Faramarz's Latest Rambling

Dear Faramarz & Azarin

sincere apologies for not responding to your posts! i totally missed them, but thanks for the replies - i will make it up to u!

Peace

to Niloufar Parsi

to everyone: This comment is unrelated to this blog's topic!

To Niloufar: Actually, it took me also a long time to finish Pamuk's My Name Is Red, and it seems that it is the case for many of his readers.  Plus, I think that Pamuk's focus has never been on the story's plot. My Name Is Red is not really a murder mystery in the classic term of the genre, but both murders have to do with the conflict between the modernity (ex:the use of the western perspective in the drawing of paintings for the book that Sultan has ordered. This book is going to make him eternal) against the traditional way of painting miniatures (which is not imitating the nature or God).

But for me Pamuk's strength is his poetic prose; simple but with a haunting depth. 

But if you're interested in finding out who has killed Elegant Effendi and Enishte, the murderer is Olive, one of the three miniaturists.

Thanks also for the tip about Arundhati Roy! I will check her work!Azarin

Dear Ms. Parsi

Thank you for your comment.  The global society (more so today than 50 years ago) usually defines evil.  Definition of evil has really not changed over time.

You indicated you accept calling Hitler evil.  Anyone else you can think of that deserves that title?  May I suggest a couple of people and or causes below?

Many people around the globe and even inside the U.S. believe that the administration of G.W. Bush was evil.  I agree with them.

At the same time, we cannot leave likes of Khamenie or Ahmadi out of the evil category.  Why?  Because:

1)  They are oppressing women

2)  Oppressing minorites

3)  Stealing lots of $$$ while 15 million Iranians live in abject poverty.

4)  Ordering/approving killings, torture and rape of Iranian citizens.

5)  Stealing the votes of Iranian voting public

6)  Helping Palestinians kill Israelis while Israel has never attacked Iran or killed Iranians

7)  Promoting hatred of Israel which automatically promotes hatred of Jews

8) Oppressing 70 million Iranians by preventing free speech and punishing political dissent

Now if you want to tell me because U.S. is putting pressure on IRI regarding their nuclear ambitions, that excludes likes of Ahmadi from being in "THE" evil list, that is your choice. 

Faramarz jan

can't agree with your main proposition in this blog. i don't see so much black and white as i see shades of grey in life. am ignoring the practical necessity of not tolerating someone like Hitler (i agree with you there totally, but have to also add that the story of WWII is far from being objectively told as yet), but on a more general level, the fight against 'evil' is a little too easy/convenient for real life. A few questions (among others) come to mind:

1. who defines what is 'evil' and therefore 'punishable'? eating meat is considered evil by some. looking sexy/hot is considered both angelic and evil, depending on who you ask and at what time of day you ask them!

2. what is the definition of 'evil'?

3. is it a moral definition or one related to our survival? are these two outlooks separable? 

4. would 'good' have any meaning without 'evil'? if the answer is 'no',
then there is no cosmic 'good' cause. if the answer is 'yes', then
fundamentalism is essentially right, and we simply need to find the
right fundamentals to impose on the universe?

5. who does the judging on what/who is 'evil'? 

a problem with the notion of 'evil' is that it is essentially determined by those in power. so iran is described as 'dangerous to world peace' by some because of its nuclear programme, but an 'evil' stockpile of thousands and thousands of nuclear weapons already in existence in other countries is seen as acceptable and in no need of 'sanctions' despite the obvious threat they pose to our planet.

essentially, pandering to the good/evil dichotomy leads to 'might is right' conclusions.

Peace

Jaleh, Azarin

this is completely off topic but i have to ask: who was the murderer in Pamuk's 'My name is Red'? i never managed to finish the book, which shows i am not as big a fan of his as you (loved his style, but the plot got too thick and his gorgeous and vivid descriptions of miniature art and history of the period were educational but a tad too repetitive for a slow reader like me), but i am still really curious about who had done it. pleeeze tell me!

hey someone should write a blog about the bestest international authors... perhaps it's already done, but we could all chip in with a little intro to some cool writers just to share and learn from each other. my own favourite in recent years would be Arundhati Roy.

Peace

Faramarz Fateh: they don't go to live under IRI because these

relics of cold war can only estabilish a long-distance relationship with the Islamist terrorists. Long-distance, because they cannot actually go and live among the said Islamic murderers, for the fear of their worthless life.

You see, the likes of Jaleho are not actually Islamist or even practicing Muslims. They are pieces of antique and rotten Communism, who can now only suck up to the likes of Ahmaghi-Nutjob and Ghazafi. 

Such decrepit junks are used to seeing the world through an East-vs.-West lens. A lens that is so darkened by hatred, which makes them praise even the blood-thirsty monsters like Ahmaghi-Nutjob.

Shame on them, now and for ever!

Azarin / OFF TOPIC (off evil ;-)

Oh, sorry I was foggy. Do you know famous people write a check for their restaurent bill, and then the owner prefers to keep the signature rather than cash the check? That's what I meant. I have seen little quick paintings and notes of him in a small "khaki" restaurent in Istanbul bazar which shows little notes of people like Pamuk who frequented there. This is a time that he was not so famous outside Turkey, and that's the time that he was quite handsome :-)

Like I said, he's still charming, but when you see him in LA, he might not be quite as handsome as you expected him tobe. And yes, I like black book too. I have not read his first book, Cevdet Bey, and the White Castle. If you like him, for sure  go to his lectures if he's planning to present them in LA, they are very nice.The series here will end Nov. 3rd.

Best to you.

booking for Mina Dadvar (to SamsamIIII)

Samsam says: "You,re so good, I already booked you up to do psycho analysis on few other bloggers on this site..."

Samsam JAn, book this hagheer for any kind of analysis with Mina Khanom as well.

Poor Mina!

You've got stinky me as an admirer. When you get Jaleho in your fan club then you know you've made it BIG :))))))

to Jaleho: Thank you for your detailed reply!

to Everyone: Sorry again for another unrelated comment! 

to Jaleho:

At this point, I think I would just forget our differences, because I’ve never been deeply into politics, but I can get so emotional over human tragedies.  Still, I truly and deeply think we all have many things in common, and so we grow stronger through learning about what separates us from each other...as long as we can respect each other's opinion. 

I am not Turkish. I was born in Mazandaran, but my parents are from Astara. They spoke Azari/or Iranian Turkish. So I wouldn't understand Pamuk...but I wish I could read him in Turkish.

My favorite Pamuk work is The Black Book, but I truly loved My name is red. And actually I was amazed at the depth of his knowledge about Ferdowis/Shahnameh and Nezami's Khosrow and Shirin and Rumi and Shams and Behzad,...and I thought why a Turkish author should be the one writing about our national treasures?

But I was blown away by Pamuk's The Black Book. If you haven't read it, maybe I should say nothing at this point.

Actually, I'm going to see him in LA soon. He will be in a panel with Reza Aslan...and I am all excited. (I am not sure to understand what you meant about him 15 years ago, and his charm would pay more than the bill...since I am sure his writing should have been paying more than his personal charms!) 

Thanks again for your reply.  Azarin

PS to Everyone: Since Jaleho doesn’t have a contact button, so I had to use this thread. Again I’m sorry for this brief interruption.

From Evil to Orhan Pamuk to cyber cat fight

Somehow as usual, everything is discussed except for the topic at hand.

Evil is speaking at the U.N. today.  Hopefully he continues his incendiary remarks about Israel to a point where they need to eliminate him with one of those UAWs they fly from Florida and bomb Taliban leaders in dirt shacks to hell.

By the way Ms. Dadvar, I don't know you, but I applaud your stand against IRI_Dokht and JalehO. 

This woman crossed the line.

"This woman crossed the line" ?

When? what did I say that was so outrageous that all the insults you wrote did not make you feel any better?  Do you mind copying it here or giving a link to show everyone what "venom" you are talking about?

I am just glad you got the attention you were seeking. Enjoy the new-found popularity! you deserve your admirers  ;-)

IRANdokht

Louie and Kaveh

Dear Louie.  Thanks for your feedback.  I, rarely respond to personal attacks against me.  This woman crossed the line.

Dear Kaveh:  No I did not see/read your comment.  I am sure they must be very similiar.  Thank .   

Mina/Louie

Mina, you are 100% on target. If I didn't know any better, I could have accused you of cutting and pasting one of my very own rants against Khahareh Zanab.

Louie, you are not the first one to be on the receiving end of her sense of entitlement, and you won't be the last, I'm afraid.

But if there is one thing we can all learn from this is how fascinating the human body truly is.

Because we have indisputable living proof of at least two people on this thread who have chronic diarrhea of the mouth and yet they are STILL full of ____.

Azarin, re. Orhan Pamuk, you said

"So let's forget our differences just for a short time. So you went to his first lecture from "The Naïve and the Sentimental Novelist” lecture series at Harward University last night! Oh...Lucky you! I'm officially so jealous of you! 

Did you actually see Orhan Pamuk? Do you like his books? Which one is your favorite? Have you read Snow (I'm sure you would like it)? At the end of the lecture, did he meet with his fans to sign their copies? BTW, isn't he handsome?..:-) "

OK, lets ;-)

Yeah, it was quite nice, I like the guy very much. He did talk about his growing up reading novels as a young boy in Istanbul ...all the way to becoming a writer of novels with a degree of "naive" and "sentimental" both, as you say. He did a fun analysis of some famous writers and book, my favorite Tolstoy, a bit of war and peace and a good section of Anna Karenina among them.

And yes, I do like his books. Most people do like Snow the best, but my favorite is "My Name is Red." I think in that one his talent and appreciation as a painter splashes into his writing nicely. BTW, I was pleasantly surprized when I saw that book being such a hot item in all of Iran's book stores few years ago. I read it in English though, and attempeted the Turkish with my broken Turkish, but with not much luck, but I heard the Turkish is a far better masterpiece. You might eb able to read it in original, I think you're Turkish, no?

Finally, at the end of the lecture, he did take questions, and a chat with Homi Bhabha who had given  a most BEAUTIFUL introduction of Pamuk. But, I didn't wait to chat and ran to avoid a ticket (futile effort!) and hurried to take a not-as-interested-15-year-old girl out of there ;-)

Finally, "isn't he handsome?" He used to be some 15 years ago, he would sign in a cafe in Istanbul Bazar who I am sure his little note and his charm would more than pay the bill, now he couldn't hide a little pot-belly under a still chic suit ;-) But, I'd say he's still charming, or it may be ME who gets charmed by the little clumsy attitude in artists and scientists!

.

.

Dear Mr. Anavr

As usual, I am in 100% agreement with your point.  However, unfortunately, simple, sane, logical, fair minded points such as you have brought up is generally lost on creatures such as Mehdi, Q, JalehO, IRI_Dokht etc,

But I do thank you for injecting these points in between all other vitriolic hatred filled comments (I am guilty of this as well) so that we realize this is a cyber community of humans and not a zoo.

O.K.

I think we're now making progress in healing ourselves.

Have a good day,

DBM

You have a lot of valid points.  Sorry, not enough time to elaborate.  If you are really interested in my credentials go to  "minadadvar.com"  They are all listed there.

Happy to see you back!! LOL

I think you're both delusional

Eliminate the Need - Not the Individuals

*Mehdi* - Thank you for the ovation and getting the points I made earlier.  Contrary to your impression, I have no doubt that *Faramarz_Fateh* got my points too. (Does not mean that he necessarily agrees with me though)

I also agree with a lot of what you are saying, however, (I hope that I’m mistaken) I get a strange feeling that you were using my comments to advance a very specific agenda.

Even though we might share certain viewpoints, I’m not sure if we’d share the same agenda and doubt if we’d advocate for the same solutions as how to ‘confront evil’.

For example, many people know that the power the clergy (rabbi, priest, mullah) hold over the blind zealots can produce ‘evil’ by manipulating the ignorant into committing heinous acts in the name of religions.  

Many people propose that the best way to confront this ‘evil’ is to eliminate (kill, imprison, etc) the clerics.

I propose that the best way to confront this ‘evil’ is it to eliminate the NEED of people for the clergy, thereby, relegating them to irrelevance.  How?  Teach people that human beings are now educated and enlightened enough to read and comprehend the words of God by themselves.  

Yet, there are others who do not perceive any ‘evil’ in the above example.  That’s why religious atrocities are historical facts.

Anvar

Actually I have something to say here

The rude and vitriolic comments here reflect what is happening on a bigger scale at a time when there is much conflict and violence which touches us all. And I want to just remind us all the anger that is coming to the surface here in these blogs is quite likely to be fallout from the past few months of devasting and emotional trauma from home. 

And I think now is a time when we have to think a little more cautiously before we respond if we have any care for each other as human beings.All I saying is recognise where your thoughts are coming from, reflect a little and reframe if necessary.  

No matter how different our views are, and they are, there is no need to resort to such personal insults. Please hold on to your dignity and good manners. 

Javaneh

.

.

to Jaleho: Did you see Orhan Pamuk?

to Everyone: Sorry for writing this unrelated comment to the blog...but being an Orhan Pamuk fan, I had to interrupt the thread.

to Jaleho: Actually, if you are a Pamuk fan, then i would be really surprised and puzzled. But why should I?

Pamuk says: "All true literature rises from this childish, hopeful certainty, that all people resemble each other.” 

So let's forget our differences just for a short time. So you went to his first lecture from "The Naïve and the Sentimental Novelist” lecture series at Harward University last night! Oh...Lucky you! I'm officially so jealous of you! 

Did you actually see Orhan Pamuk? Do you like his books? Which one is your favorite? Have you read Snow (I'm sure you would like it)? At the end of the lecture, did he meet with his fans to sign their copies? BTW, isn't he handsome?..:-)

Ok everyone, Sorry! Please continue your heated discussion and accept my apology for this comment! Thanks!   

JalehO's blogs; intellectual capacity?! LOL

Intellectual capacity is not whats needed.  Milk of Magnesia or castor oil is more useful. 

IRANdokht, "oghdeh" and Jealousy

does seem to be the reason behind some mob members running  together not to miss a lynching feast against the subject of their jealousy!

Given that you're a smart, literate, sweet and clever lady who writes quite well, seems to evoke the ire of some people who DO keep a certain bitterness inside for "rooz mabada," and they seem oblivious that they are so trasparent over the net!

I know that when I politely proved to Mindadvar that she simply did not have the intellectual capicity to comprehend my blogs, she had to come back with what amounted to "I just don't read something before I allow myself to give an opinion about it!" As seems to be the case with you, the bitterness because of that NEVER went away and it has to be released somewhere, somehow!

I am just coming back from a beautiful lecture series by Orahan Pamuk whose lecture was titled: " What Happens to Us as We Read Novels." I found it amazing to connect his lecture to what might have happened to people like Solo or MinaDadvar or Vildemose as they read the book "Reader" and remember I.Com. The psychoanalysis of which would be very interesting and fun, in particualr when one combines it with a movie with a pretty actress too :-)

IR-Dokht (Khahareh Zanab)

Irandoht does not suite you.  Khahareh Zanab is a much more suitable name for  you.

How do I know, what you think?  Thirty years of experience in the mental health field.  So here is the rest of what I think of you.  And the reasons, I believe, you are delusional.

You think, you are special.  You are not.  You sound like a frustrated and angry middle-aged woman, who does not know what to do her life.  Aside from, sitting in front of computer, and lecturing/insulting people.

You think you are humble.  You are not.  You are arrogant.

You think, being respected is your right.  It is not.  You do not demand respect.  You earn it.  

You think, you are honest.  You are not.  You either lie and/or you divert and distract.  I want you to show me how many blogs I wrote and did "male bashing".  I wrote one short blog, after being harassed by someone for a fairly long period of time.  Aside from this blog, which was not even a "male bashing", I want you to present the others.  If you do not then, you are a confimed liar.

You think you are right.  You are not.  You are self-righteous.

You think somehow, you are superior.  You are not.  You wear the superiority mask to deal with your inferiority complex.

You think you are altruistic.  You are not.  You are "khahareh zanabistic". It is all about making yourself, feel better.

I never, introduced myself as a Doctor.  I corrected the guy, who continued to call me one.

Next time you develop  "diarrhea of the mouth", take some medicine.  The stinch of the crap that comes out of your mouth, is becoming unbearable.

By the way,  I received several personal e-mail, confirming and validating my observation of your character, or should I say lack of character.   You are viewed, by many as an attack dog, that they do not want to be bothered with.

You are welcome to respond if you wish.  But I have wasted enough of my time on you.  I will not respond.  You are not worth it.

Have a good evening.

P.S. again,I apologize to Mr FF and others. 

against my better judgment...

Although the personal insult from Minadadvar is completely out of line, I realized by not answering, I may be giving some others the impression that she's got a point.

"Minadadvar",

You and I did not get along much even before you started the series of "divorce" and men-bashings blogs where I spoke up against your pseudo analysis of the divorced "bitter men". I believe I commented a couple of times and as usual I spelled out exactly what I thought of you.

Now you took the time to write a list of my flaws in your comment, it's been a while...  the anger must have been brewing for a while! wasn't it?

I have no problem with you expressing yourself, just do not "assume" what I am thinking. Remember one simple rule: when you assume you make an ass out of u before me ;-)

So many of the lines in your comment start with "you think".  How do you know what I think?  If you think I am pretentious just say that is what you think. No need to assume that I think I am something when you really have no clue. In other words: speak for yourself, don't put words in my mouth."na-azmoodeh" sohbat nakonid lotfan!  :o)

As for my ID being IRANdokht, YES it sure is a great ID, I like it! and I am very proud of it too.   What is it of your business to decide if I qualify as an Irandokht or not?

All I can say is that reading your comment gives me the impression that you're suffering from some sort of complex, actually I went back and looked at your blogs where people are questioning your credentials and calling your bluff about being some sort of doctor LOL  are you a little oghdeyi perhaps?  Sorry I am not into psychology to know what the clinical term for it is, but...

khoda shafaa bedeh! 

IRANdokht

Mehdi,

Are you arab or something like that? Because, at each tme you are said that IRI does the worse crimes (rapes, killings) against Iranians, you avoid the subject and return to your Palestine blablabla. If you are so worried about the issue why don't you return to your country and take arms to confront your ennemies?

Dear Mehdi, lets examine the moronic arguments

you have written:

1) I am a pro Jew Pro Israeli Nazi !   How this could be possible is something a malijak like you could answer.

2) Israel should be "dissolved" as a nation (are you a chemist?) because it is mistreating Palestinians. 

So, the U.S. needs to be dissolved because of mistreatment of blacks for 300 years?  Or should Russia be dissolved for mistreatment of Muslims in Chechnia?  

How about IRI for mistreatment of its own citizens?

You wanna talk aparthied?  How about the aparthied IRI has created for Bahais born in Iran, living in Iran?

You are a Jew hater by nature.  And as a malijak, you have been told to havar havar about Israel so that stupid uneducated IRI supporters like yourself forget about the atrocities of your own illegitimate regime.