SHAHYAD
Waiting for her people to return to her
by Morteza Baharloo
Shahyad stands tall, proud and clad in white, as if she were the Bride of Iran. When conceptualized, she was to represent the grandeur of Iranian civilization and also provide a gateway welcoming visitors into the capital. Iranians, known for their obsessive hospitality, created an “arch of triumph,” or
taq-e nosrat, located adjacent to the airport to greet every visitor. Like many historic Iranian monuments, the expansive grounds surrounding the tower were intended as a venue for celebrations, parades and other cultural events and activities
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PEOPLE
Graphic art from Asia to celebrities to...
by Shirin Donia
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QUESTIONS
Japan tsunami and Iran’s quest for nuclear energy
It is time for Iran too to revisit its nuclear ambitions. Unlike Japan, Iran is immune to devastating tsunamis, as Iran possesses no oceanfront. But like Japan, Iran has proven to be an earthquake prone country. An earthquake of a similar magnitude as experienced near the cost of Japan can potentially threaten Iran’s nuclear reactors. Furthermore, Iran’s oil and gas and other industrial sectors have historically suffered from under-investment, grave negligence, and lack of overhaul. If anything, this history raises concerns about the safety of the Iranian nuclear reactors in the long run
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KAMANGAR
She welcomes music for any occasion
When I first heard Tara Kamangar perform with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra I had a feeling that she would soon be invited back on the same stage. As it turned out, the next time I heard her perform, Kamangar was not a behind a grand piano locked in a precise and passionate embrace with a Rachmaninoff piece; the versatile concert musician was improvising gypsy-jazz with a fiddle tucked under her chin, accompanying the group Kiosk. This March 18, Kamangar will be back on the Oakland Symphony stage, this time the young master has a Beethoven concerto under her piano fingers
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PERSIAN
Maybe we don’t love our language enough to invest in its survival
It is hard to understand why in a community that prides itself for its wealth and knowledge; no one has stepped forward to help those who are desperately trying to resuscitate this “dying language.” When our children are small, we spend part of the weekend to drag them to community schools to teach them a little Persian, but when a university offers it, which would in turn train our future teachers, we don’t seem to grasp its importance. If these students are denied further studies in Persian education, then who is going to teach the children of our children?
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IRANIUM
Propaganda to instill fear into the hearts and minds of Americans
There is now a new semi-documentary, semi-science fiction propaganda film in the US, entitled Iranium (Iran + Uranium). As an Iranian-American, after watching the film, I felt angry that here we were with another Hollywood film demonizing Iranians. This of course had started with the movie Not Without My Daughter filmed in 1991 in Neve Ilan, Israel about Iran. Then there was more, more recently the movie 300 which took the IEDs wielding Persians (same as Iranians) to the sixth century BCE, against the freedom-loving Spartans
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FILM
The King's Speech: “ordinary” people facing “extraordinary” challenges
In a cyber age of mass communication with instant access to information, where all things past seem to be abruptly dismissed as obsolete, what makes an old fashioned film in a Victorian setting so appealing to contemporary audiences worldwide? …
The mystery of The King’s Speech’s phenomenal success seems to equally astonish its director Tom Hooper as well as its talented cast of splendid actors notably Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter in the title roles
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TRAGEDY
صدای پر از بغض برادر صانع ژاله یادآور تراژدی دوران بربریت بود
جوانان را می کشند و خانواده هایشان را از سوگواری منع می کنند. از طریق رسانه ها و مهره هایشان، دیگران را به خیانت متهم می کند. دیکتاتوری خود را قادر برحق می بیند و هیچگونه نافرمانی را تاب نمی آورد و از سوی دیگر به هیچ مرامی پایبند نیست و از مرده ها انتقام می کشد و با انحصاری کردن جنازه و منع سوگواری آبرومندانه، و در واقع با تحقیر مقتول به تحقیر مضاعف دودمانش برمی خیزد
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MUSIC
Listening to Alizadeh and Namjoo in a private concert
by
Payam Mim >>>
KIOSK
Triple distilled review of Kiosk's "Triple Distilled"
In a churning sea of come and go bands, Kiosk has thankfully remained consistent, in that each successive album pushes the boundaries of what is considered normal, but more importantly Kiosk pushes me to to try and make some sort of sense of it and I grow from it. "Triple Distilled" Obviously referring to late night drinking sessions of the yore of pre-revolution Iran, specifically those in the southern part of Tehran's red light
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CALIGULA
هر چیزی شروعی دارد پایانی نیز خواهد داشت. این قانون طبیعت است.
« کالیگولا» باله ایست یک ساعت و نیمه با طراحی نیکلا لوریش، یکی از رقاصان درجه یک اپرای ملی پاریس و گیوم گاین. «کالیگولا» اولین کار او در زمینه طراحی رقص است و او شخصیت کالیگولا را با موسیقی چهار فصل آنتونیو ویوالدی بر روی صحنه آورده است. پیش از این هرگز هنگام شنیدن چهار فصل ویوالدی به کالیگولا نیندیشده بودم اما طراحی لوریش نشان می دهد که چنین امری ممکن است
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