Thursday, December 31, 2009

Unity


A Woman in the cold streets of Chicago sings for Rumi and dances on the snow:

I'm an atheist, secular and gnostic
I am Muslim and Hindu
I am Christian, Zoroastrian, and Jew
I'm Baha'i and YOU

I am of the West and the East, North and South
Of the ocean, and an earthly beast
I am a natural wonder
And from the stars yonder

Unity is what I sing, unity is what I speak
Unity is what I know, unity is what I seek

The Era of Tolerance?!


Iran’s police chief has warned anti-government protesters to stay off the streets and threatened, “The era of tolerance is over. Anyone attending such rallies will be crushed.” Read more in Democracy Now

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Seven Jewish Children, a Play for Gaza

In response to last year Israel’s bombing attack and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip which killed over thousand Palestinian and left many seriously injured, Caryl Churchill the prominent British playwright wrote a controversial play, “Seven Jewish Children” a play for Gaza.

Joel Simpson and I had a reading of it at Left forum in April 2009. And then I translated this play into Persian with the permission of author’s agent.

Read my Persian translation of the play:
در این نمایشنامه هیچ کودکی ظاهر نمی شود. شخصیت ها همه بزرگسال هستند. پدران و مادرانند. و ـ اگر تمایل داشته باشید ـ بستگان آن کودکان می توانند باشند. جملات بین شخصیت ها می توانند به هر گونه ای تقسیم بشوند. شخصیت ها در این صحنه های کوتاه مرتبا عوض می شوند و همان آدمهای قبلی نیستند. زمان نیز در هر صحنه ای تغییر می کند و حضور کودک در هر اپیزودی مربوط است به زمان ویژه و متفاوت رخداد حادثه. این نمایشنامه می تواند به وسیله بازیگران مختلف و متعددی اجرا بشود.
(1)

بهش بگو این فقط یه بازیه
بهش بگو این یه مسئله جدیه
اما نترسونش
More...
In continuing the conversation with Caryl Churchill several playwrights wrote plays in her style:
Seven Palestinian Children by Mirna Sakhleh
And
Seven Palestinian Children by Debora Margolin
Read also THE EIGHTH CHILD by Robbie Gringas and Israel Horovitz Play What Strong Fences Make as well.

Historia de un letrero

The Story of a Sign
This short story winner of the 2008 Cannes Festival shows how the kindness of strangers can have a big impact. Film produced by Alonso Alvarez Barreda

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Love Prevails over Conflict!

Today I received a touching email in Persian I do not know who is the writer of these words?! The sender made a beautiful comparison between Jacques-Louis_David's painting and the recent conflicts in the streets of Tehran depicted in the photo below:

The Intervention of the Sabine Women by Jacques Louis David


In the Streets of Tehran
تابلوی "میانجی‌گری زنان سابین" نقاشی محبوب من است، به شکلی غریبی دوستش دارم.

این نقاشی رنگ روغن را ژاک لویی داوید، نقاش فرانسوی، درسالهایی حول و حوش 1795 کشیده است. یعنی سالهای پس از حکومت وحشت و زمانی که فرانسه در حال جنگ با دیگر کشورهای اروپایی بود. داوید که خود به خاطر حمایت از روبسپیر در زندان بود بعد از دیدار همسر نومیدش به این فکر می‌افتد نقاشی بکشد برای دلداری دادن به او، برای اینکه بگوید عشق بر جنگ پیروز است.

هر بار که به این تصویر نگاه می‌کنم میان آن همه آشوب و بلوا تنها چیزی که نگاه مرا جذب می‌کند، "هرسیلیا" آن گیسو طلای سپیدپوش است و خطوط سنگی چهره اش.

رومولوس و مردانش که روم را بنیان نهاد در میان خود زن نداشتند، به میان قوم همسایه خود "سابینها" رفتند تا اجازه بگیرند با زنان آن قوم وصلت کنند. مردان سابین به آنها اجازه ندادند. مردان رومی اهالی سابین را به جشنی در روم دعوت کردند و در میانه جشن زنان را ربودند و مردان را راندند.

این زنها با مردان رومی وصلت کردند و صاحب اولاد شدند سالها بعد در جنگی دیگر قوم سابین به انتقام به رومیان حمله می‌برد. زنان سابین میانجی می‌شوند که بین دو قوم آشتی بر پا کنند. در نقاشی داوید هرسیلیا دختر پادشاه سابین‌ها، همسر رومولوس را می‌بینید که بین پدر و شوهر خود ایستاده است.

به گمان من شبیه این اتفاق در سال 57 افتاد. انقلاب جشنی بود که زنانگی سرزمین مرا فریب داد، ربود و بلعید. مثل همیشه جاهل بود که این قدرت ازلی و ابدی نابود‌شدنی نیست، آنقدر صبر می‌کند تا دوباره از جایی سر برآورد. از جایی میانه عکس دوم. من در این عکس "هرسیلیا" را می‌بینم که از خون و جنگ مردان خسته شده و آشتی می‌طلبد.

از این روست که می‌گویم این جنبش به خشونت کشیده نمی‌شود تا وقتی که این زن در میانه ایستاده است.

این زن فریب و نیرنگ و ربوده شدن را تجربه کرده است دوباره اشتباه 57 را تکرار نمی‌کند، سنگ پرت نمی‌کند، خون نمی‌ریزد، چریک نمی‌شود، سلاح به دست نمی‌گیرد، دعوت به جشن خشونت را لبیک نمی گوید. این زن با سپیدی دستهای خود، با آفتاب گیسوانش این سرزمین را سبز می‌کند.

می‌دانم که می‌دانی وقتی می‌گویم زن منظورم این نیست که مردان سبز ما نه، و فقط زنها، من از ظهور دوباره انرژی زنانه حرف می‌زنم، از قدرتی که این جنبش را پیش می‌برد، قدرتی که از تعقل، مهربانی، کفایت، مدارا و شیردلی مادری نیرو می‌گیرد و مردان وطنم را لبخند به لب و روسری به سر می‌کند.

من از سهراب و مادرش حرف می‌زنم.

من از نوجوانی حرف می‌زنم که پریشب در خانه خودش خوابید و دیشب در بازداشتگاه اطلاعات بود و امشب نمی‌دانم کجاست. من از خشمی حرف می‌زنم که در من شعله می‌کشید تمام امروز، وقتی با مادرش حرف می‌زدم و از تلاشم برای اینکه خشم را تبدیل کنم به صبر و امید مبادا که مسخ شوم مباد که آنها شوم.



"After David’s wife visited him in jail, he conceived the idea of telling the story of the Sabine Women. The Sabine Women Enforcing Peace by Running between the Combatants, also called The Intervention of the Sabine Women is said to have been painted to honor his wife, with the theme being love prevailing over conflict. The painting was also seen as a plea for the people to reunite after the bloodshed of the revolution.

This work also brought him to the attention of Napoleon. The story for the painting is as follows: "The Romans have abducted the daughters of their neighbors, the Sabines. To avenge this abduction, the Sabines attacked Rome, although not immediately—since Hersilia, the daughter of Tatius, the leader of the Sabines, had been married to Romulus, the Roman leader, and then had two children by him in the interim. Here we see Hersilia between her father and husband as she adjures the warriors on both sides not to take wives away from their husbands or mothers away from their children. The other Sabine Women join in her exhortations." During this time, the martyrs of the revolution were taken from the Pantheon and buried in common ground, and revolutionary statues were destroyed. When he was finally released to the country, France had changed. His wife managed to get David released from prison, and he wrote letters to his former wife, and told her he never ceased loving her."

Monday, December 28, 2009

"What is essential is invisible to the eye"

My review on "Stitches" by David Small



David Small: ...I intended something truer to my own experience, growing up surrounded by x-rays. At six I knew that x-rays were pictures of the secret places inside us. I imagined myself going down into those shadowy places and finding--what? I don’t know. A better world, I suppose. That is what I had in mind but, as I said, I have no problem at all with the Alice reference.
In an interview with Amazon.com



David Small in his graphic memoir “Stitches” is the explorer of the deepest of human’s inner life. He tells his heartrending story about his illness and the process of being used for scientific experimentation by the “Soldiers of science” and their modern weapon X-Rays. He mockingly portrays these Nazi-like soldiers as “heroic men featured in the ads in Life magazine” (p 27) and their message that the miraculous X-Rays which could see through everything even metals would cure anything. The result of this experimentation is that he develops cancer then loses his voice after the procedure: “I soon learned, when you have no voice, you don’t exist.” (P212)

Demonstrating this terrifying scientific experimentation, Small is forced to take a journey into the enigmatic world of unknowns, digging irresistibly for the truth. Through his painful invisibility, despite the loss of his youth, Small discovers a magnetic voice inside him. Poetry of drawing! Through his empowering voice, his invisibility becomes visible in the eyes of those who know the art of seeing. His voice becomes essential as Antoine de Saint-Exupery describes in the Little Prince: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye”.



The subversive and subjective elements in “Stitches” remind us Francisco Goya’s paintings with social truths as images in this book of art could be reminiscent of our own life in the essence. The connection is clear and representative by one’s sensitive memory of childhood with a symbolic centipede shape stitches running down one’s neck. A lonely soul who dreams Gilgamesh- like dreams and nightmares, imagining a fetus running after you, looking at forbidden books, falling in love with characters in the particular books…and standing up for your own truth.
Although Small describes the tragedy of his own life in relation with his family, but it can be expanded to a broader perspective, a broad reader and to a larger humanity such as those who live under tyrannical societies, those living in wars, being invaded by foreign sources, even prisoners who are treated as strangers in this world.

The novel punches you repeatedly with effective punch lines such as: “I gave you cancer”, “Your mother doesn’t love you” and “Do you know what our utility bill is going to look like?” Or the illustration of sound languages in his alienated house: the slamming of kitchen cupboard doors Whap, Whap by his mother…or the sound of his father pounding on the punching bag: “Pocketa, pocketa….and Ted beating on his drum: Bum, Bum, Bum…and his own language, getting sick.

“Stitches” has many layers. It brings to mind great literature such as Woyzeck, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Little Prince and Charles Dickens’ stories…More than anything else it resonates the story of our own life.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

A political movement based on thoughts or emotions!

A brief report on the streets of Tehran!

Where does this opposition movement go when there is still no strong grass root organization with clear goals?

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Gore Vidal: Snapshots in History’s Glare



Today Gore Vidal the greatest prominent thinker of our time was interviewed in the Leonard Lopate Show where he discussed his life and career. His visual memoir Gore Vidal: Snapshots in History’s Glare includes photographs, letters, manuscripts, and other selections from his vast personal archives.

Watch or Listen to some of his interviews.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

why must it be that men are bored?


Jacques Brel wrote this song in 1963 for a movie. It's title comes from a quote from Pascal that a king without diversions (un roi sans divertissements) is miserable. Brel asks:
Why must it be that men are bored?

Monday, December 21, 2009

Another blow to Iranian reform....

Yesterday, Grand ayatollah Hosein Ali Montazeri passed away at his home in the Iranian holy city of Qom, without question delivering another serious blow to hopes for internal reform to the Iranian political system. Montazeri leaves behind him a decidedly mixed legacy, and a very interesting set of questions about the immediate and long-term consequences of his absence from the Iranian political scene.

Montazeri was one of the most senior clerical figures in all of Shiite Islam, and also one of the original architects of the concept of villayat e-faqih (rule by jurisprudential scholars) most powerfully advanced by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Power of Determination

The power of will...The power of determination...The power of Art...
Me and Tanja dancing!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Time!


"Time passes, and little by little everything that we have spoken in falsehood becomes true."
Marcel Proust

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Truth and Lies


One who does not know the truth is only a fool. One who knows the truth and calls it a lie is a criminal.

Bertolt Brech

Monday, December 14, 2009

!!!


In the streets of Copenhagen, Mr. Death's horse speaks deeper than thousand words! Look at his/her profound eyes and graceful silence!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Howard Zinn


"They're willing to let people think about mild reforms and little changes, and incremental changes, but they don't want people to think that we could actually transform this country."

Howard Zinn in an interview in Bill Moyers Journal

BILL MOYERS: There's a long tradition in America of people power, and no one has done more to document it than the historian, Howard Zinn. Listen to this paragraph from his most famous book. Quote: "If democracy were to be given any meaning, if it were to go beyond the limits of capitalism and nationalism, this would not come, if history were any guide, from the top. It would come through citizen's movements, educating, organizing, agitating, striking, boycotting, demonstrating, threatening those in power with disruption of the stability they needed." This son of a working class family got a job in the Brooklyn shipyards and then flew as a bombardier during World War II. He went to NYU on the G.I. Bill, taught history at Spellman College in Atlanta, where he was first active in the Civil Rights movement, and then became a professor of political science at Boston University.

There, he and his students sought a more down-to-earth way of looking at American history. And when no book could provide it, Zinn decided to write one. Since his publication in 1980, "A People's History of the United States" has sold more than two million copies. This Sunday night, the History Channel will premiere a 90-minute special, "The People Speak" based on Howard Zinn's book. It was produced by Zinn along with Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore and Anthony Arnove.

"You push us"

George Goehl, whose organization National People's Action helped organize the protests and Heather Booth of Americans for Financial Reform join Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to explain why people are angry with the banks, and what they believe community groups can change across the country and in Washington, D.C.
......................
BILL MOYERS: So, as we heard here time and again, they cling to the audacity of hope.

BRENDA LABLANC: When enough people get active, things will happen. I think Obama will act if people will push him. But we've got to push him. He said that himself, he said, "You push us." And I think we're ready to do that.

GEORGE GOEHL: The one thing we have, our own political currency, is people. And people are ready to hit the streets. Today is a beginning of a much larger set of mobilizations that are going to take place all across the country. We're just getting' started.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Nostalgia


"Kiss" by Gustav Klimt
Listen to Je t'aime moi non plus.
In 1969 Serge Gainsbourg wrote this notorious song and recorded as a duet with Jane Birkin. It appeared on the pair's joint album "Jane Birkin Serge Gainsbourg".
And ...Listen to Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais (1973)
Here is an English translation of the song. "I came here to say I'm going away"!
Read the lyrics of the song.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Friday, December 4, 2009

Violence Begets Violence!

Director Oliver Stone in Bill Moyers Journal
........
BILL MOYERS: What do you mean empire?

OLIVER STONE: We have an empire. We have soldiers in 120 nations all around the world. We have bases north of Afghanistan as you know-- it changes monthly. But Kazakhstan, Kurdistan, Turkmenistan. All these names. We have rings around Soviet Russia, practically. We've built in Latvia. We put NATO back in America has grown huge since the-- especially since the end of the Cold War. We expanded into the East. NATO was never supposed to go East. Do you remember that? NATO was for Western Europe. It was never supposed to go East. Clinton took it to Poland, to Czechoslovakia. Hungary. Bush expanded it. The Russians have a beef with us. And you know, rightly so. We became very big after l989. Bigger than we were. And now we're going to pay the price. The decision by Obama, although it seems minor, 30,000 men. I think it's major. I think this is very ominous. And I don't know that this time, because coming off the recession of where we are now. It doesn't make sense. It's like piling bricks on a donkey. You pile them so high, the donkey is going to collapse.

BILL MOYERS: What would you have said to the President before he made his decision if you could have talked to him?

OLIVER STONE: Don't sell out, man. I mean, the generals got you. You get into the presidency, and I think it's a trap. I would imagine you would know from Lyndon Johnson's experience. And he himself is on his tapes, was talking about the need to win in Vietnam. He-- although in his bones, I think that Lyndon Johnson knew he could not win there. Billions of dollars were spent in Vietnam. Huge waste of money and people got rich off the war. They always do. I always-- when I think of war, I think of money and patriotism. And Obama went out of his way to say that-- to read Vietnam into this was false history. I disagree completely, we always heard the story that the Vietnamese, if we didn't stop them in Vietnam, the dominoes would fall. Thailand would be next. Malaysia and so forth. And they would come, communism would come to the shores of California. And we hear it again and again.

BILL MOYERS: But it is also a fact that Afghanistan is where much of the attack was planned on 9/11. That did change the reality. Don't you think?

OLIVER STONE: No Afghanistan is just like Texas. It's just endless scrub. I don't think it means much. I think Pakistan is where the ballgame is. Afghanistan-- is ridiculous to go to war there. It's like a wasteland. I mean, the people are fighters. These people have been-- they resisted the British, the Russians. They-- I've often felt we are paralleling the Soviet Union. We fought the Soviet Union so hard from l945 on. And when they finally crumbled in 1991, it seems that our fate will follow the same course. I don't know why, it felt like we're locked. If your enemy dies, you may go on for a few years, but somehow we have the same sickness. There's no way people from the mainland of America can go over there and not intrude on these people. Just the fact to even walk into a village with our uniforms and our guns is an intrusion on their way of life. And it's an offense. The way we- if a soldier looks at a woman in a certain way, you know, they take offense. The-- the mentality is quite different than ours. We don't- it's another culture completely. And I don't understand why Obama, who knows about culture and he has an Indonesian background, too, I don't under- I'm shocked that he could look to force. No good will come of using force in a foreign land. Read or Watch more...

Thursday, December 3, 2009

A B or not a B?

A B or not a B?

Where Words Prevail not, Violence Prevails!

One of Cicely Berry's favorite quotes is from Thomas Kyd’s play The Spanish Tragedy: “Where words prevail not, violence prevails.”
Where Words Prevail is a documentary which explores the widely acclaimed work of Cicely Berry, Voice Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Her voice techniques are invaluable to actors and directors who are performing classical plays in today’s theater. From rehearsals at the RSC in Stratford-on-Avon, to workshops and Master Classes in Seoul, New York, Moscow and the slums of Rio de Janeiro, her work is documented in diverse languages, producing new understanding in the power of voice, language and communications.
Her influence has extended into other areas as well, including film and politics. Having coached prominent politicians on effective public speaking, Berry asserts that the political sound byte is now “destroying democratic debate.”

This war MUST end!

"This time, the tears Obama has inspired are not tears of joy.
He is brilliant and eloquent. But last night he spoke of 30,000 troops and $30 billion for escalating a war.
A war that will do nothing to protect our security.
A war that will result in the deaths of thousands of Americans and Afghans.
A war that will eat up resources that should be going to jobs, homes, schools, health care.
A war that will hurt rather than help the people of Afghanistan.
Join us in the work ahead to work to stop the funding for this war.
We CANNOT remain on the sidelines anymore. This war MUST end.
Join us in the work ahead to work to stop the funding.
Sign the petition to tell Congress we cannot afford a war that does not make us safer."

Yours,
Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New Foundation team

Monday, November 30, 2009

"Art"


Each time I read "Art" I find something new in it!

“Art” a play by Yasmina Reza has a universal theme on the complexity of human behavior in our modern time.

Although the play appears absurdly simple on the surface, but digging inside the dark comic crackling language, one will find many complex layers in its undertone. It deals with serious subjects we face in today’s human communication such as: narcissistic interactions, vulnerability, the meaning of friendship, the games of power and ultimately the tremendous need for love, sense of belonging and affection.

Serge buys a white painting with three scars on it for a huge sum of money. His friend Marc accuses him for his bad taste and deconstructive perspective of modern art. Ivan, less privileged in his social class, and overwhelmed by his personal problems, tries to mediate by pleasing both Serge and Marc. But the conflict is beyond the white painting. It is about their infatuation and obsession with an egoistic desire for conquest. In other words, the characters’ self gratification and ambition drive them to dominate and control others in order to gain power. Respecting each other’s freedom is only used by them in theoretical verbal debates. In practice the essence of this matter is not truly exercised! Ivan challenges Serge and Marc’s gobbling contemptuous language and criticizes their ingenuous actions by philosophizing the meaning of freedom:

Yvan: …”If I’m who I am because I’m who I am and you’re who you are because you’re who you are, then I’m who I am and you’re who you are. If, on the other hand, I’m who I am because you’re who you are, and if you’re who you are because I’m who I am, then I’m not who I am and you’re not who you are…” (P 41)

As the play progresses, Reza shows how underneath the three character’s confrontational accusations lies an enormous vulnerability. And a strong need for unconditional love, affection and self-approval.

Marc: …I enjoyed your admiration. I was flattered. I was always grateful to you for thinking of me as a man apart. I even thought being a man apart was a somehow superior condition, until one day you pointed out to me that it wasn’t.
Serge: This is very alarming.
Marc: It’s the truth.
Serge: What a disaster…!
Marc: Yes, what a disaster!
Serge: What a disaster!
Marc: Especially for me…Whereas you’ve found a new family. Your penchant for idolatry has unearthed new object of worship. The artist!...Deconstruction! (P: 52)


At the end, three characters express their profound lonely world in their monologues. Ivan explains that only irrationality would bring humans together.

Ivan: …In fact I can no longer bear any kind of rational argument, nothing formative in the world, nothing great or beautiful in the world has ever been born of rational argument. (P: 62)

And Marc, who has despised this piece of white painting through the entire play, at the end interprets it with a profound poetic tendency and describes it as a world where a solitary man appears and disappears into the landscape. That‘s how humans journey into life.

Marc: Under the white clouds, the snow is falling.
You can’t see the white clouds, or the snow.
Or the cold, or the white glow of the earth.
A solitary man glides downhill on his skis.
The snow is falling.
It falls until the man disappears back into the landscape.
My friend Serge, who’s one of my oldest friends, has bought a painting.
It’s a canvas about five foot by four.
It represents a man who moves across a space and disappears. (P: 63)


“Art” has a playful, verbal dancing dialogue with certain musicality and rhythm which makes any actor eager to take part in acting a role.

Michael L. and Thanksgiving!

It was in a poetry reading at the University’s Writer’s House when I first saw Michael L. sitting "on" a table alone. Cool and heedless. His red sweater was noticeable more than anything else.

-“May I sit "on" this “table” too?” I asked.
- “Sure!” Michael L. answered without moving an inch.

A few days later, he entered the Creative Writing class 7 minutes late, panting.
-“You’re breathless!” I said.
-“I ran all the way from work to be on time!” He smiled. Not a regular smile.
There was something rebelliously innocent, sharply humorous and radically cool in his eyes…Something that stayed in me for a long time. I recognized an unexplainable depth and curiosity inside a very young body.
Michael L. student of Linguistics wrote exceptional stories in an unconventional style of writing with his passionate Jewish American culture tone. A certain intellectual humorous ones.

When we read “A woman’s Body” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa in our class and discussed Akutagawa’s innovative, modern style in writing, Michael L. brought me a DVD copy of Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai directed by Jim Jarmusch, and told me how much he loved Jarmusch’s movies and David Foster Wallace’s writing.

The semester was over.
Michael L. traveled to Europe for almost a year; learning new languages and expanding his knowledge of new cultures. I enjoyed reading his memoir and his fascination on living abroad…

When David Foster Wallace took his life, Michael L. was constantly in my mind. Life did not allow me to write him a note.

Yesterday I received a touching email from him describing a beautiful definition of thanksgiving….I wanted to tell him: Michael L., young and fresh, you inspired me to travel beyond the boundaries once again! Thank you!

Zeinab Jalalian Sentenced to Death in Iran!


Executions in Iran must be ended! How should we end this brutality? How? How?
Zeinab is sentenced to death!

Read her letter:
Dear Human right organizations

My name is Ms Zeinab Jalalian (زینب جلالیان)
I am 27 years old Kurdish female ,political prisoner, in Iran prison.
My Death sentenced was confirmed by Iranian Supreme Court.
I am currently ill ,because of torture and I don’t have any lawyer to defend me. i want to tell you that . trial took only few minute.
Court told me: “You are a God's enemies. Have to be hanged very soon” That was all my court process

I asked judge to give me permission to say good bye, to my mother and family,
Before execution, he told me "shut up" and rejected.

Zeinab Jalalian (زینب جلالیان)

26/11/2009

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Saturday, November 28, 2009

MADAME OGILVY

In one of in-class writing exercises for Experimental Playwriting course at DePaul University I asked my students to write a direct-address monologue that uses the audience as a specific person or persons. Todd’s monologue is one of the good ones! Todd brought vitality and enthusiasm to our class with his great sense of humor and acting skills.
Here is his scene:



MADAME OGILVY
By Todd A Brownlie

(A Gypsy Fortune-Teller with a thick accent sits at a small table facing the audience. On the table is a crystal ball and some tarot cards spread out.)


MADAME OGILVY

Ah… Velcome, my child. Velcome to Madame Ogilvy’s humble shop. Please, have a seat before me.
(pause)
Yes. Zere you are. I knew you vere comingk. I knew you vere comingk hours before you came. I can see very far into zee future, see? I can also see very far into zee past. I can see zis very moment as vell. I am zat powerful of a psychic! But, enough of all zat. You come to me wiz kvestions, yes?
(waves hand to audience as if to silence them)
No, no… you needn’t ask me anyzing. I know all and see all, my child. I vill answer all of your kvestions and you don’t even have to answer me or respond. I am zat powerful of a psychic! Allow me to consult zee Tarot…
(begins flipping cards out onto table)
Ah… A ten of hearts, a jack of hearts, a kveen of hearts, a kingk of hearts… and vat is Zis? Vhy, it is an ACE of hearts! A Royal Flush! It is all very clear to me now… you are in love viz someone of Royalty. Prince Edvard, no doubt! But as zee Tarot says, zis romance is but a Flush. Perhaps zat is because he lives so very far avay?
(waves hand to audience as if to silence them again)
Tut, tut, tut! Please, do not interrupt Madame Ogilvy. She must now seek advice from zee spirits vizin her Crystal Ball. Zis vill take my total concentration. Zee complete concentration of a powerful psychic. I ask zat you remain completely kviet.
(makes meditative humming noises to self with eyes closed while waving hands over crystal ball)
Hm… Zey are speakingk to me now. Yes. Yes. Zey say, “For English, press one. Para espanol, oprima numero dos.” Hm…
(eyes still closed, speaking to crystal ball)
Vat? My account number? Vell, I dunno. I can give you my name and address, vill zat vork?
(pauses)
I’m sorry. I can’t understand you. Can you connect me viz someone who can speak English? Yes. I can hold.
(eyes still closed, drumming fingers on table impatiently for several moments)
Oh! Aha! Zey are speakingk to me now. Zey tell me… zey tell me zat you are havingk financial problems, yes? Zey say you vere bettingk at zee horse tracks. Lost two zousand dollars. Zey are laughingk at you. Zey say you should have bet on zee horse zey call ‘Daddy’s Viddle Princess.’
(pauses)
Ah! Zey also tell me zat you vill get your promotion at ValMart! You vill no longer be a Greeter. You vill be a part-time Cart Pusher. Congratulations!
(opens eyes and leans back exhausted)
Vell, my dear. Madame Ogilvy is only so powerful of a psychic. I am tired and can no longer concentrate. I have told you everyzingk I can tell you. Your fee is twenty dollars. Please pay and find your way to zee door. Good night…
11-10-09

The difference between Obama and Brown!

The difference between Obama and Brown!

Sohrab's mother speaks!

Read and listen in Jense digar
Sohrab Erabi's mother speaks about her son. (In Persian)

Friday, November 27, 2009

Jane Goodall... Reason for Hope


Jane Goodall speaks in Bill Moyers Journal
Watch the interview.

BILL MOYERS: When you and David Greybeard were communing, what language were you speaking?


JANE GOODALL: Well, we didn't. I tried always not to use chimp language in the wild because we really do try and look through a window. And now we know how dangerous it is to, you know, transmit disease from us to them. So we keep further away, which is sad for me.

BILL MOYERS: But I ask the question, because it seemed to me, watching the documentary, watching the films, is that there was some language being spoken, some prehistory language. Means of communication without words that communicated even feelings.

JANE GOODALL: This was this wonderful situation when right in the early days, I was following David Greybeard. And I thought I'd lost him in a tangle of undergrowth. And I found him sitting as though he was waiting, maybe he was. He was on his own. I don't know. And I picked up this red palm nut and held it out on my palm. And he turned his face away. So, I held my palm closer, and then he turned; he looked directly into my eyes. He reached out-- hold out your hand with a nut on it. He took it. He didn't want it. He dropped it. But at the same time, he very gently squeezed my fingers, which is how a chimp reassures. So, there was this communication. He understood that I was acting in good faith. He didn't want it, but he wanted me to reassure me that he understood. So, we understood each other without the use of words.

Urgent Action: Stop the Execution of Zeynab Jalalian!


Urgent Action: Stop another execution!
"Ms. Zeinab Jalalian, a 27 years old member of a Kurdish party (PKK), has received the death sentence based on allegations of “Apostasy” and being a member of Kurdish group “PKK”.

She was arrested in Kermanshah city, Iran by security forces and transferred to Sepah Pasdaran’s (Guardians of the Revolution) intelligence office. Revolution court in Kermanshah city conducted a brief trial, lasting only a few minutes. Based on her membership of a Kurdistan political party she was accused of Fighting God and was given the death penalty.
She ran away from home at 10, as her family did not agree with her going to school and so it was that she joined PKK. She has never used a gun.
More...

Tomatoes!

As I’m reading my students’ plays for Experimental Playwriting course at SNL-Depaul University, I’m noticing a tremendous progress on their use of technique, structure and creativity. Students were expected to learn from multi-disciplined play texts, screenings, discussions and exercises. Most of them had never written a play, nor read or seen one. The explosion of their creativity through the course was astonishing! Now their plays are amazingly skillful!
In one of in-class writing exercises I asked them to write a direct-address monologue that uses the audience as a specific person or persons. Kevin’s monologue is one of the good ones!



"Tomatoes"
By Kevin Evanski

Louis:
"When, I came through the yard; I could see someone pulled them from the vines. It looked like someone took a hacksaw to them. Trampled around in there like it was a sand box. Well, my garden is no beach, and I know who it was that was in there to. She is always drooling over the tomatoes. She just couldn’t wait, probably wanted to use them for that stinky sauce I smell cooking all the time.

My tomatoes used for sauce, Huh! I won the first prize for quality tomatoes in the quality tomato championship. She did not know I am from the quality tomato capital. And, she uses my tomatoes for her stinky, garlicky, onion sauce. My tomatoes are for eating fresh, not boiled down into garlicky onion sauce. I know it was her, I seen the footprints, tiny ones.

Maybe I will put those crappy plum tomatoes out there; see how she likes that, for her precious sauce. She didn’t even have the decency to wait until they were fully ripe. I can hear her now, “Louis’s tomatoes aren’t all that good”. Anyone who is worth there salt in tomato growing knows that you have to wait until they are fully ripened. I can smell that repulsive sauce from across the street. I don’t want any of her crappy sauce.

What does she know, she better keep her dam hands off my tomatoes.

Like I have time to grow tomatoes for the whole neighborhood… What a joke, I just don’t have the time or the room to grow all these tomatoes. She comes, takes my tomatoes, and then starts bragging about them to the whole neighborhood, I can’t have all these people wanting my tomatoes.

I asked her for some of her onions last season, NO she said.

She offered me squash, I don’t like squash. I needed onions.

You think that she would invite me over for sauce, nope. Never invited me over for sauce. Who wants that stinking sauce anyway, I don’t want that sauce. I wouldn’t have gone if she did ask me. She just better stay out of my garden. NO! NO onions for me. One little onion I asked her for, one stinking little onion, and she said no. But now, but now she is after my tomatoes, sneaking in here. I should go out there and pull all the tomatoes right now.

Oh, there they are, I see her and her stinking garlic sauce-eating friends. Hey! Keep your dam hands off my tomatoes."
17 November 2009

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Anna Deavere Smith


Anna Deavere Smith in Bill Moyers Journal.
"While politicians and the media war over "the public option" and "bending the cost curve," acclaimed actress-playwright Anna Deavere Smith and her one-woman play "LET ME DOWN EASY" give voice to questions of life and death, sickness and healthcare."
More about Anna...
Anna in Four American Characters

Thanksgiving? or Thanks Taking?


I received this email today:
"Achomawi Indians, Chemakum Indians, Chukchansi Indians, Clayoquot Indians, Coast Salish Indians, Cowichan Indians, Haida Indians, Hupa Indians, Hesquiat Indians, Karok Indians, Klamath Indians, Koskimo Indians, Kwakiutl Indians, Lummi Indians Makah Indians, Nootka Indians, Puget SoundSalish Indians, Quileute Indians, Quinault Indians, Cochiti Indians,

Havasupai Indians Hopi Indians Hualapai Indians Isleta Indians, Jemez Indians,Jicarilla Indians, Keresan Indians, Laguna Indians, Maricopa Indians, Mohave Indians, Navajo Indians, Pima Indians, Qahatika Indians, Taos Indians,Tewa Indians, Tigua Indians, Tohono O'Odham, Indians Yuma, Indians White,

Mountain Apache Indian, Tribe Yavapai Indians, Zuñi Indians,Cahuilla Indians, Chemehuevi Indians, Comanche Indians, Cupeño Indians, Diegueño Indians ,Mono Indians, Northern Paiute Indians, Shoshonean Indians, Washo Indians,

Arapaho Indians, Arikara Indians, Assiniboine Indians, Atsina Indians, Brule Indians, Cheyenne Indians, Chipewyan Indians, Cree Indians, Crow Indians, Dakota Indians, Hidatsa Indians, Kainah Indians, Mandan Indians, Oglala Indians, Osage Indians, Oto Indians, Piegan Indians, Ponca Indians, Quapaw Indians, Sarsi Indians, Siksika Indians, Teton Indians, Wichita Indians, Indians, Cayuse, Chinookan Indians, Kalispel Indians,

Klikitat Indians, Kutenai Indians, Nespelim Indians, Nez Perce Indians, Salish Indians, Salishan Indians, Spokane Indians, Tlakluit Indians, Umatilla Indians, Walla Walla Indians, Yakama Indians, Kato Indians, Maidu Indians, Miwok Indians, Pomo Indians, Wailaki Indians, Wintun Indians, Yokuts Indians and Yuki Indians."

Sankofa -

Reach Back into Your rich Past.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

This Land is your Land

"Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his guitar. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land", which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Guthrie traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk..."
Tear the Fascists Down

pina bausch mon amour

A short film on Pina Baush, the German dancer!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Guernica! (The Power of Art)


Guernica by Pablo Picasso
"On February 5, 2003 a large blue curtain was placed to cover this work, so that it would not be visible in the background when Colin Powell and John Negroponte gave press conferences at the United Nations. On the following day, it was claimed that the curtain was placed there at the request of television news crews, who had complained that the wild lines and screaming figures made for a bad backdrop, and that a horse's hindquarters appeared just above the faces of any speakers. Some diplomats, however, in talks with journalists claimed that the Bush Administration pressured UN officials to cover the tapestry, rather than have it in the background while Powell or other U.S. diplomats argued for war on Iraq."

Amazing Sand Animation (The Power of Art)


Amazing art, a mild Guernica in nine minutes!
"Kseniya Simonova is an Ukrainian artist who won Ukraine's Got Talent 2009. She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII."

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Lovers' Wind / Vent Des Amoureux


The Lovers' Wind
A well- known French filmmaker, Albert Lamorisse (The Red Balloon's director), under the auspices of Iran's Ministry of Culture and Art, produced the poetic film "Lovers' Wind" (1969). Eighty-five percent of this dramatically visual film is shot from a helicopter, providing a kaleidoscopic view of the vast expanses, natural beauty, historical monuments, cities and villages of Iran. The "narrators" of the film are the various winds (the warm, crimson, evil and lovers' winds), which according to folklore, inhabit Iran. They sweep the viewers from place to place across the Iranian landscape, introducing the incredible variety of life and scenery in Iran. The camera, defying gravity, with smoothness and agility, provides a bird's eye view, caressing minarets and domes, peeking over mountain tops beyond, gliding over remote villages to reveal the life enclosed within the high mud-brick walls, bouncing along with the local wildlife, following the rhythmic, sinuous flow of the oil pipelines and train tracks, and hovering over the mirror-like mosaic of the rice paddies that reflect the clouds and sky. More...

What is that?

-What is that?
-A Sparrow!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Red Balloon


The wind blew and the blue balloon flew away from Kian's delicate fingers. He screamed, then stared at the balloon as it disappeared in the vast blue color of the sky.
I looked at him from behind the window. Not wanting him to know that I was watching him....He didn't see me, but saw the reflection of the blue on the window glass.
He came reluctantly inside, nagging. He didn't want to play with Milan's red balloon.
- Look!...Here's the blue balloon!
Kaveh said, as looking up waving his hands.
We all played with an imaginary balloon, jumping around...laughing. Thinking of The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse and Dodesukaden by Kurosawa.
I came home, looking for my VHS copy of The Red Balloon, a 1956 fantasy short film, directed by Albert Lamorisse to give it to Kian as a gift, but I couldn't find it! Some one must have snatched it in my absence!!
I found it on youtube. I watched it again. I couldn't hold my tears when the red balloon was stoned to death! When it gradually became lifeless! I remembered Dua Khalil Aswad...and...

The Red Balloon

Death at workplace!

Sixteen deaths per day!

Monday, November 16, 2009

To Those Born After

I

To the cities I came in a time of disorder
That was ruled by hunger.
I sheltered with the people in a time of uproar
And then I joined in their rebellion.
That's how I passed my time that was given to me on this Earth.

I ate my dinners between the battles,
I lay down to sleep among the murderers,
I didn't care for much for love
And for nature's beauties I had little patience.
That's how I passed my time that was given to me on this Earth.

The city streets all led to foul swamps in my time,
My speech betrayed me to the butchers.
I could do only little
But without me those that ruled could not sleep so easily:
That's what I hoped.
That's how I passed my time that was given to me on this Earth.

Our forces were slight and small,
Our goal lay in the far distance
Clearly in our sights,
If for me myself beyond my reaching.
That's how I passed my time that was given to me on this Earth.

II

You who will come to the surface
From the flood that's overwhelmed us and drowned us all
Must think, when you speak of our weakness in times of darkness
That you've not had to face:

Days when we were used to changing countries
More often than shoes,
Through the war of the classes despairing
That there was only injustice and no outrage.

Even so we realized
Hatred of oppression still distorts the features,
Anger at injustice still makes voices raised and ugly.
Oh we, who wished to lay for the foundations for peace and friendliness,
Could never be friendly ourselves.

And in the future when no longer
Do human beings still treat themselves as animals
,
Look back on us with indulgence.

Bertolt Brecht

Executions in Iran

Ehsan Fattahian was executed last Wednesday! And I could do nothing to save him but scream inside....

Now Nemat Safavi from the city of Ardebil, Mehdi P. from Tabriz, and Mohsen Gh. from Shiraz are sentenced to death in different courts in Iran, based on accusations of homosexual acts.

I received this email just now:

"They were under the age of 18 at the time of arrest and have been kept in prison since then. In Nemat's case, he was jailed for five years so that he would reach the legal age (according to Islamic law) at which death sentences can be carried out.

Human rights activists working on Nemat's behalf have determined that the authorities in Ardebil are claiming Nemat does not even exist. Having observed many similar cases before, IRQR considers this statement to be reason for even greater worry.

Mehdi and Mohsen are awaiting their execution despite the fact that they have both pleaded innocent and have denied the allegations. There is not one single witness in either of the cases, and even the judge himself has no evidence whatsoever to prove that the plaintiffs are guilty. (According to Islamic law, the accused person would accept his guilt four times, or there would be four male adults testifying on the crime committed, before a court can legally rule on someone's guilt.)

Nevertheless, the judge has ruled that Mehdi and Mohsen be sentenced to death by the powers vested in him by Islamic punishment rules, which allow a judge to issue a verdict based on his own personal knowledge, even when no physical evidence or witnesses were available.

IRQR is requesting the Iranian government to do the followings:

.Stop the executions immediately

.Give unrestricted access of Human Rights committees and organizations to these cases

.Allow these plaintiffs to be tried in legal courts of law following the international standards, which clearly indicate that no one should be executed for the crimes they have committed when they were children (below age 18 in Iran).

IRQR is asking all individuals, organizations and human rights activists to take action and help us to stop these unlawful and barbaric executions."

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Urgent! Urgent! Save Ehsan Fattahian's Life!


Urgent!! Ehsan Fattahian will be executed tomorrow November 11 in Central Prison in Sanandaj!
His crime is only crying for freedom! Will execution silence people who strive for breathing?
Read Ehsan's letter below:

"I never feared death. Even now, as I feel its odd and honest presence next to me, I still want to smell its aroma and rediscover it; Death, who has been the most ancient companion of this land. I don’t want to talk about death; I want to question the reasons behind it. Today, when punishment is the answer for those who seek freedom and justice, how can one fear his fate? Those of “us” who have been sentenced to death by “them” are only guilty of seeking an opening to a better and fair world. Are “they” also aware of their deeds?" Read more...

Sunday, November 8, 2009

War, Change and Hope



The 29th Annual Women and Theatre Program (WTP) Conference took place in Teatro Pregones in Bronx, New York in August 7th, 2009.
The theme of this year’s conference was the Balancing Act of Innovation: War, Change, and Hope.

What do we really mean when we talk about “Hope” when we know that hope is another side of “Despair”? In difficult times, “Hope” has always been a necessity for us to strive for life to survive as human species. This year’s conference strongly held up the solid pillar of solidarity to motivate us, the WTP members, for insightful challenges and decisive changes in the time of war.
The conference began at 8: AM, containing of seven panels and roundtables. The first panel: Staging woman and War: Problems and Possibilities, organized by Lindsay Cummings (Cornell University) and Maria Beach (Oklahoma State University) was the most popular panel with sixteen diverse participants included a wide range of scholars, directors, dramaturges, playwrights and performers. This roundtable was structured to discuss some of practical, aesthetics and ethical questions we face when we stage women’s involvement in war and any systematic violence related to war. The subgroups were divided into four groups and four themes: Activism; Adaptation; Women, War, and Culture; And Arts and Violence. The discussion began with questions Lindsay posed to participants to engage the group for a determining and productive conversation, as some of the participants brought handouts, summarizing their projects to the audience.

Groups are as follows:

Activism: Norma Bowles, Maria Beach, Domnica Radelscu, Lindsay Cummings

Adaptation: Jane Barnette, Sydney O’Donnell, Katherine Sogolow, Lisa Parkins

Women, War, and Culture: Eleanor Owiki, Yasmine Rana, Ezzat Goushegir, Kate Roark

Art and Violence: Joan Lipkin, Jenny Connell, Sherry Engle, Shelley Salamensky


Some of the questions addressed the panelists were:
* How does the increasing of militarization of everyday life impacts us as artists?
* How do we approach the staging of violence against women without replicating that violence?
* What counts as a “War Play” and how does gender impact acts of categorization?

The discussion opened up a lively conversation among the panelists as well as the audience.


In the second panel entitled The Female Body in the Age of Trauma and Terror, Emily Klein focused on Eve Ensler and Kathryn Blume’s plays explaining the defense mechanism of the survivors of war, rape and violence and how they face their problems.

In the presentation of Women in Border/War Zone, Cecilia J Aragon presented a vivid picture of women in the Mexican Revolution, indicating the role of sensuality and sexuality in the work of Mexican playwrights specifically in Soldaderas. She delineated how women used their body as a political resistance and a source of creativity and power.

Barbara Ellen Logan’s presentation under the title of “Inside the Empire” discussed Empire as a rape fantasy in fairy tales such as Cupid and Psyche, Beauty and the Beast, as well as Migdalia Cruz’s play FUR. She explained how these myths allegorize the violence of colonizers, raping women as colonized with the expression of “love” and “marriage”.

At 1: PM Ashley Lucas the president of WTP introduced Guerrilla Girls the internationally known theatre company. The performance of New York based Guerrilla Girls on Tour was the highlights of this year’s conference. With energetic, humorous, original and critical performance of their show, Guerrilla Girls believe that being silent about violence against women is a form of violence. They use mask and physical theatre techniques to portray a wide spectrum of characters and serious subjects on women while keeping empty space with minimum technical elements to convey their social and political message in an engaging and interactive environment.


Guerrilla Girls on Tour performed excerpts from “If you can stand the Heat: the History of Women and Food” Portraying four dead women artists: Josephine Baker, Aphra Behn, Julia Child and Beatrix Potter. It was a poignant and lively performance with an enthusiastic interaction between the actors and the audience.

In the informational panel on Women, Theatre and War; Performance as activism, the participants focused on genocide and human rights issues as they indicated the theatre activists whose activism relates to theatre in the war zones such as Baghdad, or about Guantanamo prison as well as Women in Cambodia and Bosnia.
On the review of Jane Chambers play contest, Pricilla Page and Maya Roth gave a historical report on the Jane Chambers award, while they mentioned that the majority of this year’s play submissions were about war, activism and more lyrical in language and tone.
Sally Oswald and Dominique Morrisseau winners of 2008 Jane Chambers awards read excerpts of their plays; “Pony” a respond to George Buchner’s play Woyzeck, and “Retrospect for Life” a play about abortion.
Erin Kaplan The winner of Jane Chambers Student Competition in 2009 had a reading of her play “Collateral Bodies” a captivating piece about women who are victims of domestic violence, public stoning, bride burning, genital mutilation, women’s trafficking, rape and poverty from all over the world.

The two performances of this year were Dominica Redulesca’s play “Naturalized Woman: A quilting Surrealist Project” and Yasmina Beverly Rana’s play “Images of Women in War”.

Dominica Redulesca


Yasmina Beverly Rana

Lunch and dinner was served by Sunlight Restaurant in a beautiful backyard of the theatre with tall sunflowers as birds were singing from a cage in the next door neighbor’s house, while WTP business meeting was held.

Cecilia J Aragon, Ezzat(Myself) and Ashley Lucas the president of WTP
Pictures in this blog are by Joel Simpson

Claude Lévi-Strauss

"The world began without the human race and will certainly end without it."
Claude Lévi-Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss died in October 30, 2009

Death to No One!

Iranian's new chant is: Death to No One!
"When on November 4, you see throngs of young Iranians chanting "Death to No one!" they are not just challenging the brutal theocracy that is distorting their history and abusing their youth, they are also raising a gentle accusatory finger at their own parental generation."