Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Culture of Narcissism

A young man was reading this book in the train. I looked at him and the book...He looked at me and the book...We looked at each other without exchanging a word....

The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations is a 1979 book by the cultural historian Christopher Lasch (1932–1994) exploring the roots and ramifications of the normalizing of pathological narcissism in 20th century American culture using psychological, cultural, artistic and historical synthesis.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Botany of Desire

"There are four of the most common plants we know that we always have thought we control them. But what if , in fact, they have been shaping us?"



The Botany of Desire , a documentary film based on Michael Pollan's book argues that people have a desire to experience beauty, and that by being especially good at satisfying this desire, one flower, the tulip, has spread itself around the world.

Working in his garden one day, Michael Pollan hit pay dirt in the form of an idea: do plants, he wondered, use humans as much as we use them? While the question is not entirely original, the way Pollan examines this complex coevolution by looking at the natural world from the perspective of plants is unique. The result is a fascinating and engaging look at the true nature of domestication.

In making his point, Pollan focuses on the relationship between humans and four specific plants: apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes.

Watch the full length program here.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Dream of Autumn


Watch this fascinating production of RĂªve d’automne (Dream of Autumn) by Jon Fosse the Norwegian playwright in ARTE Live Web in French. This production will be available for 74 more days on the web. The remarkable Mise en scène is by Patrice ChĂ©reau.

Thanks to Mahasti.

I disappear


Watch a Scene from Je disparais (I disappear) by Arne Lygre , a Norwegian playwright, directed by Stéphane Braunschweig in Paris in November 2011.
Thanks to Mahasti.

Riley on Marketing


Watch this Beautiful video!!!

Death Sentence


Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani could be hanged in Iran!

Judiciary officials exploring whether woman whose sentence to death by stoning was suspended can be hanged instead...

Monday, December 26, 2011

Dezful

This building and architecture reminds me of our house in historical city Dezful where I spent my childhood in there and designed the walls inside this arch with Beatles' pictures!!!

History Summary


This is a political cartoon byKaveh Adel

“All of History is summarized as such,

War between two soldiers not knowing one another, fighting for

Two others who know one another yet are not fighting.”

I am puzzled, saddened and intrigued all together.

I think and only a drawing comes to me.

And I long for day when there is no war.

or talk of war.

Friday, December 23, 2011

The Little Drummer Boy


The Little Drummer Boy
"The Little Drummer Boy" is a popular Christmas song, which I heard and was mesmerized by for the first time after two months of my arrival to the U.S. in Iowa City in 1986. This song became my favorite Christmas song ever since.

"The lyrics tell the apocryphal story of a poor young boy who (for the cure of his wounded lamb by the new born Jesus), unable to afford a gift for him, plays his drum for him with the Virgin Mary's approval. Miraculously, the baby, although a newborn, seems to understand and smiles at the boy in gratitude. The story is somewhat similar to an old twelfth-century legend retold by Anatole France as Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (The Juggler of Notre Dame) , which was adapted into an opera in 1902 by Jules Massenet. In the French legend, however, a juggler juggles before the statue of the Virgin Mary, and the statue, according to which version of the legend one reads, either smiles at him or throws him a rose (or both, as in the 1984 made-for-television film)."
Little Drummer Boy: Lyrics
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,


So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.

Here is Bob Dylan's 2009 take on this song...

Sunday, December 18, 2011

It's a bloody world we live in today!!


Whose heart doesn't ache when one sees the brutal scenes in the video captured by people's cameras?
The Horror of Egypt's Crackdown is reminiscent of all the revolutions...What revolution, what uprising through history have really been peaceful? Yesterday's friend had become today's enemy...Love had turned into hatred...Conscientious souls had transformed into heartless and the dreams for peace had changed for war....That's the repetitive world we live in!! How easily one forgets that "A Man's a Man" as Bertolt Brecht indicated in his play decades ago....BUT REVOLUTION IN REVOLUTION IS NECESSARY...AND THE COURAGEOUS SOULS ARE THE DYNAMIC FORCES BEHIND THE CHANGES...

It's a bloody world we live in today!!

Every day, every moment such incident happens in any corner of the world. Violence has become ordinary whether it happens in the occupied zones, war zones, in the wide streets or dark alleys of the world....

"All crackdowns are brutal. Stories of violence against women, frequently tinged with sexual aggression, are as common in Egypt's crackdown as they are in every other. The story behind this photo, of a modest young woman stripped down and beaten like an animal, is remarkable precisely because it is ordinary.",...

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Christopher Hitchens


Photograph: Catherine Karnow/Corbis
Christopher Hitchens the author of God is Not Great dies at 62.
"Salman Rushdie took to Twitter to mourn the passing of a "beloved friend", writing "A great voice falls silent. A great heart stops."...."

Christopher Hitchens was the supporter of Iraq war and George Bush's foreign policy!!!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Shakespeare


"Shakespeare is the tremendous recorder of human pain"

Charlie Rose speaks with Michael Boyd, the artistic director of Royal Shakespeare Theatre...

I will write about the innovative movie "anonymous" soon.

"The flowers of Dingri"

Watch a Trailer of "The flowers of Dingri" a film by Alen Silva. It's a superb view on Nepal culture... beautiful...sharp... and graceful...

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

In My Secret Life


In My Secret Life
Leonard Cohen

I saw you this morning.
You were moving so fast.
Can't seem to loosen my grip
On the past.
And I miss you so much.
There's no one in sight.
And we're still making love
In My Secret Life.

I smile when I'm angry.
I cheat and I lie.
I do what I have to do
To get by.
But I know what is wrong,
And I know what is right.
And I'd die for the truth
In My Secret Life.

Hold on, hold on, my brother.
My sister, hold on tight.
I finally got my orders.
I'll be marching through the morning,
Marching through the night,
Moving cross the borders
Of My Secret Life.

Looked through the paper.
Makes you want to cry.
Nobody cares if the people
Live or die.
And the dealer wants you thinking
That it's either black or white.
Thank G-d it's not that simple
In My Secret Life.

I bite my lip.
I buy what I'm told:
From the latest hit,
To the wisdom of old.
But I'm always alone.
And my heart is like ice.
And it's crowded and cold
In My Secret Life.

War on Iran

War on Iran has already begun.

If a nation doesn't learn history, political science and poetry, and consequently without an analytical mind, that society will be surrounded by controlling forces. Therefore they will be led to horrible wars, hatred, destruction and violence. Only knowledge and humanity will bring peace. Otherwise like a chess game, the only solution would be the pawns' resistance and rebellious against the authoritarians which make a world a tolerable place.

Smoke, the donkey

Smoke, the Iraqi donkey....
"Two years after he wandered onto a US military base west of Baghdad and won the hearts of the men stationed there, he’s landed at the center of a cross-cultural custody battle involving marines now back in the United States, a sheikh, and an Iraqi family that has demanded $30,000 to give him up.

It’s unclear who the skinny young donkey originally belonged to. But for the Marine logistics unit that adopted him in 2008, patching up the cuts on his legs and face and nursing him back to health, he quickly became part of their family."
From the facebook

Monday, December 12, 2011

Imagination


“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Albert Einstein

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Friday, December 9, 2011

He Who Says Yes/ He Who Says No


He Who Says Yes/ He Who Says No
What we must learn above all is consent.
Many say yes, and yet there is no consent.
Many are not asked, and many
Consent to the wrong things. Therefore:
What we must learn above all is consent
Bertolt Brecht

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Lovers


The Lovers

Has War With Iran Already Begun?

Has War With Iran Already Begun?
"The Iranian people are being squeezed from both sides suffering from the repression and brutality of the Iranian government the reckless sanctions imposed by the U.S. Iranian-Americans are also suffering, fearing the threat of war, loss of lives and the way sanctions criminalize having ties to family in Iran."
Trita Parsi

Colonialism in the name of Civilization


Who Is Sara Baartman?

Sarah Baartman had big dreams, instead she was fooled, humiliated and displayed as a freak by colonialists........

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Saartjie Baartman


Saartjie Baartman

"Sarah Baartman was born to a Khoisan family in the vicinity of the Gamtoos River in what is now the Eastern Cape of South Africa. She was orphaned in a commando raid. Saartjie, pronounced "Sahr-kee", is the diminutive form of her name; in Afrikaans the use of the diminutive form commonly indicates familiarity or endearment rather than a literally short stature. Her birth name is unknown.

Baartman was a slave of Dutch farmers near Cape Town when Hendrick Cezar, the brother of her slave owner, suggested that she travel to England for exhibition, promising her that she would become wealthy. Lord Caledon, governor of the Cape, gave permission for the trip, but later regretted it after he fully learned its purpose. She left for London in 1810.." Wikipedia And ....her painful, torturous journey started in the European countries...She was sold several times, suffered immensely from brutal exploitation and died in horrible condition. Her body was slaughtered ruthlessly yet her soul remained strong....

A poem for Saartjie Baartman
By Diana Ferrus

“I’ve come to take you home –
home, remember the veld?
the lush green grass beneath the big oak trees
the air is cool there and the sun does not burn.
I have made your bed at the foot of the hill,
your blankets are covered in buchu and mint,
the proteas stand in yellow and white
and the water in the stream chuckle sing-songs
as it hobbles along over little stones.

I have come to wretch you away –
away from the poking eyes
of the man-made monster
who lives in the dark
with his clutches of imperialism
who dissects your body bit by bit
who likens your soul to that of Satan
and declares himself the ultimate god!

I have come to soothe your heavy heart
I offer my bosom to your weary soul
I will cover your face with the palms of my hands
I will run my lips over lines in your neck
I will feast my eyes on the beauty of you
and I will sing for you
for I have come to bring you peace.

I have come to take you home
where the ancient mountains shout your name.
I have made your bed at the foot of the hill,
your blankets are covered in buchu and mint,
the proteas stand in yellow and white –
I have come to take you home
where I will sing for you
for you have brought me peace.”

Monday, December 5, 2011

Immigration and Women


Immigration and Women: Understanding the American Experience is a book written by Susan C. Pearce, Assistant Professor of Sociology at East Carolina University, Elizabeth Clifford, Associate Professor of Sociology at Towson University and Reena Tandon who teaches South Asian Studies at University of Toronto.

"By examining and confronting both psychoanalysis' strengths and its blind spots, this beautifully written and visionary book points the way toward a posthumanistic psychoanalysis characterized by self-reflectiveness, diversity, and an enormous emancipatory potential. A Psychoanalysis for Our Time is a breath of fresh air for all who are interested in the revitalization of contemporary psychoanalysis."-Robert D. Stolorow, co-author of "Working Intersubjectively"

Sanctions

Senate Passes Sanctions Despite White House Objections...
And Why the UK Embassy in Iran Was Attacked...

Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons



Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons. It was a timely exhibition at Mary and Leigh Block museum of art at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Kulagia
One room was allocated to Women's Artists

"You will not strangle the freedom of the Arab people" 1950, by Viktor Koretsky

Sunday, December 4, 2011

This Morning

This Morning
News
a cup of tea
and a cup of tears

A poem by Azam Houle

Differences...

"When you cried, it was for yourself, and not the admirable impossibilities of reaching her through the differences that separates you..."
Yes, that's it.
That's exactly it!
From the film Cet Amour-La.

Perseptive lies


Since Otar Left

As Eka (Esther Gorintin) pines for her beloved son Otar, a physician-turned construction worker in Paris, her daughter Marina (Nino Khomasuridze) and granddaughter (Dinara Drukarova) keep the truth about his sudden death...
A trenchant, heartfelt film by Julie Burtuccelli...