Have you ever paused to think, for a second only, that what you think may not be the whole "truth". That you may - as impossible as it seems - be wrong?! that I am much more than you think, and you are too. Have you?
Read the rest...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?!
Read the rest...
... Following Adam Lambert on American Idol. Ashamed of it, but still very much interested in the outcome!
... and knowing you're not gonna have it. One of those feelings I absolutely hate, and am powerless against. I can not look at the big picture, can not be grand and "learn from it"... I can only be mad as hell, and wish for a miracle I know won't happen.
Read the rest...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
While many chores are piling up waiting for me to attend to them, I have been spending my nights reading some of the Asten novels I had previously ignored: Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey. Reading Austen in English is exhausting for me. Having English as a second language and being used to more contemporary styles of writing, I have to read each sentence three times to understand the meaning (if I do understand, that is). While I personally don't find the writing amazing or anything, I find Jane Ausetn's morals very firm and clear. It seems as if she's got this image of a perfect person - how they should talk, think and act - and people who don't match this image are inevitably second-rate characters in her stories.
irrelevant note: it's snowing in Vancouver!
So here I am again, after a LONG time. I've had so much going on with me that just thinking about blogging all of it was scary! So this post may turn out either extremely long or stupidly short!!!
1. I did the Landmark Forum three weeks ago. It was a very different experience than what I had expected. And I learnt a lot, but don't feel "transformed" yet. They have their own language for describing their mission and what you'll accomplish after the forum and I can't really explain what it was, expect that it could help you become extraordinary. I still feel very much ordinary of course! I do recommend you check out the centers near you (they're in many places) and attend an introduction session if you can.
2. I went to Japan last week! It happened without much planning beforehand but turned out to be one of the most amazing trips I've ever had. Nazly and I went to see Kyoto and Tokyo which were two completely different aspects of Japan. Kyoto was a peaceful place full of old temples and parks, while Tokyo was a metropolis like I'd never seen before (and I've been to New York city). We even stayed in a temple while in Kyoto which was an amazing experience.
Japan must be literally the most developed place in the world... including both technology, and the people. They had the perfect combination of old (and I mean OLD) traditions and history, and high-tech stuff. People were extremely polite, kind and helpful. We were amazed how many of them could understand the basic English words to understand us, even very old people. Strangers in the street would go out of their way to help you get to your destination. and everything was spotless and extra-clean. city streets were amazing, especially when you noticed the fact that there were no garbage cans in the street which meant you had to carry your garbage in your bag until you got home! every single person had a colorful cell phone with accessories hanging from it. I saw women as old as my grandmother texting in the subway! In general, I was shocked at how much more organized and efficient everything was compared to Canada (and the US, as far as I know). also, nothing felt fake, even the crazy Japanese fashion! Japan is like a different planet and Nazly and I concluded that: Japanese people are too good for this world! I know my respect for them has increased 100 times after seeing what they have accomplished in their country.
I can go on and on about how great Japan is, and still there would be more to say. So I just say this: save up your money and pick Japan for your next travel destination. you won't regret it.
Of course, we stayed in three different places in one week, and just moving our luggage without a cab was a major hassle. By the end of the trip I hated my suitcase, my camera case, my backpack, and even my fluffy jacket!
3. I turned 28 while in Japan! I didn't get a chance to feel sad or happy about it really. I wasn't sure when my actual birthday was because of the time difference so Nazly and I decided that it must have been somewhere around the time that a free park deer was eating our only map of Nara (a city near Kyoto)! no kidding! We were walking around admiring the beautiful animals and then decided we'd like some pictures of us with the deers. Of course we had no idea that they would find paper delicious, and this was how our map ended up as deer food. The coolest birthday memory ever, right?
Oh God, this is already too long, so I'll leave the Oscars out of it. there was nothing extraordinary about it anyway.
I'm speechless. Revolutionary road is one of the best movies I've seen about life and it's mundane, boring, "hopeless emptiness". I had no idea I was in for such a treat when I got the ticket and now I just have to urge all of you to go watch it as soon as you can. The story doesn't sound so interesting when you read the movie synopsis but Sam Mendes has done a superb job (of course, owing to Richard Yates, the author of the original novel). The movie is about this young and supposedly perfect couple that live in the suburbs and lead a "normal" life. Until they realize how distant they've become from their dreams and everything suddenly falls apart.
All through the movie I found myself thinking about stupid compromises we make everyday in the name of "logic" and "sanity", but really it's all because we don't know what the hell we're supposed to get out of this life. Most of us don't have any real passion to pursue and so we stick to jobs we don't like and follow the rules we don't believe in until that magical moment we're supposed to suddenly find happiness. Well, I think we all know that happiness is not going to appear out of thin air, unless it's already within us. It's easy to blame everything on "responsibility", but as April Wheeler says in the movie: "it takes backbone to lead the life you want".
PS - Kate Winslet certainly deserves the Golden Globe for this movie.
There will be a rally against Gaza's bombing. It's in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. I'll try to make it, maybe some of you would have time to attend as well.
Read the rest...two weeks ago I had so many plans for this Christmas break. so many things to buy, so many places to go and a lot of fun things to do with friends. However, here I am almost at the end of the break, and I have done absolutely none of those things! It started snowing like crazy the weekend before Christmas and except for a couple of dyas here and there it hasn't really stopped yet! Our car was buried in snow for two days and it was impossible to drive it anyway because of the street conditions! all on all, city of Vancouver just doesn't know how to deal with snow and that's a fact. 
So what did I do in the past two weeks? I watched a few movies, including some Iranian ones. I watched "the death race" on DVD and I refuse to talk about it (do I even need to? it was awful.). I also watched "the day the earth stood still" which was ok. The story was weak in many places, sure, but there were some stuff in the movie that made me think about our way of life as a species on Earth and so it wasn't a total waste of time. Kiano Reeves was horrible though, I remember a time when i liked him as an actor and can't seem to remember why! I watched a few of the Harry Potter movies again as well and was reminded of how much better the books are compared to the movies.
as for the Iranian movies, I watched "ChaharShanbe Soori" and "Tofigh-e-ejbari". "ChaharShanbe Soori" was good, kind of sad as most of the Iranian movies are, but at least felt real. "tofigh-e-ejbari" on the other hand was a joke! TERRIFYINGLY BAD story with bad acting and it wasn't even funny. Don't ever watch it... ever!
so yeah, not much of a fun Christmas break in the end, really! I feel like I've gained weight from all the eating and not doing anything. I might go into hibernation for a while if the snow keeps falling like this.
Vancouver is just not ready for snow! you would think with one-week-in-advance notice they would at least put chains on bus tires! I had to walk up a hill in crazy snow because the freakin' bus couldn't make it... very disappointing. Other than frozen pipes bursting out on us causing hot water shutdown until tomorrow morning, the snow is just great! couldn't ask for a more pretty sight really... the city is covered in white after almost a whole day of snowfall. yeah it has interrupted the daily life in Vancouver, and yeah people had to cancel their parties and shopping plans and so on, but it is still cool to have snow. Makes me feel like a kid again, and I think it has the same effect on a lot of people. As they say - over and over again in every single mall you step in - let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Read the rest...... and Vancouver has taken it very seriously this year, i might add, so it finally feels like I've come to Canada!... here's to real winters, and to friends getting married some eleven thousand miles away right at this moment! :)
Read the rest...Here's a link about him being arrested in Tehran. Freedom of speech for everyone, right?
related: http://freehoder.blogspot.com/
Since I have nothing too exciting to post here, I thought I'd let you know about two of my friends' blogs.
Golrokh and Niyaz have both studied Cinema in Iran and are now continuing their studies abroad. they post some of their artwork (including sketches, animations, and paintings) on blogger and i personally like their stuff very much. I'm sure you'll find their work interesting as well. (I would write more about this, but art is so subjective and I'm afraid my take on what they do is completely different from what they have in mind, so I think it's better to let their work speak for itself.)
correction: I have no idea how I made this mistake, but Golrokh had actually studied graphic design in Iran!
I've been watching it online for a while now and it's actually not bad! well, I guess you can say it's like a newer version of Friends, but it's still got some pretty decent jokes. The fact that one of the characters is Canadian is kind of cool too, although they usually make fun of her because of this anyway! I'm not saying it's like the greatest series ever or anything, but if you are looking for a funny series that's light and doesn't require any mental activity, then watch "How I met your mother"!
Read the rest...
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!
and I had almost forgotten the experience. It's funny how your memory sometimes can't do justice to reality.
I'll never give up "adas polo" for such a long period of time, ever again!!
