radius-of-the-persian-cat's blog

What a difference 3 month make

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 10:51:46 +0000

Almost exactly 3 month ago, at the end of the islamic ramadan, many Palestinian families from the West-Bank got the chance to visited the beach near Jaffa and spend some happy hours in the waves. Experiencing this free and liberal coexistence of people from different national,
cultural and religious background, the idea that 3 month later the same place could be shattered with violence, hate and aggression seemed absurd.

Servus and Salam

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:24:18 +0000

Persian Mojito

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:36:16 +0000

Sitting in the garden, at 32 degrees the hottest ever recorded April in Munich. Reading Hooschang Golschiri's "Man with the red tie" and mixing my first Mojito of this year. And then this deja-vu: Sparkling water, pepermint leafes, lime ... just the white rum does not really complies to the Doogh recipe. But here we have another example that every single item in western civilisation was first invented in ancient Persia. Just that the westeners replaced the yoghurt with alcohol, and - voila - serve it as their own, extra lavish cool summer drink.

Cyrus Cylinder and a funny spelling mistake by the UN

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:33:46 +0000

Happy Yalda

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:29:19 +0000

Best wishes to everybody at IC and their friends and families on the occasion of Yalda.

I hope that the rebirth of sun will also enlight the minds and spirits of people around the world and stop them spending their time and money and power to harm each other.

Shajarian and Shahnaz Ensemble play in Munich Royal Palace

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:42:29 +0000

On Friday we went to the concert by Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, who was accompanied on his tour through 9 european countriesby the Shahnaz ensemble. The prospect to hear and watch the perhaps biggest and most famous representative of classical persian vocal music here in Munich attracted the audience that filled the Hercules-Hall of the royal residence up to the last seat.

Bulgaria and Persia: common styles in ancient arts

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:45:27 +0000

The Persian-Archaemenid empire under Dareius the Great had its largest extension in the 5th century BCE, when its north-western boarders extended up the Thrakian plains in nowaday Bulgaria. In the archeological museum in Sofia many excavated artifacts are considered to represent an archaemenidian style much different from forms inflluenced by hellenistic culture. But there might exist a much older link between so-called Proto-Bulgarians and the ancient Partian people.

How open can we communicate in the west ?

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:20:45 +0000

Hi Siamak,

I have a serious question to you living here in the west only for a certain time: Is there a problem when I send to you e-mails with frank political statements ? I heard bad guys from CIA, KGB, Mosad and worse (!!!!!!!!!!!, hey I guess you know whom I mean) could spy around even here and later could make problems for you you?

Traveling Iran on a horse back?

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:12:41 +0000

Dear Folks, during the last days I was following too many IC blogs that made me very sad indeed. There were talks about cultural genocide, iranian holocaust, very agressive discussions about Mozzadegh and the Shah and the Tudeh and the British and the Russians and the Germans and the Arabs and about whom of those to blame more for the current tragedy in Iran. I felt my confidence regarding a bright future of a new, free Iran vanishing more and more, since a new Iran requires pioneer spirits, rather than people feeling comfortable in their role as a victim.

This country deserves more than material wealth: A reply to Amir Parviz

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:34:43 +0000

This is an extended reply to Amir Parviz (for a Secular Monarchy) recently posted thesis, arguing that western-style democracy wont bring any benefit to the people of Iran. I have a my doubts that the people in Iran will accept a future where a gouvernment tries to compensate unfreedom with material wealth. Since my reply goes beyond the question of democracy and economic numbers, I started a new blog.

Frank Zappa's rock opera inspired by 1979 islamic "revolution"

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:56:06 +0000

Frank Zappa was one of the most innovative and influential, but also controversal rock-musicians. His huge oevre covered jazz-rock classics like “Peaches in Regalia” , but also some top ten hits like “Don’t eat that yellow snow” and “Bobby Brown goes Down” from the 1979 album “Sheigh Sherbouti”.

Children Toys

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:09:44 +0000

This doll is nowadays manufactured as a container of rose-oil. But it perfectly resembles a toy that kids used to play with before they had iPAD apps and Gameboys.

If one here at IC made the right guess from which country this doll comes, I might send him one.

Why I don"t feel sorrow for you, Basidj

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:00:59 +0000

Yesterday, I saw your face in this documentary about the elections and
post-election demonstrations in Teheran in June 2009. I saw your coward
eyes under the black helmet, Basidj. Like all of the other black-dressed
and heavily armed puppets of your leaders, you seemed to enjoy this
feeling of total power over the students on the streets of Teheran, who
had nothing else to defend against you than their T-shirts, canvas
slipper and hand-written posters.

Hotel Evin ?

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Fri, 06 May 2011 16:19:43 +0000

When a good friend of mine forwarded this sequence of nocturnal images from Teheran to me, I was almost prompted to ask if this is really the same place I knew from the news headlines of protests and from Ahadis movie "Green Wave".

David versus Goliath

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:05:56 +0000

I think this picture does not need any comment. Not sure if somebody posted it here before. Hope nobody takes the "David and Goliath" analogy to serious. It should not symbolize the victory of one nation over another, rather than the victory of intelligence over physical power.

Why the Fukushima nuclear disaster is good for nature

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:28 +0000

A Taste of Honey

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 07:32:03 +0000

I selected these two very different versions of the song "A Taste of Honey" or
ذوق عسل.

Originally written by Bobby Scott and Rick Marlow, it was played as the intro for the New York premier of Shelagh Delaneys drama of the same title. It was covered by famous musicians such as Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Chet Atkins, Woody Herman, The Beatles and the Hollies. The two versions here give an idea to the broad range of musical styles to which the original song and the story of the play-wright had inspired singers and musicians.

Norooz runs around the globe

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:20:59 +0000

Tscharschanbe-Suri

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 08:52:04 +0000

Zoroastrian philosophy not only inspired Friedrich Nietzsche to write his central opus “Thus spoke Zarathustra”, but contemporary rock singers were equally influenced by this ancient faith. The idea that a divine spirit is present in nature, and it shows up in phenomenons such as fire or water had a renaissance in the era of new age and hippie-culture. Have a look at this wunderful piece of music by Arthur Brown (”I am the god of hell fire, and I bring you: FIRE”).

Help request: What means "Eh Baj"

radius-of-the-persian-cat — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:03:24 +0000

At university I had a very good friend from Jordan. He was palestine, much younger than the rest of us physics students and extremely gifted. But he did not only had an extraordinary mathematical talent, he was also very familial with classical european music and literature. On the other hand, he had a very firm opinion about Israel, whom he completely refused the right of existence. About the last point we had a never-ending intellectual fight, whereas for most other issues, philosophy, science, values of life we felt quite similar.