Year's recap

It has been an end-of-the-year tradition (particularly in the media) that a recap of the year that has passed is done as the year comes to an end. While I believe that it is a good idea to review the year's event (for sole purpose of learning something), I feel sort of apathetic about it, at least for the state of mind of that I find myself in while putting down these words. I think the origin comes from the fact that one is living in the 'now' moment and this damn thing which we call time cannot-unfortunately!- be turned back to change its course and it is even more unfortunate that we cannot predict what is coming toward us neither, so it is a quite peculiar situation to say the least.

Having said this and in line with self-contradiction, I would say:

On a global perspective, I think the most important and distinct event of the year was what happened a few weeks prior and mostly after this year's presidential election in our country which sparked a massive unprecedented unrest afterwards, some of which are still ongoing as of now. I think many would agree that this single event can be regarded as the turning point in the contemporary history of the country, some radical would argue that it was a an embryo of a revolution. Well, I am not sure about that and more importantly, that's not up for contest now either. It nevertheless consumed, to say the least, hours and hours of our energy and mental capabilities...generously spent on discussing the every possible angle of it from many different perspectives followed by a full, in-depth analysis. If I were smart enough and recorded all those long, and often inconclusive talks, I would have had rich material to fill a whole book or something. The rest of events that happened in 09 are not equally significant as they do not have of much of impact on MY universe, and therefore I decline to bring them up now, they can be easily found in everywhere now.

On a personal level, I would say that the global credit crunch did have an impact on my economy, not that much of a hard blow though despite facing some remaining deficits from last year. After surviving a wave of layoffs at work, we were forced to work less and take a pay-cut which gave me extra time to spend with a few guests that we had over during summer, my brother among them who was having his first visit after 9 years. The year contained a fair amount of traveling into new places and visiting some old friends too...always more than pleasant. In this year, I also reconciled with our elegant and beautifully rich poetry and modestly, started to set foot in the marvelous ocean of Persian mysticism thanks to poems of His Highness Mawlana. I should mention that the massive help that I received from friends and family in providing me with the resources of thought nutrition has been invaluable in his aspect. The ending months was also marked by something that can be defined as changing point in my life and I will talk about this, inevitably and gladly, more in the future :-)

To wrap thing up, here are my bests of the last year:

1. Best movie seen: Into The Wild
2. Best book read: Into Thin Air (maybe because I haven't read 'the other' book yet!)
3. Best album listened to: Passion of Rumi by Shahram and Hafez Nazeri

Vater und sohn

When I was about 8-9 years old, my brother, who happened to be my number one enemy back then- typical!, did something quite uncanny and gave me a birthday present: a book called "The stories of me and my father" in 3 volumes. It was the collection of strips by German cartoonist Erich Ohser aka E.O. Plauen and dealt with short adventures of a father and his son Eric. It was a wordless feature but, I believe for the first time, they had written the short plot in Persian on the opposite page. The father, even though depicted as a rough violent man with thick mustache and supposedly short temper was extremely light-hearted and kind in nature, the kid was a bit of small devil on surface but deep inside he was very thoughtful and sympathetic. They both had a established set of values like fairness in treating others, standing up for one's right, mutual respect and compassion and etc. Their small adventures had a moral lessen hidden behind them. The whole strip was educating, rich, amusing, funny and innocent - a perfect gift for a kid of that age. I enjoyed that book immensely and grew close to those characters. I remember that at the end of the 3rd volume, as an end was inevitable, their creator decided to send them to the sky (heaven): they walk into to the air as they are holding hands and eventually, the father becomes the face of the moon with a gentle smile while the son turns into the tiny little star beside him and thus, they become immortal forever. This sweet ending was incredibly tragic for me and made me cry a lot - and I still do when I think about it...I really had to battle through tears when writing this! I read in the introduction of that book about the cartoonist himself, that he was arrested for expressing anti Nazi opinions and committed suicide just before his trial. Had he not done that he would have possibly faced the death sentence anyhow. This also contributed more tragedy to the series ending...and even more tears as a result! Needless to say, I was -and still am as mentioned before- touched profoundly by this invaluable piece of artwork for children and this short note, is hereby meant to pay homage that great work. I am going to put some of these adventures in here every now and then to continue with my tribute -though it may be cut short as I don't have my books anymore :(- without intentionally conforming to copyright issues since the sources of them are possibly various places on the internet and it's hard to keep track them. I hope that it is understood that I mean well.

I remember that, on the back cover of the book, there was a small picture of Ohser during work while his young son, presumably at the same age of Eric, watching by. That truly showed their gentle relationship of a father and his son. I have always maintained that there is something special in the relationship of fathers and their sons and yet, I have much difficulty to pinpoint it with words. One small attempt in this sense would be a series of letters that a father carved on handmade radio and gave it to his son in the movie "Men of Honor" which read: "ASNF: A son never forgets!"

Juicy, eh?

Date: 2008-11-18

Time: 12:50 local time

Place: Tampa, USA

Snow

Well, here it is. The very first heavy snow of the year has landed and I don't like it a bit. You see, I am not like the rest of people around who are excited with snow and skiing and stuff. I can't care less for the Christmas mood. Winter is definitely not my favorite season, I like spring much better. All I think about now is the slippery roads and consequent ice everywhere in a matter of days, falling down and breaking your body parts (stupid!) and above all, the dirty slush that will be there for months staring at you and mocking your dislike of the season. Hell, allow me to freely state that I genuinely disgust it.

Postulate 1. Where the hell is global warming? Cuz, sure as hell, I don't see it around here!

Postulate 2. It never snows in Florida.

How to kill a normal to medium range hangover

1. Eat a moderate breakfast: 1-2 cups of semi-sweet coffee/tea, 1-2 toast bread with cheese/jam/Nutella, fresh fruits etc. Don't over eat!

2. After 20-30 minutes, take 2 Advil liqui-gel pills with milk or juice

3. Wait for about 2-3 hours, lay down and watch something preferably unimportant, avoid reading if possible, listen to some relaxing music e.g. Playlist 4.

4. Eat a moderate lunch. Avoid greasy, heavy food

5. Continue to rest for about 1-2 hours, take a nap or something, don't oversleep as it may ruin your whole day

6. Have some juice and cookies and then head to the gym

7. Run on the treadmill for max. 40 minutes (which includes 2 five minutes of warm-up and cool down) at the speed that suits you best, avoid running very fast. Alternatively you can hit the stationary cycles but follow the same scheme

8. Work out lightly at the gym for about 30 minutes, avoid heavy weights and intensity, drink a lot of water during the work out

9. Take a shower, you're good as new!

Black

Songwriters: Vedder and Gossard

Album: Ten

Released: August 27, 1991

Hey...oooh...

Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay

Were laid spread out before me as her body once did

All five horizons revolved around her soul

As the earth to the sun

Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn

Ooh, and all I taught her was everything

Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore

And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds

Of what was everything

Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed Everything...

I take a walk outside

I'm surrounded by some kids at play

I can feel their laughter, so why I do sear

Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head

I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning

How quick the sun can, drop away

And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass

Of what was everything

All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...

All the love gone bad turned my world to black

Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I will be...yeah...

Uh huh...uh huh...ooh...

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be star

In somebody else's sky, but why, why, why

Can't it be, can't it be mine

[We belong, we belong together, together...]

Lay low with alternative

Playlist IV.

1. "Black" Pearl Jam

2. "Glory Box" Portishead

3. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" Radiohead

4. "Glycerine" Bush

5. "Fade into You" Mazzy Star

6. "Creep" Stone Temple Pilots

7. "Iris" Goo Goo Dolls

8. "Something In The Way" Nirvana

9. "Lightning Crashes" Live

10. "Indifference" Pearl Jam

Stickball

Walter Iooss Jr.:"There's a famous picture taken in the 50's of Willie Mays playing stickball in Harlem. I played a lot of stickball growing up and always loved it. I wanted to replicate the Mays photo in Cuba because baseball is the national sport there. It's everywhere. Cuban children play ball in the streets like kids in U.S. cities used to do. It was my last Saturday on this trip and I was slowly weaving through the streets of old Havana, looking for kids playing ball, when I came upon this corner, La Esquina. If you study the picture, you see that every eye, not just the kids' but even the dog's, is on that taped ball. It's the decisive moment, and there's no way to anticipate when you're going to get it. I had a vision of a picture that I'd tried and tried and tried to find but hadn't yet, and I came within a day of not finding it. To me it was all about getting the photograph I'd been searching for and I did it in 20 frames.

I like to photograph kids because I still dream the way kids do. All those years playing those games were some of the best times of my life. I was a stickball fanatic. When school closed for the summer, we played 12 hours a day. All morning, all afternoon, went home for dinner, then played after dinner."

Photo from cnnsi.com

What the hell is going on?

In this season, my beloved Reds are doing a great job in achieving the records that have not been reached before:

- Worst streak in the past, I don't know, 50 years or so in the league
- Failing to advance to 2nd round of CL since 2000 or something
- Failing to advance in Carling cup (expected)
and many more but I refuse to mention them as I don't stand seeing their low. Like I have maintained before to my friends, here are the main reasons in my opinion:

1. Very poor performance when it comes to new signings in the past 2 seasons. We didn't manage to get the players that we were aiming for and we basically have kept the same squad. That is possibly due to financial burden from the current debts and owners' failure to live up to their promises which in turn, has forced us to sell some players as well.

2. Relying on the current squad given the busy gaming schedule has left us with a long injury list and that has done a substantial damage. We rely heavily on 2 key players i.e. El nino and Stevie G. and their absences from time to time has cost us dearly.

3. Last but not least, I personally think that the current low can be largely related to the after shocks of last year where we lost the league title in the very last round while leading the table for the most part of the season.

Maybe Rafa has lost his 'Mojo' or something, I don't know, it is still early to think about sacking him which is not a very good option given his recent contact renewal and that move, I believe, is fundamentally naive. Either way, he's got to do something because it seems like we are heading for the gutter and I don't like the smell of that a tiny bit! The good thing has been, however, that we just won the Merseyside derby last weekend (always feels great) and we thrashed Man U at home (even sweeter than the derby for me!), let's just hope for an improving trend from now on...as Rafa himself has indicated.