Date

POETRY

Ode to mid-summer

The mind in a haze refuses to think: goes on strike

17-Aug-2007
Waking to the sound of cicadas
Wrapped in the sweaty tulle of mid-summer
Every movement lingers: becomes sensual
The mind in a haze refuses to think: goes on strike >>>

POETRY

The flux

I had it

17-Aug-2007
What is happiness?
It is something
I hardly notice
Even when I am
Completely at ease >>>

POETRY

Ahead

Wasn't it just natural that we come and go?

17-Aug-2007
Our dark mahogany radio
like Karen Carpenter's,
often sang sad songs
in a foreign tongue.
>>>
غروب آبیدر

به مناسبت درگذشت بهاالدین ادب

16-Aug-2007
در دورانی که دانشجو بودم و به لطف معلم همشهری ام با او آشنا شدم. اوایل بهار 1377 بود . انسانی را دیدم شیک پوش و مودب و انگیزه دار.... جدای از مساله ایدئولوژی و تفکر سیاسی اش که شاید با ان سخت مخالف بودم و غوغای جوانی در سرم بود و او هم تبسمی می کرد که انگار می دانست روزی این باد و همهه و نشاط و ساده باوری و زود خیزی فرو خواهد نشست و بنا به تجربه اش اجازه کسب آزمون و خطا به من داد تا خود هم بسنجم . اما آن روز معنی آن حرف را نمی دانستم !>>>

HOUSING

Caught up in the mortgage mess

Are any of us close to losing our homes?

16-Aug-2007
Lately, one cannot log on to the internet, turn on the television or open up the newspaper (people still read newspapers, don't they?) without being inundated with some kind of news, invariably bad, concerning the housing market, mortgage defaults and so on. It also seems that while the news entities focus on all of the losses, cable TV channels like TLC and Bravo are showing investors and speculators making healthy profits in less time than it takes to solve the latest crime on the newest CBS spinoff, CSI: Rasht. >>>

TERMS

Backwards will always be backwards

How do you live with YOUR self?

16-Aug-2007 (74 comments)
Recently questioned whether the recent stoning of one person is backwards, when compared with the apparent progress made by the IRI since 1979. Yes, Dariush. It is by definition, backward. This is 2007 A.D., not 2007, B.C. Anyone who thinks this is acceptable in any society must be stoned (as in high) themselves. But let's not stop there. Let's address the rest, shall we?>>>

CRITIC

Interfering with play

I'll give Jafar Panahi's "Offside" a tepid "Ehhh?"

16-Aug-2007
One Sunday, I had the distinct hal-geery to attend a benefit screening of "Offside", the controversial and noted film by now-famed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (The White Balloon; The Circle, Crimson Gold). As advertised, the film is about 5 young women who try to sneak into the Azadi (Formerly Aryamehr) Stadium to watch the famous match between Iran and Bahrain that led to Iran qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. Resulting in a dismal first round elimination of Iran on the World Stage of Soccer, subsequently, summarily, forthwith, tout suite.>>>

CRITIC

Scott Baio is 45 and single

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Pop Culture but Were Too Snooty to Ask -- A Column

16-Aug-2007
One of the many things you don’t know about me is this: Scott Baio was my first celebrity crush. Sure I have a very sophisticated list of male celebrity crushes today: from Jon Stewart to George Clooney to my latest delicious acquisition Jon Hamm (he of the excellent Mad Men on AMC), my fantasy life is filled with funny, good looking, and more importantly, highly talented celebrities. But I have to admit, it all started from Scott Baio. I do have an excuse for this seeming lapse of taste in my life: I was a newly arrived immigrant from Iran and had left a small nurturing school in Tehran for the large jungle otherwise known as the Los Angeles County Public School system.>>>

RIGHTS

Knight in shining armour

Where are those "humanitarians" now?

16-Aug-2007
Fascism can only do the one thing: exterminate what it doesn't like. Be that in the name of racism, nationalism, communism or Islamism. Sometimes it's the turn of the Jews, sometimes imperialists, sometimes Armenians, sometimes so-called unbelievers (atheists, Christians, Baha'i, gays, lesbians, adherents of free love etc.). And the masses just stand, stare and remain silent. History always repeats itself: today the grotesque setting is Iran and a grotesque silence prevails in Germany and Europe.>>>

FASHION

Man Irooniam

Masih Zad turns Iranian words into art you can wear

16-Aug-2007 (7 comments)
Over the vast expanse of the universe, a vagrant seed of a concept drifts about and lands on fertile land and is nurtured into a tree by intense passion yet tender love. The ardent labor bears fruit that is satisfying not only to Masih, the creator, but also to those who share the great pleasure of savoring the delectable fruit of his exhilarating art. Masih comes from a family of highly-prized and respected tile artisans of Esfahan (Isfahan), whose magic creations of indigo, turquoise, and cobalt blues have adorned the mosques and historical monuments of the city of Esfahan for centuries. Holding a torch in hand and a palpitating hope in heart, he illuminates the path to mystical Persian calligraphy>>>

FASHION

Man Irooniam

Man Irooniam

Masih Zad turns Iranian words into art you can wear

by Jahanshah Javid
16-Aug-2007

>>>

BAKHTIAR

رویای ناممکن

با یاد دکتر شاپور بختیار در شانزدهمین سالروز قتل او بوسیله جمهوری اسلامی

16-Aug-2007
در سالروز قتل دکتر شاپور بختیار، آخرین رییس دولت مشروطه ایران، برگردان های زیر ازانگلیسی از ترانه مشهور ((رویای ناممکن)) که بخش هایی از نمایش اپرای معروف ((مردی از لامانچا)) هستند، با یاد او، به همه جانباختگان و مبارزان داخل و بیرون از ایران که بیش از ٢٨سال است برای استقرار دموکراسی، حقوق بشرو جدایی دین از حکومت در ایرانی مستقل و مدرن تلاش می کنند، تقدیم می شود. >>>
nmilaninia
15-Aug-2007 (2 comments)
If financing and helping terrorism around the world is sufficient to classify oneself as a terrorist organization despite that organization being an agent of a sovereign entity, then it seems also appropriate to classify Mossad and the CIA as terrorist organizations.>>>

TERRORISM

Another step toward military confrontation

Labeling of the Revolutionary Guards

15-Aug-2007
The unprecedented move by the United States to designate a branch of another sovereign nation's armed forces, in this case Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "terrorist" organization [1], is only the latest episode of a menacing plan that has taken years to implement. Most commonly accepted definition for "terrorism" is "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, civilian population, or any segment thereof, in order to achieve specific political, social, or economic objectives".>>>

FOOD

Mangia mangia!

Mangia mangia!

Experiencing Italy's amazing range of food in our recent trip

by Farah Ravon
15-Aug-2007

>>>