Esfahan

Alighapou, Naghshe Jahan Sq. Esfahan, Summer 2006

Walnut Tree, Chadegan, Near Zayande-Rood Dam, Summer 2006

Stained Glass and Mirrored Ceiling, Esfahan, Summer 2006

World Cup Continued

When I think of a movement in History especially in Art History I often think of a key character, a person who changed the past to a newer past, one who is not necessarily the most famous person in that movement but is important and without whom that movement would never have existed. Unfairly I never choose a famous person. My mom says it is because I hate to see someone other than myself being famous. Perhaps it is true. I don’t know why; maybe because I know I won’t be worldly known in my life time or even after my life but I think it is at least possible for me to be important. So I chose people who are in some kind of a shadow. My key characters are painters, writers, artists and thinkers who are secondary to the rest of the world. Although most of the time the facts point out to me that neither I am important nor are my chosen key characters.

I was following England’s team in the World Cup and now they are eliminated.

Garry Lineker, England soccer alum and current sports anchor, once said "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."

Hafte Tir Square

Iran lost her second game to Portugal, which sadly means that Iran is not going up to the next round. But the sad news does not stop in the soccer field; I have heard that some of the people who got arrested in women’s protest in Tehran are not freed yet after almost a week, which is not a good sign. One of them is a former parliament’s member. It was the second year in the row that people got together in the Hafte Tir Square to protest against the sexual discrimination (against women) in Iran’s legal system. These peaceful protests always become violent by the interference of police forces and a militia related to a specific group of Islamic fundamentalists.

Although the constant violation of the speech right and political freedom in Iran by the government is not news, what makes it nostalgic, for me, is that Hafte Tir Square is two blocks North of my former school. I passed this square for four years, while I was an undergrad student. I passed it through traffic jams in the polluted capital city of my country, with a hope that undergrads usually have, the hope to change the world to a better place.

Hafte Tir is a grand square in the Middle East of Tehran. I measured its pavements by my Kickers’ sneakers. I broke the law for the first time there while passing a stop sign and I got my first ticket for illegal parking there. I passed Hafte Tir Square for four years hand in hand with my lovers, my friends, and my hopes. I passed Hafte Tir Square every time with a hope: the hope to change the world to a better place.

The Devil's Hand, August Rodin, 1902

Magic of the Week

In the first week of the World Cup today Croatia lost to Brazil. I have a headache and I don’t know whether it is because of Iran’s failure against Mexico last Sunday or because of me not getting enough sleep these days.

But always there is some good news that works like the magical Advil for my headaches and today the good news came in the form of a newborn girl. Our friends’ first child was born yesterday. Congratulations!

FIFA World Cup - Germany 2006

These days everyone around me in Princeton impatiently talks about the World Cup 2006. I hear how students enthusiastically predict the game results and argue about their favorite teams. Since they are mostly international students their favorite team is usually their country team. The most common problem for soccer fans is that here these games do not get broadcasted on air but one way or another the soccer fans find a solution. Iran has its third appearance in the world cup.

The last two weeks I heard-read the Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell performed by CJ Critt, the BBC performance of the Hichhikers' Guide to the Galexy by Douglas Adams which is a cool and funy performance and The Cat Who Went Up the Creek by Lilian Jackson Braun which is a teens mystery book but I enjoyed it nontheless. From this week (and I think for the next month) I will be into Karamazov Brothers.

On Tuesday I saw Thank You for Smoking (2005) directed by Jason Reitman based on a book by Christopher Buckley. Over all it was a good film. I just didn’t like the semi-happy ending. But now I like to read the book to see how much Hollywood style of thinking has affected the movie.