The sunset

Location: Somewhere in the air space between Sweden and Denmark
Date: August 28, 2009
Time: 20:10 local time

Shameful illegitimates

I'm just coming off watching Tarantino's latest work, "Inglorious Basterds...and it was fun!
Totally recommend it, it is much well-baked than "Death Proof". A few points though:

1. Brad Pitt (Lt. Aldo Raine) did good but he had way more space for improvement, he could've done much much better, I'd give him a B- for that cuz I think he didn't pull off that southern accent very well...would have preferred a real southerner...Matthew McConaughy?

2. Christoph Waltz (Col. Hans Landa), the new phenomenon was absolutely brilliant. However, he did remind me of Tim Roth (the face chemistry) very much.

3. I like the idea that they spoke mostly in original language, and I didn't like them switching to English in the beginning of the film just for the sake of it. Unfortunately, this made me read the subtitles all the time and I kinda lost the scene and the actors...must see it again and ignore the subtitles completely!

4. The amount of sickness, violence and blood of the type Tarantino was much less than "Kill Bill"...a bit disappointing but quite tasteful most of the times!

5. Attractive story altogether, doesn't make you feel that the film is actually more than 2 hours!

Locked inside your... for weeks

"Hey! Wait! I got a new complaint
Forever in debt to your priceless advice

Hey! Wait! I got a new complaint
Forever in debt to your priceless advice..."

Uncanny resemblance 3

General Alcazar of "Tin Tin and the Picaros" and the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro

Analogies of Baseball and Basketball

Although these two favorite sports of mine are quite different from one another, I have found some similarities between them. These are still arguable but I'd like to make this comparison anyway.

In baseball, we have the following positions:
1. Pitcher (P)
2. Catcher (C)
3. 1st base man (1B)
4. 2nd base man (2B)
5. 3rd base man (3B)
6. Shortstop (SS)
7. Left fielder (LF)
8. Center fielder (CF)
9. Right fielder (RF)

In basketball, we have:
1. Point guard (PG)
2. Shooting guard (SG)
3. Small forward (SF)
4. Power forward (PF)
5. Center (C)

Now, the problem is that these baseball positions are "defensive" positions while my reference to basketball positions reflects on the offensive end which again reveals another analogy of these two sports: Playing defense in basketball is somehow similar to playing offense in baseball. In basketball, you basically have to stop your opponent from scoring and everyone's work is more or less similar i.e. guard your man and stop him from scoring, rebounding etc. In baseball, every man has to hit the ball (obviously according to the plan) and help the team to score runs. Every player's job is similar: swing/bunt and make a play. Having said that, I would say pitcher is the point guard as he determines the game's direction, he (literally) holds the ball in his hands most of the time and controls the pulse of the game. The catcher is like the center; he dictates the plays and is the backbone of the team as everyone leans on him. He does most of dirty works and mops up the mess. The 1B is more like PF as he does more or less the same job as catcher and is very crucial. 3B, SS and 2B on the first level and the outfielders on the second level serve as SG/SF given their role and significance and involvements in the plays.

Here's a few other analogies off the top of my head:

Error = Turn over e.g. double dribbling, traveling, poor passing etc.
Balk = Unforced turnover by PG
Walk, HP = Forced turnover
Strikeout = 3 pointer by PG, assist by PG
Fielding error = Unnecessary foul, missed lay-up, turn over
Catching a fly ball = score by lay-up or jump shot
Catch line drive = Made jump shot/lay up under pressure by defense
Ground ball to 1B by infielders = Easy lay-up, free throw
Catching a home run = Score at the buzzer
Double play = Assist/steal and easy jump shot, rebound and fast break for easy 2
Triple play = Block and fast break for 3 pointer
Pick off on 1st = Successful pick and roll between PG and C/PF

Well said

Words of wisdom from my cousin

On blogging, he said:" Remember that you blog for yourself and others get to peak in!"

On writing, he said:" Everyone should have a blog and write, everyone!"

Amazing stuff!

Things that I genuinely dislike about USA

I am not sure if I will cover everything but here's the list anyway:
(Please note that the numbering does not represent the importance of the point)

1. The way that US (mostly as a government with all its elements) have treated me throughout all these years. This is by far the number one cause of my disgust. From my attempts to come to US to continue my studies to all the later visits for vacation or conference it has always been too much of a hassle. All those troubles and unnecessary stress and s--t and above all, the obvious and inhuman discrimination that I have gone through simply due to my country, leaves me with a true bad taste in the mouth despite all the fun and great times that I have had travelling through the country.

2. Tipping: I simply don't understand this thing because we are not basically used to this culture at all. I still see no point paying extra to a taxi driver who just lifts my bags and puts them in the trunk and unload them, something that I can easily take care of! Or what kind of extraordinary service do I get at a bar that I am obliged to tip the bartender. I ask for a drink and he pours it into a glass and gives it to me, why should I pay extra for that? It's just stupid! Most of the tips that I have paid in this trip, I paid with certain resentment. I hate it when I do things against my will. Yeah well, moving on...

3. Sale taxes are not indicated in the price, I think that's just misinformation and sort of hypocrisy to the buyers.

4. Too much of capitalism and the consequent social injustice: it's all about the money. If you have it, you gonna have it good. If not, you'd better die (literally!) because you ain't gonna have it, it's gonna be rough buddy. The capitalism has led to gigantic corporatism, massive difference between the rich and the poor, countless homeless, jobless, not insured people etc. I really don't think I need to elaborate more on that.

5. I think there is more in life than just working. I mean work is important and essential for every living human being but this sort of particular dependence to work (read slavery) is kind of inhuman. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!"

6. The flip-flops: I think they (perhaps the people who wear them in public) seriously lack a sense of style. They are untidy, messy, ugly, noisy and totally inappropriate for the street or public wear. They may hardly be used at the beach although I wouldn't do that neither because I personally find them extremely uncomfortable. I'd walk bare foot rather having those. Come on guys, have some dignity and show some self respect!

That's it for now...more to come, maybe later.

Seeing the Master

I saw the master on 9th of May for the first time (I should have written this down on that date, didn't do it but it sure was a burden on my mind) and what can I say...I was profoundly touched. I have never been a big fan of Iranian traditional (sufi music and otherwise) except for his work. I don't know exactly why, maybe it was the fact that my father liked his music and had some of his albums in his car, in particular the album called "Winter (Zemestan)" and "Memory of friend (Yadegare doost)" which made me acquainted with his work. I have to say that I regard the latter album such a great masterpiece that I can not possibly admire it enough, makes me cry every single time I listen to it and I try not doing that as it has to be kept in a special place in my heart.

Anyhow, he came onto the stage with his small group (his son among them), he was all himself, so humble and down to earth, kind, polite and simply adorable, 100% true darvish as he is...as he was and as he will be. He had a caught a bad cold and I feared that would affect his performance, not that 'I' wanted to see a great performance but I just didn't want him to descend from his high in the eyes of the audience (ever!), he did apologize for his possible shortcomings due to the nasty cold. Boy I was so dead wrong. He was nothing but pure excellence and utmost brilliance. He sang some peoms of Ferdowsi for the first time and it was mind blowing...period. Then he performed some parts of the album called "The passion of Rumi (Shoore Rumi)", an album that I hadn't listened to before. This album is so amazing that I have been listening to it almost constantly in the past months, yet carefully not to overuse it. Needless to say, this album is yet another masterpiece by the master which I strongly recommend to every human being with a free soul. He was so carried away with his performance mainly due to the interaction that he received from the audience (he admitted this himself later during a pause) that he and the rest of the group ran over the program and were continuing long after a planned stop. If it wasn't for my buddy beside me that just couldn't hold it after they finished the title track of 'The passion of Rumi' and stood up and clapped with intensity, they would have gone all the way to the end without a single pause! In the last part of the program, he performed all by himself playing setar and singing a beautiful take on the very famous "Andak andak" song as well as a Kurdish song, to pay homage to his origin, something which I enjoyed immensely.

It was altogether an unforgettable experience for me, I feel truly blessed to have been there and been spiritually touched by the master's work, performance and presence. No wonder he has won several national and international honors such as France’s "Chevalier des Arts et Lettres" medal for his lifetime achievements in Persian Classical music as well as prestigious Lifetime Cultural Heritage Award from Asia Society.

On a very personal note, I think his voice and his singing was a divine touch that opened my soul to the tenderness, elegance and purity of Rumi's poems. It's one of the few moments that I feel incredibly proud of my origin which makes me understand this beauty with every single cell in my body and dissolve as a tiny small drop in the ocean of Persian mysticism.

Note on the last post

On the humidity, well I just happened to notice the licence plate of the cars here in Minnesota and guess what it said?

"10,000 lakes"

Nuf said!

One of the twins

Here's what I think of Minneapolis (one of the so-called twin cities) based on what I have seen so far (2 days):

1. It is awfully humid, the very first think that comes to mind when visiting here in summer, something unexpected for me (wonder what would be source, a lake nearby?). The humidity together with the relative high temperatue reminds me of Dubai specially when you enter 'indoors' and notice that ACs are running at full throttle making everywhere inside really cold. Last night, due to sort of extreme weather conditions, we did have a tornado wandering around in the downtown areas and we received subsequent warnings. Although I did not witness it myself, I wish I had since it would have been exicting to see one.

2. The streets are easy, I guess if you live in US and are used to their cities and urban systems i.e. a large matrix of streets and avenues, you will find this one a no brainer as well. Even for an outsider like, it felt pretty straight forward.

3. Public transportation seems to work fine. More importantly, it was pretty cheap e.g. I took a bus and light train from downtown to Mall of America (supposedly the biggest mall in America which could easily be), a 20Km distance, cost me only $1.75 one way...nothing!

4. Sale tax on clothing seems to be so little that is negligible, is it only in Mall of America? I don't know but it is pretty amazing anyhow.

5. No comment on the food due to lack of enough evidence.

6. I have to say that Minneapolis is not as white as I was told it is, I have seen many colored people in the streets and otherwise, surprisingly a lot of them are from Somalia.

Over and out...for now!

What a relief!

Reflections on my poll

These

I can not possibly say how happy I am with the result of my poll, which has been closed for some time now. The turn out, as expected, was very little (6 to be exact!) but to my surprise, everyone who voted was for it. That was a great relief for me because it saved me awful lot of troubles to create a podcast or something which required a minimum space on the internet for uploading the songs and etc. You see, my idea initially was to just broadcast music according to my taste and little by little, depending on the demand, I would have had some discussions and debates on different topics. Using podcast would have allowed the fans to download these directly to their iPod and so on. Now, being a lazy person that I am by nature, I skip this idea for the time being. Plus, there MIGHT have been some legal complications that I would really like to avoid. So to put it nutshell, no music, no show.

Antithese

But I will try to put some playlists in this blog every now and then. If you have the songs (legally or otherwise), then you can easily create that playlist using iTuenes or something and enjoy it during your workout, long drive to work, lunch break and etc. 100% me and no strings attached. I will put these playlists under a separate label so it can be easily reached and I avoid repeating myself.

Synthese

At the end, I have to admit that I have not given up totally the idea of the radio show and I will explore it further...some time...in the future. I feel obliged to thank those 6 persons who took part and not letting me go cold turkey all the way. I will also put other polls up to inspire myself and open up further debates in this tiny humble room.

On consistency...again!

Many thanks to my buddy AB for the invaluable contribution.

Thank you!

Thank you SF for the scenery, steep streets, ocean view, crazy clouds and the air.

Thank you SF for the beautiful bridges, cool and laid back ambiance and great restaurants.

Thank you SF for Francis Ford and everything he has given us.

Thank you (a big one) my man K-man (formerly known as K-me) for the hospitality, showing around, long walks and fine moments.

Thank you my boys for finally meeting up and all the discussions and responses to my challenges.

Thank you my new friends for taking good care of us, making me feel exactly at home with the hookah experience.

Thank you Virgin America for a pleasant flight, friendly and good-looking crew and the entertainment. Thank you Mr. Branson for that.

Thanks everyone!