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blog*spot
Picasso's joie de vivre

rostam
a window to Iran and to the world
A cosmopolitan Iranian looks at current events in Iran and beyond:

Located half-way between West and East, and influenced by its ancient Persian heritage as well as the dominant religion in the country, for decades Iran has been struggling with its schizophrenic identity. Tradition or Modernity? Is there a third way out?

Which direction are we moving to? Today, a new generation of young Iranians is shaping the future of the country. Many observers believe that Iranian youth and women are forces of change in the country--changes that will have implications beyond Iran, throughout the region or perhaps around the globe.

In addition to these recurrent themes, you will read about my own trivial pursuits and interests, music, culture, movies, and etc. After all, life goes on, whether you live in East or West! See the world through the eyes of a young Iranian!



Yesterday This Day's Madness did prepare
To-morrow's Silence, Triumph, or Despair:
Drink! for you not know whence you came, nor why;
Drink! for you know not why you go, no where.
-From Rubaiyat by Omar-Khayyam (c. 1110 A.D.)

*Title painting: "La joie de vivre" by Pablo Picasso




Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Bam; no more

I'm back. Moved from Boston to Washington D.C. and started a new life. It's a very sad period. It's almost the anniversary of this website. But this period co-incided with devastating earthquake in Bam, Iran.

I'll be back with more soon... now it's time to go to New York City for a few days... again!
Posted at 9:26 PM

Sunday, October 19, 2003

A day with Chile, Allende, Revolution!

I was hoping to see Isabel Allende, but only her message was read at MIT's one-day program entitle "The Other September 11: Chile, Terrorism, & US Foreign Policy" . In addition to Isabel Allende's message, interesting presentations, slide shows and music played by Sergio Reyes, Noam Chomsky was the last speaker. Quite an interesting program.

Should I move to my other blog?
Posted at 12:29 AM

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Nobel Laureate Ebadi returns to Iran


Pendar, Ebadi
Posted at 7:12 PM

Saturday, October 11, 2003

Our voice is heard!

What a pleasant surprise it was to wake up yesterday morning with the voice of the BBC radio reporter who was talking about the Nobel Peace Prize for Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights lawyer and activist.

How heartwarming it was to realize that the world is listening to us; That our demands for change which are not heeded by our rulers, are at least heard and supported by the world! Shirin Ebadi is the voice of hundreds of thousands of Iranians, mostly women and the youth, who want change, and yesterday she received the recognition that she, and many of her colleagues working tirelessly inside Iran and outside Iran (most notably Mehrangiz Kar), deserved.
Posted at 11:38 AM

Sunday, September 21, 2003

Picasso

Picasso has always been a fascinating character for me. He's one of my favorite painters --especially his bule and red periods. But tales of his personal life depict a not very likable character.

I just watched "Surviving Picasso" with Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins was brilliant in his role as Picasso. An interesting tale about a highly original and selfish artist.

Chavela Vargas

Last week, I had the great pleasure of attending Chavela Vargas' concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York City. It was fabulous! Such a special voice. At 83, Vargas' performance was amazing, followed by minutes of standing ovation from a very colorful audience (read a report on the concert here)! Vargas songs have been featured in Frida and in Pedro Almadovar movies. Certainly a special night to remember!
Posted at 10:46 PM

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

What kind of blog?

Bar exam is finally over, and I should be able to write more regularly here.
One question has been on my mind since I started writing on this blog is the nature of this weblog; should it be more oriented towards Iran, and current events in Iran? or towards my interests and daily observations?
questions, qeustions, questions...
We'll see!
Posted at 4:09 PM

Wednesday, July 09, 2003

International Committee for Transition to Democracy in Iran

Today is 9th of July, the anniverssary of 1999 student unrest in Iran.
On that note, a more political post for today!

I am surprised that the establishment of the International Committee for Transition to Democracy in Iran did not receive wider coverage in Iranian and internatioanl media. This committee is composed of an impressive group of intellectuals and scholars from around the globe: Samir Amin (Economist), Noam Chomsky (Professor of Linguistics), Costa Gavras (Film Director), Albert Jacquard (Scientist), José Saramago (Nobel Laureate, Literature), Jean.-Pierre Vernant (Historian, Collège de France), Hélène Antoniadis-Bibicou (Historian), André Guillou (Historian), Maurice Godelier, Anthropologist, Alain Joxe, Sociologist, Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Historian (Professors at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales), Paul Noirot (Publisher), Roland Sublon (Dean, Theology Faculty, Strasbourg), Jean Ziegler (Sociologist, Geneva, UN Special Rapporteur), Antonio Lobo Antunes (Novelist, Portugal).

I think this is a very important development. The democratic movement in Iran needs exactly this kind of action, coming from independent, and wll known intellectuals who can lend their moral support to the cause of democracy in Iran. I am eager to see what are the future plans and next steps of this committee.
Posted at 2:49 PM

Monday, June 23, 2003

These days...

What's happening in Iran? Demonstrations, some violance... What's next?
Here's BBC's Jim Muir analysis: "Iranian protests fail to bring change"
Posted at 2:45 PM

Monday, June 09, 2003

Still alive! Commencement ceremonies at Harvard are over, and I'm busy again with NY bar exam. I shuld start writing again. May be at a different weblog!
Posted at 3:25 PM

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

It was a very long absence, caused by exams, and papers, followed by a short trip to Cape Cod. It's time to get back to writing now!
Posted at 12:39 PM

Sunday, May 04, 2003

Sina, Sen, Tagore

Wow already 12 days since the last time I updated this page!
I shouldn't be surprised though! It's a crazy period. So much to do. I spend all my days (and nights!)in the library.

Two unrelated subjects:
- Sina is still in prison. The news of the bloggers support for him was covered by BBC (see here).

- I should write, perhaps at a later time, about two remarkable Indians (both Nobel laureates): Rabindranath Tagore and Amartya Sen. To begin with you can read an article written by Sen about Tagore!
Posted at 11:44 PM

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Earth from Above

"Earth from Above" Is the name of a fascinating collection of photographs by the French Photographer, Yann Arthus Bertrand. I was lucky enough to see this collection several times in open air exhibitions in Paris (2000) and Montreal (2002). In Montreal the exhibition continued over a long period of time right in front of McGill University gates (begining inside the University), and I had the chance to stroll through the photos every now and then and enjoy these amazing pictures which were reproduced on huge panels. If you haven't seen the book or the exhibition the website offeres a glimpse into Bertrand's artistry.


Signs we leave (or don't leave) behind

There was no sign that a copse of trees had ever been planted here, or a fence painted; no sign of anything personal--a single fond memory--to distinguish the lives of those forced to grow up old, and die in such miserable barracks.

[Robert Kaplan, about the scenary in the road from Samarkand to Bukhara in Uzbekistan, in his travelogue,The Ends of the Earth: A Journey to the Frontiers of Anacrcy, p.275.]
Posted at 10:36 AM

Monday, April 21, 2003

Free Sina

You can sign the petition:


Posted at 10:02 AM

Sunday, April 20, 2003

Sina arrested

I'm angry! Sina Motallebi, Iranian journalist, blogger and film critic was arrested today, after being questioned for a few hours by a judge. The news is spreading very quickly. In addition to several Persian weblogs (and you can't believe how big the Iranian weblog community is: see index here), the following weblogs have linked to the news: Hoder, Scripting news, Metafilter, BuzzMachine, and InstaPundit. And more and more links are being added (see here).

Sina's weblog was still available this morning, and within a few hours more than 90 people left comments to express their sympathy and solidarity with him, but it has since been deleted.
Posted at 6:16 PM