new addiction and more

Cut The Rope ... I've spent hours playing this addictive little iphone/ipod game and definitely recommend it! I've finished all the existing levels and can't wait for more levels to be available. The little green frog is adorable and the hairy spiders are cute and annoying in their own strange way... It's also been brought to my attention that I kind of look like the little frog when I'm hungry... :D


On an irrelevant note, I went to watch Lila Downs live in Chan Center a couple of nights ago and absolutely LOVED it... I fell in love with her after watching Frida (she's got a bunch of songs in that movie) and after seeing her live, I love her even more now. Her voice is heavenly and her music penetrates the soul... listen to her and you shall not be disappointed. BTW, the concert was a joint performance with Concha Buika who has a unique voice and style. I don't love her, but if you have a chance to see her live you'll probably enjoy her music more.

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just an excuse to update!

Ok, so I'm sitting here in the library trying to get some work done. but it is a universally known fact that you can not get any work done until you update your blog! and you can not update your blog until you waste at least an hour tryng to come up with stuff to write about. and so after wasting enough time I thought I should just get it over with so I have no excuses left to not work. here it goes:

I used to be filled with ideas to write about, and in the past year I see myself getting less and less inspired. in writing, and in photography, and probably in life in general. is that a side-effect of staying too long in school and feeling unmotivated about anything and everything?! maybe. Or maybe it's because I used to whine about my love life a lot, and then just got tired of it...whatever it is, the only thing left for me to write about seems to be books and movies. and TV of course.

I have fallen in love with "the flight of the conchords"! It's so original, and so weird... this series follow two New Zealanders who are in a "digi-folk" band and like to get famous in New York City. Their characters are just unreal, stupid but cute at the same time and the songs are too funny if you listen to them in the context of the series. Their music (not necessarily the lyrics) is actually pretty good I think. Anyway, you definitely need a special sense of humor to find this series funny. Give it a try for one or two episodes, and find out for yourself.

I have also been watching "Law and Order: special victim unit" whenever I could catch it on TV and although I like it, I can't help but feel paranoid about everything after watching it. The whole series is about s e x u a l crimes, mainly involving women and children and it sometimes makes you sick to your stomach. of course the stories are fictional but it still hurts to watch! anyway, not for the faint of heart, but if you're into crime series it may be a good choice. it is a pretty old series as well, about 10 or 11 seasons, so lots of episodes to catch up on if you get into it.

hmmm, what else... I can't think of anything! I miss writing here... should try to update more often, with stuff other than movies and TV!

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Of vampires and zombies

having the great experience of watching six feet under previously from HBO, I was really excited about watching " True Blood", despite its vampire-falls-in-love-with-mortal-girl plot which inevitably reminds one of "twilight" (may all existing copies burn in a sudden and selective fire accident). Unfortunately I was disappointed!

Actually, the beginning of the series is pretty strong, The starting credits are just awesome with a song that goes really well with the images. And then you meet a few of the characters and it all seems very interesting. it's not until the third or fourth episode that you kind of realize that it's not really that well-made, and actings are not the best they could be and that some characters are constantly on your nerve. and in my case it took me six episodes to realize I don't want to watch this anymore. I might be tempted to follow the story though, just because I'm an addict like that and have to know what happens in the end. maybe I'll just read wikipedia! Anyway, it's a shame!

Here's the starting song by the way:

Title: Bad Things, By: Jace Everette

Also, I have been reading Pride and Prejudice, and zombies. So far, so good... it's funny, but not hilarious, yet!

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what I listen to these days:

... KCRW radio. A couple of my friends from the States told me about it and surprisingly you can listen to it in Canada, for now at least! it's just an online radio, not one of those databases that learns your taste in music. But I like their songs, mostly! and anyway, they've got a "today's top tune" feature which is basically a song they'll let you download for free. Just thought you might wanna give it a try at some point, especially if there is a big musical whole in your life after last.fm went all commercial!

by the way, it's official: my ipod is dead. A memorial service to follow shortly. :(

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urgh!

another favorite thing ruined: Last.fm now charges you if you're outside the UK, Germany, or the US! Oh Canada, why should you always be on the lame side?!

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Rainy day woman

It doesn't feel like spring in Vancouver right now: it's raining and I'm sick sitting at home writing these.













I went to see Joan Baez in concert last night and loved the whole vibe. She of course has grown really old and I felt her voice wasn't as strong either, but I still enjoyed the show. I was there with a couple of friends and we were literally the youngest people there. You would have mistaken the place with a senior house common room if it wasn't for the stage! It was funny when Joan Baez came on stage and said she was going to sing a song from her first album which came out in 1959!!! (I'll do the math for you: it was fifty years ago!!!!!) She performed some of my favorite songs including diamonds and rust, forever young, and the night they drove old Dixie down. And the last song was amazing grace when Baez was singing without playing any instruments and people were singing along with her. She also imitated Bob Dylan while singing one of his songs which was pretty funny. All on all, a great night with some great nostalgic music! :D

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another round of bad movies + a good concert

well, I know I said I wouldn't go watch Twilight, but then under the influence of some friends (you know who you are!!!) I ended up going anyway... and boy, was that a mistake! ... the first clue should have warned us even before entering the theater: everyone in the line was a girl, and under 15!!! we were literally the oldest people there... anyway, I thought the book was pretty average (even worse than average) in itself, but I could never imagine a movie made with such bad taste... The actors were AWFUL! and I mean REALLY AWFUL! Make-up was a joke, and soundtrack was a disaster... there was not one thing that worked in favor of the movie... and so I strongly discourage you from ever watching this movie... like EVER!

now that I got that off my chest, let's bash another movie: Australia! you would think Nicole Kidman + Hugh Jackman combination would save any movie, but nope! The movie was supposed to be an epic love story and it turned out to be a Hindi movie with Hollywood actors... All the magnificent-landscape-wanna-be scenes turned out fake and forced in my opinion, and almost all actors were performing below their usual standards. And why did it have to be so darn long?! anyway, do not waste your money on this movie, maybe watch it on DVD, but don't get your hopes too high.

The one positive event during this sad sad times for me was Kiosk's concert in Vancouver last week. I've always liked their work, and I absolutely love their new album : The Global Zoo. The lyrics are smart as usual, and I like the music a lot as well. They even have one song recorded with Namjoo! My favorite songs so far are "Pragmatism e eshghi" and of course "Yarom bia". You can buy their album on itunes, or buy the CD from CD Baby. The concert was much better than last year, and I definitely look forward to their future concerts!

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introducing CBC radio 2

I have recently started listening to them. so far their Jazz channel sounds ok to me. you can't skip any songs which sucks. but at least it's commercial-free. definitely not as good as last.fm but still a good online radio.

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The truth is...

... we ran out of time.
now you're looking for me... or anyone like me.

Title: Koop Island Blues, By: Koop Feat. Ane Brun

I really like this song! :)

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Pink Martini, one of my all time favorites

I have been meaning to write about Pink Martini for a long time. I heard them for the first time two years ago through a friend. I instantly fell in love with them... their work has this 1940's feel to it, but at the same time is fresh and young. Their melodies feel familiar, although the lyrics are original most of the time. Pink Martini is based in Portland, Oregan, but the founders of the band met at Harvard! The lead singer, "China Forbes" has this heavenly voice (you have to see her live to understand what I am saying!) that you just can't help but love.


Pink Martini's music is very international. they have songs in English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, and Arabic! I saw the band's performance live last month during Vancouver's international Jazz festival and all I can say is don't miss them if they every come around to your town!

Unfortunately, some ongoing technical difficulties (!) have resulted in me not being able to upload music for this post. I waited a few days, but decided to post this without a sample song. It was pretty hard for me to pick a favorite song anyway. You can go on you tube and listen to whatever is available from Pink Martini and pick your own favorite. (do not miss out on songs from their latest album)

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I thought that you were wise

... but you were otherwise.

Title: Otherwise, By: Morcheeba

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Just a link

so this post is about a month late, and you might have already known about this, but I just found out, thanks to pooya. Apparently, radio Zamaneh had this online festival for international women's day: "the forbidden voice of woman" (my translation, of course!)... it's got some good and some not-very-good music from Iranian women working as musicians worldwide. Take a look if you haven't already.

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Not ready to make nice

I have been meaning to watch "shut up and sing" for a while now and tonight I finally got the time to do it. It was as good as I expected it to be, a very strong movie with a pretty good soundtrack!

For those of you who don't know, the movie is about the controversy surrounding the Dixie Chicks because of an anti-Bush comment made by Natalie Maines, the band's lead singer. In 2003,when the band was extremely popular and successful(and the US was starting the war on Iraq), Natalie Maines said (this is not an exact quote) that they were ashamed that bush was from Texas. It is amazing to see how their "devoted" fans suddenly turned their backs on them, and radio stations stopped playing their songs in the years after that. They were being insulted (being called bimbos, just because they're attractive women who accidentally have an opinion too!), and even threatened publicly. But what's more important is how these women dealt with the situation, remained as a united band, and created a best selling album inspired by their experience.

I'm not exactly a country music fan, and I also do not agree with all the Dixie Chicks girls do and say, but I believe the lyrics for most of their songs on the album "taking the long way" is really amazing and honest. I also found it very interesting that all three of them are married with kids, two of them having twins(!).

Anyway, if you haven't had enough of Bush-bashing movies yet, this one's for you! (although it's really not so much about Bush, but more about media's power over public)and here's their most famous song from the album. This song cleary shows the frustration and anger that Natalie Maines feels for being crucified just for stating her opinion.

Title: Not Ready to Make Nice, By: Dixie Chicks

"...And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they’d write me a letter
Sayin’ that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over

I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round..."

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More TV stuff

I've been watching a lot of Arrested Development lately and have to say that I absolutely love the creators' sense of humor! It's a very smart show.. it takes a couple of episode to really get the jokes though and after that the real fun begins!

I also finally watched a scanner darkly and did not like it as much as I had expected. I had not read the book though, so maybe that's a part of it too.

Hmmm, since when has my life become so boring?! I don't understand why I can't write about things other than movies, books and TV series?!! very frustrating!

Oh, actually there is still the radio!!! Cafe Radio is up and running now. Tune in to 90.1 FM on Wednesdays (6:00 to 7:00 p.m. PST) for an hour of Persian programs and music. Or if you're not in Vancouver, listen to it live at cjsf.ca. (I think podcasts are also supposed to be created for the program, but don't quote me on that).

Anyway, here's a favorite song of mine from Tori Amos, just for the hell of it!

Title: Crucify, By: Tori Amos

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random stuff

So, I did finish "the Kite Runner"... the story was very captivating, and I enjoyed finding familiar stuff in Afghan world. kind of made me realize I didn't know much about Afghanistan after all! anyway, definitely recommend it, you don't need to be a hard-core fiction lover to enjoy this book. Maybe I'll wait a while before watching the movie though.

I also watched Santoori, the latest film by Darius Mehrjooee and I gotta say I was a bit disappointed. It definitely does not measure up to his previous films. I thought the acting was mainly ok, didn't like the soundtrack though, which is a shame since the movie is kind of about music. All on all, don't beat yourself up if you don't get a chance to watch it!

Still not feeling too excited about anything, this is just the freakin' cold I guess... I can't imagine living in a place that has a few months of winter as cold as this!!

Well, to wrap up(!!!) here's a song from Laleh Pourkarim I've been listening to a lot lately. She's got some really good songs, but this is the only one I own right now! enjoy!

Title: Live Tomorrow, By: Laleh

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The cheese to my macoroni...

I went and watched my first 2008 movie and it was probably the best I could pick! Juno is the sweetest movie you can possibly make about teenage pregnancy. The story is so simple you wonder how such a great movie could be made out of it! It's full of indie songs that really help the independent feel of the movie and I absolutely love the lead actress... also, the dialogs are very funny and sometimes really sweet too. I think I need to watch it again to understand all the high school slangs that were being thrown around. Definitely watch it! Here's a song from the soundtrack:

" ...I had a dream that I had to drive to Madison
To deliver a painting for some silly reason
I took a wrong turn and ended up in Michigan
Paul Baribeau took me to the giant tire swing..."

Title: Tire Swing, By: Kimya Dawson

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Drama, drama, drama

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.

Title: Lost Cause, By: Beck

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You just want me to say what you want me to say

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!

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On the radio, you hear "November Rain"...

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..."

Title: On the radio, By: Regina Spektor

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You've got such a pretty smile...

...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!)

Title: I know, By: Jude

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