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.
