IDENTITY
This is what scares me the most as an artist in the Diaspora, pigeon-holing me
I started writing plays and doing theatre long before I had heard the term Diaspora. To me, the most important motivation for doing theatre was being part of the efforts to build a community in Berkeley. A few years after the revolution, many of us in the Iranian community were politically active. We all met on a weekly basis to discuss political issues. Typically, close to 40 of us gathered in one of UC Berkeley’s classrooms to discuss an abstract subject, like how many stages the future Iranian revolution would have or what mode of production was dominant in the Soviet Union
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SAINT
Mata Amritanandamayi Devi – the 56-year-old “hugging saint” from Kerala – is in town
My ex-girlfriend Sandra got married. Last Saturday, she and her groom Joe vowed to look after each other “in credit and in overdraft” even “when you are grumpy”. It was a wedding filled with humour in a room – in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre – overlooking the River Thames, with a view of St Paul’s Cathedral, on a sunny (if chilly) day. I stood at the back, pondering how our lives had changed. Well, mine in particular – weddings are a time to navel-gaze. Twelve years ago finding a pair of socks that matched was difficult for me. Today things are no different
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COMMUNITY
Photo essay: PARSA Community Foundation's 2009 awards ceremony
by Payam M
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CHANGE
We can’t stop the change that is happening, but we can help it go down the right path
Our parents’ generation had a question, or a dream: how to build a utopia. Different groups had different answers to that question; some thought the answer is Communism, or as a friend of mine always corrects me, Marxist-Leninism. Some thought the path to Utopia was going through the gates of civilization. Some thought religion was the only way to redemption. Some mixed up a couple of these and came up with new ideas, like Islamic Marxism! There was a common question that people were trying to answer, and even though they had different answers to it, they had something in common: believing in Utopia
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QUESTION
Only Iranians in Iran have to steer their path to democracy
The Mojahedin (MEK), Saltanat Talab monarchists, the Tudeh Party, etc. — would like to believe that they are the ones who after thirty years of impatiently waiting, now finally have a chance to go back and rule. They have lived in foreign lands and witnessed the Western democracy in action, and have access to foreign capital as well as free media which can be beamed to Iran—so they are the ones, they hope, who are best positioned to win power after the Akhoonda. In my opinion, none of them are fit for this purpose
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UNITY
Photo essay: Wide spectrum of opposition protests in New York
by Asterio Tecson
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GREEN
Photo essay: Iranian protest photos at the UN
by
Daria Pirnia >>>
PROTESTERS
Photo essay: New York during Ahmadinejad visit
by Victor Ma
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HUMOR
در دوران میانسالی دچار توهماتی هستم که لازمه تحققشان نیروی جسمانی دوران پیش است
شوتها در 20 سالگی و حتا 30 سالگی هم، وقتی شلیک میشوند، مانند گلوله سوت میکشند، اما در حوالی 48 بیشتر در هوا پرسه میزنند. و در نزدیکی 60 سالگی تنها با آهی کوتاه از خیر همه چیز میگذرند. به همین دلیل میتوان به راحتی شمار افراد شرور و غیرقانونی را که هر تیم به نسبت بیکلاسیاش از آنها بهره میبرد، شناسائی نمود. مسابقهها از لس آنجلس باید به جای دیگری منتقل شوند چون انگیزهی بازیکنان برای باخت، با هر برد، بیشتر میشود: استراحت در سواحل جنوب کالیفرنیا + چلو کباب.
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DANCE
Shahrokh Moshkin-Ghalam's "Omar Khayam"
A wine color silk fabric hanging on the back curtain with golden calligraphy of Omar Khayam’s poetry, hundreds of vines hanging from the ceiling all over the stage with a discrete lighting on each leaf and grape, candles surrounding the stage… Paradise on earth was the scenery of this Persian ballet called Omar Khayam presented at the majestic Palace of Fine Arts of San Francisco on September 12th 2009. The choreographer and dancer Shahrokh Moshkin Ghalam was the Iranian poet and philosopher Omar Khayam himself traveling through time and space, both physically and by the spirit expressed in his movements
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LIFE
I am setting out to write a book that opens up like a flower
I am uninterested in writing a book that introduces Iranians to Western audiences, because I think the need is greater for Western audiences to be introduced to themselves. This is not as offensive a statement as it might seem. Any writer has to be interested in introducing his or her readers to themselves. It is supposed to be an intimate relationship, not one in which a shared intellectual interest is the thing keeping it going. I would rather that Western audiences and I have all kinds of trouble, the kind in which I am saying that I know what is really going on inside them
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MEDIA
Photo essay: Visiting Faramarz Khodayari at KUSF radio
by
Nazy Kaviani >>>
THE MIND
From new book, "Conspiracy for Greatness: Mastery of Love Within!"
For many years, I was fascinated by our ability as a human race to shift our thinking. One of the main elements that define us from other species is this ability to “think,” and to decide and redirect our minds to what we always knew we could do! Look at our collective recorded human history, and you will find all those wonderful, brilliant and fascinating human beings who directed their thinking to an area or topic, producing unprecedented results, incredible inventions and so many amazing creations that we can barely keep count. Now, you and I are taking advantage of the outcome of those brilliant thinkers!
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