How I learned to stop worrying and write the blog

2004-06-20T01:16:00.000-07:00

A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE & HATE

This is a love letter from a boy to a girl.However, the girl's father does not like him and want them to stop their relationship,and so the boy wrote this letter to the girl.
He knows that the girl's father will definitely read this letter:

1 "The great love that I have for you

2 is gone, and I find my dislike for you

3 grows every day. When I see you,

4 I do not even like your face;

5 the one thing that I want to do is to

6 look at other girls. I never wanted to

7 marry you. Our last conversation

8 was very boring and has not

9 made me look forward to seeing you again.

10 You think only of yourself.

11 If we were married, I know that I would find

12 life very difficult, and I would have no

13 pleasure in living with you. I have a heart

14 to give, but it is not something that

15 I want to give to you. No one is more

16 foolish and selfish than you, and you are not

17 able to care for me and help me.

18 I sincerely want you to understand that

19 I speak the truth. You will do me a favor

20 if you think this is the end. Do not try

21 to answer this. Your letters are full of

22 things that do not interest me. You have no

23 true love for me. Good-bye! Believe me,

24 I do not care for you. Please do not think that

25 I am still your boyfriend."

So bad!! However, before handing over the letter to the girl, the boy told the girl to "READ BETWEEN THE LINES", meaning-only to read 1.3.5.7.9.11.13 (Odd No.'s) go read it once again but the Odd Number lines.
When there is a Will, there is a Way...

2004-05-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

TRIANGLE OF LOVE !

If 2 men want one woman,what will happen to these 3 people in different countries and parts of the world?

In Japan : The first young man grieves and sorrows for the other one's love to his beloved girl,and commits suicide! The second young man gets saddened and feels so sad about the death of his fellow man that he commits suicide too! Then there's no way for the japanese girl except suicide!

In Spain : The first man kills the other one in a duel, and runs away alongside with her beloved girl to South America!

In The Great Britain: The two lovers leave the resolution of the matter cool-headedly to a betting on a horse-riding competition! The beloved will belong to the one whose horse wins.

In France : Rarely the matter deteriorates! The two men agree with each other that the lady belong to the first one for a while and to the second one for another period of time!

In Australia : The two men qaurrel with each other on the marriage with the beloved for years! This argument lasts so much that one of the two sides gets old and passes away,or dies cuz of a disease! Then the one who's survived, achieves his goal with an easy mind!

In Caucasus : The first young man picks up the beloved girl and runs away! The second one robs him of the girl and runs away! Again the first one does this act, and this matter always gets repeated!

In Norway : The beloved of the two men throws herself down from the top of a tall building in order to put an end to their argument and the struggle ends!

In Africa : The matter is very simple and there's no place for disagreement! The two men get married with the woman they want and in addition to her, get married to twenty other women!

In Mexico : The matter results in a bloody clash and one of the two sides gets killed! But then the one who's killed his opponent, feels cold towards the concerned girl and the girl remains without husband and unmarried!

In The United States : The resolution of the matter depends on the woman and she gets married with anyone whom she's chosen!

In Iran : Only money solves the problem! The girl's parents consult with each other and choose the suitor who's richer and wealthier! If the defeated lover is so serious in his love,he can either commit suicide or defeat the opponent,otherwise he feels depressed and ...

2004-04-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST - EPISODE II : IRAQI PRISONER

An Iraqi prisoner with a hood over his head, standing on a box and with wires connected to his hands.

2004-03-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

30 MARCH : HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY WEBLOG !

Yeah,that's it ! A year passes by and now after all these posts and your kindness to come here and read,after all the long gaps between my posts,after the period that I used to post even times in a day, and after that I 've learned a lot about my world getting wider,about my blog,my dear visitors who come from both search engines and links given by my respected friends,it's the first anniversary of my blog.

If you refer to my first post,you'll come across my reasons for intending to write here.Now that I compare my situation with mine in the last year,I see that at least I've achieved to try for my goals if I don't wanna say that I've succeeded completely.

I hope that this year will be a cool one for my blog and there will be no need to be worried about it,cuz now I've learned how to stop worrying and write the blog. :)

2004-03-17T01:12:00.000-08:00

DICK FOX !!

Do you know what is the worst and the most funniest name one can own in my opinion? It's Dick Fox . No more explanation,you damn know it . ;)

Now I wanna introduce 2 of the famous 'dick fox' es to you so you don't think that every 'dick fox' is of that job ! :

1- Dick Fox , president and founder of FOXCO EQUIPMENT LTD.

2- Dick Fox , food inspector with the Food Safety and Inspection Service based in Pomfret Center, Conn.

2004-03-08T02:36:00.000-08:00

LIFE IN ISRAEL & PALESTINE FROM OTHER POINT OF VIEW

Gazan women and girls swim pretty much fully dressed.

Both Israel and the Gaza Strip share a beautiful coastline. By Palestinian standards, the Gaza Strip is a conservative place. Even on the beach, women are expected to observe normal dress codes.

SOURCE : BBC NEWS uk edition

2004-02-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

ELMADRIS

This name that is completely a synthetic one,is combination of 3 semi-names which will respectively be explained below :

1- EL : which is a prefix for indicating dependance and being related to ELF's race;like ELROND ( the leader of the elves in Lord Of The Rings ) which means semi-elf or elf man;His father was a man and his mother was an elf;Or ELFAAS which means the harbor of the elves.

2- MAD : which in synthetic words,means jungle or in some cases, a big and green garden;like TAR-MADOND which means the king of the human beings' jungle. ( OND is a suffix meaning human being. )

3- RIS : which means green or in some cases, emerald.In the elves' language, the adjective of the color comes after the related noun.In some cases - the dialects of the elves' languages differs in some places - like MORDOR ( black land ), the adjective of the color has come before the noun that in this case is for emphasis on black.

::- ELMADRIS : means the green jungle of the elves.This name which hadn't been appeared in the outset of the genesis of the elf's race and while the man's race hadn't been born yet, was entitled on a land that was still illuminated only by the moonlight, and in the first day that the gods put the sun on a chariot in order to illuminate the earth,the shine of the green color of the land was in such a way that the gods named that land ELMADRIS which was the indicator of the shining of the elves' architecture art and its total coordination with the nature out there. Elmadris fell in a great battle after the appearance of MORGOTH ( the god of evil ) and its name has only been survived in the extant poems from the elves' books and even in our time, the poem is read in the first day of Spring in the memory of the beauty of the land and rebirth of nature by the twitter of the spring birds.

In the song of creation, Elmadris was the Ainur who gives the light for humanity. Elmadris means the bringer of Light. For human beings, Elmadris means also The green sorest or the Shining forest where the elves live.

But the story of Elmadris is the story of an Iranian girl who's a blogger too.She could never believe that her story finishes in this way, any other way but not this one.Let me tell you what happened to her :

She was a young girl who loved to be loved. She waited for pure love and at last, she found it accidentally.She fell in love without thinking like a fool, let say.She closed her eyes and stepped on the planet of love holding his hands as tightly as she could.She had another name but as she wanted to devote her life to him, she asked to have a new name, and he called her 'Elmadris' and She put all others away:
-From now on, I only belong to you Honey, do you believe me?
-Yes!
He believed her ,and she went deeper and deeper in Love with him until she drowned.

She never told anyone what happened to her at that nasty night. She wanted to stop writing, living, breathing, loving.

But still there was a hope. A friend asked her : "why don't you update your page?
-I have no page.I destroyed it all.
-Of course you have. Go and update it.
Yes, still there is a hope.For those who like her, she came back again.
Her readers think there was a mystery in Elmadris's Eyes.when they miss her eyes and the way of her Looking, they come to her page.

Courtesy of AtilOPatil , Elmadris , nahid afrouz

P.S. : Elmdris explains about herself : " The name of my weblog refers to my ID,and the story belongs to a couple of years ago.One of the days of those previous years,I had to change my ID for some reasons.As I didn't want to use it anymore and to be found by one of my friends,I called a friend of mine and asked him to find a name for me because I admired his taste and dicernment.He found this name after about a quarter.I got pleased with it very much.Also,he introduced weblog to me,created a weblog for me,and encouraged me to write.In this way I started writing,but I don't know how long I'll write.I don't know this one.
I love elmadris,love it very much,and most of the time I prefer to be known with this name instead of my own real one."

2004-02-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

IN THE TUB...

. A girl in the tub...

4 o'clock in the afternoon

1-She takes off her clothes,puts the light-colored ones in one basket and the dark ones in another one.

2-She locks the door of the tub from inside,stands in front of the mirror,lets out her stomach that had given inside all the time,and starts grumping and objecting to every point of her body.

3-She opens the cupboard,brings out several types of shampoo and aromatic soap special for skin,face,hair,body,sole,... and sets on the edge of the bathtub.

4-She washes her hair with strengthening ,brightening ,luxuriant-making ,...coconut shampoo and massages it for 17 minutes.

5-She washes her hair with the same shampoo one more time.

6-She rubs the aromatic orange-scented softening shampoo to her hair and counts up to 60.

7-She stays 35 mintues under the shower because she must be sure that all the chemicals have been removed from her hair,otherwise it would curl.

8-She pilfers her brother's shaving cream and discharges 6 pounds of it on her legs,arms,and top of her lips.Then picks up a safety razor and goes on...Ahhh !

9-She squeezes her hair well,wraps the towel round her head like a turban,looks at herself in the mirror.she feels beautiful because her eyes and eyebrows have been drawed due to the traction of the towel,and sends a big kiss for her picture in the mirror.

10-Her happiness doesn't last too much as a black-tipped freckle has sprouted on the tip of her nose without her permission.

11-She diagnoses all her body and fights with pimples and rude redundant hair by nail and tweezer.

12-She wears her towel and goes to her room,lubricates all her body with the oily lution.

13-She puts on and takes off 40 times to choose the dress.

14-She sits at the make-up table for 48 minutes and makes up.

8 o'clock in the afternoon

. A guy in the tub...

4 o'clock in the afternoon

1-While sitting on his bed,he takes off his clothes,throws each part to each corner of the room.

2-He wraps a half hand-span towel round his hips and goes toward the tub.

3-He stands in front of the mirror,gives his stomach inside ,and contracts his biceps like body builders : right posing,left posing;He admires himself for half an hour (:"Hey man ,look at this fine figure ! La la la la la") and his mother endorses him from the kitchen.

4- He smells his armpits and the color of his face turns green,blue,purple.

5-He doesn't open the door of the cupboard of the shampoos because he doesn't have anything in it at all.

6-He foems at his armpits with his green bar of soap.A lot of hair sticks to the soap.

7-He washes his face and hair and body with the same soap.

8-Softening shampoo??? Ha ha ha !

9-He farts under the shower and titters because of its sound being echoed in the tub.

10-He bursts with laughter 2 minutes later because this time its odor has reached his nose.

11-He aims at the basin of the tub and pisses in it.

12-He comes out from under the shower and suddenly he realizes he had forgotten to close the door of the tub so all the rug and floor of the house have got wet.(Nevermind; Mom will dry them.)

13-He wraps his little towel round his hips and goes to his room wetly.

14-He throws the wet towel on the bed and wears his clothes in 2 minutes.

4:15 in the afternoon

2004-02-01T00:28:00.000-08:00

IRANIAN ICE SKATING

After 27 years,special track for ice skaters in Tehran has been opened.The interesting point is that girls can skate and do patinaje on this track only with each other wearing complete clothing ! But opening of it itself can be considered as a step forward.

Check out the pictures : 1 2 3 4

2004-01-28T01:44:00.000-08:00

DEATH IS SOMEWHERE AROUND HERE...

Benfica's Hungarian striker Miklos Feher died on Sunday after collapsing during a league game with Vitoria Guimaraes. Feher, 24, fell to the ground at Guimaraes' stadium during additional time with Benfica leading 1-0.According to the first news reports, the 24-year-old Hungarian player suffered a heart attack and died after being taken to a local hospital.

The memory of Marc-Vivien Foe is revived again...

2004-01-22T14:02:00.000-08:00

PHILOSOPHER OR PRESIDENT?

Iranian president Mohammad Khatami's speech which was couched in erudite philosophical terms in Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland 2004,seemed to draw a thoughtful response from Davos delegates. "I think he made a good impression," Harinder Kohli, CEO of Centennial Group Holdings, a Washington-based policy advisory group, told NEWSWEEK. "It was an unusual speech, but the main thing is not what his words were, but the fact that he came here at all."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also praised Khatami's speech as an "extraordinarily broad canvas" that "says something about the breadth of [his] intelligence." "He was right to say that democracy was a human experience, not a Western invention," Straw told the bilateral meeting.

P.S : NEWSWEEK short interview with Khatami

2004-01-21T02:27:00.000-08:00

HOW TO EXPLAIN?!

REUTERS : "It is very difficult for me to explain to the EU how people already in parliament may not be able to run for re-election," European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said [during press conference in Tehran after thousands of liberals including the ones,who're right now the MPs,had been barred from standing in elections next month by the conservative Guardian Council, an unelected constitutional one. ] "The fairness of an election is not only (a matter) for election day."

2004-01-20T05:13:00.000-08:00

STICKING TO HER GUNS

UPN.COM : The prospect of appearing nude turned out to be the Achilles Heel for the first model to be eliminated on the season premiere of AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL. Anna Bradfield, the 24-year-old housewife and mother from LaGrange, Georgia, chose not to appear in the first photo shoot covered only by jewels and body paint. Even though Jenascia, the 21-year-old waitress from Burien, Washington, was over two hours late for the shoot, the panel of judges could not overlook Anna's attitude and refusal to participate in the first shoot and eliminated her from the show.

About 39% of the online visitors of the contest voted that she'd done the right decision and I am one of them.
If you remember,I had admired Kadi Tombak for her beautiful description of beauty;Now I admire Anna for standing up what she believes in.She's reached to such a high level of thinking that she knows after giving birth to her baby,she's not only for herself anymore;She knows that maybe someday she will have to explain to her child why she decided to pose nude in front of cameras and other people.So she made up her mind and made that rational decision.I don't know this as a achilles heel;I know this as an outstanding glory that is rare in modernized world of today;Congratulations to anna's husband for having such a wife;Congratulations to anna's child for having such a mom;He/she will definitely be proud of the mom in the future;And finally I should express my deepest respect and pleasure to Anna herself.From my point of view,Anna you're the winner,not other contestants like Sara Racey-Tabrizi,who's got an iranian origin.Congrats Anna ! Good luck !

Read out her interviews with parents.com and realitynewsonline.com

2004-01-19T21:36:00.000-08:00

ANOTHER SEMI-IRANIAN QUEEN : 'MISS GERMANY 2004'

AFP : " Shermine Sharivar, a 21-year-old student, was elected 'Miss Germany 2004' at a gala evening in this western town on Saturday, organizers said.

The winner, hailing from Aachen, defeated 19 other candidates from all over the country to win 60,000 euros, trips to Cuba and Tunisia, and a 10,000-euro stay in a beauty spa.

The most beautiful woman in Germany will represent her country in the Miss Europe and Miss Intercontinental competitions. "

I should mention that Shermine's father is an iranian and her mother is a german.She studies in the fields of poitical science,psychology and german literature in Aachen,one of the cities of Germany.she won the silver crown among 4,000 beautiful and clever contestants.

Shermine is a chocolate-lover : “My weak point is chocolate.” !

Do you remember Nazanin Afshin-Jam a while ago having won 'Miss Canada' title?

2003-12-27T00:40:00.000-08:00

CATASROPHE

: " A powerful earthquake struck the ancient Silk Road city of Bam in southeastern Iran on December 26, 2003, killing more than 20,000 people, injuring tens of thousands more and razing many buildings, state television said. Iranian television said about 70 per cent of the buildings in Bam, a popular tourist destination some 600 miles southeast of the capital, Tehran, had collapsed in the earthquake which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. "

Full Story

Photo galleries : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2003-11-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

KYLA COLE : A MODEL WITH BLUE EYES

She narrates herself :

Martina as well as Martine, Olivia, Ester, Faye, Nikita, Rayia, Mindy, Lynn are just names they published my pictures in different magazines under. I want to be recognized as Kyla Cole so let's stick with that.

Born: 10th November 1978 in Slovakia .

Actually I am a Citizen of Slovakia and a just a resident of Czech Republic.I enjoy the city of Prague and find it good for business / professional opportunities.

I started modeling when I was almost twenty.It took me one year to make it to the covers of more then thirty Glamour magazines all over the world,and countless times as a feature.

My work is interesting, a lot of fun. I have traveled to many exotic countries.I feel so free.I am happy I am quite successful with what I am doing.I am doing it for all the man.

2003-11-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

SHOOTING 444 DAYS

: " Out Hollywood producer Scott Rudin needed to read only two pages from the Guests of the Ayatollah, a book about the Iran hostage crisis, before making a seven-figure deal for the screen rights, reports Daily Variety.Mark Bowden is writing the book, to be published in 2005. Bowden spent five years researching the crisis that occurred when Iranian students stormed the American embassy in 1979 and held its staff hostage for 444 days.

This film will concentrate on the hostages and their survival during prolonged captivity. "The deal puts Rudin behind a high-profile nonfiction subject for the first time," Variety reported. "

2003-11-24T05:03:00.000-08:00

GEORGIA'S REVOLUTION : END OF A DICTATOR

Being bundled out : This is the result of resisting in front of the power of the majority.So just like Saddam Hussain again I say : Farewell Shevardnadze,farewell.

A revolution took place in Georgia and succeeded 25 years after the revolution of Iran in 1979.Of course we must consider Peru's too,in which Fujimuri ran away and gave the power to the opposition.Exactly like Iran's revolution that Shah escaped from the country,then the military forces joined people and the revolution was done,Eduard Shvardnadze resigned from his presidential ( dictatorship ) post,and now the power in the country is of what most of the people had wanted and protested for.

Pictures of Georgian peoples's jubilation after the revolution...

2003-11-22T03:11:00.000-08:00

PERSIAN COURSE IN CANADIAN UNIVERSITY

This course is an introductory Persian language.'Introduction to Persian' enables students to learn the Persian alphabet, phonology, morphology, and the basic syntax. They also learn reading, writing, and translating basic sentences. References to Persian culture will accentuate understanding of the language...

2003-11-20T03:25:00.000-08:00

OH MY GOODNESS,I FELT FAINT !!

Hossein Barkhah of Iran dislocates his elbow attempting to lift 157.5 kilograms in the snatch category in group A of the men's 77 kilogram weight class at the World Weightlifting Championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, November 18, 2003.

I hope very soon recovery for our dear weightlifter,Hossein, and coming back for Athens Olympics 2004.

photo by : REUTERS/Lyle Stafford

2003-11-19T14:59:00.000-08:00

SAD BUT TRUE !

"Chat and pornography have driven the whole technology sector in Iran," said Massoud Bozorgi, CEO of Chavoosh IT Development Co. , the largest Internet service provider in Esfahan [one of the major cities of Iran]. "That's why most people buy computers. It's sad, but true."

2003-11-19T14:42:00.000-08:00

MATCHMAKER

: " Jaffar Savalanpour Ardabili, 38, a midranking Iranian Shiite cleric whose web site, is so flooded that it closes several days a month to limit submissions,is doing a unique job in a country where, after the 1979 Islamic revolution, dating was banned and extramarital relationships became subject to severe punishment.He arranges marriages. His office is filled from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday through Thursday with hopeful iranian men and women,all seeking his help to get married.

"I just want to be a true cleric, and as a cleric my job is to help bring balance and happiness to people's lives," he said.

Ardabili's own relatively free spirit was influenced by a six-month stay in Canada in 2000.
"I noticed that people were so happy there," he said. "They went out to dance and party over the weekend. So I thought as a cleric, I should use religion to bring happiness to people's lives in my own country."

When he returned, he started his business online. He asked applicants for a short biography and answers to a series of questions about their expectations.He lines up several candidates for each applicant and they date, sometimes for months -- a departure from traditional marriages, in which the wedding might take place within weeks of the bride and groom's first meeting.

He charges about $7 to process each application, but his income is supplemented by donations that happy couples often make after they marry.

Ardabili stays in touch with the couples he has matched. He tries to make sure they do well in many facets of their marriage -- he even sends some of them to sex therapy clinics. "

2003-11-14T05:55:00.000-08:00

A FOOL THREW A FIRE CRACKER...

How a foolish man can fuck a match...

2003-11-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

POWELL'S REMARKS ABOUT IRAN

The Iranian people want their freedom back, of this there can be no doubt. They do not want to banish Islam from their lives. Far from it. They want to be free of those who have dragged the sacred garments of Islam into the political gutter.

They have been imprisoned for wanting this. They have been gagged for wanting this. They have been intimidated and threatened for wanting this. Some have already died for wanting this. And yet when Shirin Ebadi returned home to Iran just a week or so ago, this year's Nobel Peace Prize in her hands, tens of thousands of Iranians came out to greet her.

We all know what this means. The hidebound clerics of Iran know what it means, too. Should they be worried? Does morning follow night? They should be.

2003-11-10T01:57:00.000-08:00

SMOKING PLEASE?!

: " British American Tobacco (BAT), is to build a factory in the Iranian capital Tehran.

The owner of Lucky Strike and Kent cigarettes is shipping machinery to Tehran and expects it to be operational by the first quarter of 2004.

The move is part of a continuing alliance with the Iranian Tobacco Company (ITC), first announced last year with an initial investment of $30m (£18m). "

2003-11-09T23:00:00.000-08:00

ANNIVERSARY

Yesterday was the anniversary of Dr.Hashem Aghajari,a university professor who was nominated for Nobel peace prize which iranian female client Shirin Ebadi eventually won it,having been sentenced to death.A rally was held up in Tehran University for treasuring freedom of speech and condemning the sentence.These are some of the pics: ( photos by Amir Kholoosi from ISNA,Iranian Students' News Agency)

2003-11-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

IRAQI-AMERICAN MARRIAGE

&
: Two National Guard soldiers who married Iraqi women against their commander's wishes will have to wait at least eight months to return home with their brides, according to a lawyer for one of the soldiers.

Sergeant Christopher Sean Blackwell and Captain Brett Harrison Dagen, were Christians who converted to Islam so they could be married under Iraqi law.Wearing army fatigues and carrying M-16 rifles, they held a double secret ceremony on August 16 after converting to Islam, reportedly because superior officers had disapproved of their decision.

According to their marriage certificates seen by AFP, Joanne, 26, and her best friend Ahda, 25, tied the knot with Blackwell, 27, and Dagen, 37,respectively.

In line with Islamic law, the certificates show a payment of 1,000 dollars by the grooms and a compensation pledge for the brides of 10,000 dollars in case of divorce.They also bear color pictures of the newly weds.

Joanne and Ahda, who were working as interpreters for the US forces in a Baghdad hotel where they met their husbands, risk abduction and murder as "collaborators" with the US-led coalition occupying conservative Muslim Iraq .

The two women now live in virtual hiding, unable even to meet with their new husbands, who are also under the threat of sanctions from the army.The men have been restricted to their bases since the double wedding in August, and they have not been allowed to see or speak to their wives since then, the soldiers' mothers said Monday.

2003-10-31T13:21:00.000-08:00

DOUGLAS & ZETA-JONES TO CELEBRATE FOR OUR EBADI !

: " [Michael] Douglas and [Catherine] Zeta-Jones, both Academy Award winners, will act as co-masters of ceremony at the Dec. 11 concert in Oslo, the day after Iranian lawyer, writer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi accepts her 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.

The award will be marked by a solemn ceremony at the Oslo City Hall, a torchlight parade in Ebadi's honor and a banquet, followed by the Dec. 11 concert. "

Good for Ebadi ! I wish I had won the nobel peace prize instead of her !! Don't blame me;Can you show me another way to visit my beloved Zeta-Jones?

2003-10-31T02:45:00.000-08:00

I WILL MISS YOU KAVEH !

Kaveh,one of my bloggy friends who used to handle an English blog(Observations Of Tehran Life),posted his last entry in hig blog,bid farewell and immigrated to Australia.I can daringly say that his blog was one of 2 blogs I always check and read.His fluency in English,his innovation in finding subject for photographing and writing,and his pink template are of those that have influenced me.

He also was from the rare Iranian friends who gave link to me and made a lot of visitors for me.

He wrote in his blog for about a year and a couple of months ( 09.08.2002 to 10.26.2003) and had a great number of visitors,and was categorized in the top 50 socio-general iranian blogs,cuz he wrote frankly and fluently about Iran,tehran and his own ideas.

Anyway,although I'm sorry that one person has been subtracted from the population of Iranian English bloggers who're also insiders,I hope a better and more successful life for him in Australia,and look forward to seeing new posts from him.So long buddy!

2003-10-30T06:09:00.000-08:00

THE BEST ANSWER I'VE READ THESE DAYS...

Q:What makes a person beautiful?

A:Innocence!

Kadi Tombak,Miss Earth 2003 of Estonia,participating in Miss Earth 2003 contest,answers a question in an interesting interview by Beyond Essence

2003-10-30T05:53:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU BUBBLE GUM !!

Bubble gum celebrated its 75th anniversary...

2003-10-30T05:49:00.000-08:00

IRANIAN GIRL TO REPRESENT CANADA IN MISS WORLD 2003

: " Nazanin Afshin-Jam has been crowned Miss World Canada 2003 and will travel to China in December to compete for the Miss World title.

The 24-year-old Vancouver resident, who was born in Iran and immigrated to Canada several years ago, said it's her ambition to write and produce documentaries on Third World development issues.

Afshin-Jam, who also won the swimsuit award at Wednesday's night pageant, is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and has studied in France and England.

The Miss World pageant takes place Dec. 6 in the Chinese city of Sanya. "

Nazanin's profile

Nazanin's Biography and Favorites

She's hoped to represent Iran in the contest ,too.Congrats dear Nazanin and thanks!

2003-10-29T01:50:00.000-08:00

GRACIAS HODER !

It seems everything is ok now.Thank you dear hoder for correcting the mistake.I'm an insider !

2003-10-25T00:26:00.000-07:00

UNSUBSCRIBE FROM OPEC !

: " Iran is playing with the idea of pulling out of OPEC according to sources in the Ministry of Oil.

Director of International Relations at the NIOC, Hojatollah Ghanimifard, recently said that if Iran cannot convince OPEC in regard to changes in its oil policy, there will be no need for Iran to continue its membership. He added that despite Iran having always been a team player in OPEC, Iran's active role in the organization has been ignored and that in the long run an OPEC without Iran may be to the advantage of Iran.

Ghanimifard pointed out that by pulling out of OPEC, Iran would be able to have its own cohesive plan on the Oil, gas and petrochemical sectors without being bound by external OPEC regulations. He added that this would not mean that Iran would jeopardize the world's oil market, but consider Iran's future as the primary factor in its planning and not OPEC's future.

It is the first time that Iran is considering leaving the organization it helped setup and will join other oil producing non-OPEC countries such as Mexico, Norway, UK, USA and Russia. "

Check the names of the non-opec countries one more time.I fully agree with Iran's pulling out of Opec,cuz by being a member,we must always obey its regulations and as the prices of Opec oil basket is mostly influenced by The US,so what would be remaining an Opec member good for?

2003-10-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

INSIDER OR OUTSIDER ?!

Recently Hoder has managed to handle a site dedicated to Iranian English bloggers both posting from inside and outside of Iran,Blogs x iranians and he's put me in his list,too.Up to this far,it's ok and deserving gratefulness,but there's something astonishing for me and that's : On what basis he has categorized me in the outsiders??

I live in Tehran,the capital of Iran,and it's my honor and glory to write about Iran from inside Iran in English in order to reflect what goes on in Iran.

I've sent an email to him,requesting to correct it.I hope this will take place as soon as possible.Until then,I should loudly declare : I'M AN INSIDER IRANIAN BLOGGER !

2003-10-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

PROTOCOL SIGNED

Eventually after months of tension,worrier and lingering,Iran pledged to sign Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) under the intense pressure of Europe,Agency,the U.S.,people,earth,heaven,...!!

I don't remember such a horrible simultaneous trip of foreign ministers of 3 famous European countries ( the U.K.,France,Germany) to any country in the world,do you?This shows the intendancy of Europe to end the matter by warning Iranian leaders of the probabale consequences of not signing the protocol,and the result is that Iran's government bowed in front of them.

Everything is almost over,but still a question remains : Couldn't Iran have signed this God damn protocol earlier so that we could have kept our international prestige and not have let anyone make decisions on behalf of us and pressurize us ?!

P.S. : Tehran Declaration,full text ...

2003-10-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

REACTION TO NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

1- KOFI ANNAN :

: " Iranian Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the prize, is a courageous champion of human rights and known for her conviction that human rights are fully compatible with Islam, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said."

2- GEORGE W.BUSH :

VOA news: " President Bush has congratulated Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi for winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
In a statement released Saturday, Mr. Bush said he "strongly supported the Iranian people's aspirations for freedom and their desire for democracy."
The president also said the American people look forward to a free Iran, one that stands as an example of tolerance and democracy in the Middle East, and around the world."

3- MOHAMMAD KHATAMI :

Translated by me from persian Baztab : President Khatami showed happiness for awarding Nobel peace prize to Shirin Ebadi but said that this prize had been given to her on the basis of completely political criteria.

President Khatami in response to a question that why he hadn't declared anything formal congratulating Shirin Ebadi said : "Must I give formal message for any event having been occured in the country?In my point of view Nobel peace prize is not very important,of course its literature prize is important,but its peace prize is not."

"There's nobody who's not pleased of a countryman's success.I am happy too that a countryman succeeded,and hope this success to be applied in the way of nation's general advantages and also the whole world and man's policy " He added.

"The space of our country usually becomes a sentimental one in such situations;Everything is forgotten and the behaviors become in a way that we show everything either totally white or totally black." He said.

"In scientific fields of Nobel prize,scientific criteria are completely considered .This was done in the past years and scientific winners of Nobel prize are really the most outstanding choices of the world."

He said the peace prize to be the most political part of Nobel prize and assessed : "In awarding Nobel peace prize,there are political purposes and criteria ."

He addressed to the media and press correspondents and said : "You evaluate that who were the winners of Nobel peace prize during the past 30 and 40 years;that is the war [ world war II ] approaching its ending,and the era after the war. "

He hoped Mrs. Shirin Ebadi to consider Islam world and Iran advantages and not to let the situation obtained to be misused.

"She should speak in Iran too so that peace and reconciliation will come true.She should regard that it's written in the Nobel peace prize announcement that the first Iranian woman and the first muslim woman had won this prize."He added.

He replied another correspondent's question asking why he thinks Ebadi's prize is not very important in this way : " Because this prize has been awarded on the basis of completely political criteria;People such as Begin,[Jimmy] Carter,Anwar Sadat,and [Simon] Perez have won this prize,too."

"Of course I don't put Mrs. Ebadi beside these ones,but political criteria were the reason of awarding this prize."He said.

"Today we should see who've jeopardized Nobel peace prize,who pay attention to nations' rights,what goes on in Palestine and what are Iran's threats." He assessed.
"We should see if these threats are in the orientation of worldly benefit and peace." He continued.

He said the powers like The U.S. to be the main reason of disturbing peace and security in the world and added : " I hope the peace prize winners consider these matters.Iran's muslim people will definitely keep on going the way of religious democracy and being proud,and really neutralize conspiracy and sedition and I hope anybody in any position not to let to be misused against policy of the country."

P.S. : At 1997,Khatami was one of the potential choices of Nobel peace prize for his theory of "dialogue among civilizations".If he had been awarded the prize,would he still call it a 'completely political' one ?

2003-10-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

ISRAEL : GAP BETWEEN THREAT AND ACTION ?!

: " The German newspaper Der Spiegel reported Saturday that Israel has prepared plans for a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities in order to halt Iran's progress towards attaining nuclear weapons.
Der Spiegel reported that a special unit of the Mossad received an order two months ago to prepare a detailed plan to destroy Iran's nuclear sites. According to the paper, the Mossad's plan is ready and has been delivered to the Israeli Air Force, which will carry out the strike.
The newspaper said its source is an IAF fighter-bomber pilot, who said the plan to take out Iran's nuclear sites was "complex, yet manageable."
The paper added that Israel knows Iran has six nuclear sites, all of which would be attacked simultaneously by Israeli jets.

Iran has warned Israel against any military attack on its nuclear sites, saying Israel would pay a very heavy price if it did. "

2003-10-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

THE CHEAPEST PETROLEUM OF THE WORLD

On the basis of the report of United States Energy Information Administration on June,Iran's oil price has been in its lowest level.On this month,Nigeria's oil has got the highest price.In this report,Iran's light crude oil price has been announced $25.32 and heavy oil price, $24.97 for each barrel.

2003-10-11T02:41:00.000-07:00

RETURN OF THE LEGEND : NAPSTER

Mark Mulligan, Jupiter Research : "Napster was like James Dean - it lived fast, and died young and beautiful ."

The full story...

Attention Metallica !

2003-10-11T02:03:00.000-07:00

AND THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE COMES TO IRAN

: " Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi has won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her focus on human rights, especially on the struggle to improve the status of women and children.

Ebadi, one of Iran's first female judges before being forced to stand down after the Islamic revolution, said she hoped the award could bring change in her country. She is the first Iranian to receive the honor since it was first awarded in 1901 and the 11th woman.

"I'm shocked because I didn't imagine that I won this yet," she told CNN, hours after learning she had won the prize, for which she receives 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.3 million).

Asked at a news conference in the French capital how she thought the religious hardliners in Iran would react, Ebadi, 56, said: "In my view there is no difference between Islam and human rights.

"The real Muslims should be very happy and should support the Nobel Peace Prizes."

Ole Danbolt Mjoes, head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said earlier: "It is a pleasure for the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize to a woman who is part of the Muslim world, and of whom that world can be proud -- along with all who fight for human rights wherever they live."

"As a lawyer, judge, lecturer, writer and activist, she has spoken out clearly and strongly in her country, Iran, and far beyond its borders," a statement from the Nobel Committee added.

"She has stood up as a sound professional, a courageous person, and has never heeded the threats to her own safety." "

Poll results on agreement with the Shirin Ebadi having been chosen for the prize...

Congratulations to Mrs.Ebadi and iranians all over the world !

2003-10-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

ASKING FOR HELP !

Can anybody do me a favor and find this book for me for a rational price ( not 105$ presented in Amazon !) or at least provide me with any information that where I can find it? I don't mind for having a second handed one.(Better saying,I warmly welcome it.)I sought any place I thought I could find it in Tehran,but I failed.I'd be grateful to have your notes in your emails to me.Thanks in advance.

2003-10-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

CONFESSION : IRIB FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF IRIB

The research seasonly of IRIB ( Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting ) studies,researches and program evaluation center has written only 8% of political news of this medium is reports of social situations,36% of it is national political news related to politicians and governors and 28% of the national political news is concered with dominant virtue and strengthening the relation of people with government.As for international political news,53% of it is about clashes and regarding its subject,is with the negative orientation such as riots,protests,increase in unemployment rate,racial and national quarrels,crises,financial misuses,bomb placement,hostage taking and so on which is reflected mostly about the countries having converse ideas with Iran.

In the report final analysis of this seasonly,has been written : " In the IRIB news,two different worlds are shown:Inside of Iran,everything's ok and conveys order and stability whereas in the world outside,the dominant situation conveys disorder and instability. " !

2003-10-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

WHAT A SWEET WONDERFUL LIFE !

The idea of a sexually-exclusive porn couple is a bit surprising, it even has a slightly spiritual quality to it.
Once a movie reviewer talking about "Eyes wide shut", said "Who wants to see a married couple have sex? I'd rather see how they fight." I guess that's not true for Voodoo and Nicole Sheridan.
Voodoo's story is extremely untypical, right down to his amazing relationship with Nicole, which is truly one of the greatest relationships ever seen and as singular in every sense as it is awe inspiring.(To your consideration,Voodoo only has sex with Nicole,his legal wife!)

Voodoo says the last four years of his life have been filleded with ritz, glamour and exotic travel -- 'a dream come true.'Either someone's story is full of crap, or Voodoo needs to splurge and use that 'ton of cash' he saved-up to buy his lovely wife an occasional happy meal.
Nicole was widely quoted explaining how a couple of years ago, Metro left her so destitute she had to borrow money from her make-up artist just to eat.It was a nightmare:
"Actually,Voodoo came here penniless and it wasn't until his second year in the business that he was making enough money to start saving. During the time that Metro stopped paying me, he was just making enough to get by and establish himself here in the States and could hardly support both of us. Yes, he did lead quite a fun life and got to travel all over for work, but that does not mean that he was wealthy at that point by any means.Things really picked up for him his second year in the business when companies started taking him seriously and he had paid his dues. That is when I left Metro."
I am happily married to the most amazing man in the world."

Great to hear that Nicole & Voodoo are so happy though. Congrats guys!
I wish them both nothing but the best in the years to come!

2003-10-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

FASHION PASSION !

Fashionunited : " in a sign of a gradual relaxation of Iran's social restrictions, the first women's fashion magazine to be published in the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution has just hit the news stands.With a burst of bright colors and inventive designs influenced by traditional Persian costumes, the quarterly Lotous is something of a revolution in itself. The price of the magazine is 3.75 USD. "Women generally like dressing elegantly and Iranian women are no exception," said Mahla Zamani, the Iranian fashion designer who publishes the magazine.

Zamani believes in 'You are what you wear'. "Black is the color for mourning and grieving. I believe Iranian women feel depressed simply because of the dark colors they wear," she said. Zamani's designs are based on the colorful, embroidered and beaded styles worn by Persian women through the ages. Long reversible silk tunics paired with pants, knee-length coats with loose long skirts, colorful scarves wrapped tribal-style around the head, and flowing opera capes are among her creations."

2003-10-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

A LETTER TO GOD : LOW MAN'S LYRIC

To Hamed ,my dear friend who recently passed away at the age of 22 while saying his prayers,and left behind deep grief and sorrow for us.I know he loved this Metallica's song so much...

My eyes seek reality
My fingers seek my veins
There's a dog at your back step
He must come in from the rain

I fall 'cause I've let go
The net below has rot away
So my eyes seek reality
And my fingers seek my veins

The trash fire is warm
But nowhere safe from the storm
And I can't bear to see
What I've let me be
So wicked and worn

So as I write to you
Of what is done and to do
Maybe you'll understand
And you won't cry for this man
'Cause low man is due

Please forgive me

My eyes seek reality
My fingers feel for faith
Touch clean with a dirty hand
I touch the clean to the waste

The trash fire is warm
But nowhere safe from the storm
And I can't bear to see
What I've let me be
So wicked and worn

So as I write to you
Of what is done and to do
Maybe you'll understand
And won't cry for this man
'Cause low man is due
Please forgive me (x3)

So low, the sky is all I see
All I want from you is forgive me
So you bring this poor dog in from the rain
Though he just wants right back out again

And I cry to the alleyway
Confess all to the rain
But I lie, lie straight to the mirror
The one I've broken to match my face

The trash fire is warm
But nowhere safe from the storm
And I can't bear to see
What I've let me be
So wicked and worn

So as I write to you
Of what is done and to do
Maybe you'll understand
And won't cry for this man
'Cause low man is due

Please forgive me (x2)

So low, the sky is all I see
All I want from you is forgive me
So you bring this poor dog in from the rain
Though he just wants right back out again

My eyes seek reality
My fingers seek my veins

Listen to one-minute snippet : Windows Media | Real Audio

Goodbye My dear Hamed...

2003-10-01T02:39:00.000-07:00

HE'S MEHDI MAHDAVIKIA !

This is the ode which Hamburg fans sing for their beloved iranian soccer player,Mehdi Mahdavikia :

He's playing at his peak-i-a
we're on a winning streak-i-a
we'll win again this week-i-a
with Mehdi Mahdavikia.
He isn't very meek-i-a
so turn the other cheek-i-a
and come and join the clique-i-a
for Mehdi Mahdavikia.

His dribbling technique-i-a
has been called magnifique-i-a
it's far beyond critique-i-a
he's Mehdi Mahadivikia

His foes are up a creek-i-a,
their outlook's pretty bleak-i-a
their noses he will tweak-i-a
he's Mehdi Mahdavikia.

The opposition's weak-i-a
in fact they really reek-i-a
and goals they're gonna leak-i-a
to Mehdi Mahdavikia.

His talents are unique-i-a
cause he's a super freak-i-a
his passes are oblique-i-a
he's Mehdi Mahdavikia.

He's got a great phyisique-i-a
he's powerful and sleek-i-a
and havoc he can wreak-i-a
he's Mehdi Mahdavikia.

His house is made of teak-i-a
his mouse will often squeak-i-a
it might make you say "Eek-i-a!"
he's Mehdi Mahdavikia.

When playing hide and seek-i-a
he sometimes likes to sneak-i-a
so let me hear you shriek-i-a
for Mehdi Mahdavikia.

He opened a botique-i-a
it's really very chic-i-a
he sells the odd antique-i-a
he's Mehdi Mahdavikia

His favorite food's a leek-i-a
he eats it with paprik-i-a
flown in from Costa Ric-i-a
he's Mehdi Mahdavikia.

His parrot has a beak-i-a
he taught it how to speak-i-a
it's got an odd mystique-i-a
he's Mehdi Mahdavikia.

He's not from Mozambique-i-a
and nor is he a Sikh-i-a
his father is a shiekh-i-a
he's Mehdi Mahdavikia.

Your interest he will pique-i-a
And though he's not a Greek-i-a
Archimedes says Eurek-i-a!
for Mehdi Mahdavikia.

2003-09-27T02:50:00.000-07:00

COMING BACK TO TEHRAN!

During the recent holidays,I had been to Isfahan with my brother.As I had visited the touristic places before,I spent my time strolling with my friends and trying to enjoy !! I also discovered some interesting places to go next time .

By the way,did you know that the dome of Sheikh Lotfollah mosque (above) is the best and the most complete dome in the world?And did you know that the architecture of the duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral of Florence has been influenced greatly from this iranian masterpiece?

2003-09-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

9/11:THE MOST TRAGIC MOMENT OF THE NEW ERA

After 2 years+3 days(cuz of my delay),again in the anniversary,we pray : May God Keep their souls in peace forever...

2003-09-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

LONELY NIGHTS

Since you're gone
There is an empty space
Since you're gone
The world is not the same

I go back to the places we've been
It feels like you're still there
I live all those moments again
Wishing you were here

Since you're gone
There is a lonely heart
Since you're gone
Nothin' is like it was

There are memories all over the place
Bringin' it back all so clear
Remember all of those days
Wishing you were here

All those lonely nights,
lonely nights (x4)
I gotta fight for you, yes I do

All those lonely nights,
lonely nights (x4)
I gotta fight for you, yes I do
Yes I do

Since you're gone
There is a heart that bleeds
Since you're gone
I'm not the man I used to be

I follow you steps in the snow
The traces disappear
We know what we've lost when it's gone
I'm wishing you were here

All those lonely nights,
lonely nights (x4)
I gotta fight for you, yes I do

All those lonely nights,
lonely nights (x4)
I gotta fight for you, yes I do
Yes I do

I go back to the places we've been
It feels like you're still there
I live all those moments again
Wishing you were here

All those lonely nights,
lonely nights (x4)
I gotta fight for you, yes I do

All those lonely nights,
lonely nights (x4)
I gotta fight for you, yes I do

All those lonely nights,
lonely nights (x4)
I gotta fight for you, yes I do

Download : Lonely Nights by Scorpions

Courtesy of

2003-09-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

THE BURNT GENERATION

Washington Post has recently presented an article about Iranian youngsters named "Iranian Youths Seeking to Escape : Bleak Prospects Lead Some Toward Border, Others to Drugs",by Afshin Molavi.I mention some parts that seemed of paramount importance:

To much of the outside world, the anger and frustration that young Iranians feel toward their government is embodied by the dramatic student protests that periodically grab headlines. But in this country of 67 million people -- more than two-thirds of whom are under 30 and more than half under 21 .
Frustrated by bleak job prospects, restricted freedoms and a stagnant economy, thousands of young Iranians try to emigrate illegally each year. In addition, more than 200,000 of Iran's most educated professionals left the country legally last year, according to government statistics, plucked by companies and governments in Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Europe and the United States -- one of the highest rates of brain drain in the world.
"We call ourselves the burnt generation," Hamid said. "We were burned by our parents' revolution and burned by a system that has given us nothing but troubles."
Sociologists and psychiatrists say the fabric of Iranian society is under substantial stresses. Parents spend less time with their children because fathers often must hold two jobs to make ends meet.
Iranian authorities estimate that nearly 1 million jobs need to be created each year to keep up with the country's youthful population. In each of the last three years, an average of 400,000 jobs -- at most -- have been created, economists estimate.
Though Iranian officials often speak about "a social crisis" besetting youth, few venture into specifics.
Iranian youths, most of whom supported Khatami's reform program and were captivated by the charismatic cleric who called for greater democracy and freedom, have been largely frustrated by the reformists' inability to deliver on their promises.
In interviews on college campuses, at movie theaters and in parks where young people congregate, they expressed frustration with the reformists, growing fear of conservative reprisals against dissenters and a widespread desire to leave the country. They also embraced the ideas underpinning secular democracy, exhibited a growing anti-clericalism and an increasing sense that political involvement poses too many dangers.
Others like Jalal, a 16-year-old playing a video game at a cultural center here, do their best to ignore politics. "I don't have time for such things," he said. "Of course I want more freedom, but what can I do?"
Besides, he said, he has a plan: "I will study medicine in Iran, work for two years, then go to Canada and join my older brother."

2003-09-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

TEHRAN UNIVERSITY AT THE TOP !

In September/October 2003 Issue of Motherjones magazine,10th annual roundup of the top 10 activist campuses are introduced,and University of Tehran's Number One!
Not to dis American students, but their Iranian counterparts earn our top spot for unflinching dissent in a nation where speaking out can lead to imprisonment, or worse. Outraged that reformist history professor Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to death for questioning why clerics alone should have the power to interpret the Koran, students from Tehran University began a month-long protest in November.

After two weeks, the Leader was moved to demand a Supreme Court review of Aghajari's case. (His sentence was eventually commuted to 74 lashes and eight years in prison.) But the protest still grew to 10,000 students, until riot police violently dispersed the longest opposition demonstration since the 1979 revolution. Come spring, emboldened students were calling for the resignation of President Mohammad Khatami,and facing retribution from paramilitary vigilantes.

Last June, student protests against potential tuition hikes broadened into public demonstrations on issues of national discontent, the most serious unrest since the 1999 student protests that rocked the country and left at least five people dead and hundreds in jail.
A severe crackdown that included the detention of about 4,000 people, severe beatings and the jailing of pro-democracy student leaders sent a chill across Iran. A daily barrage of government propaganda describing the protesters as "American mercenaries" and "anti-Islamic hooligans," combined with threats of further crackdowns and the successful jamming of opposition satellite television programs beamed from Los Angeles, slowed the momentum for future protests.

2003-09-01T23:44:00.000-07:00

CAVATINA

Between 1966 and 1987, versatile British composer Stanley Myers scored over 60 American and British feature films .His best-known theme is that of The Deer Hunter (1978) .

Myers also penned the acclaimed "Cavatina" for John Williams.(guitarist)

John Williams performs Cavatina with Classical guitar : Download

2003-09-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

HARD TARGET

Washington Times : " Israel has ready a plan to bomb Iran's Bushehr nuclear-power plant should the Persian Gulf coast facility, now under construction, begin producing weapons-grade material, an insider tells us.
This source says Israel has mapped out a route its jet fighters would take to destroy what is designed to be a two-reactor plant. A successful strike would ensure that the radical Tehran regime does not develop nuclear weapons. Iran has tested 600-mile-range ballistic missiles that can reach Israel and carry nuclear, biological or chemical warheads. "

Check Guardian's flash report about Iran's nuclear installations

2003-08-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

CLINTON & GORBACHEV in PETER AND THE WOLF !

Sergei Prokofiev's musical fairy tale 'Peter and the Wolf ' is popular with children but not with wolf lovers, and two former world leaders -- Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev -- aim to put that right in a new recording.
Prokofiev's version ends with Peter capturing the wolf and leading a triumphant procession to the zoo, paining music-loving environmentalists with romantic visions of wolves in the wild.
In the new version, narrated by former U.S. president Clinton and called Wolf Tracks, Peter again captures the wolf, but this time repents of his act and releases the animal, who howls a grateful goodbye.

"The time has come to leave wolves in peace," Clinton narrates.
French composer Jean-Pascal Beintus wrote the score for the new wolf-friendly version while former Soviet leader Gorbachev provides an introduction and epilogue.

"In Prokofiev's classic, man dominates, but Wolf Tracks expresses quite different values of balance and tolerance. All of us hope for a future where these values are lived every day," Gorbachev said.

Source : Reuters

2003-08-30T05:06:00.000-07:00

METALLICA COMPUTER GAME PREVIEW

A video preview of the new Metallica computer game has been posted online.
The game, which will be released through Vivendi Universal Games in 2005, is a third-person vehicle combat game, where players drive heavily armed AV s across hostile terrain, slaying baddies in their wake. The game will feature an exclusive new track from Metallica and the band will also be shooting a music video featuring elements of the game for the as-yet-unknown track.
Check it out (quicktime)...

2003-08-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

NATURAL-BORN KILLER DIES

In July ,Idi Amin,AKA 'Big Daddy', AKA 'Butcher of Africa', AKA 'Conqueror of the British Empire', AKA 'Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea',the crul and brutal dictator of Uganda,was reported to be in a coma and on life support in the intensive care unit of the King Faisal specialist hospital in Jeddah, where he had been receiving treatment for hypertension and general fatigue for three months. He had been admitted to the hospital with high blood pressure on 18 July. It was also reported that he was suffering from kidney failure but had refused treatment for the condition.
Amin died in hospital of complications due to multiple organ failure at 8.20 am on 16 August. He was buried in Jiddah's Ruwais cemetery during a small funeral ceremony just hours after his death.

Check out his complete chronological profile ...

2003-08-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

G3'03

Can you believe it ?! 2003 has Joe Satriani and G3 alumni Steve Vai teaming up with Yngwie Malmsteen.

Satriani.com will again be providing aftershow pass giveaways for all dates. To enter, simply register to satriani.com and after you have bought your tickets, list yourself as attending a show. Winners are randomly chosen a few days before each show and winners need tickets in order to use the passes.

Current 2003 tour schedule and dates

I wonder how Satriani and Malmsteen have kept up with each other,since I had read an interview from Malmsteen in which he had expressed his opinion about Satriani in this way : "He's good player,but he can't set the world on fire !" A lot of people think Malmsteen is the best guitarist in the world,but I think that's Joe Satriani that deserves this title.(Did you know that Malmsteen can't read and write music notes,and he's just learned playing by hearing ?!)
Anyway,The world's gonna be set on fire !!

2003-08-30T04:15:00.000-07:00

MARS & EARTH : SISTERS APROACH TOGETHER

Mars outshines everything but the Moon and Venus in the night sky and it has just made its closest pass to Earth for 60,000 years.

via

2003-08-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

ST.ANGER : DOWNLOAD METALLICA'S NEW SH*T !

1 Frantic
2 St. Anger
3 Some Kind of Monster
4 Dirty Window
5 Invisible Kid
6 My World
7 Shoot Me Again
8 Sweet Amber
9 Unnamed Feeling
10 Purify
11 All Within My Hands

Download : St. Anger Video

After Jason's split from the band, James, Lars, Kirk, and Metallica's producer for the last few albums, Bob Rock, put on a show in a club called Kimo's in San Francisco on June 4th., 2002.They performed under the name Spun !!

SPUN consisted of Bob Rock (on bass), James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett.They were billed as Spun for the small club gig, and after taking the stage, they introduced themselves by saying, "Hi, we are Bob's band" .Jason was at the Spun show, but left before any band member could talk with him.(He later joined Voivod.)That were these 4 four horsemen who created St.Anger as it's mentioned in metallica's official site.It was after the recording that Rob joined the band as the new bassist.

Courtesy of Carly and Blue,and Spun (Metallica - Jason Newsted + Bob Rock):D

2003-08-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

ISLAM'S MARTIN LUTHER !

Only in a few countries could a philosopher of science be seen as an enemy of the state. Dr.Abdolkarim Soroush, one of Iran's best-known intellectuals,after six years in exile,bravely returned to Iran .He argues that science cannot progress under totalitarian regimes.His greatest "crime" is to suggest that this is a legitimate Islamic view.Ehsan Masood spoke to him on the eve of his departure on behalf of Newscientist.com.I put the more interesting Q&As here :

President Mohammad Khatami is also a personal friend of yours. Will you meet him?
I avoid him and he avoids me. That is better for both of us.

You were a supporter of the 1979 revolution...
Yes. Everybody was a supporter. We thought that there was no other way to get rid of the hated regime of the shah and the insecurity that came with it. Scientific revolutions and political revolutions are similar in many ways. You cannot plan them, they just happen, and you become wiser after the event. After the revolution there was no one dominant view. There were secular people, moderate Muslims, radical Muslims and so on. Revolutions tend to result in totalitarianism. People like me were in it to make it more moderate.

How did you fall out with the authorities?
Around 1990, I published a series of seven articles in a popular cultural magazine called Kyan. The magazine is part of the country's biggest-selling newspaper group. The articles went under the title "The expansion and contraction of religious knowledge". In these articles, I defined a branch of knowledge called religious knowledge and tried to explain it using the principles of philosophy of natural and social sciences. These articles rapidly became quite controversial. The ayatollahs [Shiite Muslim religious leaders], in particular, became very sensitive. Some 10 books have since been written in response to my series.

What did you write that got the ayatollahs so inflamed?
They didn't like the idea that interpretations of religious knowledge can change over time, or that religious knowledge can be understood in its historical context. They thought I was taking away the sacredness of religion and making it dependent on human understanding. But as the controversy grew, I was happy to see these ideas debated in the public media. The original articles were later published in a 700-page book, and I found that I was beginning to attract quite a following. My classrooms became overcrowded and my books were selling very, very well. Books on philosophy usually sell between 2000 and 3000 copies. Some of my books sold more than 50,000. This made the politicians and clergy very sensitive as I was seen to be undermining their exclusive position. I started coming under restrictions.

What kinds of restrictions?
Vigilante groups would stop me from speaking in public. I was often attacked and beaten. I found that I no longer had a job. No one would employ me. No one would publish my work. Invitations to speak stopped coming. The magazine where my original series of articles appeared was closed down. I was summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence and told very explicitly that the authorities did not like me any more and did not want me to feel secure in the country.

You are sometimes described as Islam's Martin Luther, the 16th-century Christian reformer. Are you?
I do not think I am. My main job is to offer an alternative to the totalitarian view of Islam.

2003-08-25T01:49:00.000-07:00

ANTI-NOWHERE BLOG

Last week, invited Australia-based Jason Staines (who wrote under the penname Eilan) to a lively discussion around the question: 'do weblogs really matter?', to put the anti-blog view.I found 4 main ideas in his article which I think thery're worth mentioning them here,since I do agree with them (and I had noted them both implicitly and exlicitly in my intro post ) :

1-Blogging does give everyone a voice, and freedom of speech is one of the most vital rights we have.

2-Technologically, blogging offers nothing new, it just simplifies putting unfiltered detritus on the web. In other words, blogging is simply vanity publishing. Sure, new software packages make it easier to put content on a site, but it is nothing new. Anyone with a word processor able to save to HTML can do the same thing. And as for immediacy, news groups have been offering breaking news for years.

3-A tool kit doesn't make you a mechanic, nor does blogging software turn you into a writer or commentator.

4-And what are the voices being heard in this revolution? Essentially, a group of people who are self-obsessed (they think anyone cares what they think); probably middle class (they have regular access to the technology); and incestuous (they link to each other in a clique). In other words, a bunch of bored, wealthy white kids with nothing better to do than talk about themselves, and who can't get paid to write so publish themselves.

Cuz of the items discussed above,specially no.2,I've called myself ' Nonblogger Ali ' !

2003-08-24T02:19:00.000-07:00

LADY SUN GETS MARRIED

Lady Sun,one of the pioneer persian bloggers,who's not updated her English blog for a while ( and I've missed a lot ),got married a couple of days ago with another blogger.Read her brilliant description of her marriage [ translated by me from her persian weblog,Khorshid Khanoom ,which means Lady sun] :

Lady Sun ( after her simple marriage ceremony and signing the related documents ) : " After that I put that signatures,everything seemed strange to me.I had expected a kind of miracle from that piece of paper.Nothing's been changed,except a simple golden ring that has been added to one of my fingers.As if we've become legal friends.A couple of years should pass for me to know whether what I've done has been right or not.
And then that my wanderings are still untouched.I know that he will ask me tomorrow :" Do you love me? " and I will say :" Yeah ". He will ask :" Did you get married with love ? " and I will say: " No !" Then he will get upset and I don't want him to get upset ,since I love him. "

I wish them everlasting love and happiness from my deep heart.Congratulations Lady Sun !

2003-08-24T01:19:00.000-07:00

THE TEACHER WHO CAME FROM WEST

Washingtonpost : " Calling the development of freedom in the Middle East the "security challenge and the moral mission of our time," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said the United States and its allies must make a "generational commitment" to Middle Easterners who live under oppressive and often corrupt governments.

The White House says that pattern must be broken. Beyond Baghdad, where the administration is spending $4 billion a month to establish security and a new government, officials are designing a mixture of approaches that range from grants and private arm-twisting to public criticism in troublesome cases, such as Syria and Iran.

The administration secured $145 million this year for democracy, education and economic initiatives in the Middle East. "

2003-08-24T00:44:00.000-07:00

VIRTUAL KEYBOARD !

Siemens Procurement & Logistics Services will be the exclusive distributor in Germany of the virtual keyboard.
The virtual keyboard by VKB Inc. projects all alphanumeric keys and a mouse or virtual touchpad too.

2003-08-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

WRITER DREAM !

Hopefully soon...

2003-08-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

IRAN 0 - IRAQ 1 !

Our national soccer team with all of its stars made a miracle and lost the match in our national stadium in a friendly one ( LG cup ) to Iraq which recently has got a lot of problems in its country and been involved with a series of difficulties in training and so on..Thanks dudes !!

The full story...

2003-08-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

MAMA'S DAY

My dear Mama,
There's nothing all over the world deserving to be presented to you.
Congratulations on your day;
I love you from my deep heart...

MAMA SAID ( Metallica,1996 from Load Album )

Mama, she has taught me well
Told me when I was young
Son, your life's an open book
Don't close it 'fore its done
The brightest flame burns quickest
Is what I heard her say
A son's heart sewed to mother
But I must find my way

Let my heart go
Let your son grow
Mama, let my heart go
Or let this heart be still,yeah still

Rebel my new last name
Wild blood in my veins
Apron strings around my neck
The mark that still remains...
.
.
.
Listen to the one-minute snippet : Real Player | Windows Media

Download MP3 for free : via Media Services

courtesy of James Hetfield & Metallica

2003-08-19T02:04:00.000-07:00

BARBARA STREISAND CALLS SADDAM " IRANIAN" !!!

Matt Drudge's screen capture of Barbara's idiotic mistake from her Website :

And screen capture of the same page after the
mistake was reported by Drudge :

I'm sorry for a person who names herself an artist ( ! ) whereas she doesn't know of her world around.
Michael Moore : "We live in a fictitious time..."

2003-08-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

MY DARLING WINDOWS ME !

I've reconsidered my negative concept about Windows Me ( Millenium Version ) after remaining immune from the invasion of MSBLAST ( blaster worm ) which massacred those who've got XP and 2000.You know,I used to think that Me is a spurious version of windows which has been made to fill the gap between win2k and XP,and after appearing several errors ( for example while opening Windows Media Player or getting connected to internet ) I made up my mind to change my windows to 2000,and I was looking for an appropriate time to do it.

My WinMe is like a soldier that in spite of getting injured,continues going on.It just reminds me of the toy soldier in Toy Story who got broken under the feet of Andy's mother and after that she left,he came to life and said to his friends : " keep on going without me ! " But his commander told him that a real commander never leaves his soldiers,and took him with him !
But now things have been changed a bit !!

2003-08-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

GEORGE W.BUSH'S WEBLOG !!

"Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rove won't let me talk in meetings, so I'm bringing my ideas to the people.A British intelligence report says that I'm both fair and balanced. "

Check out this weblog...

P.S. : Real Bush and Cheney's site for 2004 presidential elections

2003-08-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

'HUSBAND' CRISIS IN IRAN

Persian version of BBC has recently presented a report about loss of equilibrium between the population of young boys and girls and the consequences of it in Iran.I've translated it :

IYNA,Iran Youth National Association,that is a presidential one,announced on Friday Aug. 15th,that according to the most recent statistical researches, 1,250,000 girls between 20 to 29 would remain unmarried.
ILNA,Iran Labor News Agency,has reported that on the basis of the research which has been done by IYNA,the number of girls between 20 to 29 has been considered about 6,200,000 and that of boys between 25 to 34 has been considered 4,800,000 and that's this statistical difference which has caused some worriers for young girls concerning remaining unmarried.
In this research,the number of girls has been considered in 2 age groups of 20-24 and 25-29 and that of boys has been considered in 2 age groups 25-29 and 30-34,too.Considering this fact that boys mostly tend to marry girls in younger age groups ( than themselves ),it's been cocluded that 1,250,000 girls won't have any chance to get married.
But apparantly,the probability of remaining unmarried for 1,250,000 girls is not the only worrier of Iranian authorities ,since it's written in this report that " if we add the number of the girls older than 29 who've not got married yet,to the number of this research,we may reach to a figure about 7 million people. "
A while ago Zahra Shojayi,president's consultant and the head of Women's Contribution Affairs Center,had warned about the crisis of unmarried girls by saying that "even if all boys marry all girls,there will be still 1,700,000 girls unmarried."
Experts relate the appearance of this phenomenon with the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq in which about a million young boys were killed. ILNA has quoted from Dr.Ali Asghar Dadkhah,psychiatrist and university professor,that the appearance of this phenomenon is normal after every war.
In addition with the high number of the killed,the war between Iran and Iraq resulted in a wave of emigration of the young,specially young boys that helped in the change of the population situation of boys.
The wave of the emigration that had been initiated before the beginning of the war ( due to occurance of the islamic revolution and emigration of the people who didn't tend to live in the conditions of after revolution ) didn't come to an end with the war getting over and according to the statistics,has always been on increase.
Experts say that the young who're in the age group of 20-under 40 and are single,conform the most number of the emigres and as well,boys go abroad in hope of finding new fields of work and life more than girls.

2003-08-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

FOLLOW ME !

In the wake of Google acquiring Blogger.com, Yahoo! might be contemplating a blogging intiative amongst other services.

P.S.: Blogger is the best !

2003-08-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

: " American pilots dropped the controversial incendiary agent napalm on Iraqi troops during the advance on Baghdad. The attacks caused massive fireballs that obliterated several Iraqi positions.
The Pentagon denied using napalm at the time, but Marine pilots and their commanders have confirmed that they used an upgraded version of the weapon against dug-in positions. They said napalm, which has a distinctive smell, was used because of its psychological effect on an enemy.
The upgraded weapon, which uses kerosene rather than petrol, was used in March and April, when dozens of napalm bombs were dropped near bridges over the Saddam Canal and the Tigris river, south of Baghdad.
"We napalmed both those [bridge] approaches," said Colonel James Alles, commander of Marine Air Group 11. "Unfortunately there were people there ... you could see them in the [cockpit] video. They were Iraqi soldiers. It's no great way to die. The generals love napalm. It has a big psychological effect." "

A 1980 UN convention banned the use against civilian targets of napalm, a terrifying mixture of jet fuel and polystyrene that sticks to skin as it burns. The US, which did not sign the treaty, is one of the few countries that makes use of the weapon. It was employed notoriously against both civilian and military targets in the Vietnam war.

Lt.Kilgore ( Robert Duvall ),U.S. AirForce commander, in Apocalypse Now ( a brilliant anti-war movie about Vietnam ; See one of my previous posts about it ) says the most famous dialogue of the movie,and probably one of the most famous ones ever said : " I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like...victory. "

2003-08-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

AND THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE GOES TO...

I'm happy from my deep heart,even if the prize won't go to Dr.Hashem Aghajari,a history professor,a prominent reformist scholar,a leading pro-reform academic and a close ally of President Mohammad Khatami and a leading member of a reformist political party,who's been possibly nominated for 2003 nobel peace prize.
A while ago he had a controversial speech which resulted in his being arrested and condemned as an apostate and sentenced to death on charges of 'blasphemy' imposed by a hardline court of the judiciary power.He was convicted of insulting Islam's prophet and questioning the hard-line clergy's interpretation of Islam.Aghajari,also was sentenced to 74 lashes, banned from teaching for 10 years and exiled to three remote Iranian cities for eight years.
In his speech, Aghajari had said that clerics' teachings on Islam were considered sacred simply because they were part of history and questioned why only clerics had the right to interpret Islam. He said each new generation should have the right not to blindly follow clerics.
Later on one of the biggest countrywide political demonstration in the Islamic Republic since 1999 were held up by thousands of university students in solidarity of 'freedom of expression and thoughts' and against the death sentence.They risked death to defy tyranny: "You can cut off our tongues, you can take us to jail as you have jailed many other students and scholars, but you can't capture our hearts, you can't prevent freedom of expression and thoughts","Aghajari must be freed;We are here to protest the inhumane sentence against Aghajari.He won't be executed".

The wave shocked the country and the sentence was lessened to only prison for him.
Always it's said that "as the time goes by,everything'll gonna be clear" .

AFP : " ...experts acknowledged that there is no obvious frontrunner in this year's contest, which will take place in mid-October.Toennesson thinks this year's winner could be Iranian dissident Hachem Aghajari, currently in prison in his country. "This would send a message of democracy to Iran to encourage the reform process, and a peace message to the United States saying that change in Iran is not happening through war," he said,but the only way of knowing whether Aghajari is even on the list is for his sponsors to tell the world, as the Nobel committee itself keeps the list of nominees secret. "

2003-08-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

LONDON UNDER THE SUMMER HEAT WAVE

AFP : " Britain sweltered through its hottest day on record Sunday.
"It is just miserable. You can't get any respite from it," said Londoner Ranald Davidson, squinting in the late afternoon sun as Britain surpassed 100 degrees [farenheit] for the first time.
The national weather service recorded a maximum of 100.22 degrees [=37.9 centigrades] at Heathrow Airport, outside a parched and baking London.
In southern England, the unaccustomed stretch of very hot weather parched lawns in the capital and taxed tempers.
Two Australian women looking for an air-conditioned pub in the Holborn area of London were fed up with the search for a cool place to sit.
"London is not built for these temperatures!" said Jenny Geddes, 29, of Newcastle, Australia.
"Where do you escape in London? There's nowhere to go sit and cool off," said Heather Irvine, of Ettalong, Australia, now living in London.
In Britain, many trains have had to reduce speeds because of the danger that heat will buckle tracks. The London Underground is so hot that signs have appeared at stations advising people to take bottled water with them and to let staff know if they are feeling unwell before they get on the train. "

2003-08-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

CONSPIRACY THEORY

: Manucher Ghorbanifar,a long-discredited Iranian middleman from the Iran-Contra scandal,according to congressional testimony 15 years ago, was among those suggesting that profits from the Reagan White House's secret arms-for-hostages deals with Iran be funneled into covert arms shipments to U.S.-backed Contra rebels fighting the leftist government of Nicaragua.known to the CIA even before the Iran-Contra scandal as someone to avoid, Ghorbanifar in the 1980s failed two lie detector tests for the spy agency, which issued a "burn notice" to other agencies advising that the U.S. government should have nothing to do with him.
"Ghorbanifar is clearly a fabricator and wheeler-dealer who has undertaken activities prejudicial to U.S. interests," stated a CIA report that surfaced in congressional hearings into the Iran-Contra scandal in 1987.
Despite the CIA report, Ghorbanifar, an exiled Iranian businessman, managed to attend meeting with Reagan's aides about arms deals, playing on U.S. desires to free American hostages held by terrorists in Lebanon.

Now :

Associated Press : " Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday that Pentagon officials met more than a year ago with Ghorbanifar.
Rumsfeld did not say exactly when the discussion with Manucher Ghorbanifar took place but he characterized it as a meeting with people who had information about Iranians that they wanted to provide to the U.S. government. He didn't elaborate.
A senior Pentagon official said the Defense Department participants were two people from the office of Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith and that the meeting was about two years ago, which would place it around the time of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
When asked to explain the Pentagon's contact with Ghorbanifar, Rumsfeld said that "people come in offering suggestions or information or possible contacts, and sometimes they're pursued."
"A meeting did take place, and the information was moved around the interagency process to all the departments and agencies," said the defense secretary. "There wasn't anything there that was of substance or of value that needed to be pursued further."
Rumsfeld said it was "absolutely not" the case that the meeting with Ghorbanifar was intended to be part of any other ongoing, unofficial talks with Iranians. "

2003-08-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

AFP : " A grandson of the Iran's late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini wants a referendum to decide whether the country should maintain its Islamic regime, he told AFP by telephone Tuesday.
In an interview with the Arab paper Asharq Al-Awsat published Monday, Khomeini said his home country "needs a democratic regime which does not use religion as a means to oppress people and stifle society".
He called for "separating religion from the state and ending the despotic religious regime reminiscent of the rule of the Church during the Dark Ages in Europe".
"All those who came to power after (the 1989 death of) my grandfather exploited his name and that of Islam to continue their unfair rule," Khomeini said. "

Khomeini,Iran's lost leader,had 2 sons : Mostafa and Ahmad.Mostafa was assassined in 1978 and later this event became one of the sparkles of the f'n revolution OF 1979.Ahmad was father's right hand anywhere and better speaking,had a great influence on him.He was put to death after father's passing away in 1989 ( mostly rumored by the government ).Ahmad's son is named Hassan.He is now a handsome chaplain that handles his grandfather's shrine in the southern part of Tehran.He has a moderate political position which tends to be more implicitly (due to pressure on him as Islamic Republic founder's grandson) reformist and a Khatami fan.
Mostafa's son is Hossein who has boldly and daringly said the interesting words above.Of course he's recently gone to holy city of Najaf in Iraq and therefore he is not worried about any probable reaction of the hardliners until he doesn't think of returning Iran.

Supplementary : More detailed news...

2003-08-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

NOAH'S ARK

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark...

One: Don't miss the boat.

Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.

Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

Six: Build your future on high ground.

Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.

Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

2003-08-08T01:10:00.000-07:00

Iranian masterpieces

Masnavi by Rumi and The Orchard by Saadi are among the top 100 books of all time.

Full list of the 100 best works of fiction, alphabetically by author, as determined from a vote by 100 noted writers from 54 countries as released by the Norwegian Book Clubs.

Don Quixote was named as the top book in history but otherwise no ranking was provided .

Chinua Achebe, Nigeria, (b. 1930), Things Fall Apart
Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark, (1805-1875), Fairy Tales and Stories
Jane Austen, England, (1775-1817), Pride and Prejudice
Honore de Balzac, France, (1799-1850), Old Goriot
Samuel Beckett, Ireland, (1906-1989), Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable
Giovanni Boccaccio, Italy, (1313-1375), Decameron
Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina, (1899-1986), Collected Fictions
Emily Bronte, England, (1818-1848), Wuthering Heights
Albert Camus, France, (1913-1960), The Stranger
Paul Celan, Romania/France, (1920-1970), Poems.
Louis-Ferdinand Celine, France, (1894-1961), Journey to the End of the Night
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spain, (1547-1616), Don Quixote
Geoffrey Chaucer, England, (1340-1400), Canterbury Tales
Joseph Conrad, England,(1857-1924), Nostromo
Dante Alighieri, Italy, (1265-1321), The Divine Comedy
Charles Dickens, England, (1812-1870), Great Expectations
Denis Diderot, France, (1713-1784), Jacques the Fatalist and His Master
Alfred Doblin, Germany, (1878-1957), Berlin Alexanderplatz
Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881), Crime and Punishment; The Idiot; The Possessed; The Brothers Karamazov
George Eliot, England, (1819-1880), Middlemarch
Ralph Ellison, United States, (1914-1994), Invisible Man
Euripides, Greece, (c 480-406 BC), Medea
William Faulkner, United States, (1897-1962), Absalom, Absalom; The Sound and the Fury
Gustave Flaubert, France, (1821-1880), Madame Bovary; A Sentimental Education
Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain, (1898-1936), Gypsy Ballads
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Colombia, (b. 1928), One Hundred Years of Solitude; Love in the Time of Cholera
Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia (c 1800 BC).
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany, (1749-1832), Faust
Nikolai Gogol, Russia, (1809-1852), Dead Souls
Gunter Grass, Germany, (b.1927), The Tin Drum
Joao Guimaraes Rosa, Brazil, (1880-1967), The Devil to Pay in the Backlands
Knut Hamsun, Norway, (1859-1952), Hunger.
Ernest Hemingway, United States, (1899-1961), The Old Man and the Sea
Homer, Greece, (c 700 BC), The Iliad and The Odyssey
Henrik Ibsen, Norway (1828-1906), A Doll's House
The Book of Job, Israel. (600-400 BC).
James Joyce, Ireland, (1882-1941), Ulysses
Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924), The Complete Stories; The Trial; The Castle Bohemia
Kalidasa, India, (c. 400), The Recognition of Sakuntala
Yasunari Kawabata, Japan, (1899-1972), The Sound of the Mountain
Nikos Kazantzakis, Greece, (1883-1957), Zorba the Greek
DH Lawrence, England, (1885-1930), Sons and Lovers
Halldor K Laxness, Iceland, (1902-1998), Independent People
Giacomo Leopardi, Italy, (1798-1837), Complete Poems
Doris Lessing, England, (b.1919), The Golden Notebook
Astrid Lindgren, Sweden, (1907-2002), Pippi Longstocking
Lu Xun, China, (1881-1936), Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
Mahabharata, India, (c 500 BC). Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt, (b. 1911), Children of Gebelawi
Thomas Mann, Germany, (1875-1955), Buddenbrook; The Magic Mountain
Herman Melville, United States, (1819-1891), Moby Dick
Michel de Montaigne, France, (1533-1592), Essays. Elsa Morante, Italy, (1918-1985), History
Toni Morrison, United States, (b. 1931), Beloved
Shikibu Murasaki, Japan, (N/A), The Tale of Genji Genji
Robert Musil, Austria, (1880-1942), The Man Without Qualities
Vladimir Nabokov, Russia/United States, (1899-1977), Lolita
Njaals Saga, Iceland, (c 1300).
George Orwell, England, (1903-1950), 1984
Ovid, Italy, (c 43 BC), Metamorphoses
Fernando Pessoa, Portugal, (1888-1935), The Book of Disquiet
Edgar Allan Poe, United States, (1809-1849), The Complete Tales
Marcel Proust, France, (1871-1922), Remembrance of Things Past
Francois Rabelais, France, (1495-1553), Gargantua and Pantagruel
Juan Rulfo, Mexico, (1918-1986), Pedro Paramo
Jalal ad-din Rumi, Iran, (1207-1273), Masnavi

Salman Rushdie, India/Britain, (b. 1947), Midnight's Children
Sheikh Musharrif ud-din Saadi, Iran, (c 1200-1292), The Orchard

Tayeb Salih, Sudan, (b. 1929), Season of Migration to the North
Jose Saramago, Portugal, (b. 1922), Blindness
William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616), Hamlet; King Lear; Othello
Sophocles, Greece, (496-406 BC), Oedipus the King
Stendhal, France, (1783-1842), The Red and the Black
Laurence Sterne, Ireland, (1713-1768), The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
Italo Svevo, Italy, (1861-1928), Confessions of Zeno
Jonathan Swift, Ireland, (1667-1745), Gulliver's Travels
Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910), War and Peace; Anna Karenina; The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories
Anton P Chekhov, Russia, (1860-1904), Selected Stories
Thousand and One Nights, India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt, (700-1500).
Mark Twain, United States, (1835-1910), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Valmiki, India, (c 300 BC), Ramayana
Virgil, Italy, (70-19 BC), The Aeneid
Walt Whitman, United States, (1819-1892), Leaves of Grass
Virginia Woolf, England, (1882-1941), Mrs. Dalloway; To the Lighthouse
Marguerite Yourcenar, France, (1903-1987), Memoirs of Hadrian

2003-08-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

THANKS MTV FOR CONSIDERING ME !

A while ago I had written about St.Anger video of Metallica and said that the direction of Malloy bros. is somehow quite good.Now read this :

" Over the weekend, MTV announced the nominees for this year's Video Music Awards with 'St. Anger' getting the nom for Best Rock Video.
The video, set in San Quentin prison and directed by the Malloys, will be up against Evanescence, Linkin Park, The White Stripes, and Good Charlotte. "

2003-08-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

ALL THE PRIME MINISTER'S MEN

: " At present there is abundant disputation in Washington over the president's use of incorrect information about Iraq in his State of the Union address. Building his case for war against Iraq, President Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

Critics say the administration repeatedly abused intelligence data and exaggerated the Iraqi threat in the run-up to war.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said the president's mistake was "about a single sentence, a single data point," and was just "16 words."
The "16 words" defense sent up a red flag for those on the other side of the political spectrum.
"A lame attempt to diminish it is always a good sign of a scandal," says Paul Begala, co-host of CNN's "Crossfire" and a former Clinton administration aide. The phrase "just 16 words" reminds him of a line about Watergate: "just a third-rate burglary." "

: " The BBC's admission that a scientist who committed suicide was its main source for critical stories on the war in Iraq has focused attention on whether a news organization's promise of anonymity extends beyond the grave.
The British Broadcasting Corp.'s May 29 report quoted an anonymous source as saying government officials had "sexed up'' evidence about Iraqi weapons to justify war.
Scientist David Kelly committed suicide just days after being called before a parliamentary committee to question his participation in the story. Kelly,who was a top United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq in the 1990s,had admitted talking to the BBC but didn't believe he was the main source.
But the BBC on Sunday issued a statement saying that he was.
"We clearly owed him a duty of confidentiality,'' the BBC explained in a statement."Following his death, we now believe, in order to end the continuing speculation, it is important to release this information as swiftly as possible.''
With controversy over the war still fresh, the story has become a huge one for Prime Minister Tony Blair.
One of the few comparable cases in the United States - in terms of an anonymous source being key to a story of great concern to the government - came with the fabled "Deep Throat", a source for The Washington Post's stories on the Watergate investigation that brought down President Richard Nixon.

The [Washington]Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, have kept their promise of confidentiality for three decades despite endless speculation on the source.

They have said they will reveal the identity of "Deep Throat" only after the person dies. "

By the way,have you seen the movie,All The President's Men,starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman,in the role of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,about the watergate scandal? No? No?? Hurry up ! Go to the nearest video club and rent it.Come on,go,go,go !

Pictured from left to right: Dustin Hoffman, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, Robert Redford

2003-08-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

Halls of justice painted green
Money talking
Power wolves beset your door
Hear them stalking
Soon you'll please their appetite
They devour
Hammer of justice crushes you
Overpower

The ultimate in vanity
Exploiting their supremacy
I can't believe the things you say
I can't believe
I can't believe the price you pay
Nothing can save you

Justice is lost
Justice is raped
Justice is gone
Pulling your strings
Justice is done
Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim
So true
So real

Apathy their steeping stone
So unfeeling
Hidden deep animosity
So deceiving
Through your eyes their light burns
Hoping to find
Inquisition sinking you
With prying minds

The ultimate in vanity
Exploiting their supremacy
I can't believe the things you say
I can't believe
I can't believe the price you pay
Nothing can save you

Justice is lost
Justice is raped
Justice is gone
Pulling your strings
Justice is done
Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim
So true
So real

Lady justice has been raped
Truth assassin
Rolls of red tape seal your lips
Now you're done in
Their money tips her scales again
Make your deal
Just what is truth? I cannot tell
Cannot feel

The ultimate in vanity
Exploiting their supremacy
I can't believe the things you say
I can't believe
I can't believe the price we pay
Nothing can save us

Justice is lost
Justice is raped
Justice is gone
Pulling your strings
Justice is done
Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim
So true
So real

Seeking no truth
Winning is all
Find it so grim
So true
So real

Listen to the one-minute snippet : Real Player | Windows Media

courtesy of Metallica

2003-07-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

THANK GOD

Oh my Lord !
Whatever I've got, is your divine gift to me ;
I've nothing by myself ...
Thank You

2003-07-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

TEST YOUR WRITING SKILL

There's an interesting site named One Word.You have 60 seconds to just write about a random word you're given.Don't think;Just write.

2003-07-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

MAN OF THE ROADS

Lance Armstrong Won his 5th Consecutive Tour de France.Now his record equals with 4 other cyclists that have won it 5 times.If he manages to win his sixth trophy,he'll join the history forever."I'll return next year and not to finish second," he warned.

Sally Jenkins,Washingtonpost correspondent : " "Why do you do it?" I asked him once. "What's the pleasure in riding a bike up a mountain for six hours?"
"I don't understand the question," he said.
"Well, there has to be some pleasure in it," I said. "I mean, your back hurts, your neck hurts, your butt hurts. What's the payoff?"
"I still don't understand the question."
I went away baffled -- and convinced that unless I could get him to talk to me on the subject, I'd never understand him. After a couple of days of thought, I realized I'd been asking the entirely wrong question.
"You don't do it for the pleasure," I said. "You do it for the pain."
"That's exactly right," he said. "

The full story...

2003-07-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

PRESSURE POINTS

Expatica : " Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has cancelled a visit to Belgium due to the EU's decision to put pressure on Iran's nuclear programme and human right abuses, the Iranian press reported Thursday.
More intense economic relations can be achieved only if progress is reached in the four areas of concern, namely human rights, terrorism, non-proliferation and the Middle East peace process,a joint EU statement announced earlier in the week.
EU foreign ministers expressed concern Tuesday regarding Iran's nuclear programme, threatening to review relations with the country unless it came into line with UN regulations and co-operated fully with the UN's nuclear watchdog agency.
There is strong international pressure for Iran to sign up to the NPT Protocol, allowing for spontaneous International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of nuclear sites in order to assure the UN that atomic weapons are not being developed.
Khatami was due to receive an honorary doctorate at the University of Liege, no official confirmation of the cancellation of Khatami's visit has yet been received by the university. "

2003-07-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

IS THERE ANY ANALOGY OUT THERE?!

Canada.com : " Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham made the offer in a diplomatic note to the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa. He was responding to Iran's attempts Thursday to draw a parallel between Zahra Kazemi's death in custody in Iran on July 10 and the fatal July 14 shooting by a Port Moody police officer of Keyvan Tabesh, an Iranian youth who was allegedly wielding a machete.
Though he rejected the analogy, Mr. Graham told reporters he would use the homicide inquiry and a planned coroner's inquest into Mr. Tabesh's death in B.C. to show Iran how democratic societies conduct such investigations. He urged Iran to follow its lead by giving Canadian officials access to an equally transparent investigation into how Ms. Kazemi died from a fractured skull.

"They raised the case of Mr. Tabesh," Mr. Graham said.
"They said the circumstances were an analogy. I'm saying if there is an analogy, then I expect the analogy to take place."
"And I expect us to have the reciprocal rights and privileges in Iran. In that case, for example, we would expect the same form of open, transparent investigation into the death of Mrs. Kazemi to take place with the opportunity of our officials to be present and represented as we will offer them the same representation in our society."

Graham's remarks came one day after an Iranian foreign ministry official accused police of a criminal action in the July 14 killing of Burnaby teenager Keyvan Tabesh in the Vancouver suburb of Port Moody, B.C.
Police said Tabesh, 18, ran at police with a machete and the officer had to fire in self-defence.
Tabesh was an Iranian citizen with landed immigrant status who had lived in Canada for about two years.
Hamid Reza Asefi [spokesman of Iranian foreign ministery] called the attack unjustifiable and a "scandalous crime" that frightens Iranians living in Canada. [ ! ]
On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi demanded a thorough investigation into the shooting death.
"The Canadian government has failed in its diplomatic responsibility to report this case to the Islamic Republic of Iran quickly," Kharrazi said in remarks carried by state-run Tehran TV. [ !! ] "

2003-07-25T00:49:00.000-07:00

IRANIAN PUNK DRUMMER !

Did you know that the drummer of a famous English punk music band named "Anti NoWhere League",was an Iranian guy called PJ ?

Anti-Nowhere League were, by contrast, cartoon hooligans, comic relief from the Sid Vicious clones and skinhead riots that brought U.K. punk to a disheartening, early '80s low.From the very beginning (1980) the Anti-Nowhere League tried to be the nastiest, smelliest, ugliest, most brutish punk band of all time - and managed quit nice! Animal (Nick Culmer - vocals), Magoo (Chris Exall - guitar), Winston (bass) and P.J. (drums) were old friends who didn't have much band experience, but that did stop them. Their career did start promising: they did get arrested at playing their first gig!

By the autumn of 1981 they had secured a deal with WXYZ Records and were touring as support to the Damned. Their first single, released in January 1982,was a riotous disemboweling cover of a genteel sad buskers' fave, '70s folk hit, "Streets of London", by singer-songwriter Ralph McTell.However,the band became the toast of British lager lads with the single's b-side,"So What",that was to really attract attention with it's nasty lyrics about drugs, beastily, VD, etc.The London police were not so pleased with the B-side, "So What", a feast of sexuality, scatologicallly explicit, pub-bully boasts.Police authorities raided WXYZ's office In February 12th, 1982,confiscated and seized 10,000 copies of of the single,then destroyed them under the Obscene Publications Act and forbade the label, WXYZ, from pressing anymore. This did give ANL much publicity and helped them to get some minor hits.

Between '88 and '91,Metallica covered and recorded "So What" with speed and sleaze intact and later on released it in "Garage Inc." Album in 1998 (CD 2),originally available on the B-Side of the "Sad But True" single and as a bonus track on the Japanese release of Metallica.

Listen to a 1-minute snippet : Real Player | Windows Media

Lyrics : Prohibited here due to its explicit context

2003-07-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

MY FRIEND OF GERMANY

,the most famous German magazine,has offered an article, titled "Weblogs create liberty" ,about iranian english bloggers and has quoted from my writings too.
Thanks Barbara Schaeder for preparing this article and linking to me . Check out the traslation version of the article.

2003-07-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

GOOGLE UNDER THE POWER OF AN IRANIAN

: " Omid Kordestani, Google's senior vice president of worldwide sales and field operations, is fast turning the privately held company into a maniacally profitable outfit. Kordestani's efforts have transformed the world's top search destination into online advertising's hottest property — scoring over 100,000 advertisers in just 18 months. Revenues from paid searches could fetch Google $1 billion by year's end, analysts estimate.
When Kordestani, 40, joined Google from Netscape four years ago, search engines were a hard sell. But he avoided pushy pop-ups and intrusive banners, and began to sell paid listings. It's a simple yet effective method, perfected by rival Overture. "

2003-07-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER !

Hey pals ! After a 9-day of vanishing in the air due to painting and being in a mess,I'm right now back with a pale-pink-painted room ! By the way,sorry for the gap then.

2003-07-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

THE LONG HOT SUMMER

The weather is so much hot in Tehran these days.I sweat a lot ,and often can't sleep nights comfortably.I can't remember previous years to be hot to this extent.The humidity makes the condition worse.Tomorrow dog days will start and it seems that real hell is on the way to come !

2003-07-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

BYE BYE MY DARLING

: " Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who is facing growing public dissatisfaction over his failure to fulfill promises of democratic reforms, has offered to resign if people want him to go.
It was the first time that Iran's formerly popular, elected president has publicly offered to resign.
"We are not masters of people but servants of this nation. If this nation says we don't want you, we will go," President Khatami was quoted as saying by the government-owned daily, Iran. "

2003-07-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

SIGN PETITION : "FREE CENSORED WEBLOGS"

As you may have already found out recently and more than before, extreme censorship of internet media and numerous filters have been installed by ISPs and the Telecommunication Organization of the Iranian government to ban several Persian sites.
Lately such filtering has cast its doomed shadow over weblogs; consequently, free access to data has considerably decreased and this involves unreasonable banning of personal sites and weblogs in Persianblog and Blogspot (as a part of Google site).
Apparently, filtering weblogs is a kind of test to evaluate the level of public objection to such censorship, so that such limitations can later be applied to other Iranian sites. Meanwhile officials in charge do not shoulder the responsibility or by the ridiculous excuse of generally labeling all censored sites as 'immoral' they try to justify their action and some just express their useless regrets.
Hence we, the users, online writers and activists in technology fields and IT implore all of you to condemn the restriction of weblogs and declare your objection so that your silence will not be considered as your indifference towards this clear impediment of rights.
Please note that this is a strictly professional objection to the confinement of freedom and has no political aspect whatsoever.
Thank you all for your voice, which we hope would be heard this time.

2003-07-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

BITTERSWEET

Did you know that Madonna has sung ( better saying,read) a song,named Bittersweet, which the original lyrics is by Rumi ? ( I am sorry that our greatest poet's real nick name is not that much known in the abroad : Molavi) You can find this beautfiul, sensual and mysterious poem read by Madonna on 'A Gift Of Love- Music Inspired by love poems of Rumi' compilation album.

Besides Madonna you can hear Deepak Chopra,Demi Moore,Goldie Hawn and other celebrities reading the poems of 13th century poet Rumi.That'll be interesting for you of course if you know Rumi.

In my hallucination
I saw my beloved's flower garden
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel

I saw myself as the source of existence
I was there in the beginning
And I was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow

I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:

Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that

I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you
Without shoes or shawl

I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you

Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns

Download & Listen to a 30-second snippet : Real Media

2003-07-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

CONVERGENCE

Iranian Girl : " ...so the anniversary of Tir 18 [July 9th] is over, But things somehow didn't happen as it was expected, actually there were kinds of battles in some of streets but when I compare the crowd & braveness of people in protests of some weeks ago with this one I believe that unfortunately it was an unsuccessful demonstration & people didn't support students very well. "

This was something I had written about it which was titled "protests go astray" ,on June 15th.

2003-07-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

JULY 9TH ; REPORT OF AN IRANIAN DAY

: " Hundreds of Iranian hardline Islamic vigilantes, police and pro-democracy youths fought three-sided running street battles near Tehran University on Wednesday on the anniversary of 1999 student unrest.
A witness said police had fired tear gas at groups of youths near the campus and also fought fist fights with plainclothes Islamic militiamen to prevent them from engaging in further running battles with youths.
Earlier witnesses said armed Iranian Islamic vigilantes seized three student leaders as they left a news conference where they announced they had canceled protests to mark the anniversary of 1999 university unrest. "

Pictures from Iranians' demonstartion in solidarity with Iranian students :

TORONTO (Canada)

HANOVER (Germany)

GOTEBORG (Sweden)

KOLN (Germany)

ROMA (Italy)

OSLO (Norway)

2003-07-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

Roger Federer won the most important tournament of tennis world : Wimbledon.He is the first swiss player ever won it.While holding up the winners trophy,he burst with tears.Congratulations Roger !
His interview after winning...

I follow the Wimbledon news every year.However,this year Wimbledon had no meaning for me without my love,Pete Sampras,the most glorious tennis player in the history of Wimbledon who won it 7 times.Every time that Pete holded that golden luxurious trophy,I filled with pride and joy.Apparantly he was injured this year and couldn't take part in.I hope he can win the 8th ,next year.

2003-07-10T01:06:00.000-07:00

WHO'S AFRAID OF MICHAEL LEDEEN ?

Michael Ledeen : " I have always said that no American has standing to tell the Iranian people what form of government they should have, or who should lead them. That is their decision to make. "

Nonblogger Ali : Ok so far...

- : " I am one of the few people who has been fighting for several years now for their right to make that decision, as I fought for the Russians, the Poles, the Latvians, the Philippinos, the Bosnians, the South Africans, the Congolese, etc. Read my books instead of the often uninformed attacks. I want democratic revolution in Iran, and everywhere else that people are oppressed by tyrants.
With whatever influence I have--and I don't think it's been much (maybe you know better than I)--I have been arguing as hard as I can against those in my own government who wanted to make a deal with the Islamic Republic. I don't want "stability," I want revolution and freedom, and I think most Iranians want that too. "

- : Mr Ledeen ! I wanna know : Do you guarantee that if there comes another government being (supported by your country),democracy will be achieved?Democratic principles are in a way which can lead to democratic changes without any riots or unrests in any regime.It'll come true out of legal rights of people such as legal protests and elections.We,the iranian,should train ourselves to obey the principles rather than getting bored soon and look for a sudden change which is revolution.

- : " I was indeed told that half a million people demonstrated in Tehran, when the Economist said it was only a few thousand. I reported that. It may have been wrong, time will tell. "

- : I'm glad that you've got the courage and bravery to confess that you've made mistake.Refer to this post of mine.At that time,when criticizing one of your articles,I asserted that you should revise on the source which provides you the intelligence about iran.Exaggeration is not expected.Instead,frankness is needed.

Finally,i should express my gratefulness from Mr.Ledeen for starting a dialogue with the iranian.This can result in good results for the both sides.