A Girl from Ghoochan

Dokhtar Ghoochani
"A Girl from Ghoochan" a folk Persian song, sung by Markéta Irglová and  Aida Shahghasemi who accompanies her with singing and playing daf.

آفتاب سر كوه نور افشونه، سماور جوشه يارم تنگ طلا دوش گرفته، غمزه مي‌فروشه يه دونه انار دو دونه انار، سيصد دونه مرواريد مي‌شكني گل، مي‌پاشي گل، دختر قوچاني عجب ابرو، عجب لب و عجب رو، دختر قوچاني عجب گيسو بسان برگ بو، دختر قوچاني نگارم برلب بوم اومد و رفت، چاره ندارم دوباره برلبم جون اومد و رفت، چاره ندارم چراغو پُر کنيد از روغن گل، چاره ندارم که يارم چشم گريون اومد و رفت، چاره ندارم يه دونه انار دو دونه انار، سيصد دونه مرواريد مي‌شكني گل، مي‌پاشي گل، دختر قوچاني

Rape!

A horrifying thing happened in Ohio!

MUMMENSCHANZ in Chicago

"In the surreal, comic, wordless universe of MUMMENSCHANZ, the ordinary becomes extraordinary when common materials - such as wires, tubes, boxes and even toilet paper - all spring to life as fantastical characters.

Astract shapes and forms also interact in suprising ways to reveal some timeless truths about human connections and relationships. The result is a wonder-filled, visually stunning spectacle and family entertainment that sparks the imagination and transcends cultural barriers."

 MUMMENSCHANZ group will perform in Chicago at Harris Theatre Thursday January 17 and Friday January 18 at 7: 30 PM.

Floriana Frassetto, co-founder of Mummenschanz.

Watch a short video.

"M"

Love-Death by Warren Newcombe
M,
It's past 12, but I'm still considering this time as January 13.
Your birthday!
Why should we imprison time?
Why should we think the time that just passed was really passed?
I still do not know why January 13 is important to me!
What January 13 would really mean to me?

We invented numbers.
We invented seasons.
We invented time.

You are nothing but a bundle of bones under the ground.
But I see you when I close my eyes

You walk, you talk and burst into laughter
and tears
You emerge into deep silence
Like the solid earth
And look at me
Like the glittering sun

My Name is Inanna & Medea Was Born in Fallujah

My Name is Inanna & Medea Was Born in Fallujah at Silk Road Rising

"Goddess Inanna" by Enas Murad

January 11 - January 13, 2013

Written by Ezzat Goushegir

Directed by Azar Kazemi

My Name Is Inanna and Medea Was Born in Faluja are two powerful new one act plays by award winning Iranian American playwright EzzatGoushegir. Goushegir’s passionate and lyrical woman centered voice blends classical archetypes and contemporary realities with an honesty that is shockingly raw and brutal. Political tyranny, democratic yearnings, exile, betrayal, and the confines of gender seamlessly crescendo in these stunning tales of modern Middle Eastern women.

Featuring Silk Road Rising favorites Diana Simonzadeh (Scorched, Night Over Erzinga) and David Rhee (Yellow Face, Re-Spiced: A Silk Road Cabaret).

All performances held at Pierce Hall at The Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77 W Washington St., Chicago.

Friday, January 11th, at 8pm
Saturday, January 12th at 8pm
Sunday, January 13th at 2pm

Today is January 4th, 2013

Image is from Feeleez

By Ezzat Goushegir

To: Charles. B

I’m not in Facebook

I do not tweet

I do not have an iPhone

No one knows what time of the day I would go to the bathroom

And when I would have diarrhea

No one knows when I drink a glass of red wine

Or make love to the one I love

No one knows what movie I saw last night

And when I take a shower in a Hotel room

Or take my cat or dog for a walk

No one knows whether I eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant or in the Subway

Or at home

No one knows when I fart

I come home after a long silent day at work

I check my mailbox

No letters or cards but lots of junk mail

I check my answering machine

No one has called or left me a message

I make a light dinner

Read the newspaper

Listen to the radio

Read the latest news in the internet

Watch something on TV

Read a passage of a novel or a poem

No one has sent me an email

But I got mass invitations from here and there

Begging me politely to be there for their event

Asking me for donations to assure them how important they are!

I look outside the window through the dark night

All holiday lights around the trees twinkle

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are”

Twinkle on, twinkle off

Twinkle on, twinkle off

I take a shower

And brush my teeth

Then turn off the lights

In darkness

I stand before myself on the mirror

No reflections of me there

As I enter into the pure liquid of silence

I see a green light flashes rapidly 

A train fast runs towards me

With a loud sound and piercing fury

Am I broken into pieces?

Sheer silence

I hear my own voice repeating alphabets

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P

Q, R, S, T, U, V,

W, X, Y and Z

They call me rebellious!!