Current Events

Goober

Most of us are familiar with those cheap 10-10 numbers we can all use to call friends or family members during those holiday times of year. And if you're more technically advanced, you've probably even used such things as Skype or instant messaging to stay connected. Today I've discovered an even better option for staying connected, not only during the busy holiday season, but for any time of year. It's called goober>>>

Call from death row

Walls, only walls. I am surrounded by walls. I cannot forget any of the terrifying moments of these last few days. I don't want to think about how time is running out. Only a few more days... From the first day of my arrest, five years ago, until now, the sky is all I can see. During all these unbearable moments, I can only stare at the endless fences of my prison. I can only see its towers and its barbed-wires which pierce my heart. Do you hear the bleeding of my wounded heart?>>>

Cutting rope

Piers Bannister, a researcher on the death penalty for Amnesty International, has had an active role in international lobbying for a global moratorium on the death penalty. A resolution calling all states for a moratorium on executions, passed at the UN General Assembly Third Committee in November 2007, leads up to a vote by the UN General Assembly. Piers, who has kindly answered some of my question about the death penalty in a previous interview, kindly agreed to talk more about international lobbying for the resolution. >>>

Persian classical music with oomph!

Hamed Nikpay is that rare triple threat you don't run into that often. He appears to have it all. Brains, Talent , and (damn him!) Good Looks. In preparing for introducing him (to those of you who don't know him yet), I was finding it a bit difficult, and have been more than a bit stymied as to how best to describe him to newcomers to his music. Best to just jump right in. Hopefully you'll get it and become a huge fan like I am. First off, I have to say that along with my rather vocal opposition to the tripe known as 6/8, the next most displeasing sound I can name is the overdone traditional Persian Classical music, or Sonnati>>>

The very last straw

Another in the long line of misunderstandings in their shared history, what caused Xerxes and Darius Adam to vow never to speak again, really began with a misplaced anecdote, specifically an incident that happened many years before in the summer of Xerxes's twelfth year, known always in the Adam household as "the summer when Darius Adam began terrorizing, the neighbors' cats," known privately to Xerxes's future self as "the summer in which I realized something was very wrong with my father, something that would cause us to never have a normal father-son bond-the summer, years later, accidentally triggering the very last straw that would cause us to never communicate again." Ever? "Well, wishful thinking, for starters.">>>

The Story of the Men of Sialk Hills

The Sialk Hills civilization had many members. One of these was a man who played the tar and loved his profession very much. This man’s house was located on the western side of the hill. To the right of it was the house of a bearded man. And to the left of his house lived a man who shaved his beard. They were not friends, but they always greeted each other when they met on the street. The tar player had a girlfriend who always reminded him that she was a decent girl. The tar player knew that she was a decent girl, too. That is why he had decided to marry her one of these days>>>

Targeting Iran

No, those are just excuses. I’m talking about the strategic reason which is as I just described it. In order to perpetuate US hegemony over the world and domination and control, any state that says no to Washington is singled out. And a state that is particularly rich in oil and natural gas has even more of an attraction to the United States.>>>

Phantom unmasked

I have always greatly admired Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Musical shows, From Jesus Christ SuperStar, Evita to Cats all have been great international success’ for more than three decades running regularly on the London Stage and elsewhere worldwide. Ramin Karimloo has been performing Phantom of the Opera's title role since September 10, 2007, and this year will also mark the Phantom's 21st anniversary in London's West End. I was happy to interview Karimloo on his new challenge in a demanding yet rewarding role of The Phantom of the Opera. >>>

The nature of freedom

Recently Dr. Parvin sent me a copy of his just-published novel, Alethophobia. Before reading it, I always assumed that the ultimate sanctuary of truth is the world of academia. Apparently this is not always so. The main character in Alethophobia, Professor Pirooz, tells how the fear of truth (alethophobia) affected the lives of a nexus of students, faculty and administrators on the seemingly serene campus of a midwestern university in the 1980’s, and how it threatened to compromise academic freedom as well as his own career. I offered to interview Dr. Parvin about the book, and he agreed. Since we have not yet met in person, this conversation was carried out via phone and email

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The lost requiem

There are gaps in our history, lost episodes in our collective memory caused not by forgetfulness, but by the deliberate policy of governments and politicians. There are also courageous individuals who fight to bring such material back into the public light. Khosrow Sinai is one such individual. Author of "In the Alleys of Love", “The Inner Monster”, and “Bride of Fire”, Khosrow Sinai is internationally famous for over a hundred short films, documentaries and features. One of his works, “The Lost Requiem”, has never been publicly released. Sidelined and ignored for over a quarter of a century, its content has been deemed too politically sensitive to be shown. Now, at last, its official obscurity is coming to an end>>>

More than Lolita in Tehran

We live in a world which still suffers seriously from an “us” versus “them” malady. Even in the absence of such bifocality, representing another culture is a hard thing to do. Now, add the fact that Iran and the U.S. have been embroiled in almost three decades of political conflict. In other words, no one will have a perfect solution. So far the villain versus the victim model has been the one applied most often. It provides something of an immediate relief for the burning questions we have “Why revolution?”, “How to make sense of some trends in present day Iran that seem backward looking?”>>>