Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Iran's Salt Domes, Near Persian Gulf
More than 200 piercement salt plugs are present in southern Iran and in the Persian Gulf region. Recent investigations have shown the salt, the Hormuz Series, to be largely of Precambrian (late Proterozoic) age. The diapirs are famous for their tongue-like projections, known as "salt glaciers," and for their associated igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary exotic blocks. In many places the salt plugs form spectacular mountains, rising up to 4,000 ft above the adjacent valley floor. The diapirs generally are associated with anticlines, and in many areas pierce the structure at the plunging end or on the flanks. Diapirs in synclines also are present. (source: Salt Diapirism in Southern Iran, M. A. Ala, AAPG Bulletin Volume 58)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Mr Obama, Thank you! (but ...)
(I wish some properly cultured Iranian had advised you that including two words "weapon" and "terror" on a greeting message sent on the occasion of New Year and Spring Equinox is considered "rude"! With those two words you set back what you aimed to start. Then, don't be disappointed if Iranians don't fall on their face in appreciation of your gesture!Well it's great that you, unlike your predecessors, managed to express your appreciation for our great civilization, and our (not centuries) millennia of contribution to worlds art, culture, science, philosophy, architecture, medicine. But, to accuse us again of "terror" and "weapon" on the occasion of our new year??! Where did you learn your diplomacy tact? In GW Bush school?! Or is AIPAC scaring you?! Of course, I won't say those things "loudly" and I am willing to forgive your little faux pas for now ... let's see what your actions bring in future!)
Friday, March 20, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
You said you loved Persian Rugs?
3500 square meters (~38000 sqr ft) of Persian rugs and kilims covered the plains of Shahdad in Iran's Kerman province as part of filming a documentary about the the province of Kerman in Iran. The film covers various aspects of Kerman including history, nature and art.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Honoring female Iranian writers
Iran has many great female literary figures (and leaders). You can read about them in Farzaneh Milani's : Veils and Words.Pervin E'tesami (1907-1941) is a particularly noteworthy one. She emerged in a critical juncture in the history of women movement in Iran. She is noteworthy because of her classical style, yet fresh form, which stray from the modernist trends of the time. Nonetheless, modern themes of social justice resonate in her writings.
Recently, Iran's ministry of culture (and unfortunately Islamic guidance!) has been commemorating Parvin in an annual tribute to Iranian female literary figures. One of the reasons why Parvin's esteem is held high by the IRI (beside her great body of work), is that she died early, in 1941. Therefore, she did not belong to political currents that pulled Iran into the left and the right in the aftermath of the Second World War. In other words, her ideological neutrality makes her the icon of female literary work suitably fitting the IRI's objective of promoting a modern image of progressive Muslim women! (Yes! Do not be alarmed! As I have stated SEVERAL times, the IRI has made female participation in societal spheres more attractive to majority of Iranians who are strongly traditional and conservative. (unfortunately you, the Western audience only hear the stories of "liberals" like me, who have ties to the West, by culture and by education, and hence bemoan 'limitations' as perceived from their Westernized vantage point.)
En tout cas: The 3rd Annual Parvin Etesami Literary Awards are announced: 4707 works were submitted. Over 200 were selected by the jury. The final selection contained 18 works in the fields of poetry, fiction, drama, research works, and children literature."
The winners are:Blank Verse: "In Time of Alborz" (Mehrnush Qorbanali)
Traditional Poetry: "Piano" (Maryam Jafari-Zamani)
Poetry Translation: "A Selection of Iran's Contemporary Poetry" (Fariba Gorgin)
Drama: Robert Bolt's play "A Man for All Seasons" (translated by Farzaneh Taheri)
Fiction: "Last Chapter" (Gita Garakani)
Literary Thesis: "Modernism and Postmodernism in Persian Contemporary Fiction" (Mansureh Tadayoni)
Children's Poetry: "Tinseled Shoes" (Shokuh Qasemnia) and "Oh, Bell, Oh Bell" (Afsaneh Shaban-Nejad)
Children's Fiction: "365 Stories for the Year" (Mojgan Sheikhi)
Young Adult's Poetry: "Your Star Was Lost" (Kobra Babaii) and "I Miss You" (Atusa Salehi)
Young Adult's Fiction: "Little Lady" (Soheila Alavizadeh)
Translation of Children's Books: "A life, to ..." by author Marie-Sabine Roger, translated by Nilufar Baqerzadeh Akbari
Translation of Young Adult's Books: One story by Sharon Creech translated by Keivan Obeidi Ashtiani
Perhaps the anonymity of these selected figures (at least to me) suggests that the winners are not implied in grand controversy or best known for originality in their works (but that is my speculation only as I have not read any of these works, nor do I know any of these authors--that's why ;)) . BUT, in Iran, we as a people, are used to making dents little by little ... this is an encouragement; this is a little dam that is going to gather little trickles of talent, and collectively, inevitably these women WILL create a magnificent potential to irrigate the literary land of Iran for generations to come.
In the meantime, some important female literary figures that the IRI is incapable of marginalizing!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Iranian Kurds
look at the pictures for now I will be making a proper translation soon. The blogger is a brilliant friend, who will be focusing on Kurdish art and culture, from food to costumes, from Sunni beliefs held by Iranian Kurds to folklore children stories. She is a textile engineer; a miniature painter and a calligrapher! I shall poke her to put up some of her own work.
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