GOODNESS

Cant Bury a Good Heart

(in memory of Teddy Khabir)

14-Feb-2008 (2 comments)

they buried a friend today

whose heart, they say

kept beating

long after he was dead

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LOVE

با عشق بودن، يا از عشق مردن

آيا عشق در فرهنگ ايرانی قبل از اسلام ما نيز کلامی زشت بوده است؟

14-Feb-2008 (16 comments)
تا آنجا که مدارک موجود نشان می دهد، عشق در فرهنگ کهن ايرانی مورد توجه و احترام بسيار بوده است. «مهر» نام خدای بزرگ آريايی ها بوده و «مهر» و «خورشيد» نيز هموزن و گرامی و مقدس بوده اند. خود کلمه ی «عشق» هم، برخلاف تصور برخی، معرب شده ی کلمه ای کاملاً ايرانی است که در اصل به صورت «اشک» بکار می رفته است که البته ربطی به «گريه» ندارد به همين معنای عشق است. نام سلسله ی ايرانی اشکانيان نيز از همين عشق آمده است. يعنی، «عشقانيان» بوده اند در واقع! مهم تر اينکه عشق در سرزمين باستانی ما، در فرهنگ ايرانی ما، نه تنها زشت نبوده بلکه آن را همراه و همنشين «خرد» می دانسته اند. يعنی در انسان خردمند قدرت و ظرفيت عشق بيشتر است و انسان بی خرد از عشق دور تر و تهی تر به شمار می آيد.>>>

IRAN-U.S.

The Isfahan Communiqué

The Isfahan Communiqué

Photo essay & videos

by Jahanshah Javid
14-Feb-2008 (25 comments)

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IRAN

Old Citizen of the World

Finding solutions rather than seeing only problems

13-Feb-2008 (21 comments)
Iran is the old citizen of the world, if not the oldest. Yet, instead of respecting it, we are leaving its age old strength to weaken by the day. Nations have moved on, people have moved on, and what stays is the power of change. Those who can create change, a dramatic, sustaining, value-added change, are those that will prosper. And those who sit and just reminisce will forever be lost in the memories of time. Let's make a step change in our mentalities and evolve, for the time of relaxation must now end. Why have we become like this? Simple, here's how: A comfort zone is defined as a place or thinking style, in which the person involved is so comfortable in what he/she thinks is the right thing to follow in any situation, that they won't even bother to think differently>>>

MUSIC

I never waited for inspiration

Conversation with Barzin (Part 2)

13-Feb-2008 (4 comments)
To be honest, it's a mystery to me why my music is listened to more by a non-Iranian audience. I am not sure why that is the case. I've never specifically targeted one audience over another. Maybe it's because I sing in English, or maybe it's because the type of music I play does not sound like "typical" Iranian music... I've always been on the periphery of the Iranian community. I had always thought that the Iranian community both in Canada and in other countries listened to "typical" Iranian music. I didn't think an Iranian "underground" music scene really existed. It wasn't until I met the drummer of Kiosk, Shahrouz Molaei, that I began learning about the underground music scene in Iran>>>

SNOW

Gisha in white

Gisha in white

Photo essay: Tehran

by Houshang Ahmadi
13-Feb-2008 (6 comments)

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FOOD

The Royal Solution

Memories of a former diplomat

13-Feb-2008 (5 comments)
There were actually only ten of us on that day and the Iranian diplomats had prepared the picnic baskets with variety of food and drinks and placed them inside the trunk of the limousine and soon we were all on our way to the picnic ground which was only a short distance from the royal palace in Monaco. As we started the trip, we noticed Grace Kelly and Prince Phillip started to sniff and snuffle their noses in an inquisitive way, like two little poppies trying to search the source of a bad smell. Grace Kelly a beautiful and elegant lady cracked the window a little for fresh air and told his Majesty the Shah: “Something smells so awful, I wonder what it is?”>>>

POETRY

یادداشتی برای خواهر سنگها
13-Feb-2008 (3 comments)
آهای
خواهر سنگها
من بوسه هویت را
از لبان تبعید می چینم
و چون آدمهای قرن تصفیه حساب
با جیب سوراخ و کیف سنگین
با لبان سرخ و دکمه های تصمیم
به سرگذشت عشق فکر می کنم.
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PEOPLE

(Smart) Iranians of the day

(Smart) Iranians of the day

Photo essay: Sharif University students

by Mahdi
12-Feb-2008 (59 comments)

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SCULPTURE

A day at "Another Place"

A day at "Another Place"

Photo essay: Beach art

by shahireh sharif
12-Feb-2008 (4 comments)

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STORY

The Spider Killings

Based on true events in Iran

12-Feb-2008 (4 comments)
Fati took another look out the window of her tiny apartment, squinting her eyes to see as far down the street as she could, in the hopes of seeing Jamshid finally coming home. But it was to no avail. She knew that he had disappointed her once again. It was already ten o’ clock, five hours after he had promised her he would come home, bearing the rent money that was due the next day. It was useless. As soon as money, any money, made its way to Jamshid’s hands, it had a way of swiftly disappearing, up in the smoke of an opium dream. She gritted her teeth. It was too much to bear. Again, he had let her down. Again, she would be forced to do it. And she had promised herself she would never resort to it another time, that the last time was truly that, the last>>>

IRAN

Exclusive elections

No need to vote in Iranian parliamentary elections

12-Feb-2008 (19 comments)
I just saw the news that Khomeini's grandson, Ali Eshraghi, has not been allowed to participate in the March parliamentary elections in Iran. I was looking at the picture of the guy and I was almost feeling the TERROR of Khomeini in my body. You remember how he looked. I could almost feel how the old man was able to kill mercilessly for what he believed to be the cause of Shia Islam. This guy, Mr Eshraghi, looks so much like his mass-murderer grandfather. By the way, the grandfather was indeed a ruthless man who will in time, definitely, be exposed, but the fact of the matter is that Khomeini was adored by the vast majority of Iranians>>>

LIPSTICK

نیمه راه

داستان کوتاه

12-Feb-2008 (2 comments)
همان موقع که میخواست از داروخانه بیرون بیاید، متوجه شد که دارد نگاهش میکند. از داروخانه که بیرون آمد و به طرف اتوموبیلش رفت، دختر در چند قدمیاش به انتظار ایستاده بود. هفده - هیجده سال بیشتر نداشت. روسری پلنگی، چند طره موی مشکرده که افتاده بود روی پیشانیاش. مانتو کوتاه و تنگ که به سختی تا روی رانهایش میرسید. لبخند عصبی. گفته بود اگه زحمت نیس، منو برسونین. یه خرده بالاتر، تا سر آفریقا. دیرم شده. ایستاده بود کنار اتوموبیل، کیفش را روی شانه انداخته بود، دست چپیش را گرفته بود به بند کیف و دست راستش را کرده بود توی جیب مانتو. سعی میکرد مؤدب، محجوب و خانم جلوه کند. اما صدایش میلرزید.>>>

POETRY

Escape From "Hell" - Glory Of "Living"
12-Feb-2008 (31 comments)

The Shivering, The Torment, The Darkness ..
The Hopelessness, The Bleakness, The Melancholy ..
All Negative Thoughts, Unseemly Influences ..
The Devil himself, Kept At Bay ..
All Joy was Gone, But Has Returned ..
The Dark cloud ever Present, Now Removed ..

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GRAPHIC NOVEL

Coming to life

Coming to life

Multicultural richness in an Iranian American webcomic

by Dara Naraghi
11-Feb-2008 (8 comments)

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