check near His bottom you’ll find yet a third DNA there.”

The Bloodline of Jesus? You’ve read The Da Vinci Code. You know all about the fiction that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and after His crucifixion, she was taken to Europe and gave birth to a daughter.

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

Jesus, an apocalyptic prophet, had a wife? Impossible, considering what He was preaching in such a small community. If Jesus had a wife, everyone would have known about it! He would have been condemned as a hypocrite.

Paul Boyer, the Merle Curti Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, Madison says: “There are certainly passages in the Gospels that make it clear that Jesus is anticipating an imminent moment of apocalypse. That the end is very near.”

Well, others have a theory I read about on the History Channel Community Board—the rape of Jesus. The fantasy goes like this:

“When Jesus was arrested and tortured He was raped by a Roman soldier. Being a celibate healer who had never had a woman, they then took a woman from the crowd and forced Him to have sex with her. The woman was taken to Questenberg, Germany and had a child. This is the beginning of the Bloodline of Jesus. The two bloodlines came together and started a new Holy Bloodline of Jesus. “The Holy Grail of Christ” is a man born of both bloodlines “twice” (what will one day be known as The Double Martyr).” For a full description of Jesus’ torture, go to: archaeology.about.com/

Rock N Roll 2 Soul. On April 13, Tom Biscardi and John Stuart, co-producers of “Rock N Roll 2 Soul,” now playing at the Palace Station Showroom, will host a Media Night on April 13. There will be hors d’oeuvres, beverages and music! The reception begins at 6 p.m. with the show at 7 p.m. Rock N Roll 2 Soul performs Monday thru Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $34.95 plus tax/fees, $44.95 plus tax/fees for VIP Booth Seats. Under 21 must be accompanied by adult.

101 Things I Learned In Film School. Brianne Beers from Grand Central Publishing, a member of the Hachette Book Group, sent me a copy of 101 Things I Learned™ in Film School written by Neil Landau.

101 THINGS, to be available on May 1st, presents an informative, entertaining guide for anyone who has ever thought about entering film school or has dreamed about being in the movie business. The book is written by Neil Landau, who has written and produced for Universal Pictures, Disney, Columbia Pictures and 20th Century.

How to set a scene? What’s the best camera angle? How does the new technology interact with scenes? And how does one even get the financing to make a movie?

These basic questions and much more are all covered in this exquisite packaged book on the film industry and making movies as a profession. Written by Neil Landau, who has worked on such diverse projects as “Melrose Place,” “Doogie Howser MD,” MTV’s “Undressed,” and “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” has written the perfect book for anyone who wants to know about the inner-workings of this industry.

Landau currently serves as a faculty advisor in the MFA Writing Program at Goddard College and teaches at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television.

UNLV, Rob Goald and “Ken Park.” Speaking of film school, last week UNLV Film Department’s Rob Goald (pictured) invited a few of us as guests to his class to see “Indie Sex” and Harmony Korine’s highly controversial 2002 “Ken Park” last Monday in auditorium CBC-A106. Rob secured a DVD of “Ken Park” from Russia. It’s that hard to get!

I commandeered the front row center for our group and Nikki Artale of VegasCommunityOnline.com brought gourmet popcorn from The Popcorn Girl—that we threw at the screen during the kinky teen sex scenes. And there were plenty of them. No wonder “Ken Park” was never released in the U.S.

Trash Humpers. Speaking of Harmony Korine, special thanks goes to Nicole Yalaz of Drag City for sending me Korine’s new film “Trash Humpers” on DVD since I doubt it will be screening here in Las Vegas.

“Trash Humpers” follows a small gang of sinister, creepy ‘elderly’ peeping toms through the shadows and streetlights of a familiar suburban landscape. They drag baby dolls around on bicycles and bust television sets with hammers. They also do some trash humping.

“Trash Humpers” opens in New York at Cinema Village on May 7 and in Los Angeles at Nuart Theater on May 14. Check www.dragcity.com for other openings around the U.S.

Condé Nast Traveler Hot List Party. I can’t refuse an invitation from Michael Politz for an Exclusive Vegas VIP Party, Condé Nast Traveler HOT LIST PARTY. So on April 10, we went to the Haze Nightclub at Aria in City Center. There was a special performance by Gavin Rossdale. My entourage included Nikki Artale, Rob Goald and dancing maven Rik Riccardi—just back from a Southeast Asia cruise.

It was our first journey to Aria at City center. Aria was mobbed but it looks like an airport.

Every female Haze employee is beautiful. The locals—not so beautiful. Rossdale played his hits and was quite charming, accompanied by two guitarists. The free cocktails flowed and the Las Vegas VIPs were spotted in the roped off areas—but I never saw Michael. CN Traveler did a very nice presentation and I hope I win a trip to Thailand—which was on the menu!

AFIO Las Vegas Chapter Meeting with guest speaker Matthew Zucker. On Wednesday, April 7, 2010, 6 p.m. I went to The Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) Las Vegas Chapter meeting featuring Matthew Zucker (pictured showing gang tattoos), Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Zucker’s fascinating presentation was on “Mexican Drug Cartels.”

Employed with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) for 12 years, Officer Matthew Zucker is currently serving as a TAC Officer assigned to the Detention Services Training Division. While assigned to the LVMPD Detention Services Division Intelligence Section, Officer Zucker worked issues involving Hispanic Gangs, Black Gangs, White Gangs, Prison Gangs, and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.

Not open to the public—guests names must be sent in to guarantee admission to enter Nellis Air Force Base where AFIO meetings are held. The next meeting is in June.

Our friend Ken Walther (pictured) told me he is seeking political office in The Nevada State Assembly in District 18! Contact Ken at 702-349-1036. www.meetup.com/NEVADA-PATRIOTS/members/9712935/

Ken spent 27 years with the CIA developing gadgets to help spies. He is an active member of AFIO, which has a Las Vegas chapter with about 40 members. Ken enthusiastically recommends Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA7rsquo;s Spytechs, from Communism to Al-Qaeda by Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton and Henry R. Schlesinger.

Wallace is well positioned to write this organizational and operational history of the CIA’s Office of Technical Service; he was OTS director from 1998 to 2002. The tales he tells are not out of school (the CIA permitted this book’s publication). It’s all fascinating stuff you want to know about cloak-and-dagger espionage. And it is insider tales of the paraphernalia CIA case officers use in running their agents—audio devices, miniature cameras, secret writing, disguises, codes, dead drops, etc.