... that's how long it took me to become a permanent resident in another country! As of yesterday, I am officially an immigrant. Not sure if I'm supposed to be happy or sad!!! (don't get me wrong though, I totally appreciate the fact that my whole existence in Canada no longer expires every 12 months!!!)
I think December is really not my month! I'm done fighting. Guess you can't have everything you want! And life goes on, regardless of all this.
:) thanks everyone for your positive thoughts, it worked! also Somayeh, you can have any positive thoughts sent to me after 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time! :)
Read the rest...
Dear readers, lo and behold that my exam is finally close enough for me to completely ignore it! It's tomorrow and there's nothing I can do right now except sit and wait! Positive thoughts are welcome!
With my comprehensive exam coming up in four days (yikes!), I had to go back to my late night movie routine, so I went and watched "I'm not there" and truly enjoyed it! I've already written about other movies I've seen about Bob Dylan's life and career. This one though, was different. It's not a documentary, not even a real biography. Todd Haynes has made this amazing mix of different story lines, each inspired by "music and many lives of Bob Dylan"... If you know Dylan, his songs, and some important turning points in his musical and personal life, you'll immensely enjoy this film. Otherwise you might end up all confused and frustrated after watching a long movie about some crazy characters. I definitely recommend watching "no direction home" before going to see this movie.
I can write about each and every character in the movie, but it will be too long and you gotta watch the movie for yourself anyway. I just have to say that Cate Blanchett's performance was FREAKIN' AWESOME...
Soundtrack is great too, of course! (Duh!!!) The soundtrack that's out in the stores has all cover songs of Dylan performed by other artists. In the movie though, most songs are originals. Here's a favorite song of mine and many others.
On a side note: DO NOT, under any circumstances, watch August Rush! terrible movie!
Regina Spektor is my new favorite artist (thanks to Payv and JJ who introduced her to me)... she's got this unique style in singing which you probably either really like or just hate! So here's a sample for you! (I think this is one of her better songs).
"...This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't..."
So yeah, yesterday I - the girl who hated most seafood not that long ago - bought a big bag of prawns to make some garlic prawns for dinner. But of course, universe has a funny way of reminding you of your fears... I took a nap in the afternoon and guess what?! I had a nightmare in which all the little prawns had grown little lizard-like legs and were crawling all over me! urrrrrrgh! still can't think about it! anyway, I did make that dinner eventually, just to get back at them, of course... but I wonder if I will ever buy lobster to make a meal!!!
Read the rest...The notion of successful relationships came up a while ago when a friend of mine said he didn't want another unsuccessful relationship, so he would prefer not to start dating again. It was very interesting to hear that, because I'm not sure what a successful relationship is supposed to be like! Is it marriage that validates a relationship?
I never thought a relationship should necessarily end in marriage... If someone's first relationship happens to be their one and only relationship, I just call it pure luck! It's very strange to me when people assume that a break up is a failure... of course it's hard and painful, but if during the course of that relationship the partners have learned from each other, then who can say it was not successful? If they felt the affection, and enjoyed their time together, then how could it be a failure?!
I don't think we can afford to miss out on all the great things we can learn from someone, just because that someone might not be the "one"! who's to say we'll ever meet the "one" anyway?
(disclaimer: I don't say that we should lower our standards and hook up randomly with anyone...you know what I mean!)
...it's a shame the things you hide behind it
Let 'em go, give it up, for a while
Let 'em free and we will both go find it
(one of my favorite songs ever!)
I'm absolutely in love with last.fm, an online radio (similar to Pandora, which now only people in the States can listen to). It's one of those radios that learn about your music taste through the songs you listen to (online or on your computer) and then recommends songs/artists/videos/ etc. to you... also you can skip any song you don't like and there's no advertisements! it's just perfect! ... tune in and enjoy!
Read the rest...I consider myself a feminist or a feminist-to-be at least. I know this is not exactly the most important issue women are facing today (!), but I've always thought it's ridiculous that girls should have to wait for guys to ask them out... but I've asked two guys out in my whole life, both with no luck! so I know how it feels to be turned down, even if you get over it after a few hours, which makes me admire guys' courage for asking girls out left and right! So the question is: should we just leave it to guys to ask and be turned down? or should we step up and face the occasional rejection in exchange for the liberty of asking out the people we like?!
PS- comments that make fun of me will be deleted! :D I'm a very open-minded person too, did I ever mention that before?
...can't beleive a year has passed by so quickly. I still remember, do you?
Read the rest...as a kid, whenever you get a new toy, every moment is full of joy and happiness. You constantly look at it, can't wait for play time so you can go play with it. It doesn't take long for the toy to seem less special though, and then it's time for you to want to peek inside it and see how it works, throw it around, and test its strength against the other toys. eventually you'll end up damaging it so bad that it no longer functions ... you get tired and the poor thing is buried somewhere in your memories.
It's almost the same story with new people in life... they all seem so shiny at the beginning, you enjoy their company, but it takes merely a few weeks for you to grow tired... then it's time to push them to extremes and see how well they survive! those who stick around may have a chance to actually get close to you... others are forgotten, as easily as they once entered your life.
One of my favorite websites, tv-links.co.uk, has been brought down by Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT)and the owner has been arrested and is being held in jail for now. I think it's absolutely retarded! There is a petition going on, if you were a regular like me.
Read the rest...hmmm, Guacamole omelet: disgusting, especially if you've messed up the eggs so they're not all cooked, arrrgh!
Read the rest...This'll be my last VIFF post, hopefully. Unless I go watch a movie tomorrow, of course! :)
I watched a few good movies in only two days and I'm all excited, my head still filled with images from the last one I watched only a few hours ago, Bliss. It was a Turkish movie about a young village girl that gets raped. Village's "Agha" decides that she has sinned and only death will erase this dishonor (you can imagine how I felt throughout the movie I guess!). So they send a guy to kill her and he's not happy about it and the two disappear. It was filmed so beautifully, with amazing scenery, and great acting from the lead actress (she was so cute!) that I was shocked! I think that this movie must be a commercially successful one in Turkey, not one of those artsy independent ones. Anyway, it's screened again next Monday in Vancity theater in Vancouver, if anyone's interested. I liked the movements of the camera in the movie and also the score, it was so sad that I cried at the final credits, even though nothing was showing on the screen! (I'm a woos when it comes to the movies though!)
I also watched Persepolis...need I say anything? It was all I expected and more! I thought the book was pretty awesome, but seeing those figures in action was a totally different experience and I absolutely loved it. Eevery Iranian that has a chance should watch it and feel proud (and force their non-Iranian friends to watch it too!) :) Reading the two books will help too.
Another superb movie was "the diving bell and the butterfly"... it told the true story of a man that got affected by the "locked-in syndrome"... so basically, he was paralyzed from head to toe, and the only part working in his body was one eye! (and his brain, of course). And then this guy went on and wrote a book (!!!)- through a very cool communicating system that one of his doctors created - about his experience. It was greatly made, and felt really strange. It has won the best director award in Cannes, so it should be pretty easy to find on DVD later on, a must see for all you movie fans out there!
And finally, a relatively good movie - but not great - was Jellyfish, a movie from Israel. It's the first feature film from the director and it was definitely a good first movie. I didn't exactly love it though!
I came across this article through sibil tala's blog and thought it had some great points in it about the famous homosexual-related comments of Iran's president in Columbia University.
"...At the risk of being accused of defending him, I want to point out that Ahmadinejad did not say that queers do not exist in Iran at all. He said “we do not have ‘hamjensbaaz’ the way that you have it in this country.”
...It is no news to anyone that he represents one of the most socially conservative officials in Iran. But he is correct to say that homosexuals do not exist THE SAME WAY that they exist in the US."
I think it is the realization of the term "tof e sar bala" when I have to defend a man that represents almost everything that I hate about the way my country is run today, but well, can't just stand there and nod while people make jokes about Iran.
You're gonna have to cope with my movie posts until the festival ends. Last night I went to watch "en la ciudad de Sylvia"(in the city of Sylvia) and "Unas fotos en la ciudad del Sylvia" (photos in the city of Sylvia) , two back to back movies from Spanish director, Jose Luis Guerin.
"en la ciudad..." shows us this young man (super good looking!) that sits in a street cafe and watches women. We don't know why (and we won't find out for a long time).. but that's not the point. The way he looks at these women and makes sketches in his notebook is what's interesting. The way he notices little things and movements. Then he starts following this one woman and the chasing scene is just absolutely beautiful... I can't describe it, you have to watch it for yourself.
The movie felt like a dream... it had an amazing quality to it... for one thing there was almost no dialog in it... there were a lot of different sounds though (and they did a superb job of sound recording and editing I thought), you could hear the wind, the street musicians, people walking and talking, everything. But what blew my mind was the imagery... every frame could be a perfect photo... the camera shot each location from many different angles... of course, it really helped that the movie was shot in Strasbourg, the old streets and buildings introduced so much character into the movie.
the second movie, that was screening for the first time, was actually a slide show of these old photos that the director had taken in Strasbourg before making the film and had used to get ideas. You could instantly see how he had translated the images into the movie and if you enjoy photography, you'll enjoy this slide show as well. It is absolutely silent though, I could hear the theater seats creaking and people whispering and all!
The movie had a very simple plot, and according to what the director said at the screening, he intended for the viewers to enjoy this simplicity. I know I did.
Here's a very short clip from the movie:
So today, on an impulse, I went to watch a documentary in the Vancouver International Film Festival. It was called "Flying: confessions of a free woman". It's actually a six hour documentary that is split in two and there are two 3 hour shows. I only watched the first part tonight and hopefully will get a chance to see the second part next week.
This movie totally made up for the bad weekend! It's kind of interesting that both "10 + 4" and "flying..." were documentaries about the life of the director, filmed by handheld cameras, and still the latter was so much more dynamic, interesting, and enjoyable. The movie has this interesting style of "passing the camera around".
So basically all through the movie, Jennifer Fox (the director) and her friends film each other while talking about relationships, traditions, sexuality, freedom, and lives of modern women. You can relate to so much of what's being said, and the interesting point is that the interviews are with women from all over the world: USA, Europe, South Africa, and India. It's amazing how similar the issues are for the so-called modern women, women that are educated, have careers and are not following the paths of their mothers. It kind of makes you rethink what is "natural" and what is not. Why do all these traditions haunt us although we keep telling ourselves we're free? Just like in day to day lives of women, you see anything in this movie from pregnancy to infertility, from marriage to divorce, cancer to brain tumor, and so on, and that's why it feels so real.
I can write pages and pages about "Flying...", but you should watch it for yourself. I know that it has been sold to some TV channels (like BBC, Arte, and so on) and it'll also be out on DVD next spring. I encourage everyone to watch it, man or woman. In fact, in the Q & A session after the movie, a man (Iranian, I guessed from his accent) made a pretty long speech just to thank Jennifer Fox for the sacrifices she has made in her personal life to make this movie.
Here's the movie's website: www.flyingconfessions.com check it out!
So I had some bad luck with the movies this weekend. First, I went to watch In the valley of Elah, and was totally disappointed! I don't understand why I need to feel sorry for a soldier that runs an Iraqi child over! Poor American guy, he must have suffered a lot, not being able to sleep at night! And then, what's with the pride at the end of the movie? so, let's hang our flag high up and send more troops to kill more people?! anyway, wait for the dvd so you can fast forward!
Then there was the VIFF which I was so excited about. My first movie was today at 12:00, but guess what? I slept in and missed that! I was soooo pissed off! I almost decided against watching the next movie but then changed my mind, and now I kind of wish that I had not! 10 + 4 was not even one step further from Mania Akbari's previous movie and although I admire her courage and strength in the fight against cancer, I didn't enjoy the movie at all!
So here I am, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, bitching about my movie experience! sorry! I have been busy with my research and my committee meeting is approaching fast, a bit stressed out here!
PS - I did enjoy Kiosk's concert very much though. They were awesome, even if the sound system wasn't!
This is my cousin's weblog... she's a very strong and committed journalist that acts on her beliefs and never compromises what she thinks is right. She's been recently banned from all events related to the department of justice in Iran! But I know this won't stop her from doing what she loves. Good luck Sanaz.
Read the rest...حمایت از خانواده چی می گه؟
خوب اینم از لایحه جدید برای حمایت از خانواده! پررویی هم حدی داره دیگه! بابا این که اسمشو هر چی میشه گذاشت غیر از "حمایت از خانواده"...
گزارش محبوبه حسین زاده رو توی سایت تغییر برای برابری بخونید:
" ... مساله مهم دیگر تجویز ازدواج مجدد است که در حال حاضر این ازدواج باید با اجازه همسر اول باشد و در قانون، مجازات کیفری هم برای از دواج مجدد بدون اجازه همسر در نظر گرفته شده بود اما در این لایحه ازدواج مجدد مردان با اجازه دادگاه و منوط به تمکن مالی مرد و تشخیص دادگاه در برقراری عدالت توسط مرد صورت می گیرد. کدام مردی در دنیا پیدا می شود که ازدواج دوم انجام دهد و ادعا کند که همسر اول را به اندازه همسر دوم دوست دارد..."
"... درصد زنان شاغل در كشورما فوق العاده پايين است و بقيه كار نمي كنند و آناني كه كار مي كنند درآمدشان كفاف زندگي در حد استاندارد را نمي دهد بنابراين زنان مجبور مي شوند شوهر پيدا كنند. حتي بسياري از زنان مشكلات را تحمل مي كنند به خاطر اين كه اگر طلاق بگيرند و فرزند هم داشته باشند، مشكلات مالي شان بيشتر مي شود. در اين شرايط دولت، دو متغیر برهم زننده خانواده؛ یعنی ازدواج موقت و ازدواج مجدد، را مطرح می کند باعث می شود که در واقع عنصر خیانت را در خانواده به صورت شرعی وارد می کند و می گوید شما می توانید به همسران تان خیانت کنید و من اين را هيچ جاي دنيا نديدم. از این شرایط قدرتمندان جامعه یعنی مردان نفع می برند و اما برنده دیگر دولت است چون یک وظیفه دولت طبق قانون اساسي این است که به وضعیت آحاد مردم رسیدگی کند. دولت ما به جاي اين كه در مورد زنان مطلقه، بيوه و ...فكري كند مساله مردان را بر دوش زنان مي اندازد و به جاي اين كه كاري براي زنان فراهم كند آنان را سوق مي دهد به سمت ازدواج موقت و ازدواج مجدد. و در اين حال مردان را با يك سري امتيازهاي ظاهری وادار مي كند كه خرج زنان را بدهند..."
don't miss 2 days in Paris if you have the chance. It's one of those unexpectedly well-made funny movies, a very good movie from a first time director. Julie Delpy, who's also the director, plays the role of a French woman that brings her American boyfriend to Paris to meet her family and see the city. Obviously, the movie is about the clash of cultures and although Delpy is French herself, sometimes it feels that things are a bit exaggerated. It's funny anyway and I definitely recommend it.
I don't know why I always pick the crappiest movies to watch in the theater... I went to watch this independent Canadian movie the other night and was utterly disappointed! A stone's throw tells the story of this photographer that goes to visit his sister in Nova Scotia. He is a weird kind of environmentalist and is against the building of a mine near his sister's house. Little by little the story unfolds to show how he can go to extremes to "protect" the environment. Anyway, for one thing the movie felt like a class on "how to save the environment"... it was boring at times, and the acting wasn't the greatest... music was ok, and I thought the cinematography was cool too. But i can hardly recommend it to anyone!
I rented thank you for smoking though and absolutely loved it. Smart and funny at the same time with an amazing soundtrack. It really makes you rethink your notions of liberty and personal choice.
Finally, I watched the pursuit of happyness and liked it. It was well written and well made and all, but wasn't as strong as I had expected. Made you wanna make more money though!
Are you incompetent beyond imagination?
Are you incapable of figuring out your day to day affairs?
Are you having trouble using a computer?
Do you find it hard to understand people when they explain a simple situation to you?
Is English your second language and you have a heavy accent that no one can understand?
Then we've got the perfect position for you!
Join our customer service department and help people figure out the problems with their phone bill, cable service and high speed internet!
Note - No resume required, just prove that you can drive a person mad by just talking to them on the phone.
what is it that got lost? how things change so dramatically that you can't even remember how you felt only a year ago.
I honestly don't remember anymore.
Check out Waiter Rant for quite interesting posts from a now ex-waiter in New York. I've been reading his blog for a LONG time and it's just amazing. He has stopped waiting tables and is in the process of publishing a book from his experiences. Most of you might have already known his blog, but I thought I'd mention him anyway!
Also, Parastoo has written something on Chevening scholarship for studying in the UK. Check it out!
... that's how long it has been. Same number of years I spent in college back home, meeting new people, making friends, learning about life, traveling, falling in and out of love... and here I am, four years after leaving, and when I look back it seems like I just re-did that whole process! I guess that's what life is all about anyway.
Now back to the movies, I watched El Cantante tonight. Just an average movie, you know, the typical musician biography movie, and not very well made. But if you're a Salsa lover, you'll at least like the soundtrack!!! The movie is about the life of Hector Lavoe, who is the guy that brought Salsa to the States. And well, let's just say he makes Johnny cash and Ray Charles look like saints (well, maybe that's over exaggerating, but you get the picture)!!! J Lo, of course, had to be the main focus of the movie! She is a delight just to watch though, however terrible her acting is!!!
I watched the Bourne ultimatum tonight and liked it for the most part. This was the third movie in the Bourne series and I thought it was better than the second one, but still not as good as the first movie. I'm a sucker for spy movies though, so I'm a little biased!
Although, I admit that most people in this movie are unbelievably invincible and don't get hurt after car crashes and fights! But well, it's Hollywood! If you've liked the other two movies, you'll like this one too.
I'm also listening to Harry Potter audio books, read by Jim Dale, and I'm absolutely loving it. He makes characters come alive with all the different accents he imitates and I'm reliving the experience! I'm a geek, I know!
...I can now confidently say: "Parallel parking, checked!"
Read the rest......but somehow that's all people can see. You are defined by it, as if you don't exist if you're not in some way associated with another being. Sad, isn't it?
Read the rest...why is everyone getting married? I know It's great and everything, and I'm happy for all my married friends, but it just means that a) I'm missing out on all the weddings, and b) being single is rapidly becoming uncool!
Read the rest...- so...why did I get an 85 in this course?
- well... I gave 78 to all undergrads and 85 to all grad students!
hmmm, yeah, right!
Almost 18 hours of reading and I've reached the end of my adventures with Harry Potter (spoiler alert: don't open the link if you're planning to read the book)... and yes, I cried some during the last two hours or so!! There will be no more of it... an appropriate ending for a great story. Down with the Dark Lord and stuff...
Now, with no more Harry Potter battles to come, all I'm looking forward to is (hopefully) an awesome performance by Miss Dolores O'Riordan tomorrow night!
Just look for yourself:
And here's the forecast for you:
And well, this is me:
... so be good and don't be picky on my posts. I honestly can only think of bulleted posts... maybe it's a sign that I've been away from scientific writing for too long and I actually miss it?! Oh God, I hope not!
- someone tell me please, is it July or is it not? because, I think there has been a mistake... it's freaking raining in Vancouver and I had to put on a hoody to go to school today! isn't July usually hot in the Northern hemisphere? I really want to go on and on, nagging about the weather, but what's the use? you're either here and are suffering like me, or not here and are already bored by this paragraph! Let me just say this: all of you guys that I've been inviting for so long (you know who you are!), just forget about it, right at this moment Vancouver sucks!!! :(
- I watched blood diamond finally... excellent movie, although I didn't exactly see the hero in Danny Archer!
- every single person I've met since I've been back has commented on my hair... my friends, office mates, advisor, group administrator... I even had two random girls shouting at me in the department stairways to tell me how great my hair looks! yay! something to be happy over I guess! I actually think it's mostly the shock of seeing me with basically no hair, after getting used to that fuzzy curly mass of hair who used to walk around in the corridors! (photo: courtesy of Aydin, shot without even looking, obviously!)
- self-tanning is hard... like, really hard! If only we had real sun...
- I spent half an hour today, wondering if I'll be the maid of honor if my friend gets married... and she's not getting married in the near future! What do you think it means if you're actually daydreaming about someone else's wedding? hmmm...
- I'm missing the good TV series, why do they have to have the worst programs in summer?
- can I be more whiny? I don't think so. I'll just zip it for now.
13. so on the way from Vancouver to London, there was this old man sitting next to me who knew not a single word of English. So he would move his hands and make faces and I would understand him and tell the stewardess what he needed. His knees hurt really bad and that's why he didn't let me sleep for even 30 minutes before poking me to ask for painkillers or this or that. anyway, 9:30 hours passed like this. This girl passed me by and I knew her and started talking to her in Farsi. Guess what? the old man was Pakistani and he actually had lived in Iran for many years so he spoke very good Farsi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I never knew... all those hours of trying... well, I guess the worst part was when he realized he could guide me to salvation by telling me not to drink wine!
14. Of course, on the way back I had to sit next to another 70 year old man for 10 hours and well, he started by telling me that I looked 16 because I didn't have big breasts (can you beleive this?! that old bastard!) ... and then told me I needed to get married (!!!) and that he got married twice because he liked s e x!!! have everyone gone mad or is it just the people who get to sit next to me on the plane? I slept after an hour and kept myself asleep by taking motion sickness pills so he wouldn't start talking to me again!
15. I have pre-purchased the new Harry Potter book and can't wait for Saturday!!! yay!
I will think of a real post for next time, promise!
I finally decided to blog! It's pretty hard after you stop for a while...
1. I had the greatest time back home if you ignore the fact that my suitcase got lost on the way there, and took two weeks to get found! Since all my shoes (favorite ones too) and pants were in that suitcase, I spent two weeks without any shoes or pants! God bless same-size sisters :)
2. Nothing is better than having original Kaleh-Pache or Dizy in the right place and with the right people.
3. Never go to Iran during the exams period. No one will give a damn how long you've been away; those tests have to be written!
4. I started and finished His dark materials series by Philip Pullman on my trip. I think it's great that he introduces this awesome practical strong female character into the fantasy world. The movie is coming out in December and I for one will go watch it as soon as it is screened. I'm still a big Potter fan though!
5. Dubai must have degraded by like a million percent since the last time I've been there; I definitely won't recommend it to anyone, at least not the old part of Dubai where everyone used to go. Explore new areas if you decide to go.
6. One Iranian movie never to watch: Parkway
One Iranian movie to maybe watch if you have time: neghaab
I missed out on Khoonbaazi, and Santoori wasn't out yet. Those two should have been good movies.
7. Heathrow is as crazy as you can imagine an airport to be... avoid it at all costs!
8. London is the coolest city ever (I'm exaggerating, of course!) ... especially if you have cool friends like Bahman and Aydin to make sure you see everywhere in only three days!
9. Harry Potter and Order of The Phoenix is exactly what you expect, a Hollywood movie, not badly made but not a masterpiece either... lots of side stories were cut out but there's really no other way to make the movie I guess... you'll like it if you're a Potter fan, but not nearly as much as you liked the book.
10. I discovered Rana Frahan in Iran, she is this Iranian Blues singer who lives in New York... I think she's awesome.
11. I missed Vancouver while I was away, and well it's a pretty hard city not to miss... but honestly, nowhere feels like home without your family next to you.
12. I know this was not a real post, but I'm jet lagged and a bit homesick still... give me a break.Title: Drunk in love, By: Rana Frahan
I'm going back home today. You guys enjoy your June... will write when I get back :) And here's some Jazz for you:
This whole week, I was looking for Alizadeh's new album (Ode to flowers) to buy. The only website that had it for sale was this CD Baby (i know!) website. Obviously , it was not very cheap and the shipping cost was ridiculous (I needed the fast shipping)... but well, I had no other choice so I bought it while cursing them non-stop. They sent me an email today that totally made up for their price and terrible use of colors in their website:
"...Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.
A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.
Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.
We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Friday, May 25th.
I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Sigh..."
"I have been busy with work and women, i just didn't have the time to call her. Surely she'll understand."
Well, just so you know: I won't.
But looks like Vancouver is on a different weather schedule or something. Anyway, in these rainy days, this music manages to make me feel better, as always:
and guess what my mood is! Yeap, it's not rocket science my friends: apparently, I'm a dreamer! way to go Imagini!
(try the test. just pick the photo that, to you, will complete the sentence on top of each page, it's a fun way to waste 5 minutes of your life!)
... my super power would be sending emails, like, indefinitely! It has been shown that I can spent a few workdays in a row just sending emails. Not sure if it would be a helpful power to save the world or anything, though!
Read the rest...
I don't exactly call a trip to Okanagan valley an industrial tour, especially when it includes staying in a super luxurious hotel, shopping and a winery tour. But well, when it's all paid for, who am I to judge, eh?!
I kind of wish though, that I had not agreed to go jump in the lake after the dark with a few other people - including professors and such. Don't think the pictures are gonna be exactly pretty!
I'm going to have a job that allows me to travel, A LOT. I'll have time to watch movies all the time, and read books that people recommend, and will never have to work on weekends. I'll have 4 weeks of paid vacation, and as many sick days as I like.
I will meet this guy who's kind, and understanding, and funny, and into movies, and maybe even books. He'll drive when I drink, will carry my shopping bags, will be a feminist, will listen to the songs I pick, will laugh at my jokes, will share his thoughts with me, will talk to me, and won't expect me to talk back all the time. He won't think it's funny that I'm into TV, and won't get annoyed when I photograph him all the time. He'll be in love with me.
I will have a kid, a girl. She'll be nerdy and a bookworm, will wear glasses, and won't talk much. She'll be smart, with curly hair. She'll grow up to be much better than me. She'll love me anyway.
I will live in a crowded city, with my friends living close by. I will take the subway home, while listening to my ipod and watching people. My city will have all four seasons, a little bit more fall than winter though.
I will be everything I've always wanted to be, I'll be happy.
I can't wait to grow up.
... a drunken phone call is better than no phone call at all! So please drink and call more often!
Read the rest...All I've been doing lately has been watching TV, doing pointless project work, and reading about women of course. That's why I'm not updating too often... all the great stuff about women are already posted in We for Change and other weblogs, so i don't see a point in repeating them unless they're very interesting. So here's one that made me laugh and feel sorry at the same time:
Parastoo's experience
Also, Shadi Sadr rocks for this!
I went to see Darya Dadvar last night and i must say that she was one of the best Iranian performers i had seen on stage or video. Amazing voice, excellent choice of songs, with fresh variations from the original versions. She sings folk songs from different areas of Iran with this mix of opera/freestyle jazz and it's unbelievable how great the combination has turned out. If she comes around to your area, don't miss her for anything. She does not have a CD (a big surprise to me and many others!), but she has posted a few of her concerts on youtube, watch one for yourself.
Of course, today instead of humming her songs, all that comes to my mind is Mohsen Namjoo's Toranj... i apologize to all Namjoo fans for not thinking so highly of him before. I gotta admit, he's got a real original style. I'm still stuck on only a few of his songs though; but even with those, it's proved very hard to force his voice out of my mind!
so yeah, basically, all i really want to write about recently are women, news, books, and movies. Honestly, not a single exciting thing is happening in my life! Of course, i should be happy that i don't have a reason to whine and go on and on about my broken heart anymore. However, that somehow means that I'll either have to write about my very exciting trip to Safeway today to buy tomatoes (oh, goody, goody!), or just shut up and not write anything. I wish i could have gone to Brazil, or my sister had gotten married, or i don't know, my trip to Tonga had been canceled at least. Really, anything would do!(except for a shooting on UBC campus which would be very un-cool indeed). I did try to get an email fight started, but didn't even have the motivation to do that ! I need some real action in my life or I'll die of boredom pretty soon.
Read the rest......from those sweet highschool years :)
"...Will I forget in time
You said I was on your mind
There’s no need to argue
No need to argue anymore..."
Let's not forget Nahid Keshavarz and Mahboubeh HosseinZadeh are still in Evin. Read what they have to say.
Read the rest...I've started running again...or, have I? ... I have this tendency to start things and then just quit. It's actually a surprise I haven't quit blogging yet! Last summer I started running, and after six weeks or so I quit it altogether (cause it was too damn hard!)... I decided to stick to the gym which is, honestly, a decision that I make every summer; I go to the gym for three months and go back to my lazy self for the rest of the year... it's quite depressing, you know, considering all the trouble i go through trying to convince myself that I have to work out to begin with.
So yeah, I've started running again, and my legs hurt like hell now, by the time i get all fit and good to go, it'll be traveling time (yay!). You all have to agree that nobody would miss out on all the eating and partying and not-exercising while at home, so that would be my great summer exercise season cut short, right there. Then of course will be the time for oh-crap-i-have-to-write-that-phd-proposal which would mean hours and hours of sitting on my a** in front of the computer for the rest of the summer... so I'm asking you: isn't it better if i just quit now and save me some time and energy?
همراه شو!
کاین درد مشترک هرگز جدا جدا درمان نمیشود...
(ویدیو از وبسایت تغییر برای برابری)
Looks like new year resolutions don't mean much to our government men!
Read the rest...I am absolutely loving "A Confederacy of Dunces", a great novel about this super comic character in New Orleans. It was published in 1980 and won the Pulitzer prize in 1981, 11 years after the author's death! Check out the Wikipedia link for the book. 
It was a little slow at the beginning, and difficult to understand... especially because of all the strange southern way of people talking. But after the first 20-30 pages, you'll fall in love with Ignatius Reilly, and will start laughing out loud when he interacts with people around him. Not an easy book to read, but definitely worth the time and effort!
Oh, and by the way, I watched Y tu mama tambien (I know, it's a shame I waited so long to watch it!) and liked it a lot. It definitely has not been made for general public though; man, I was happy I was watching it by myself! Nonetheless, a great movie and I absolutely love Maribel Verdu... amazing actress.
Still in the state of panic by the way!
because of my project/ assignment/ presentation combination that's going to completely ruin my next 10 days.
So just to post something, here's a song I really like by Diana Krall. I'm not sure but I think I read somewhere she wrote this after her mother passed away.
"Narrow daylight entered my room
Shining hours were brief
Winter is over
Summer is near
Are we stronger than we believe?..."
One more "Haft-Seen" away from home. Never feels right, but well, what can you do? Wish you all a great year... 
Finally, Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh AbbasgholiZadeh are out of jail.
Read the rest...I just watched Philadelphia today and there was this joke in it I found kind of funny:
-"what do you call a thousand lawyers, chained together, at the bottom of the ocean?"
-"a good start!"
I liked the movie, by the way. Tom Hanks was definitely great. It's weird how their cell phones and laptops look all stupid and old to me, yet I clearly remember the year the movie came out. I thought old stuff only belonged to the time when I wasn't born or was really really young. Guess I have to accept the fact that I'm getting older after all!
well, I am usually not the one to skip watching a movie, unless i heard absolutely horrible reviews about it. I never watched Alexander, not because it showed a distorted version of the history and made Persians look bad, but because i almost never read even one good review about it as a movie.
Now, 300, is a different story. I've read reviews that praised the movie for its visual effects... and then i read in other reviews, that the movie sucked big time, with no innovative ideas and full of pointless slow-motion fight sequences.
Even the American reviewers think that the movie has been too one-sided, defending "freedom" and "democracy" as Greek ideals against "slavery" and "violence" and "barbarism" as - surprise, surprise! - Persian army characteristics. Hmmm, I haven't watched the movie, i don't know how bad it really was, so I am getting really tempted to go watch it and judge for myself. But that doesn't mean that I can not support 300 the movie, a collaborative project initiated by some Iranian artists to show the artistic side of Persians (and that's why I did not link to imdb record for the movie, you can find it yourselves, I'm sure). I hope the project takes off quickly and people get to see our version of the history as well, not only Frank Miller's. Check out the gallery page on the site, it's cool.
- The above picture was also copied from 300 project.
Also, here are the links to some of the reviews I've read about the movie:
New York Times, not supportive :Battle of the manly men: blood bath with a message
Slate, not supportive :A movie only a spartan could love
Monsters and critics, somewhat supportive :Movie review: 300
Sci-fi weekly, supportive : 300 review
LA daily news, not supportive :'300' Spartan sweat fest that's an ode to men in Speedos
Hey, I just realized today that this blog got two years old last week. Can't believe I survived this long... Viva daydreaming (and other stuff)!
Read the rest...
A great, great documentary. Makes you think twice about many things. A little bit of political agenda, but not annoying. And very interesting and informative. Makes you want to run into the forest and hug the first tree you see :) As Melissa Etheridge says, we all have to wake up.
"...
Cause I need to move
I need to wake up
I need to change
I need to shake up
I need to speak out
Something’s got to break up
I’ve been asleep
And I need to wake up, Now
..."
Here's the final credit song:
Read in Parastoo's blog...
and in SibilTala.
My back aches, and I'm exhausted... but drinking beer in a clean, re-arranged living room feels just great!
Read the rest...Here's a short article that I found interesting. Since we 4 change is filtered in Iran, I put the whole text here as well:
نقاب دروغین / راحله عسگری زاده
جمعه 18 اسفند 1385
دوست و همكاري دارم كه بين باقي جوان هاي همكار به احترام به خانم ها و مهرباني معروف است. چند شب قبل با او و دو دوست ديگر عازم جايي بوديم. در ماشين يكي از دفترچه ها را از كيفم در آوردم و پرسيدم آيا چيزي در مورد كمپين شنيده يا نه؟ ابراز بي اطلاعي كرد. وقتي شروع به صحبت كردم دوست ديگري كه در ماشين بود (یک پسر) شروع به شوخي و دست انداختن كرد كه: «محمد اگه اينو امضا كني فردا ديگه كسي بهت اجازه نمي ده دو تا زن بگيري.» و جو ماشين را به شوخي كشاند.
سعي كردم بحث را تغيير دهم و صحبت كمپين را بكنم. محمد پرسيد چه قوانيني رو مد نظر داريم؟ وقتي قوانين رو توضيح مي دادم سعي مي كرد به همه پاسخ دهد. انگار با توجه به جوسازي اوليه آن دوست مي ترسيد اگر تأييد كند ديگران مسخره اش كنند. مثلا اصرار داشت كه من براي پدر و مادرم بيشتر زحمت مي كشم پس ارثم بايد بيشتر باشد يا... در همين حين صحبت بر سر قتل هاي ناموسي رسيد. محمد به حرف هاي همه گوش مي داد و هيچ نمي گفت. متوجه شدم كه تحت تأثير قرار گرفته. با تعجب گفت: «نمي دانستم كه پدر صاحب خون بچه محسوب مي شود.» وقتي كسي مثال خيانت و روابط زناشويي را پيش كشيد محمد سررشته كلام را به دست گرفت و نطق بلند بالايي كرد در رابطه با اينكه زني كه به شوهرش خيانت مي كند و دو زندگي و خانواده را به بازي مي گيرد بايد كشته شود!!
همه شوكه شده بودند! كسي انتظار چنين حرفي از او نداشت. پس از چند ثانيه سكوت كسي پرسيد :
و اگر مرد خيانت كند ...
مردي كه زندگي يك زن شوهردار ...
نه عزيزم! اگر يك مرد زن دار خيانت كنه چي مي شه؟ بايد كشتش؟
محمد سكوت كرد . همه نگاهش مي كردند . همكار به ظاهر مهربان و به قول معروف خانواده دوست نفس عميقي كشيد و گفت: «نه! اون فرق داره!»
گاهي اوقات در حين جمع كردن امضا و يا صحبت با مردم مي بينم چقدر ماسكي كه ديگران به صورت مي زنند با واقعيتشون فرق داره. بين اين آدم ها كه زندگي مي كني مي فهمي كه ممكنه هر لحظه ماسكشون رو كنار بذارن و از حق هايي كه قانون بهشون مي ده چه سوء استفاده هايي كنن. اينجور مواقع بيشتر از هر وقتي احساس عدم امنيت مي كنم و لزوم اين حقوق رو توي زندگيم بيشتر احساس مي كنم. حقوقي كه بايد براي رسيدن بهش تلاش كرد. حقوقي ساده كه براي رسيدن بهشون راه مشكلي پيش رو داريم.
1. either I'm completely consumed by Hollywood's movie culture
or
2. Divine Intervention sucks, big time!
I act to end all forms of inequality based on gender, sexual orientation,age, ability, race, ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic status.
I challenge systems and ideas that reproduce inequalities.
I am committed to individual choice and self-determinantion.
I strive to create an environment where it is safe to question the status quo.
I am continually challenging my own privileged positions.
I am a feminist.
Happy International Women's Day! :)
PS - there are these buttons that UBC Center for women and gender studies give out and I tried to draw a sample one in MS paint (and I didn't do a very god job, of course!). Anyway, This has been a crazy week, I'll be back with my usual posts sometime soon!
PS 2 - the sentences are part of the campaign, I did not make them up!
and they're still in jail. Why can't our government men find a more civilized way of dealing with opposition, especially a peaceful one. Is it really that horrible if men and women have equal rights? I keep picturing these women behind the bars, and all I can say is that I'm thinking of them, and I know a lot of others inside and outside of Iran are, too. I admire them for their courage, these are the women that will change things, and I hope I can do my part as someone far away with such little power, by following their activities and taking part whenever possible.
Read the rest...Read in BBC . A great way of showing appreciation for international women's day, don't you think?
Read the rest...
on the lives of others! It was one of the best movies I've watched recently and definitely deserved the Oscar for best foreign movie (and I am, like, in love with Pan's labyrinth, so this really means something)... It's a bit long, but is totally worth your time. No matter where you live, there are always good people around to help you.
I have been meaning to post the link to this website for a while now, but kept forgetting. Some of you might have already heard of we 4 change, an organization of women's right activists. They have a pretty good website in both Farsi and English. Their main undertaking right now is the "1 million signatures" campaign to change the discriminatory laws in Iran. I suggest you take a few minutes to take a look at their website and find out what they're doing. (You can also sign the petition, if you haven't already!)
- Picture of the organization logo was copied from http://we4change.com
it's their weaknesses more often than not, rather than your "inner poise" (as Bridget Jones would put it). Some people never cease to disappoint you, even after you figured you couldn't be any more disappointed in them.
You try and try to forget the way they talked to you, held you, looked into your eyes, lied into your face, called you by cute nick names, made plans with you, and then went on to break your hearth. Then they go and make this - otherwise negligible - mistake, and suddenly your eyes are open again. You stop checking your mailbox every 15 minutes to see if they emailed you, things stop reminding you of them, life gets back to normal... as in good! And that, my friends, is what they call "Closure"! (Ok, so I stole this line off "friends", big deal!)
So i got loads of books for my birthday, which is just awesome... and I'm reading a few of them together so I'm all confused. But one that is very interesting is "the curious incident of the dog at the night-time" by Mark Haddon. It tells the story of this young boy with "special needs" who decides to solve a murder mystery by himself. I'm half way through and am enjoying it very much. Here's a passage i liked in the book, so far:
"And father said,"Christopher, do you understand that I love you?"
And I said "yes", because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth, and Father looks after me when I get into trouble,[...],and he looks after me by cooking meals for me, and he always tells me the truth, which means that he loves me."
two birthday cakes, a few more books, and lots of movies later... here I am, sitting here, one year older. I am facing one of those "what- have- i- done- in- the- past- year"-kind of crises and so I should probably just stop writing right now. Don't you hate it when people only nag about their lives? I mean here I am, healthy, living a relatively purposeful life(!), surrounded by good friends, and still complaining. May I learn to appreciate the things I have more than before in the coming year, Amen.
enjoy the pink everywhere, buy gifts, make love, drink wine, and celebrate your relationships. May we all turn into characters out of a Hollywood romantic comedy...
and so I'm not in the best mood. Here you go with some more depressing folk music!
...this is the sexy Mazda3 we finally decided to get! pretty, isn't it? (the color does look a bit weird on the screen, it's much better up close)
Disclaimer:
Neither me, my parents, my past and future partners, and my friends, nor any other parties involved in creating, raising, accepting and/or rejecting me are liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages or loss whatsoever, arising out of or in connection with you believing the aforementioned statement; including (but not limited to) heartache, confusion, sadness, anger, or other similar feelings.
So with the Golden Globes behind us and the Oscars in only two months, i just couldn't resist the temptation to write about movies. Please keep in mind though, that my movie posts are basically just one paragraph saying how i felt about the movie, so don't expect anything too serious!
Well, let's start with my favorite movie, Pan's Labyrinth. It completely blew my mind... so amazingly imaginative... a great blend of fantasy and reality, in my opinion. And I absolutely loved the soundtrack. Have watched it twice so far, and am getting tempted to watch it again. Just read a few reviews on it and i'm sure you'll decide to watch it too.
Then, there's my least favorite movie of the season, Children of Men. I mean, you watch the trailer and you get all excited about it. Then you go watch the movie, and honestly, there's not much more to it than the trailer! Basically, just add a few running and chasing scenes and a good amount of blood in between and you'll have it. And except for Michael Caine i didn't find any of the actors too strong.
I also got tempted and went to watch the Dreamgirls. Now, it wasn't too bad, but definitely not the greatest movie. I agree that most of the actors were pretty good (there were a few exception, of course... like...hmmm, let's see...Byonce!!!) and the music was very good too. But honestly i can't see why it won the Golden Globes... anyway, if you're into musicals go watch it, it's kind of fun to watch it with a good sound system.
Oh yeah! and i watched the Holiday! (i know, i know, it's shameful!) ... i think it's pretty obvious what this movie is all about... a chick flick with beautiful people and a happy ending. I love Kate Winslet though and she looked gorgeous all through the movie, that's something to be happy about i guess!
a guy who's trying to impress you, but is so nervous that ends up spitting into your Chai latte from across the table! Poor guy, must have felt awful.
irrelevant: thanks to Pooya's tips and ideas, i finally made a few changes to my template, so now longer posts with lots of photos and stuff will have a summary and an expandable link. i know how slow Internet speed can drives you nuts, but honestly, most of the photos on this blog are not even 50kb! Hope this helps a little at least.
... but i changed my template photo! so hopefully I'll get back in the blogging mood pretty soon...
PS - by the way, my template now looks a bit awkward in IE! Anyone knows how I'm supposed to fix the top picture and the main body so they don't overlap?
So after three years of using the crappiest possible cell phone (provided by my even crappier service provider), i finally have a real phone to use, and it's seriously cool! I got it sent from Iran (naturally!) and am really happy with it, except that the ring tones are, how should i put it, a bit cheesy! but i can live with it i guess.
It's -6 C here tonight; my ears were literally falling off on the way home. Who says global warming is a myth?! If this is not the Universe messing with us, i don't know what is!
...Its the edge of the world
And all of western civilization
The sun may rise in the east
At least it settles in the final location
Its understood that hollywood
Sells californication...
and then look at the following!
