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A first concert
A performance of Gipsy Kings tunes in Tehran
By Laleh Khalili
A few weeks ago, the sophisticated scene in New York was in an uproar
over the conduct of the conductor of the symphony orchestra -- I think
it may have been the venerable Zubin Mehta -- who walked out on the concert
because the audience was coughing too much. Last night at the Golreez Theater
in Tehran, I remembered the controversy and smiled ear-to-ear thinking
that the fragile egos of these great men of art in the West would surely
never withstand an Iranian audience.
Tehran is celebrating the annual Fajr Festival season which provides
an excuse for holding concerts, shows, plays, and films. My young and handsome
cousin -- who is something of a dandy "dude" -- and his beautiful
girlfriend took me to my first concert in Iran the very first night after
my arrival. As we all have heard in the West, Iran is enjoying a cultural
and social spring of sorts, and since the purpose of my return to Iran
has been to sense and feel and hear what is happening, I was tremendously
excited to see the evidence of the new freedoms firsthand.
The concert, a festival season opener, was to showcase the talents of
a young Iranian musician (Pedram Amini Abyaneh) and his band of six other
young musicians. The smudged and hand-cut announcements for the concert
promised "new music, Gipsy Kings" and the music of a few other
Western bands who all sounded like they played the Latin/gypsy variety
of music so popular among Iranians. My cousin was immensely excited about
the concert and perhaps even more so about the semi-illicit meeting with
his girlfriend ... GO TO FEATURE
Outlook
To be 20 in Tehran ...
TEHRAN, Jan 29 (AFP) - The boys don baseball caps, the girls trainers
under their black Islamic veils or chadors.
If they can afford it, they'll eat out in one of Tehran's many burger
joints or pizzerias, as trendy as any fast-food eatery in the West.
Iran's teenagers or 20-somethings are showing scant interest in the
20th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, for which official festivities
are about to begin ... FULL TEXT
President (Lotfollah) Johnson
The late U.S. president is alive and well... CLICK HERE
More Letters
* Patent non-issue
Babak writes: While I appreciated the spirited
defense of the Arabo-Persian script by the author ["No
thanks"], I wonder who on earth brought
the subject up in the first place. I see some of these Iranians living
in the West pondering such questions, and think how ridiculous and pathetic
they are. They are in no position to make the decision, one way or the
other.
Furthermore, it is only the residue of the Pahlavi
regime that escaped to the West that have this distaste for their own Middle
Eastern background (have any of them actually looked at themselves in the
mirror, saw that they had big noses and dark curly hair and screamed, realizing
they were far from European or Aryan??). Changing the script is a patently
non-issue.
* Sponsorship: Learn Persian in Iran
From: William Hanaway <whanaway@mec.sas.upenn.edu>
The American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS) hopes to sponsor an
eight-week course in the Persian language this summer at the International
Center for Persian Studies of the Dehkhoda Institute in Tehran. The course
would be open to U.S. citizens who have had at lease one academic year
of training in Persian and who are enrolled in a doctoral program where
a knowledge of Persian is essential to the student's research. AIIrS hopes
to be able to provide travel, tuition and maintenance for each student.
The course would begin on about July 1.
Interested students should apply to the below address, describing the
general topic of their dissertation research and giving their reasons for
wishing to attend such a course. They should also supply names, addresses
and email addresses of two referees, one of whom should be the student's
academic advisor.
Dr. Brian Spooner
Middle East Center
839 Williams Hall/6305
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Book of the Week
Daneshvar's Playhouse
A Collection of Stories
By Simin Daneshvar
In five intriguing stories, the formal detachment of Daneshvar's prose
reinforces her subtle revelation of repressive features in Iranian society.
. . . These seemingly simple stories disclose a rich culture in a time
of ferment and change, of women in chadors, held in contempt by the men
who control their lives. . . . This volume is a valuable addition to our
knowledge of Persian culture and the political complexities of modern Iran.
-- Publishers Weekly
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Local elections spark new rift within regime
TEHRAN, Jan 29 (AFP) - Preparations for Iran's first ever municipal
elections next month sparked a new rift Friday between the government of
moderate President Mohammed Khatami and his conservative opponents. Interior
Minister Abdolvahab Mussavi-Lari slammed the conservative-dominated Supervision
Council for rejecting "a significant number of candidates" for
the elections due on February 26. "The Supervision Council should monitor
and endorse the decisions of the Executive Council and not allow itself
to approve or reject the candidacy of this or that candidate," Mussavi-Lari
told the official news agency IRNA. In an uncomfortable sharing of powers,
the two separate bodies are responsible for preparing the final list of
"eligible" candidates which the interior ministry says should
be published on February 4 ... FULL TEXT
Iran recruits engineers for nuclear training
in Russia
TEHRAN, Jan 29 (AFP) - Iran is recruiting engineers to receive
training in Russia for its controversial Bushehr nuclear plant, just weeks
after Washington stepped up pressure on Moscow to end its nuclear cooperation
with Tehran. Advertisements published in the Tehran press by the Iranian
Atomic Energy Organization said a total of 225 engineers were needed with
expertise in the fields of nuclear physics, physics, mechanical engineering
and computer science. The adverts said that the applicants must be Iranian
nationals and that the successful candidates will be sent to Russia for
training after a short period of preparation in Iran. Once trained the Iranian
technicians will take delivery of a 1,000 megawatt pressurised water reactor
Russian engineers are building at Bushehr on Iran's Gulf coast ... FULL
TEXT
U.S., Russia tackle Iran
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) -- Vice President
Al Gore urged the Russian prime minister met privately to discuss arms technology
transfers. The United States has imposed sanctions on three Russian scientific
institutions which, it says, helped Iran develop weapons. The United States
says the question of Russia's ability to control the flow of rocket technology
to Iran could hurt future collaboration in space. Russia, which denies the
accusation and has criticized the U.S. sanctions, also warned that the sanctions
could damage relations ... FULL TEXT
Canadian-Iranian lives out dream -- in
soccer stadium
Friday, January 22, 1999, (Canadian Press) - Somewhere in Austria,
in the bowels of a soccer stadium, lives Canadian Tom Rajabzadeh. That's
where he trains. That's where he dreams. And that's where he sleeps. On
a wing and a prayer -- and a lot of tuna because he can't afford much more
-- Rajabzadeh (pronounced Rah-jar-ZAH-day) flew to Europe four months ago
in search of a team that might want him ... FULL TEXT
$ Rate
Updated Jan 27
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dollar now offered at up to 750-755 tomans
Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777
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Quote Unquote
Cool
We arrived at the Theater some 15 minutes before the beginning of the
concert. The hall was brimming with women in extremely chic mantauxs and
with skimpy scarves and beautifully made-up faces and their handsome well-coifed
male companions who were carefully cultivating a look of proud nonchalance.
With very few exceptions, the crowd was under thirty years old and all the
young couples seemed to be on dates. Most men were buying their companions
popcorn and grape-juice of soda and a few younger men leaned against the
wall anxiously trying to appear cool and sophisticated.
Laleh Khalili
"A
first concert"
The Iranian
January 29, 1999
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