November 24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .To
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* That's my girl
My daughter Mahdiyeh just called me. She's a reporter
for Radio Farda in
Washington, DC. She said her boss, Behruz, who's
a dear friend, made a comment about
my photo
essay on Iraj Pezeshkzad. Behruz had given
me his honest
opinion about
another photo essay, so I knew what to expect.
Me: "Does he have a problem with Pezeshkzad?"
Mahdiyeh: "He doesn't have a problem with PEZESHKZAD!
He has a problem with YOU!" She laughs.
Me: ". .! He didn't like the pictures?"
Mahdiyeh: "He said there's something wrong with your camera."
She laughs.
Me: "What's wrong with the pictures?" I laugh.
Mahdiyeh: "I told him 'Kheyli deltoon bekhaad!' They
are artistic!" She laughs.
Me: Laughing.
Mahdiyeh: "I told him don't worry about my
dad's photography. You go take care of your Radio Farda!"
We laugh.
-- Jahanshah Javid
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* Thank you for...
Hi everyone, my friends, family and clients,
Happy Thanksgiving.
I am off to Boston to be with my kids and I want to take a moment and express
my appreciation and some thoughts to you all.
Thank you for being my family.
Thank you for being my friends.
Thank you for being our clients.
Thank you for your business.
Thank you for your kindness.
Thank you for your believe.
Thank you for your smile and laughter.
Thank you for your support.
Thank you for your generosity.
Thank you for your love.
Thank you for your passion.
Thank you fro your understanding.
Thank you for your compassion.
Thank you for everything that you do for others.
Thank you for your time.
And thank you for anything that I forgot to thank you for.
Now, don't eat too much...! I have an idea...! How about we all cook half the
food we used to cook for thanksgiving (believe me we still can eat a lot anyway!)
and donate the cost of other half to any institutions or organizations that
fight with or do research for fighting with cancer or any other terminal illnesses.
Or just hand it to people of need. Just a thought...!
Be well, be safe and have fun. Kiss somebody and hug someone else...!
-- Behnam
Bakhshandeh
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* Rooz-e Shokrgozari
Dar rooz e Shokrgozari, khoda ro shokr mikonam ke dar
Amrika hastam, ke dar California zendegi mikonam, Ke toonestam
az Iran be Los Angeles mohajerat konam, Ke einja khoone
daram, oon ham ye khoone noghli, por az ketab va kaghaz,
film va moosighi, chand ta ham gol va derakht ke roozegar
ro ba man separi mikonand va az dast faramooshi e man ke
abeshoon nemidam, be khoady e asommon ha shekayat nemikonand.
Vali dar hamchin roozi delam baray e khoone vaghee, khoone
Iran tang mishe, delam baraye booy e khoone, hal va havai
e khoone tang mishe, delam migirie ke khoone ein hame ta'aghir
karde va man nadidam, delam mikhad man ham boodam va ta'aghirash
ro mididam, delam mikhast tasviri ke azash dar zehn daram
jadeed bood, taze bood, booy e naam-e- kohnegi nemidad,
vali che konam ke mide va ein rooza mibinam ke gooshe aksam,
aksi kea z khoone daram too oon konj e zehnam ham hesabi
taarak bardahste ke hich, hata pare poore ham shode. ajib
ham nist. Mamanam koli renovation karde ke man faghat harfesh
ro shenyadam va bass.
Vali baz ham saram ro khaam mikonam va khoda ro shokr
mikonam ke oon khoone hast, ke oon khoone montaazer-e man
e baray-e hamishe. ta man hastam va ta zendegi dar man
jarieh. hata age man hamishe door basham va mesle hala
natoonam behesh bargardam.
-- Kathy
Hadizadeh
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* Kourosh-e KABIR
At long last, a young, talented and sensible film director/producer,
Alexander Jovi, is about to make a big-budget movie, based
on the true story of the Achaemenid
king, Cyrus the Great!
Apparently, he is very enthusiastic about bringing the
glorious past of our country onto the silver screen, and
has a lot of admiration and respect for our great king,
who freed the slaves, championed human rights in his empire,
and was considered by Jews to be their Messiah or Saviour: "Christ-Cyrus",
as may be read in the Bible.
Nevertheless, I decided that this guy may not be so sensible,
after all, when I read that his movie is simply going to
be called "Cyrus"! Now, to me, this name, without
being followed by the adjective "Great", doesn't
seem very well balanced. I mean, in our school books, we
always used to read about "Kourosh-e Kabir" and
not just "Kourosh", didn't we?
So, I decided to write him an e-mail, and ask him kindly
to change the title of his movie to "Cyrus the Great".
You can read his interview on the BBC Persian site, under
the section "Rouz-e Haftom".
I also invite you to visit his website at chahayagroup.com.
If you would like to write to him, his e-mail address is: alex@chahayagroup.com.
Should you prefer to call him, his phone no. is: +44 7802
25 10 01, and finally his fax no. +44 207 286 14 16.
After all, the Zoroastrian community of the world, led
by the renowned music conductor, Zubin Mehta, wrote a letter
to Oliver Stone, and asked him to take out the "Neshaan-e
Faravahar" from the commercial advertisements of his latest
movie "Alexander the Great"!
Everyone knows, that if Alexander is called that
way in the Western culture, it's only thanks to the Greek
historians!!! For us Iranians, he is simply "Alexander
the Macedonian", but for our Zoroastrian brothers
and sisters, he is known as "Alexander the Cursed".
Flora Kaschani
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* Blessing or a curse?
Have you seen recent list of countries based on corruption?
This list is prepared by Transparency International, An
international human right NGO.
Our country is standing 87th among 145 with a score of
2.9 out of 10. A total "F" from every aspect
and a big shame!
Let's have a look and search for some common factors,
its fun:
Firstly - Religion-and Islam on top of the list- is supposed
to be a good source of ethic codes in everyday life. This
is what we have learned from the day we could pronounce "gha
gha",and even with some codes in our genes! Right?
Now look at the list:The country at the very end of the
list at 145th is Bangladesh with a score of 1.5! A very
big "Moslem" country. Go ahead and search more:
the first Moslem countries appearing in the list are Oman
and UAE (my residence country) with a score of 6.2. In
other words, there is not a single Moslem country in the
top 28 countries of the list. Go further: Saudi Arabia,
Islam's mother land is at 71st with 3.4, Other major Islamic
countries or countries with majority of their population
being Moslems are: Syria at 71st, Egypt at 77th, Lebanon
at 97th, Libya and Palestine at 108th, Yemen at 112th,
Iraq and Pakistan at 129th, and Indonesia at 133rd.
Secondly- Old history is supposed to be a positive value
against bad social habits such as "corruption",
right?
Now check the list: Greece and Italy being the oldest
civilizations of the Western hemisphere are taking the
worst situations among the European countries, Greece at
49th with score of 4.3 and Italy at 42nd with score of
4.8! Now shift to Asia: China at 71st with 3.4, Iran at
87th with 2.9, India at 90th with 2.8, move to America:
Mexico (remember Aztecs) at 64th with 3.6.
On the other
extreme some of the countries with very fresh history
are standing very tall: New Zeeland at second with 9.6
(second
only to Finland), Singapore at 5th with 9.3 and Canada
at 12th with 8.5 (Salute to these new historical babies
who are standing very tall).
Thirdly- Oil as a natural blessing is supposed to bring
wealth to the countries and wealthier countries as a result
are supposed to be less corrupted. Right?
Wrong again: Many of the most corrupted countries are
oil rich countries: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran in the
Middle East, Venezuela in South America and Nigeria and
Libya in Africa!
I do not want to make theories, I just want to make some
points. Look at the irony: the blessings are indeed curses!
Did you notice the link? Our beloved country is enjoying
all 3 blessings! Whom should we blame?
-- Iraj Shaghaghi
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* Hezb faghat hezbollah, rahbar Bush
Whether you agree or disagree, the government of Islamic
Republic of Iran and the Christian Republic of America
have more in common now than you know:
Qom and the White House both belong to Hezbollah, Party
of God. Don't be shy you can call Bush and his allies Hezbollahi
- you would be correct and they would appreciate it.
Oh, I forgot the no-fly list. Come on guys, it is the
good old " liste mamno-ol khorog." And, holding
people in custody without access to their family and attorney
is like our beloved Islamic Republic's judiciary.
I never thought it would take 25 years for Hezbollahis
to reach the shores of this great land. But, they
have always been here. We were just asleep at the
wheel, just as Iranians were when Khoemini took power.
Bush could be right - it is about the struggle of good
vs. evil. Where do you fall in?
I suggest you accept Christ as your savior now, stop drinking
and alvati and go to church this Sunday. Immediately enroll
in Promise Keepers. Just think this time around, you
do not need to grew a beard, give up your tie, wear a montoe
and generally look like you need a shower.
Again, don't wait, I suggest you run to your nearest
evangelical church, again accept Christ and be baptized. You
must carry your baptismal certificate with you at all times
[Failure to Carry Baptismal Certificate (FCBC) is a Class
A felony, punishable by a $200,000 fine and/or 5 years
in Prison]. You must also make sure everyone around
you understands that hell is seconds away, if they don't
convert.
A new reality show could emerge - Who wants to convert
to an evangelical Iranian Christian? The prize --
you get to live in peace, and without watching over your
shoulder. Oh, and the Iranian Evangelical Bachelor. Gosh,
there are so many possibilities.
I cannot believe it took me 25 years to give up the automatic, "Ya,
Ali" and, etc., to have to say "Oh, Lord,
give me strength."
PS. Armanis, Catholics and other orthodox Christians
must become evangelical, also, so don't think you folks
are out of the woods.
-- Naveed
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* Cyrus Schayegh: Best dissertation
The Foundation for
Iranian Studies is pleased to announce that
the Committee on the Selection of Best Dissertation
of the Year on a Topic of Iranian Studies of the
Foundation for Iranian Studies has chosen Cyrus
Schayegh's dissertation "Science,
Medicine and Class in the Formation of Semi-Colonial
Iran in the 1900's-1940's," submitted to the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Columbia
University, as the recipient of the Foundation's
annual Ph.D. dissertation
award for the academic year 2003-2004.
In making its decision, the Committee, following
the criteria established by the Foundation Board,
noted,
in part, an "exceptional
contribution to the field of Iranian Studies by
bringing together an extraordinary array of primary
and secondary
sources to support an original conceptualization
of modernization in Iran and by extension in developing
societies ...
by stating clearly the study's problematic and
theoretical framework... by maintaining objectivity
using method
judiciously to ground theory in fact and rigorously
to support innovative interpretations of state-society
interaction...
by
reformulating the framework for analyzing center-
periphery
relations in colonial and semi-colonial settings
using modern medical science as fact and metaphor
to theorize
and to contextualize the Iranian professional's
role in creating institutions by translating the
non-traditional
idiom to local culture reciprocally and interactively
... by calibrating signification and nuance in
Persian, French,
German, and English languages to relate meaning
to time and space... by paying attention to detail...
by
excellent organization of the work."
The Committee also cited Andrew Peacock's dissertation "Abu
'Ali Bal'ami's Translation of Al-Tabari's History," submitted
to the University of Cambridge, and Matthew Canepa's
dissertation "The Two Eyes of the Earth: Competition
and Exchange in the Art and Ritual of Kingship between
Rome and Sasanian Iran," submitted to the
Faculty of the division of the Humanities of the
University
of Chicago, with honorable mention for high scholarship,
originality, clarity, and significant contribution
to
the field of Iranian
studies.
Notice of the awards will appear in the MESA and SIS
newsletters, in Iran Nameh, and in various Persian language
and other
academic publications.
Gholam Reza Afkhami
Chair
Ph.D. Dissertation Awards Committee
Foundation for Iranian Studies
November
2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .To
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* Don't let the Bully get you down!
I didn't vote today. It is not because I think that voting
is pointless, nor do I feel indifferent towards the possible
outcome to this election.
I couldn't vote because the Los Angeles County Registrar
Office erroneously handled my request for an absentee ballot.
I heard numerous excuses over the phone today as to why
I never received my absentee ballot - my ballot was not
sent to my mailing address but to an address I haven't
lived in 2 years and didn't mark on my recent voter registration
form.
I was also told by one L.A. County office employee that
I should send a fax with names of people I want to vote
for since they are not legally allowed to fax ballots except
to voters in the military.
I am very disappointed by the system for being so unorganized
and I am even more startled by the slew of stories coming
out on voter fraud, the GOP party challenging voters in
courts in Ohio, and African Americans having their votes
thrown out in Florida for inherently racist reasons.
I am almost positive that this year's election will be
remembered for all the complaints that civil society will
make about voting and the obstacles that have been structurally
placed to favor one candidate.
I mainly wanted to get my thoughts out there to help
other people who have experienced similar problems. It
is crucial to make your voice heard thru other means than
voting.
Here is a website with voter information for each state
and list of contact
information. I know that certain offices are filing
complaints on behalf of callers that were turned down to
vote today. Definitely file one to make sure that there
is a record of your problem. That is so important.
It doesn't matter if your vote was denied in a swing state.
Every voice counts regardless of the state you live in.
Don't let the Bully get you down!
-- Samira Afzali
