Posted in Generation-Go-Fuck-Yourself, Sidewalk Lyrics on Feb 15th, 2012 24 Comments »
A hint of fear … sprinkled with some magic fairy dust: I have to admit, that without exception, that is my first gut reaction to entering Iran and nearing passport check. Obviously, with the thousands and thousands of political prisoners they are torturing already, no one is going to come after a twirpy blogger with [...]
Posted in Save the Middle East from bloodthirsty Douchebags, Sidewalk Lyrics on Dec 1st, 2011 3 Comments »
The weather in Tehran is arguably pleasant, and all I hear about is how the heck students and families are going to get their UK visas with the embassy being closed in the foreseeable future … Meanwhile, it’s nice to see that our fellow countrymen are wasting no time in promoting war with Iran, in [...]
Posted in Democrafascism, F*ck Big Media, Sidewalk Lyrics, Today is a good day to die on Nov 22nd, 2011 1 Comment »
It is times like this that I feel very much alone … Who will put an end to this madness? Or is that what every generation asks itself before its eventual demise? In times of protest in Iran, you hear the exuberant cries of rallies behind the protesters, offering them useless, albeit enthusiastic support. It [...]
Posted in Sidewalk Lyrics on Nov 16th, 2011 1 Comment »
One of the most beautiful things I’ve seen lately. Director Meysam Azarzad spends a day at Tehran’s Bazaar and asks local Bazaar men to enact their favorite film scenes … Everything from The Man who Shot Liberty Valance to Forrest Gump to Taxi Driver to Iranian classics like The Cow. The director can also be [...]
Posted in Generation-Go-Fuck-Yourself, Sidewalk Lyrics on Nov 13th, 2011 3 Comments »
I don’t know who Ahmad Rezaie was. Not sure I would have liked him if I did know who he was. I’m going to ignore little bits and snippets I’ve found and read about him (like his alleged anti-IRI statements, etc), and just imagine possible scenarios for a while … In my school days, I met [...]
Posted in Sidewalk Lyrics on Oct 11th, 2011 6 Comments »
On a warm, sunny day, on a last day of summer, on my 27th birthday, I got my first tattoo. The warmth, fear and longing of the experience, as well as the stream of blood that poured, will stay with me always. My grandfather grew amidst the Seville orange blossoms (nawranj), in a house quite [...]
Posted in LMAO, Sidewalk Lyrics on Jul 4th, 2011 13 Comments »
In a taxi, in the southern Iranian province of Khuzestan: It was a hot, humid day. A typical summer day in Khuzestan, where it gets so hot that you can barely muster enough energy to breathe. When the streets are practically empty, lest for those unfortunate creatures whose errands or jobs or curiosity gets the [...]
Posted in Iran-Iraq War, Sidewalk Lyrics on May 25th, 2011 No Comments »
On May 24th, 1982 Khorramshahr was liberated. Here’s a story of the soldiers – and the hens – that brought this “victory” to fruition. —————————— He always tells the story of entering Abadan only a few days after the start of the war, as a soldier. The city had been bombed to shreds. It was [...]
Posted in Digory Kirke, Serious A** Kicking, Sidewalk Lyrics on May 20th, 2011 4 Comments »
“Game of Thrones” is a new HBO series airing on Sundays (whooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaa, 52 hours to go!!!) A medieval fantasy drama based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire. The story is set in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, where “summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime” and chronicles the [...]
Posted in Sidewalk Lyrics on May 10th, 2011 11 Comments »
There is an old blind man that lives on my street. We moved here, mom, dad & I when I was a 60 cm 3 year old (how tall is the average 3 year old anyway?) Just months later, the entire back alley was turned into rubble by an Iraqi bomb. And if I close [...]
Posted in Meet and Greet, Sidewalk Lyrics, Word on the Street on May 6th, 2011 8 Comments »
Blood cupping (Hejamat) and leeching (zaloo andakhtan) – both forms of bloodletting – have been practiced in Iran for hundreds of years. If you traveled the old parts of Tehran and knew where to look, you would still find the medical buildings and offices that were in operation. Some people in older, more traditional parts [...]
Posted in Iranian Rose Garden, Memories, Sidewalk Lyrics on Apr 25th, 2011 4 Comments »
Nearly a century ago, a man by the name of Marcel Proust wrote of a particular Madeleine cake dipped in tea. The sweet, nostalgic taste leads the narrator to longingly recall having the treat as a child, and subsequently invokes involuntary memory. To me, that madeleine will always have to be the sandwich I get [...]
Posted in Generation-Go-Fuck-Yourself, Memories, Sidewalk Lyrics, The Illusionist on Feb 24th, 2011 11 Comments »
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … it was growing up in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the late 90s and early 2000. Not a day goes by without me thinking: “Ped, what gives? what the fuck happened?” The Islamic Republic was never known to be the kindest, [...]
Posted in Generation-Go-Fuck-Yourself, Sidewalk Lyrics on Aug 23rd, 2010 18 Comments »
These days, when I talk to my friends in Iran, hardly anyone, even the most politically active, talks about politics anymore. I’m certainly not claiming that my friends are a representative of the entire Iranian population – they certainly are not. But it was at first somehow disappointing to hear them disregard the latest political news the way they [...]
Posted in People with brains, S-election, Serious A** Kicking, Sidewalk Lyrics on Aug 6th, 2010 15 Comments »
Long before the June 2009 Selection, at the time when reformist papers were being shut down faster than you can say “Khamenei” one after the other, there was always a discussion amongst reformist ranks of the need for the opposition to have its own indepedent TV channel and its own media outlet far from the reach of the hardliners. Karoubi often [...]
Posted in Sidewalk Lyrics on Jul 15th, 2010 11 Comments »
I have been travelling for the past few weeks … On these adventures, I was surprised by how many times this happened: random stranger/cab driver/salesman: “where are you from?” Pedestrian: “Iran” random stranger: “ah! Iran? so you’re green?!” What could I do but smile? And it happened as many times as this happened: random stranger/cab [...]
Posted in Sidewalk Lyrics on Jun 11th, 2010 15 Comments »
No, I haven’t forgotten that tomorrow is June 12th. That day. That glorious, hopeful, horrendous day. Tomorrow, the streets of Tehran will be eerily quiet. There will be traffic, there will be noise, there will be pollution and people shouting swear words out of frustration just like any other day. But for many of us, [...]