Archive - 2007 - Article

Interruptions

Farzin Rouhani would remember the last day of spring 1981 as the first time reality warped. He would recall that Tehran’s air was so hot and immobile a dropped feather fell like a rock. By then he had developed the habit of going over to see Bijan in his apartment halfway across town. Farzin had the route memorized by then. Turn the corner from Vali-e Asr onto Shaheed Beheshti Avenue, and he would be but five blocks away from wicked bliss. Only on June 20, 1981, the baking street indulged more people than usual, and the sun staked sharp streaks of pain into his skull. The heat was treacherous, dry, and scorching. >>>

PandaHeat

Stepping out of the shower and drying, I stare at my nakedness in the steamy mirror and admit with a shy but satisfied smile: Pirooz, you were a dirty old man when you were born, and you will be a naughty boy when you die. I have always been a victim of my passions, not only the passion of my loins, mind you, but also the passion of my mind. From my untimely pre-pubescent erection in the women's bathhouse in my native Tehran, when I was just five years old -- I will tell you about that later --to my current basketful of predicaments here at Ohio Eastern, where I have landed as a Professor of Political Economy. >>>

گفتگوی حسین درخشان با کیهان خیالی

حسین، جواني است پرنشاط و کلّه شق، سخت كوش، غیر فداكار و غیر وفادار ولی کمی باهوش... از دوران بچّگی در مکتبخانهء نیکان در جوار فرزندان بزرگان نظام پرورش یافت و آیت الله ... در نخستین فراش، برایش صیغه عقد جاری کرد، امّا بدلیل همان نا پختگی های جوانی، غیر وفاداری و کلّه شقی مفرط، دل از دامان اسلام برید و به آغوش باز فرهنگ غرب رفت؛ حسین درخشان نویسنده جلد دوّم کتاب «ناتوی فرهنگی» قرار است به جمع ما در کیهان بپیوندد، از نبوغ و هوش او در این فضای مجازی کسی نیست که چیزی نداند>>>

I am going to break these walls

I am going to break these walls
I am going to be the fuel of fire
Watch me dancing seductively
I am the flame of a wild burning candle
These nights are begging…
Begging for my heat

These long kept emotions are begging
Begging for me to set them free >>>

Me and Persian businesses

Persian culture has never ceased to surprise me. Ever since I came to Los Angeles, the number of such cases has increased exponentially!!! And so has been the fun of ever increasing shock! When I first came to Los Angeles, I learned that Iranians are an integral part of the business in the society. Any normal person would think:” Oh wonderful! I'm sure people of my land are more sympathetic, as we experience the same feelings in exile.“ Alas I was so damned wrong! I don’t want to bore you by going through the details of my unfortunate events with Iranian-based businesses, so I confine myself to the world of beautification.>>>

بالاخره روسپیان مارکز قربانی شدند

اخرین کتاب مارکز در سال 2004 با سر و صدای فراوان در نماشگاه کتاب بوگوتا در کلمبیا رونمائی شد هرچند از یکی دو روز قبل از آن میشد نسخه قاچاق آنرا با دو سه هزار پزو ارزان تر در مرکز شهربوگوتا از دست فروش ها خرید. کتابی است حدود صدو چند صفحه که روایت عشق پیرانه سر مردی نود ساله است به جمال معشوقی نو جوان و باکره و اثرات این عشق در زندگی به بیراهه رفته او. نوعی عرفان یادآور شیخ صنعان عطار است البته به زبان مارکز و ذهنیت کارائیبی او و لزومی به تاکید نیست که مارکز\ پورنونویس نیست.>>>

Uncertain future

For the past few months, a plan has been going around in the Presidential Office in Kabul, as well as the corridors of certain Western foreign ministries. Some Western countries have reached this conclusion that they must sit at the negotiating table with Taliban in Afghanistan, and reintegrate some of the more moderate forces of this group into the current Afghani government’s political structure. The officials of these western nations have even succeeded in convincing Afghanistan’s President, Hamed Karzai, to consider this plan. Britain is possibly at the forefront of designing and promoting this plan>>>

How time flies

...>>>

Subprime loans, my foot!

That subprime fiasco, which is likely to mount losses between one-half and one trillion dollars, is just a small part of the true real estate problem which little by little is starting to take shape; a problem that Wall Street, politicians, economists, and the public at large have been unwilling to talk about, much less confront. And that is, the multi-trillion dollar excess valuation of real estate in the nation, in both residential and commercial markets; something which for the next 3 to 5 years, at a minimum, will have the US immersed in a recession, a modified version of the one experienced in Japan throughout the 90's and the first 2 years of the new millennium.>>>

بهنود، کیهان، آوینی

راستش نامردی است اگر درباره‌ی اتهاماتی که کهیان چند روز است با بی‌انصافی و بی‌احتیاطی محض به یک سری از آدم‌هایی که با آنها مخالف است می‌زند، سکوت کنم. نه تنها بخاطر اینکه با یک سری از این افراد نشست و برخاست یا دوستی داشته‌ام، بلکه بخاطر اینکه اصل نقدش را که در خیلی جاها هم موجه است منحرف می‌کند. من مدتهاست آقای مسعود بهنود را ندیده‌ام و هر چه هم گذشته است و من از آن ذهنیت حزبی و ساده‌انگارانه‌ و غیر انتقادی خودم دور شده ام با او و همفکرانش اختلاف فکری‌ام زاویه‌ی بیشتری گرفته اس>>>

Being Iranian.com

When a site grows as large as Iranian.com, it is only a matter of time before some archive rat comes along to dig out long-forgotten pieces to see the light of day again. And what the rat drags out we will call “Best of Iranian.com.” This archive rat started digging in 2006. My idea was to put together a “Best of…” covering the site to the end of that year – which I did. By 2007 the new site was going to be up and running “any day” and it made sense to wait and inaugurate “Best of…” in the new site. Well… that took a while. >>>

ملاقات پس از کشتار ۶۷

آذرماه ۶۷. بالاخره بعد از گذشت هفت ماه، موفق به دیدار خانواده شدم. مادربزرگم، مادرم و پدرم به ملاقات آمده بودند. بیچاره مادرم فکرمی‌کرد که اعدام شده‌ام. بارها مراجعه کرده بود. به او گفته بودند که ملاقات ندارد یا این‌جا نیست تا این که نامه‌ام را دریافت کرده بود. مادرم اشک می‌ریخت. سراغ مرتضی مدنی را گرفت. با چشمانی اشک‌بار پرسید که آیا از او خبری دارم یا نه؟ هنوز پاسخ نداده بودم، گفت: ملاقات ندارد، دل‌مان شور می‌زند. دلم هری ریخت پایین. به خودم دلداری می‌دادم که شاید زنده مانده باشد. با هم بزرگ شده بودیم. بعد از انقلاب دیگر کم‌تر از هم جدا می‌شدیم. روز پنج مهر دستگیر شده بود درحالی که تا چند لحظه‌ قبل از دستگیری در کنارم بود.>>>

Jazireye Gilligan

Like every Iranian kid of my generation whose family could afford a TV, I grew up watching Gilligan's Island in Farsi on Iranian TV. Not only that, we grew up to know every Disney character of the era, enjoyed watching Bewitched, Payton Place, Lost in Space, Wild Wild West, Flintstones, even Get Smart, all in Farsi. We grew up seeing every worthy Hollywood production and any worthy European movie in Farsi – and sometimes getting somewhat creative in translations, even in musicals such as the Sound of Music. As a result, when about one hundred of us ended up at a university town in the northeast United States in the early 70’s, we did not feel socially foreign at all.>>>

100,000 good reasons

With countless examples of the heart and soul invested in building these nonprofits and the variety of proposals we received, you can imagine how difficult it was to decide which applications to select. This was compounded by the fact that the amount requested totaled over $1.4 million while our total grant-making budget was $100,000. PARSA CF staff reviewed all applications and divided them into two groups. To ensure broad participation and an objective evaluation process, we formed an independent Grant Advisory Committee comprised of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences with community building>>>

Break from tradition

The wreaths are up, the tree is decorated to perfection and the big day is a week away! Whether your main family meal is dinner on Christmas Eve or lunch on Christmas Day, it’s going to be a long one. But I’m not going to re-invent the wheel for you and tell you how to cook a turkey. If you want to know about cooking times for turkey, read my Thanksgiving article. But stay with me if you want to do something DIFFERENT and a little more original this year. I used to make turkey, every single year, in fact. Until one year I confronted the family because I grew sick and tired of slaving for 7 hours preparing a big turkey feast and begged them to perhaps consider beef instead.>>>