tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362661962024-03-23T10:59:28.456-07:00SoCalPersianBijan the Southern Californian Persian Weblogsbijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-5874536561161436242012-06-21T10:49:00.000-07:002012-06-22T10:51:02.900-07:00What Do I Fancy?What captures my fancy!<br />
Aircraft carrier<br />
Helicopter<br />
iPhone<br />
Slim HD TV<br />
Cable TV<br />
Computer<br />
Fiber optic<br />
Internet <br />
NIC Card/Ethernet<br />
GPS<br />
Love for Airplanes<br />
Paper<br />
Dot Matrix Printers<br />
Color TV <br />
Color Printers<br />
Color Pictures<br />
Color Magazines<br />
Heart Transplant<br />
Submarines<br />
Space shuttle <br />
Telescopes (?)<br />
unix<br />
Watches (both mecanical or digital)<br />
...<br />
for nowbijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-9371986626921624742011-12-18T10:36:00.000-08:002012-06-21T10:43:26.389-07:00Boss, by Farhad Farnia (Mehr "Jay" Shahidi)<br />
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<a href="http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2011/12/16/free-speech-zone-boss-finally-television-masterpiece" target="_blank">http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/<wbr></wbr>news/2011/12/16/free-speech-<wbr></wbr>zone-boss-finally-television-<wbr></wbr>masterpiece</a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Boss”, Finally a Television Masterpiece</span></span></b></div>
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">“Boss”, Finally a Television Masterpiece <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A Commentary by Mehr “Jay” Shahidi<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Boss is a must-see for all of us who are concerned, worried and outraged
about the current shape of our social, economic and political conditions, not
only in America but the world. It is a meticulously-crafted cinematic work
intended to entertain while simultaneously demonstrating, questioning and
wondering as to why we humans are corruptible and have been so through the
ages. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">It is stimulating and thought-provoking but deftly, subtly and politely
leaves the judgment to the viewer.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Not since Westwing, starring the great Martin Sheen, have I seen or heard of
a fictional television mini-series with socio-political dimensions, which comes
close to the caliber of Boss, an eight-hour Starz Channel production which
ended last Friday. The first season will be re-shown starting December 26, 2011
on cable, satellite and direct TV. Or, you can get it on-line. Boss differs
from Westwing, in substance, design, intent, mood and outlook. It is much more
pernicious and outrage-producing. It is similar to it only as it relates to the
lives and acts of political leaders. But, Boss shows us the hidden side. Both
productions, however, endeavor to take great strides in elevating the status of
for-profit home screen up to the level of public television’s Masterpiece
Theater and the best of documentaries while competing with the best motion
pictures such as God Father, Platoon and All the President’s Men.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Boss is a different type of made-for-TV movie. It is a fiction but feels
like a docudrama. It is also masterfully thrilling, suspenseful, intriguing,
and awe-inspiring. Yes, it also has profanity, sex and blood.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Kelsey Grammer, the acting legend of television’s comics “Cheers” and
“Frasier”, is now demonstrating his electrifying dramatic abilities as the
autocratic and fearsome mayor of Chicago, Tom Cane, the Boss. His performance
is so powerful that after watching the first episode my imagination transformed
Grammer, the actor, into the indispensable mayor of that city. (I remembered
the real Boss of Chicago who ruled in the sixties and seventies). And, after
watching the eighth episode diligently, I felt I was in the same daze as when I
had read King Lear and Citizen Cane. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The story was created and written by Farhad Safinia, of Apocalypto fame, and
he, with the help of luminaries such as Gus Van Sant, Brian Sher, Richard
Levine, Lyn Greene, Stella Bulochnikov, Grammer and others wrote the acting
scripts and executive-produced it. Most of the initial reviews were so positive
that the financiers decided to produce the second series before the first
episode of the first series was aired in October. It is a thriller. But it is
meant for highly intellectual and mature audiences. This is no film made for TV
to increase the consumption of beer and popcorn. And, if you have no patience
to watch each show alertly, keep the frequently alternating scenes in your
head, and, concentrate to memorize names, dates and places, then, this set of
movies is not for you. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Safinia, unlike Shakespeare, uses the colloquial American English esoterically
to dissect and expose the current socio-political psyche of America’s
power-politics, power-economics, power-corruption, power-control,
power-immorality and power-ego-tripping. He brings into action highly profound
issues of life, liberty, prosperity, justice and the “promised” democracy. Who
rules America and how do they do it? How do our elite pursue their goals? What
means do they use? Does the end justify the means? Any means? Is timely garbage
collection from the streets more important than the democratic process? Is
staying in power for the benefit of the rich and powerful more valuable that
the lives of innocent children? Is might, any might, always right? Cane,
becomes so drunk with the arrogance of his power that nothing and no-one could
or would stand in his way. He even would use his wife and the one and only
daughter as instrumental objects to maintain and accumulate raw power. Then, he
becomes sick. Would the thought of his mortality transform him into a better or
worse person? Watch, analyze and form your own take. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">In a preview of the series, Safinia says of the fictitious mayor “he is not
a bad guy, but, he does very, very bad things.” What has happened to American
politics? Why does a political leader have to do bad things to stay in power?
Why do we, the people, or at least most of us, keep silent and acquiesce to the
perpetual state of undemocratic conduct and, indeed, tyrannical rule by some
members of our elite? Safinia identifies, analyses, and brings to our attention
what is and what is not possible. He evokes that notion once uttered by Don
Quixote: you realists want the world the way it is. We idealists want it the
way it should be. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">To call Boss “….a sinister melodrama that defies common sense and cheapens
the thrill of bad behavior”, as Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times does,
is insulting to the audience. Of course we know that not all politicians, even
the late Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, were that way or that bad. Safinia’s
job, as an artist and social critique, is not to simply chronicle and report
the society’s people and events. He laboriously has created and assembled
several plots into his story simultaneously and, at times, he does border on
exaggeration and satire, in order to capture our attention and drive his
points. And, he does it eloquently. Francis Coppola did not mean that most of
Italian American leaders belong to the Mafia and Charles Dickens did not brand
all wealthy people as being Scrooge. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Boss is not just a magnificent work of theatrical production. It is a biting
critique of our collective social malaise. It is a call to action. It is a
courageous indictment by Safinia, and his eclectic cast and crew, of our
corruptible nature when we gain power (and/or money). But, it is also an
inspiring testament to our resiliency that, despite all odds, we keep dreaming,
wishing and trying (the reporter, the daughter, the neurologist).The tale
needles our inner being to awaken, motivate and strive for correction. It is a
condemnation of the bad. It is a tribute to the good. Cane, himself, vacillates
between man the vulgar and man the noble. For a relatively new writer-producer
in Hollywood, Farhad Safinia has now proven his extraordinary intelligence to
see the dark side of our political/corporate existence and boldly devise an
exemplary artistic creation to tell us about it.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">M. J. Shahidi is a small business owner and human rights activist living in
Minnesota.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-81737339631399494252010-10-16T16:37:00.000-07:002010-10-16T17:50:34.786-07:00Religion and Peace - Can they Coexist? One Man's EffortsMy friend M Jay Shahidi who lives in Minnesota is a human rights activist among other hats he wares.<br /><br />I have these Youtube videos following him around and recording some of the conversations and interviews. On the first video congressman Keith Ellison is present and shows his support. <br /><br />September 21, 2010, International Day of Peace<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1SrYMc9NRWE?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1SrYMc9NRWE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />*** 2nd Video***<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zK8XVLbb21E?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zK8XVLbb21E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />***third Video***<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oFBwe3yOXn4?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oFBwe3yOXn4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />*** Last Video ***<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RQ5jxTmj9C8?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RQ5jxTmj9C8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-47414300665685408872009-04-10T07:59:00.000-07:002009-06-05T19:48:48.508-07:00A Terrifying 15 Minutes DreamI had a terryfing dream.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxrOQq6FA7CupBTsM4jyi9tu1UJolM5GsQ_sH4Z5lrBHkA0kRVaZONseXjJfmy-VxWW5CnbKUf_E51zIBp6Fm1GQMyenzxXhNd9MmpJOZ_uvctXxRGJblUc4MZIfW-kDQ57clmg/s1600-h/I+had+a+terrifying+dream.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxrOQq6FA7CupBTsM4jyi9tu1UJolM5GsQ_sH4Z5lrBHkA0kRVaZONseXjJfmy-VxWW5CnbKUf_E51zIBp6Fm1GQMyenzxXhNd9MmpJOZ_uvctXxRGJblUc4MZIfW-kDQ57clmg/s320/I+had+a+terrifying+dream.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323083091897821362" /></a><br /><br />24; Not and nothing to<br />do with Jack Bauer!<br />The following takes place between 11:30PM and 11:55PM (Music to follow: Dang Knock dang dadang dang dadang.<br />It’s 11:30 PM and I’m fast sleep... I must have fallen sleep soon after going to bed and a short while later fell into deep sleep, the dreaming stage. Here is what I started dreaming of:<br />I walked in on them and I must have surprised him. But I know he didn’t care (one of them was my old buddy whom I have never met in real life!) There blood all over the sheets on the bed! The room had a totally different look. It was day time, but all the shades were drawn, except on some corners where you could see the light. One would draw that there was daylight and a bright sun shining outside. Very much like a Vegas bedroom scene. Both of them were still laying in the bed, but not sleep. And what a huge bed it is. I must have especial ordered it, because it was clearly bigger and wider than a California King. It was probably the same size that Sahquille O’Neal or Kareem Abdul Jabbar would buy. I must have loved sleeping in it. I quite couldn’t figure what might have happened there the night before or at least most of the night. The room had a different look and smell to it. It was cluttered and messy and I realized that most of my furniture was gone!<br />I asked, what the hell was going on! As I stretched my hand in front of him, before I finished saying another word, he grabbed my arm and bit me. His bite punctured my arm and I could feel the extreme pain shooting through my spine. I didn’t have time to scream foul! His teeth bit me deep! Blood squished out of my arm just above the wrist, where he had deeply punctured it. He did not let go of my arm or his bite. He and I both knew he had done something horrific and awful, but there were no regret or sorrow in his eyes. He must have known the he’d be infecting me too. He was HIV positive and his open soars were bloody.<br />He was pissed at the world and anyone who wasn’t HIV positive. He knew that not only I wasn’t gay and not interested in men, I was very careful and my playboy days were long past.<br />I grabbed his face to relief the pain in anger. The adrenalin rush had just instinctively put me into a defensive fight or flight mode. I couldn’t run since he had a good grip on my arm. As a result I grabbed his face and as much of his jaw that I could. I don’t know why I didn’t punch him on his head or on his face. Trying to separate myself from his tight grip, I grabbed his upper lips and nose. I tried very hard to open his jaws and force his mouth open. I used all the power in my left hand to force his mouth open mean while blood started gushing out but I knew it was too late run. I was fighting back. My left hand’s fingers and his upper jaws were all bloody now. Screaming in pain, from the top of his lungs, he let go of my arm. But now, I was the one who had grabbed his jaws, with all the power in me, was trying to split his jaws, face and skull.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTppiynDQrWJRdZp1CLFXIQbEVN7yDj2LPLlxGxT_wKBJ2J7B_UkJm8NlvcmArcfychVSdq5wY-1wOpKyh9JHWO7u3ZHuTe7SN49ZrgiiWESTPnRCTD5fG4ukIegHLDwA6X5-hsw/s1600-h/terrifing+bloody+dead+face.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323082515589692530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 137px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 103px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTppiynDQrWJRdZp1CLFXIQbEVN7yDj2LPLlxGxT_wKBJ2J7B_UkJm8NlvcmArcfychVSdq5wY-1wOpKyh9JHWO7u3ZHuTe7SN49ZrgiiWESTPnRCTD5fG4ukIegHLDwA6X5-hsw/s320/terrifing+bloody+dead+face.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><br />His lover now was frozen and stunned in his place on the bed. I was taken back of how much adrenalin must have been injected into my muscles, to be able to tear his mouth and jaw apart. He was becoming red and blue and his face and was becoming quite disfigured. He was going into shock and losing consciousness. His lover, by now, knew that he had practically destroyed my life and killed me too as well.<br />I gradually calmed down and realized that everything from my decorative and expensive bachelorette pad was missing!<br />It seemed I must have had this penthouse apartment for a while. It was single condo with a very large huge dinning & living room. Why the bed was in the living room? I guess it could’ve been a single apartment. I don’t know, but that‘s all I can tell you about it. I didn’t see any other rooms or a kitchen in my dream! But, I had this intuitive feeling that I must have had this place for a while and my friends used to come and party and crash. All of the expensive decorative paintings and the rest of the furniture, except for the bed and night stands were gone. In my terrifying dream, it was easy for me to put 2 and 2 together to realize that “he” (I can’t remember his name from my dream) must have sold them to satisfy his insidious and incautious coke and drug habit.<br />With my heart beating fast and pounding my chest, I woke up terrified of what had I just dreamed of! It was now 11:55 PM. And all of this was a short terrifying 15 minutes dream! I got up and had a cigarette and pondered about this dream. It had been a long while since I had a such a scary dream. </div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyRnDNt-u5UrdyCLigi0UfabJaBjM0lX_O_lkBSz0is6qcc6ZpAgPkUKdbX2wNex9H2RvAdVGs28upGJFW8dg7VhBnc7fD2yShNLxK-nzafVG_L-O0O17cdC1oDEQrdMWZhnRuQ/s1600-h/an+apocalypse+terrifying+dream.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyRnDNt-u5UrdyCLigi0UfabJaBjM0lX_O_lkBSz0is6qcc6ZpAgPkUKdbX2wNex9H2RvAdVGs28upGJFW8dg7VhBnc7fD2yShNLxK-nzafVG_L-O0O17cdC1oDEQrdMWZhnRuQ/s320/an+apocalypse+terrifying+dream.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323083434245360882" /></a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-11603737041890228032009-03-27T23:57:00.000-07:002009-03-28T06:45:15.053-07:00The Dream of Flight<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfynMqF_w7UX0oJPhd5eHp_JFQFpdRqAeQU1AdOFfYT7loXnCDfNkRVzaJlBYVUWuaEWlgCFvvQvPtk5w1tCnHiXy-B6tEUEU6v0ttcyk8A7GzstUYCOBp1nIh_-ObSBoiRNi6mw/s1600-h/The+Knight%27sDream+by+Antonio+de+Preda_300px-Antonio_de_Pereda_-_The_Knight%2527s_Dream.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfynMqF_w7UX0oJPhd5eHp_JFQFpdRqAeQU1AdOFfYT7loXnCDfNkRVzaJlBYVUWuaEWlgCFvvQvPtk5w1tCnHiXy-B6tEUEU6v0ttcyk8A7GzstUYCOBp1nIh_-ObSBoiRNi6mw/s320/The+Knight%27sDream+by+Antonio+de+Preda_300px-Antonio_de_Pereda_-_The_Knight%2527s_Dream.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318131557697465522" /></a><br />Childhood, Adolescence & Adulthood Dreams or just my dreams at nights.<br />Dreams:<br />The Knight'sDream by Antonio de Preda<br />Read about dream <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream">here</a> in Wikipedia, but I’m talking about another kind of dream & it’s not day dreaming either! <br />For the past year or so, my dreams have become so engaging and fun that I really enjoy them. Everynight, I look forward to another episode full of fun and adventure.<br />The BEST part about it that I become some kind of a super hero-like character. I don’t have any another special powers except the ability to flay and soar above ground at high or low altitudes. I have no special gear or wing or anything either. It’s just a <strong><strong>will</strong></strong> power & a Superman like flight, but I don't go nearly as fast him. The other nice thing about it is that i'm always involved in a pleasant and fun filled adventure. No crary dreams. At times I wake up and I feel like I could write it all done, but the following morning I don’t remember anything except that I had one of those fun dreams.<br /><br />I used to have a different kind of dream (not while sleeping) when I was in high school. I never wanted to be an astronaut, but I wanted to be involve in creation and conception of futuristic space exploration vehicle of some sort and perhaps work for NASA. One of my earlier heroes was <a href=" http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/vonbraun/bio.html">Dr. Werhner von Braun</a>, the German scientist, the designer of the Saturn IV rocket in the Apollo Missions which took the astronauts to the moon. This reminds me of one of my favorite songs David Bowie’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhSYbRiYwTY&feature=related">Space Oddity</a> and hear another gorgeous version by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgJq6v6gA_4"> Natalie Marchant</a>. <br /><br />Here is just an off-the-wall song which has nothing to do with this dream of mine, but it’s a note worthy song, an Artetha Frankling’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuUldCjrmW0">Day Dreaming</a> and when I fly above rivers and lakes I’m reminded of this perhaps for when I land and arrested for speeding: <a href=" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edfxOr-J7zw&feature=related">Bridge over trouble water</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/wb-timeline.html">The Dream of Flight</a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlPjqkrG-YdBZ8muE01fegJxohK3DsqveZCRj8dmK3X4CDQLNG4JfhyphenhyphenpvkaRr-MQP7fXyAFKSlZJamag4_hLXr7Mjveh9GW1qO_nw93HFBCpuvM1uNNVa30Vt0V-j47RXrYUwZw/s1600-h/wb-timeline.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 47px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlPjqkrG-YdBZ8muE01fegJxohK3DsqveZCRj8dmK3X4CDQLNG4JfhyphenhyphenpvkaRr-MQP7fXyAFKSlZJamag4_hLXr7Mjveh9GW1qO_nw93HFBCpuvM1uNNVa30Vt0V-j47RXrYUwZw/s320/wb-timeline.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318134398404616050" /></a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-8261580275822971692008-12-03T18:48:00.000-08:002008-12-03T19:11:10.612-08:00Homeland Security Dependents on God<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtrZBgP8tg8GNvlJ0wiY6LPmrY6QqqRe-e8-R7Ih1OPHU5NQk2Zcjw9SI-CLouR6gQWwRKCFPyT-DI6KljySLKsDb2xTLrj4gt8jtHQmvNoKPmyxdaDBHpgwTr11_FLDv_72YTg/s1600-h/homeland_security.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtrZBgP8tg8GNvlJ0wiY6LPmrY6QqqRe-e8-R7Ih1OPHU5NQk2Zcjw9SI-CLouR6gQWwRKCFPyT-DI6KljySLKsDb2xTLrj4gt8jtHQmvNoKPmyxdaDBHpgwTr11_FLDv_72YTg/s320/homeland_security.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275765368924902802" /></a><br /><br />Atheists sue over reference to God in Kentucky homeland security law.<br /><a href="http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/12/atheists-sue-over-reference-to.html">See Here</a> or <a href="http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/612255.html">Here</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeF_6N2GzfeSXxex72MrsqTSL5wLyeeM-xUy1sxBCK3YhVO7q8WisOKgzEUtkP0mOkKhW4HkxwzNev7q20DMvKW20SMStwArtDsB0pDjrXaCdP_w93uPsbBdlf82akSu0JxFWqQ/s1600-h/homeland+security+advisory+colors.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeF_6N2GzfeSXxex72MrsqTSL5wLyeeM-xUy1sxBCK3YhVO7q8WisOKgzEUtkP0mOkKhW4HkxwzNev7q20DMvKW20SMStwArtDsB0pDjrXaCdP_w93uPsbBdlf82akSu0JxFWqQ/s320/homeland+security+advisory+colors.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275765555990893090" /></a><br />Atheists sue to take God out of state's terrorism law!!!bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-83991409958274339632008-10-28T18:48:00.000-07:002008-10-29T17:03:35.939-07:00John McCain - The Manchurian Candidate (2008)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyeV4zp1i9eWWSdERf9bvLq8hDF2khfTs5YlGYD8BG9Tx6AJzPk_55XR-iZC6RZSxlddKUBboGA4oK22sdC21PmXaKIWLr1EWbh96iNNvcmU6qvyljllKVusULNTkerxG1p6E4Vw/s1600-h/John+Mccain+US+Flag.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyeV4zp1i9eWWSdERf9bvLq8hDF2khfTs5YlGYD8BG9Tx6AJzPk_55XR-iZC6RZSxlddKUBboGA4oK22sdC21PmXaKIWLr1EWbh96iNNvcmU6qvyljllKVusULNTkerxG1p6E4Vw/s320/John+Mccain+US+Flag.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262430240909065522" /></a><br /><br /><b>Look for the similarities between the three <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate">Manchurian Candidates</a> and draw your own conclusion!</b><br /><br />John McCain – The Manchurian Candidate (2008)<br /><br /><b>Plot Summary</b><br /><br /><b><em>While in captivity in Vietnam, was he brainwashed (became a sleeper agent) by the Communists into believing he can run for the President of the United States? Was he ordered to select Sarah Palin (the queen of diamonds/Alaska) as his running mate, a heartbeat away from becoming the next President of the United States? Won’t this result in the biggest blow that the Communists could inflict on the United States?</em></b> <br /><br /><b>Alternate Plot</b><br /><br /><b><em>The Manchurian Candidate 2008 is an American thriller saga about a Republican Party white hair dude’s (John McCain) campaign for the presidency of the United States of America. It is about the Son of a prominent US Navy family who has been brainwashed while in captivity as POW in Vietnam into becoming an unwilling assassin for the Communist Party.<br /><br />The Communists intend to use McCain as a sleeper agent and using the queen of diamonds (queen of Alaska, Sarah Palin) in a political campaign as a subconscious trigger compel him to have a fatal heart attack 24 hours after he was elected the President of the United States and Sarah Palin as his vice president. </em></b><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEgFNnm2wCSGn3F_SXEhSardFRtrOdLILhF5yrNfh25r-KQC7m_7nDZBiL-1qZnKTQDxPYUO3onTqgTMnAgI47_A1RKItkK3NkDtlLPXZdcYB4JaLpDj2dIWbhhB_lUFravB8Lw/s1600-h/John+McCain+%26+Sarah+Palin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEgFNnm2wCSGn3F_SXEhSardFRtrOdLILhF5yrNfh25r-KQC7m_7nDZBiL-1qZnKTQDxPYUO3onTqgTMnAgI47_A1RKItkK3NkDtlLPXZdcYB4JaLpDj2dIWbhhB_lUFravB8Lw/s320/John+McCain+%26+Sarah+Palin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262438590259221026" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain">John Sidney McCain III </a>:<quote>"(born August 29, 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Arizona and presidential nominee of the Republican Party in the 2008 presidential election.<br />McCain graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became a naval aviator, flying ground from aircraft carriers. During the <b>Vietnam War</b>, he nearly lost his life in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. <b><em>In October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, badly injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973, experiencing episodes of torture and refusing an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer; his war wounds left him with lifelong physical limitations.</em></b>"</quote><br /><br />Read about <b>Hanoi Hilton</b>, a name used by the Vietnam War POWs to refer to a North Vietnamese prison <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi_Hilton">here</a>.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxpsBvhSd6Bih6nbsfuhTVsaEjVRIsbmWxx8exiGzxLpPNBikrTKTR6FQxva65ZbRZwKzT-LwQqYr1bYm-DcaFxtueGHm9KBmlNDbeGCp_8pqOaklplWgj7FnrRCMx36FWBGD7A/s1600-h/The_Manchurian_Candidate_1962_movie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 202px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxpsBvhSd6Bih6nbsfuhTVsaEjVRIsbmWxx8exiGzxLpPNBikrTKTR6FQxva65ZbRZwKzT-LwQqYr1bYm-DcaFxtueGHm9KBmlNDbeGCp_8pqOaklplWgj7FnrRCMx36FWBGD7A/s320/The_Manchurian_Candidate_1962_movie.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262391668673898258" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate_(1962_film)">The Manchurian Candidate (1962):</a><br />"<quote>The Manchurian Candidate is a 1959 thriller novel written by Richard Condon, adapted into films in1962 and 2004. It is about the son of a prominent political family who has been brainwashed into becoming an unwilling assassin for the Communist Party. The novel has been banned in communist states "for political reasons" and was "condemned by the American Legion."</quote><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorLYga669z5I8L7-dySgfZ5hV6IyJzxDU-gEHbRT4kYPsg6-xBBox32IS3kmceBbf_FYxjP_PJNOi72nzxGaznfL31diIs4v9F4ovULLoRwNUbvMdawLo9C5cY0CkaRlpALtvyw/s1600-h/1962+-+manchurian+candidate+mgm+logo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorLYga669z5I8L7-dySgfZ5hV6IyJzxDU-gEHbRT4kYPsg6-xBBox32IS3kmceBbf_FYxjP_PJNOi72nzxGaznfL31diIs4v9F4ovULLoRwNUbvMdawLo9C5cY0CkaRlpALtvyw/s320/1962+-+manchurian+candidate+mgm+logo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262392053051720050" /></a><br /><br /><b>Plot summary</b><br />"<quote>Captain Bennett Marco, Sergeant Raymond Shaw and the rest of their platoon are captured during the Korean War in 1952. They are all <b>brainwashed</b> into believing Shaw saved their lives in combat, for which he receives the Medal of Honor when they return to the United States. Years after the war is over, Marco, now an intelligence officer, begins to have a recurring nightmare in which Shaw murders two of his comrades while being watched by Chinese and Russian officials. When he learns that another platoon member has been having the same dream, he sets out to uncover the mystery.<br />The <b>Communists</b> intend to use Shaw as a sleeper agent and, using the <b><em>queen of diamonds</em></b> in a deck of playing cards as a subconscious trigger, compel him to follow their orders, which he does not remember afterwards. Shaw is controlled by none other than his own politically ambitious and domineering mother, who is working with the <b>Communists in a plot to overthrow the U.S. government.</b><br />Film adaptations<br /> The Manchurian Candidate (1962)<br /> The Manchurian Candidate (2004)"<br /></quote><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVWguJSskt7c67BYzW4hDbhQ6qtioQujQ7oP1oVhDqEYHLgaj833UhdTrmUGcAQzUgo2yvQ6CPapr4gj0zw4jvkkqx5_IaqlFPOlnQf0nVejiGRu5WrcZhjb5KA_DvVchzmTv1g/s1600-h/The_Manchurian_Candidate_poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 217px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVWguJSskt7c67BYzW4hDbhQ6qtioQujQ7oP1oVhDqEYHLgaj833UhdTrmUGcAQzUgo2yvQ6CPapr4gj0zw4jvkkqx5_IaqlFPOlnQf0nVejiGRu5WrcZhjb5KA_DvVchzmTv1g/s320/The_Manchurian_Candidate_poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262392680507237682" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate_(2004_film)">The Manchurian Candidate (2004):</a><br /><quote>"The Manchurian Candidate is a 2004 American film based on the 1959 novel The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, and a reimagining of the previous 1962 film. The film stars Denzel Washington as Bennett Marco, a tenacious, virtuous soldier, Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw, a U.S. Representative from New York, manipulated into becoming a vice-presidential candidate, Jon Voight as Tom Jordan, a U.S. Senator and challenger for vice president and Meryl Streep as Eleanor Shaw, also asenator and the manipulative, ruthless mother of Raymond Shaw."</quote><br /><br /><b>Plot</b><br /><quote>"Maj. Ben Marco (Denzel Washington), is a war veteran who begins to doubt what is commonly known about his famous army unit. During Operation Desert Storm, Sergeant First Class Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) supposedly rescued all but two members in his unit, of which Marco was the commanding officer. While this made Shaw a war hero, gained him the Medal of Honor, and launched him into a career in politics, Marco and other members of the troop feel that while they remember that Shaw didrescue them, they do not actually remember him doing it.<br />The members begin to come together in the dystopic near-future of 2008 after Shaw, now a United States Congressman, becomes his party's candidate for Vice-President. He is an unexpected candidate, as Connecticut Senator Tom Jordan (Jon Voight) was the leading choice for some time. Jordan is pushed aside by Shaw's mother, Virginia Senator Eleanor Shaw (Meryl Streep), who blackmails the party leaders into nominating her son. An obvious rivalry exists between Eleanor Shaw and Tom Jordan, partly due to a past relationship between Raymond Shaw and Jordan's daughter Jocelyne (Vera Farmiga).<br />After Shaw is nominated, Marco begins investigating what really happened during the war. Allied with a female FBI agent named Rosie (Kimberly Elise) he links the mystery of his lost platoon to Manchurian Global, a global conglomerate with major political connections, including the Shaw family. Soon Marco discovers Manchurian Global's brainwashing of his "lost" platoon, and their plans to take over the White House with Shaw, under the power of the company and Eleanor Shaw, who is even more power hungry than she appears.<br />Soon Eleanor Shaw begins to take matters into her own hands, trusting Manchurian Global less and less. Her ruthlessness is shown when she uses her own brainwashed son to assassinate Senator Jordan, who had been contacted by Marco and had begun to support his investigation in an attempt to expose her plan. As she becomes more and more controlling, it is soon revealed that the Vice-Presidential spot is not what she has in mind for her son, but the presidency. On election night, the newly elected president will be assassinated, and the planned assassin of Shaw's running mate is none other than Marco himself, who was also brainwashed in the war. With the help of the FBI, Marco arranges a private meeting with Shaw in a school which he was to cast his vote in. Marco tries once again to convince Shaw of what is happening to him. Shaw seems to agree, and gives Marco his Medal of Honor, which he says he does not deserve. Marco takes it, and Shaw receives a phone call from his mother, who wants to talk to Marco. Marco answers it, and is soon "activated" by her.<br />Shaw and Marco begin to regain a conscious state even while under Manchurian Global's control. At the election night celebration party, the newly elected Shaw and Major Marco realize what must be done. Shaw leads his mother onto the stage with him, and Marco fires one shot, killing both of them as they hug. Just before Marco can kill himself (which had been part of Eleanor Shaw's plan), Rosie stops him by shooting him in the shoulder. The FBI covers up Marco's involvement, pinning a Manchurian Global conspirator with the shooting. In the last scene, Rosie takes Marco to the compound he was brainwashed in, apparently in conjunction with the FBI investigating. Marco realizes what has happened, and lets the sea take away a picture of the "lost platoon" along with Shaw's medal of honor as if erasing what happened in that compound."<br /></quote>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-14932044466336661092008-10-22T22:48:00.000-07:002008-10-22T23:27:17.700-07:00The Secret Oil Deal That Helped Sink the Shah of Iran<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQw4R5tjeECrOp2tlCmJ5d5dF4All50KUAxJt02Jbn2U8cPiCw4iTE9TbOaqdIJclXmvNp1XBMtTCz5EwQom2vsQVsLKFihvbin8UBKgltAw1dO3mLNFdJDZadcsUpXKrcp10A0A/s1600-h/Times+Cover+Iran+Struggle+4+Stability.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQw4R5tjeECrOp2tlCmJ5d5dF4All50KUAxJt02Jbn2U8cPiCw4iTE9TbOaqdIJclXmvNp1XBMtTCz5EwQom2vsQVsLKFihvbin8UBKgltAw1dO3mLNFdJDZadcsUpXKrcp10A0A/s320/Times+Cover+Iran+Struggle+4+Stability.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260222885106086754" /></a><br /><b>Showdown at Doha: The Secret Oil Deal That Helped Sink the Shah of Iran</b><br />Article from Middle East Institute – Middle East Journal<br />Author: Andrew Scott Cooper<br />MEI: <br /><quote>“What led to the calamitous drop in Iran’s oil revenues in January 1977? Politics, religion, culture, and economics have been identified as factors contributing to the collapse of Iran’s monarchy in 1979. But, until now scholars have been unable to access documents that shed light on the inner workings of the relationship between senior US officials and the Shah of Iran, who Henry Kissinger lauded as “that rarest of leaders, an unconditional ally, and one whose understanding of the world enhanced our own.”1 The declassification of the papers of Brent Scowcroft, who worked in the Nixon and Ford Administration, marks a significant milestone in our understanding of the origin of the Iranian Revolution. They reveal that in 1976 the US and Saudi Arabia colluded to force down oil prices, inadvertently triggering a financial crisis that destabilized Iran’s economy and weakened the Shah’s hold on power.”</quote><br />Cooper discussed this article on the MEI Podcast: <a href="http://www.mideasti.org/middle-east-journal/article/showdown-doha-the-secret-oil-deal-that-helped-sink-shah-iran">here</a><br /><br /><b><i>Okay, I guess, since the oil prices are high enough; we can now take our country back!</i></b><br /><br />Also covered on radio on <a href="http://kpcc.org">KPCC.ORG</a> – AirTalk hosted by Larry Mantel, Monday Oct. 20, 2008: <br /><b>A New Look At The Fall Of The Shah Of Iran:</b><br /><quote>“In a New Report based on previously classified documents, scholar Andrew Scott Cooper suggests that Nixon and Ford administrations undermined the position of the Shah of Iran in the late 1970s and contributed to the country’s Islamic Revolution. The report published Friday on the fall issue of the Middle East Journal, examines the role of the White House policymakers who, trying to roll back oil prices and curb the Shah’s ambitions weakened his position, thus precipitating the takeover of Iran by Islamic radicals. Andrew Scott Cooper joins Larry to discuss his research.”</quote><br /><a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/">Link to AirTalk</a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-60771049077274957772008-10-16T23:01:00.000-07:002008-10-17T08:50:55.057-07:00P.O.V. on PBS: Soldiers of Conscience<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKUqjc6jd_shB0l9dR0PYSBI7dQg5fMdF_O3UNomoAHgNJOEQMjL_UtWJXPJo5IjHfPegLmI7xqkU2QwXwFwRFATxokIOVzD0ogseDqcgh7zYWR8kDGP8PMvHTcuGhObzX-YvPQ/s1600-h/headermainimage.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258005461465172738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKUqjc6jd_shB0l9dR0PYSBI7dQg5fMdF_O3UNomoAHgNJOEQMjL_UtWJXPJo5IjHfPegLmI7xqkU2QwXwFwRFATxokIOVzD0ogseDqcgh7zYWR8kDGP8PMvHTcuGhObzX-YvPQ/s320/headermainimage.gif" border="0" /></a> <br /><em>Conscientious objector</em><br />When is it right to kill? In the midst of war, is it right to refuse? Eight U.S. soldiers, some of whom have killed and some of whom said no, reveal their inner moral dilemmas in Soldiers of Conscience. Made with official permission of the U.S. Army, the film transcends politics to explore the tension between spiritual values and military orders<br /><br /><em>Desertions</em><br />The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have been the occasion for a growing number of desertions — defined by the military as soldiers absent without leave for more than 30 days. In 2006, the Army reported 3,196 desertions, a sharp increase from two years earlier, which saw 2,357 desertions.<br /><br />POST-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)<br /> "Although the symptoms and syndrome of PTSD have been observed in veterans for hundreds of years, PTSD was not formally recognized as a mental disorder until 1980..."<br /><br /><em>Watching Soldiers of Conscience</em><br />Soldiers of Conscience takes a powerful look at a central drama of our time — how a soldier decides to kill or not, and the life-changing consequences that come with either choice. We asked military chaplains, human rights activists and veterans groups to comment on the film.<br /><br /><b><em>About the Film:</em></b><br /><a href="http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2008/soldiersofconscience/about.html">Soldiers of Consceince</a><br /><br /><br /></div>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-9643428157174800962008-10-06T23:17:00.001-07:002008-10-06T23:28:53.003-07:00Mehregan 2008 - Orange County Southern CaliforniaOctober 11-12, Sat & Sunday <br /><a href="http://www.nipoc.org/mehregan.htm" title="Mehregan 2008 Orange County, CA"><b>Mehregan 2008 Orange County, CA</b></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nipoc.org/mehregan.htm"><img height="60" alt="NIPOC IS A PROUD ORGANIZER & SPONSOR OF MEHREGAN 2008 October 11 and 12, 2008" src="http://www.nipoc.org/mehregan/images/mehregan_2008/mehrgan08_banner-ad-486by60.gif" width="468" border="0" /></a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-48649442325058645792008-09-10T15:41:00.000-07:002008-09-10T21:54:15.310-07:00The Grand Inquisitor's Manual: A History of Terror in the Name of God<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3BQ2BQOEJrYftDOgiTdNpn6CzcOQWomxQwFJ_2VxC3j5kvZtDWD-H_qnaigPxVDuK548YdTwSDqEmJc1QaI6wQWNMyXRA1CK9MkBZ9AHPZdUycH_6tV8Ovl7c8YlWjmDqo8Qs9A/s1600-h/TheGrandInquisitor.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244528759031549762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3BQ2BQOEJrYftDOgiTdNpn6CzcOQWomxQwFJ_2VxC3j5kvZtDWD-H_qnaigPxVDuK548YdTwSDqEmJc1QaI6wQWNMyXRA1CK9MkBZ9AHPZdUycH_6tV8Ovl7c8YlWjmDqo8Qs9A/s320/TheGrandInquisitor.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I was listening to Air Talk on NPR (also on <a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/">KPCC.ORG</a>) today and Larry Mantle was discussing author Jonathan Kirsh’s latest book, “The Grand Inquisitor’s Manual”, with him today. A very interesting discussion, subject, and book. <b>Go figure!</b><br /><br />The point emphasized in this book is to show how power and blind faith can turn human beings into vicious animals and terrorist against others under the guise of righteousness. Sounds familiar? <br /> <br /><b>The Grand Inquisitor’s Manual<br />A History of Terror in the Name of God<br />By Jonathan Kirsch</b><br /><br /><quote>"The inquisitorial apparatus that was first invented in the Middle Ages remained in operation for the next six-hundred years, and it has never been wholly dismantled. As we shall see, an unbroken thread links the friar-inquisitors who set up the rack and the pyre in southern France in the early thirteenth century to the torturers and executioners of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia in the mid-twentieth century. Nor does the thread stop at Auschwitz or the Gulag; it can be traced through the Salem witch trials in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the Hollywood blacklists of the McCarthy era, and even the interrogation cells at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo."<br /></quote><br /><br /><b>Here is more information from the publisher, <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060816995/The_Grand_Inquisitors_Manual/index.aspx">Harper Collins</a>:</b><br /><br /><quote>The twelfth century birthed a new and sinister brand of sanctioned terror, an international network of secret police and courts, an army of inquisitors whose sworn duty was to seek out anyone regarded as an enemy, and a casualty list numbering in the tens of thousands. The original agents of the Inquisition—priests and monks, scribes and notaries, attorneys and accountants, torturers and executioners—were deputized by the Church and their worst excesses were excused as the pardonable sins of soldiers engaged in a holy war against heresy that became the obsession of Christendom. Yet the first rumblings of Western civilization's great engine of persecution provided no indication of the ultimate scope and influence of the inquisitorial toolkit and how the crimes of the first inquisitors were perpetrated again and again into the twentieth century and beyond. Despite the importance of this legacy, the history of the Inquisition remains a subject that has largely been overlooked by general historians.<br />With The Grand Inquisitor's Manual, national bestselling author Jonathan Kirsch delivers a sweeping and provocative history that explores how the Inquisition was honed to perfection and brought to bear on an ever-widening circle of victims by authoritarians in both church and state for over six hundred years. Ranging from the Knights Templar to the first Protestants, from Joan of Arc to Galileo; from the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent women during the Witch Craze to its greatest power in Spain after 1492, when the secret tribunals and torture chambers were directed for the first time against Jews and Muslims to the modern war on terror—Kirsch shows us how the Inquisition stands as a universal and ineradicable symbol of the terror that results when absolute power works its corruptions.<br />The history of the Inquisition is draped in myth and mystery, a favorite theme of both artists and propagandists throughout the six hundred years of its active operations. Yet when we pull aside the veil, what we see are the original blueprints for the machinery of persecution that was invented in the High Middle Ages and applied to human flesh ever since. The Grand Inquisitor's Manual exposes the dangerous circular logic of the Inquisition so that we do not perpetuate its brand of terror.<br /></quote>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-30526870012872786022008-05-15T18:02:00.000-07:002008-05-15T18:28:01.054-07:00A Religion IPO<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikeHbi7Z82DtoQO3aSSunjgn7mYQTN0NEmNMTQGNoAT7BDNAdmr_Tc_Yw8cRQTP5Aipbo8cz_54DXOpfgWWXxeU1BUy1ZHJHqTQtmL_VBUu3uOZSo4aSbJLP4ql3q4fUBKYmTMcQ/s1600-h/religion+pix.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikeHbi7Z82DtoQO3aSSunjgn7mYQTN0NEmNMTQGNoAT7BDNAdmr_Tc_Yw8cRQTP5Aipbo8cz_54DXOpfgWWXxeU1BUy1ZHJHqTQtmL_VBUu3uOZSo4aSbJLP4ql3q4fUBKYmTMcQ/s320/religion+pix.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200780992187896834" /></a><br />A new beginning. Let's ask God to come up with a new religion that we can all agree on. In a way an Initial Public Offering for a new religion we can all worship and believe in. An IPO open to everyone!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWhVMha5S0mGtvtB18x06HBSgDV9QCAqGTn4wan8x-cwmrDegoU0Y_NkbVcuX2XKmSD99GngQJgrLeo8bhHhrAmSqBHOb_GRoM_onoLqHIKb6ZUNMJ1Yq7UfCea_GGePbx2Y4Tg/s1600-h/many+religions+pix.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWhVMha5S0mGtvtB18x06HBSgDV9QCAqGTn4wan8x-cwmrDegoU0Y_NkbVcuX2XKmSD99GngQJgrLeo8bhHhrAmSqBHOb_GRoM_onoLqHIKb6ZUNMJ1Yq7UfCea_GGePbx2Y4Tg/s320/many+religions+pix.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200780777439532018" /></a><br /><br />I like to ask God to please come up with a new religion. Forget about all past deeds and promises. Let’s start with a clean slate and a new religion so we can all share and stop fighting each other. <br /><br />Let's ponder on that for a while and let me know what you all think. I warn you to keep an open mind and no insults allowed. Imagine that!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOVKJdMgA1LKNT8VELhwRyT9AXmbKcpx7MFSLzPWBz7SzHTR2zLuLtICKeNG8ntxH542cT_80AFGI9c7iqnp1cQfWP4eF6UOZlLK-xfChUMbAGXtmHouGlwiBzzXizNAiSvXQrxw/s1600-h/Religion+pix+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOVKJdMgA1LKNT8VELhwRyT9AXmbKcpx7MFSLzPWBz7SzHTR2zLuLtICKeNG8ntxH542cT_80AFGI9c7iqnp1cQfWP4eF6UOZlLK-xfChUMbAGXtmHouGlwiBzzXizNAiSvXQrxw/s320/Religion+pix+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200780064474960866" /></a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-74010920898614711912008-02-22T11:14:00.000-08:002008-02-23T08:55:31.104-08:00Six Under 18 Memes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4BWRuDCuGSuSuOfrJYcsUj-v_bEYeLdAtHJ9L4Ya3bS0pjCv4ZO0H4OTwF9-XOgTLfyUEqE1eB_NlOpBxjbE3Q2mT4iN1p0sDtWuT8UcDNEgp9NmgQjwl8uMzBJax4zU2EJHYg/s1600-h/Orion+Nebula+-+heic0601a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4BWRuDCuGSuSuOfrJYcsUj-v_bEYeLdAtHJ9L4Ya3bS0pjCv4ZO0H4OTwF9-XOgTLfyUEqE1eB_NlOpBxjbE3Q2mT4iN1p0sDtWuT8UcDNEgp9NmgQjwl8uMzBJax4zU2EJHYg/s320/Orion+Nebula+-+heic0601a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169892525435951730" /></a><br /><br />I have been tagged by <a href="http://homeyra.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/under-18/">Foreve Under Construction (Homeyra)</a> to list <b>Six Things One Should Do Before 18</b>. Here are the rules of the game:<br />1. Post these rules before presenting your list.<br />2. List 6 actions or achievements you think every person should accomplish before turning 18.<br />3. There are no conditions on what can be included on the list.<br />4. At the end of your blog, choose 6, or less, people to get tagged and list their names.<br />5. People who are tagged write their own blog entry with their 6 suggestions.<br />6. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged.<br /><br />So far, I have tagged <a href="http://nazykaviani.blogspot.com/">From Berkeley </a> ,<a href="http://makhoudjit.blogspot.com/">Refusenik (Foulla)</a>, <a href=" http://topspot9.blogspot.com/">TopSpot9 (Nyx)</a>, <a href="http://chakamehazimpour.blogspot.com/">Chakameh on the Web</a>, <br /><a href="http://mehrabaneman.blogspot.com/">Mystery</a>, and<br /><a href="http://morewhitematter.blogspot.com/">Dreamtree</a>.<br /> I didn't tell them they’re under no obligation to follow up on this tagging round.<br /><br />Here are my 6+ memes:<br /><br />1. Expand your horizons/mind. You should spend less time watching TV or playing games (computer or game machines, etc.) and dedicate some time to reading. Try to read a few of the classics, Persian or other, but a mixture is better. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtEsaFjQ3JOmCXLVxzETdZ2ubjd_9cyv_mIfmqTFl_DW-NFANAlpvoF_jolTmA-LzKM6wfsoopbjkqRGPQur9pKAMWfIYEX59BNEpkDOjFF_U0AxdudD2Hg_x_To4FrDocgDiAw/s1600-h/Books-in-Winter-Print-C10100600.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtEsaFjQ3JOmCXLVxzETdZ2ubjd_9cyv_mIfmqTFl_DW-NFANAlpvoF_jolTmA-LzKM6wfsoopbjkqRGPQur9pKAMWfIYEX59BNEpkDOjFF_U0AxdudD2Hg_x_To4FrDocgDiAw/s320/Books-in-Winter-Print-C10100600.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169894544070580882" /></a><br /><br />2. Try to learn a musical instrument and even learn to read music. It’ll be much harder if you wait till you’re grow up. It’ll be a great pastime.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDhiVPXqZCV7GNnf7c41g_Iu7dHtFimGrUzYnZX7SEYXE1sooWC9ZZ4LzSZPc50JhCrpltkDHCfQNvuzsRNZUXKj2RZhEYjlA-DS5caqN3DqYnH7-9c9ZzpUbRF0UHQZNY_gaaA/s1600-h/ist2_2113889_vector_music_instruments.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDhiVPXqZCV7GNnf7c41g_Iu7dHtFimGrUzYnZX7SEYXE1sooWC9ZZ4LzSZPc50JhCrpltkDHCfQNvuzsRNZUXKj2RZhEYjlA-DS5caqN3DqYnH7-9c9ZzpUbRF0UHQZNY_gaaA/s320/ist2_2113889_vector_music_instruments.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169895695121816226" /></a><br /><br />3. Become active in sports. I’ve over done this myself.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggJLZlx_slgfw0FaZDQ8FXSTCjidW24MYLnxdnh925tEoz-gZUGUf4woeD86X5W2JiAR8QVGVTU_PqwtSoBDZaZYL_GeY6izOq_R4OeSPgLjdBmtIqvPZg2FiR6rkUSmw4oLM1CA/s1600-h/sports_1_link.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggJLZlx_slgfw0FaZDQ8FXSTCjidW24MYLnxdnh925tEoz-gZUGUf4woeD86X5W2JiAR8QVGVTU_PqwtSoBDZaZYL_GeY6izOq_R4OeSPgLjdBmtIqvPZg2FiR6rkUSmw4oLM1CA/s320/sports_1_link.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169896365136714418" /></a><br /><br />4. Learn some outdoor activities. Try camping, fishing, hiking, anything that brings you closer to the nature (I’m not sure about hunting!)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRRg0dy8jwDQ9zRjYMUUE3ImnJNBsxbxeLOPvArYSQtw83PPzy1cDn_lXi0F-pwezREe7psqfL4bD6v9r44u3CYNcP8iW2dm8extG9MYkgSyhDI-6xJ-fKEGjCGYYZRcxBgXmpA/s1600-h/Nature3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRRg0dy8jwDQ9zRjYMUUE3ImnJNBsxbxeLOPvArYSQtw83PPzy1cDn_lXi0F-pwezREe7psqfL4bD6v9r44u3CYNcP8iW2dm8extG9MYkgSyhDI-6xJ-fKEGjCGYYZRcxBgXmpA/s320/Nature3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169898113188403906" /></a><br /><br />5. Definitely learn a second language.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiAToMucdEZhYstgEyeprDNfYTjo_DLmFR0ktPYRU2_vrPI5aDb9x1sSnXeeMWIK76-R-ssNsZuutNeLPTRANX_Wkc6U1yjslAlnt7CUflQrT-IC58_dyoBHMxFMYvotqlCTA2qg/s1600-h/world_language_map_transparent.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiAToMucdEZhYstgEyeprDNfYTjo_DLmFR0ktPYRU2_vrPI5aDb9x1sSnXeeMWIK76-R-ssNsZuutNeLPTRANX_Wkc6U1yjslAlnt7CUflQrT-IC58_dyoBHMxFMYvotqlCTA2qg/s320/world_language_map_transparent.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169899384498723538" /></a><br /><br />6. Make sure you have a hobby, something you’re passionate about. Something other than reading or already includes in the above list.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis205_ln5qebFDOhGeI-3scf3MXm7E-6O3gsRJmSwF5zTu_CXRe_BfNFVCAkFgaw6x-0v4LrskD0X7-VGua0UyBtri_g8530Ru7D7-m-LXCiPhX4qVeImfafQUgebNjwKuCNIHwg/s1600-h/question%2520cloud.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis205_ln5qebFDOhGeI-3scf3MXm7E-6O3gsRJmSwF5zTu_CXRe_BfNFVCAkFgaw6x-0v4LrskD0X7-VGua0UyBtri_g8530Ru7D7-m-LXCiPhX4qVeImfafQUgebNjwKuCNIHwg/s320/question%2520cloud.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169905075330390754" /></a><br /><br />7. <b>Last but not least, do some star gazing. Look at the heavens.</b><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4N8pAkJEXSF9L9XXKkYIQTtUXvX4EPcoY6wPcEoVoeJri3bif8_d1oiAnQ2Cz6D8VipZ6QWZIErlH9Ofb2IBVRjTEDfzhuAV3Ne3IYoUan1B81913Du0heoaZNmuZA5Q8BWd_Cw/s1600-h/Aldebaran+-+Betelgeuse+-+sirius2h.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4N8pAkJEXSF9L9XXKkYIQTtUXvX4EPcoY6wPcEoVoeJri3bif8_d1oiAnQ2Cz6D8VipZ6QWZIErlH9Ofb2IBVRjTEDfzhuAV3Ne3IYoUan1B81913Du0heoaZNmuZA5Q8BWd_Cw/s320/Aldebaran+-+Betelgeuse+-+sirius2h.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169892774544054914" /></a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-65133912263069005362008-01-07T12:03:00.000-08:002008-01-07T12:23:55.201-08:00Chinese Executions and 2008 Olympics<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVaZeK-aaE5f4UQu-jeamqPB8X3KhsqyBAOuBEcnC0k2lMzZrdfIderP-6KKs_5ezCyUmszwy4YzCkKJTyXC3-wXoWB7yKuuEhEXw0gxqew0NGn7j3E_9hncZBEm812YXWibp8kA/s1600-h/20080107+-+Chinese+Executions+-+Pix+-LA+Times+20080106+Pg+A6+-+34592545.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVaZeK-aaE5f4UQu-jeamqPB8X3KhsqyBAOuBEcnC0k2lMzZrdfIderP-6KKs_5ezCyUmszwy4YzCkKJTyXC3-wXoWB7yKuuEhEXw0gxqew0NGn7j3E_9hncZBEm812YXWibp8kA/s320/20080107+-+Chinese+Executions+-+Pix+-LA+Times+20080106+Pg+A6+-+34592545.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5152828199332587138" /></a><br />Chinese Executions!<br /><br />Some days, life feels like such a struggle. I’m very moved and saddened when I’m reminded of these sort of news when we all just got done celebrating Xmas, the New Year and all other happy occasions. <b>Life goes on, but I’m afraid not for everyone.</b><br /><br />When it comes to capital punishment, I’m sort of an agnostic.<br /><br /><A href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-chinadeath6jan06,0,2939122.story?coll=la-home-center">China shows caution on executions</a>; Facing pressure before the Olympics, Beijing's policy is to 'kill fewer, kill carefully.' Activists urge more legal reforms.<br /><br />I’m not picking on China. Many countries are guilty of this and still practice <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States">Capital Punishment</a>. <br />I just want to say something. How about all those whose punishment should not be death? Once they’re gone there is nothing anyone can do.bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-51839259027973981202007-12-31T10:01:00.000-08:002007-12-31T11:02:35.610-08:00Monika Jalili<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMl1KbhLdruMuctyL9UMBWVb_uZ2geJ_BfYXeVK_GOdsxeTS91oE8TK-mXyuJhoUoJjX2zwjt3sCOs7f9V6zK-eOKcaLT29IfIpbars1NJgAmwp6ItaNtZ46yCAeSG1XYO0XHBLw/s1600-h/Monika-Jalili+-+cover+pix.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMl1KbhLdruMuctyL9UMBWVb_uZ2geJ_BfYXeVK_GOdsxeTS91oE8TK-mXyuJhoUoJjX2zwjt3sCOs7f9V6zK-eOKcaLT29IfIpbars1NJgAmwp6ItaNtZ46yCAeSG1XYO0XHBLw/s320/Monika-Jalili+-+cover+pix.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5150199644987696754" /></a><br />Monika Jalili<br /><a href="http://www.noorsaaz.com/index.html">Monika Jalili: NoorSaaz</a> brings to life the rich history of Iranian culture through its music and poetry. This entrancing selection of songs spans time and place; traditional Persian folk favorites stand alongside love songs from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, a time of great cultural change in Iran. Using traditional and non-traditional instruments, as well as lyrics in Persian, English and French, the artists of NoorSaaz combine their influences to present original interpretations of this music. In this spirit of exploration, NoorSaaz aspires to create understanding through an appreciation of the beauty of Iranian culture. <br />Vocalist:<br />Monika Jalili is a classically trained vocalist born in New York City with a degree in Vocal Performance from The Manhattan School of Music and in French Literature from Columbia University. Monika has been a performer on stage and film since the age of 12 and was a student of the late Beverley Peck Johnson. Her performances have taken her to Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, The Producers Club, The Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, The Moscow Conservatory of Music, The Starlight Roof at the Waldorf Astoria, The Wortham Center (Houston), Wolf Trap (Virginia), The Shubert Theatre (New Haven) and venues throughout Europe, and around the US. She has performed on and been interviewed on many international television and radio programs worldwide. Monika's great love of Persian music and culture led her to create NoorSaaz with Megan Weeder.<br />Rest of the bios:<a href="http://www.noorsaaz.com/bios.html">Monika Jalili Noorsaz</a><br /><br />Listen to here beautiful voice here. These are some great songs: <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc1zCfKM_FY">Solatneh Ghalba-ha</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vIOUmV0t5E&feature=related">Janeh Maryam</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdtGiIgKs9M">Daryacheye Noor & Gole Gandom</a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-44784944273641245362007-12-27T19:58:00.000-08:002007-12-27T20:13:35.291-08:00Benazir Bhutto<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20Ntm4lIJfkzU_Bvz84Y5W0KthXQu0fk0SsyPq-ilgjtbiQQzkuimfrDdmENIRPaSwZLiG5EwxXd36mN25Sfg90V5M1sAXDDKbJuLMRt42xbFYJ8Ysni_CepqILjcuTubzdOfRw/s1600-h/portrait_hr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20Ntm4lIJfkzU_Bvz84Y5W0KthXQu0fk0SsyPq-ilgjtbiQQzkuimfrDdmENIRPaSwZLiG5EwxXd36mN25Sfg90V5M1sAXDDKbJuLMRt42xbFYJ8Ysni_CepqILjcuTubzdOfRw/s320/portrait_hr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148868699047175778" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto">Benazir Bhutto</a><br />I’m so sorry. I’m speech less. I don’t know what to say. This is a very very sad day for all of us. What is it with these people? Which God can condone this kind of act? What a bunch of savages! Like father like daughter.bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-70719541743996861722007-12-23T10:57:00.000-08:002007-12-25T16:50:57.299-08:00I Lost That Recipe!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OlyVx7KCB7Sw5mJCDg-NQdfomY72RjMGLu97g06uKg2K-DnKRJ5XayGXXo1ZbrVHhqy096B5Y_jzQoXqXW5Knji7Xj6ZMn7Q9RcrDDSnzVNfcDqK1fz-N22RlG-foA4JAeEvjA/s1600-h/Richard+Harris+as+Professor+Dumbledor+in+Harry+Potter.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OlyVx7KCB7Sw5mJCDg-NQdfomY72RjMGLu97g06uKg2K-DnKRJ5XayGXXo1ZbrVHhqy096B5Y_jzQoXqXW5Knji7Xj6ZMn7Q9RcrDDSnzVNfcDqK1fz-N22RlG-foA4JAeEvjA/s320/Richard+Harris+as+Professor+Dumbledor+in+Harry+Potter.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147245368913012210" /></a><br /><br /><strong>I can't remember my oatmeal recipe! </strong>Was it, 1 part water, 1 part milk, 1 part oats, a dash of salt, little cinnamon, and some honey, in a pot on low heat slowly warmed and stirred until ready?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyd5Is1ZTeAOycM2M17DtHRlXRr9H6CTPGLPe5LSDmG2c6R6fWvsZzUcGA39Ka8uq7zRyKDcYAf4ZxB7D43_xn_b-MVVKGltORYOiBTXRP_l89KxhyIgyo5685eQlBdPU-4zMS6g/s1600-h/Quaker+Oats+-+Oatmeal.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyd5Is1ZTeAOycM2M17DtHRlXRr9H6CTPGLPe5LSDmG2c6R6fWvsZzUcGA39Ka8uq7zRyKDcYAf4ZxB7D43_xn_b-MVVKGltORYOiBTXRP_l89KxhyIgyo5685eQlBdPU-4zMS6g/s320/Quaker+Oats+-+Oatmeal.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147332668418270802" /></a><br /><br />This reminds me of this song:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaZim6ybvdA">Mac Arthur Park by Donna Summer</a><br /><br />This same song, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHS8hj4TdT8">Mac Arthur Park</a> also performed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Harris_(actor)">Richard Harris.</a> <br /><br /><em>So, is it Checkers or Chinese Checkters or does it matter?</em><br /><br />How sad that the new generation, perhaps, only remembers him by his most current roles in Harry Potter as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albus_Dumbledore">Albus Dumbledore!</a><br /><br />Camelot:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhCEUiW8Kx8IgyXMw9wha6DrEMqyHCvYIgtAPu-04JE1VUUihFSmsMcAbBp5XaCaw7MyMPECwa-IzYIbsTtE0ZxHBGrmo8QGxL6XAPfsQKY3_EJwuDvSCftayg_CSW1aLBmqD7Q/s1600-h/Camelot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhCEUiW8Kx8IgyXMw9wha6DrEMqyHCvYIgtAPu-04JE1VUUihFSmsMcAbBp5XaCaw7MyMPECwa-IzYIbsTtE0ZxHBGrmo8QGxL6XAPfsQKY3_EJwuDvSCftayg_CSW1aLBmqD7Q/s320/Camelot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147246657403201058" /></a><br /><br />With Vanessa Redgrave:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93t23uyZhPcNpx6YmzvVRlsK8CDkrceaTNfiNqe0kCUY10FAEakGurR6iWA5eqJ13Z42gmjTzlLOoNoDcMum7UxqjEInBgQFPuI9XCI9GOMVuk4atDp3Jh88ZDSLl4CzWEzroXQ/s1600-h/Richard+Harris+%26+Vanessa+Redgrave+-+B%26W+-+sjff_03_img1122.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93t23uyZhPcNpx6YmzvVRlsK8CDkrceaTNfiNqe0kCUY10FAEakGurR6iWA5eqJ13Z42gmjTzlLOoNoDcMum7UxqjEInBgQFPuI9XCI9GOMVuk4atDp3Jh88ZDSLl4CzWEzroXQ/s320/Richard+Harris+%26+Vanessa+Redgrave+-+B%26W+-+sjff_03_img1122.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147245785524839954" /></a><br />As Professor Dumbledore:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOvAhZ10b42zGGf78zce0W-TEDlAO16j3vJ4ySzxzJLub5NoFlDZXC8pL4FU0jvMTwfjcC_TeOpGr4M0P_o5o36pDVGuEXtwctVf_f8A4HMjTgLVfXTDg7nwmFhTTh7h0smCrlQ/s1600-h/Dumbledore_and_Elder_Wand.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOvAhZ10b42zGGf78zce0W-TEDlAO16j3vJ4ySzxzJLub5NoFlDZXC8pL4FU0jvMTwfjcC_TeOpGr4M0P_o5o36pDVGuEXtwctVf_f8A4HMjTgLVfXTDg7nwmFhTTh7h0smCrlQ/s320/Dumbledore_and_Elder_Wand.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147251605205526066" /></a><br /><br />On a totally unrelated subject but somehow a ubiquitous nagging in my head to include it here, I present to you: <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxPOj7iSefWlkWotm3jjAb38EgNSbxffQ5uf0J6TmlK8cRomQP7BliIcHXgad_tJrKnD1Dx4knAUt1iOkTjzwgoxqkZlv21ThS29dtA-gWhdoR1KyH2Lq4cnBcRmWFraWPv2ttQ/s1600-h/ist2_1683276_mouse_and_cheese.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxPOj7iSefWlkWotm3jjAb38EgNSbxffQ5uf0J6TmlK8cRomQP7BliIcHXgad_tJrKnD1Dx4knAUt1iOkTjzwgoxqkZlv21ThS29dtA-gWhdoR1KyH2Lq4cnBcRmWFraWPv2ttQ/s320/ist2_1683276_mouse_and_cheese.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147331027740763714" /></a><br /><br /><a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Moved_My_Cheese>Who Moved My Cheese? </a> a “Self-Improvement” book that has nothing to do with cheese, but a lot with your mind that I was once asked to read to help learn to cope and resolve challenges arising from working with and managing people.bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-78469674416380437532007-11-18T20:03:00.000-08:002007-12-02T15:42:50.264-08:00A Tale of Two Cities<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities">A tale of two cities</a>; <em>a tale of two lovers, </em>what an irony!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEs3TG5M9CyQFKr9bsKWGTdE75lOepJhBRRbXkLH3rL4ZVZqnvKfXkDnhB_kbl7aF5Bx_xLjbPk4ve-b-JYAv2N-5nVh2XI7Mmg6AE208XwDsMFo9Mkv31_pReNVKr4V_a_D1M6g/s1600-r/Saturday+17-Nov-2007~My+Inspiration+My+Agony-A+Day+to+Remember.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CBojKBvm-Xr0guQeHSVUsnfXczsH5W2siidRhbPewDdOunWBivUPnnVqPzHxodViqu8KOR7gRm5Uc9i_DlyT0SIQpwu-KB7ydHnOMnVL_4a_lcLePIBJqQ1PaLONIAmdO2Z4JA/s320/Saturday+17-Nov-2007~My+Inspiration+My+Agony-A+Day+to+Remember.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139519285894507378" /></a><br />It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of understanding, it was the age of innocence; it was the period of belief, it was the time of disbelief; it was the season of happiness, it was the season of misery; it was the spring of confidence, it was the winter of agony; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to paradise, we were all going the other way.<br /><br />Another chapter in my life.bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-23090428042906993312007-11-18T17:14:00.000-08:002007-11-18T19:56:11.580-08:00Desiderata - An Inspirational Piece!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mg9IuIy976IU14eqr_-JqbjWhshiIhyphenhyphenARCQLPBKFCxxrkglQt1OGZLLTSAO59nwTR9AAFIVkSY7B3SAFd-qXEo-FwJiYWMmdD-FknyN_b0YSto-pqT6659v2qUAyfHOEtpUHhA/s1600-h/300px-The_Inspiration_of_Saint_Matthew_by_Caravaggio.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134386345740862658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mg9IuIy976IU14eqr_-JqbjWhshiIhyphenhyphenARCQLPBKFCxxrkglQt1OGZLLTSAO59nwTR9AAFIVkSY7B3SAFd-qXEo-FwJiYWMmdD-FknyN_b0YSto-pqT6659v2qUAyfHOEtpUHhA/s320/300px-The_Inspiration_of_Saint_Matthew_by_Caravaggio.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br />See and listen to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiv2dgctyIc">Desiderata</a> – A Very Inspirational Piece. (<em>No Comments!</em>)<br />Well, maybe just one comment, I can’t help it. Is this another inspirational BS <em>fluff,</em> am I being <em>just cynical,</em> or <em>just more sentimental?</em> Who knows?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSTxG0M66rxmecENPMnXAn-Hqlt3rf95QOTejH5Kt3Nqc-wHfGgLd0y-q5vPQWITZb6ORi6dXi4K517CgzgEAYly1km0GsB4pMYFGHNf4ykLl2XHBYs8CM3Nkor5T8eZVBKijww/s1600-h/Old+Inspiration+-+Yosemite+National+Park+-+20184056.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134374938307724434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSTxG0M66rxmecENPMnXAn-Hqlt3rf95QOTejH5Kt3Nqc-wHfGgLd0y-q5vPQWITZb6ORi6dXi4K517CgzgEAYly1km0GsB4pMYFGHNf4ykLl2XHBYs8CM3Nkor5T8eZVBKijww/s320/Old+Inspiration+-+Yosemite+National+Park+-+20184056.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>By Max Ehrmann, 1924</strong><br />Go placidly amid the noise and haste,<br />and remember what peace there may be in silence.<br />As far as possible without surrender<br />be on good terms with all persons.<br />Speak your truth quietly and clearly;<br />and listen to others,<br />even the dull and the ignorant;<br />they too have their story.<br />Avoid loud and aggressive persons,<br />they are vexations to the spirit.<br />If you compare yourself with others,<br />you may become vain and bitter;<br />for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.<br />Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.<br />Keep interested in your own career, however humble;<br />it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.<br />Exercise caution in your business affairs;<br />for the world is full of trickery.<br />But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;<br />many persons strive for high ideals;<br />and everywhere life is full of heroism.<br />Be yourself.<br />Especially, do not feign affection.<br />Neither be cynical about love;<br />for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment<br />it is as perennial as the grass.<br />Take kindly the counsel of the years,<br />gracefully surrendering the things of youth.<br />Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.<br />But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.<br />Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.<br />Beyond a wholesome discipline,<br />be gentle with yourself.<br />You are a child of the universe,<br />no less than the trees and the stars;<br />you have a right to be here.<br />And whether or not it is clear to you,<br />no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.<br />Therefore be at peace with God,<br />whatever you conceive Him to be,<br />and whatever your labors and aspirations,<br />in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.<br />With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,<br />it is still a beautiful world.<br />Be cheerful.<br />Strive to be happy.<br /><br />Max Ehrmann, 1924<br />VERY INSPIRATIONAL PIECE...<br /><br />(and Our own very 'Inspiration Point' at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park">Yosemite National Park</a> a must see place in California. Checkout <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">California's Yosemite National Park</a> for more info. Here is a picure of <a href="http://www.webportal.com/ahwahnee/">Ahwahnee Hotel</a> at Inpiration Point)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4I_2DbPUU7iKVspqkThqDQUN4S9teG9orUgHNCdr12il-EEtlIhw6U2uw2i5RzwdQPeLlAUr3ys-z63Fmn_f7yMkU6ahjd329CpXx-zcgZbrdwsMoUWXKyklWHBDC8xuqm6HCwA/s1600-h/Yosemite+National+Park+-+USA+-+Ahwahnee+Hotel+-+20184117.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134375793006216354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4I_2DbPUU7iKVspqkThqDQUN4S9teG9orUgHNCdr12il-EEtlIhw6U2uw2i5RzwdQPeLlAUr3ys-z63Fmn_f7yMkU6ahjd329CpXx-zcgZbrdwsMoUWXKyklWHBDC8xuqm6HCwA/s320/Yosemite+National+Park+-+USA+-+Ahwahnee+Hotel+-+20184117.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><em><strong>The Confused History... </strong>(goes with the CONFUSED BLOG)</em><br /><br /><br /><blockquote><br /><strong>The Confused History of "Desiderata:"</strong><br />The author is Max Ehrmann, a poet and lawyer from Terre Haute, Indiana, who lived from 1872 to 1945. It has been reported that Desiderata was inspired by an urge that Ehrmann wrote about in his diary:<br /><br />"I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift -- a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods."<br /><br />Around 1959, the Rev. Frederick Kates, the rector of St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, used the poem in a collection of devotional materials he compiled for his congregation. (Some years earlier he had come across a copy of Desiderata.) At the top of the handout was the notation, "Old St. Paul's Church, Baltimore A.C. 1692." The church was founded in 1692. [1]<br /><br />As the material was handed from one friend to another, the authorship became clouded. Copies with the "Old St. Paul's Church" notation were printed and distributed liberally in the years that followed. It is perhaps understandable that a later publisher would interpret this notation as meaning that the poem itself was found in Old St. Paul's Church, dated 1692. This notation no doubt added to the charm and historic appeal of the poem, despite the fact that the actual language in the poem suggests a more modern origin. The poem was popular prose for the "make peace, not war" movement of the 1960s.<br /><br />When Adlai Stevenson died in 1965, a guest in his home found a copy of Desiderata near his bedside and discovered that Stevenson had planned to use it in his Christmas cards. The publicity that followed gave widespread fame to the poem as well as the mistaken relationship to St. Paul's Church. [1]<br /><br />As of 1977, the rector of St. Paul's Church was not amused by the confusion. Having dealt with the confusion "40 times a week for 15 years," he was sick of it. [1]<br /><br />This misinterpretation has only added to the confusion concerning whether or not the poem is in the public domain.<br /><br /><strong>By the way, Desiderata is Latin for "Things to be Desired."</strong><br /><br /><em>Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.</em><br /></blockquote><br /><br />Q: Bijan, <strong>thou art</strong> such A hypocrite! A: Why, can’t one be benevolent and like Lamborghinis too?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1b99dZ7cDMDFiqzunGsCo1gz-BwLPFMvPIwO1TI4mI9lLPuxuyETfs15lPbTrgWbLmTV3Ud1_HNyE-Mgqj428TbSI-eHJJ10gCjSDUsXxTDBH5p2hisTJmvfbRstInmjUr83_EQ/s1600-h/Inspirational_Quote_and_Lamborghini_Murcielago_1600x1200.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134383154580161714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1b99dZ7cDMDFiqzunGsCo1gz-BwLPFMvPIwO1TI4mI9lLPuxuyETfs15lPbTrgWbLmTV3Ud1_HNyE-Mgqj428TbSI-eHJJ10gCjSDUsXxTDBH5p2hisTJmvfbRstInmjUr83_EQ/s320/Inspirational_Quote_and_Lamborghini_Murcielago_1600x1200.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><strong>Oh Lord! Save me from myself! Can I count on you? Are you Just? Is this true?</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Manley_Hopkins">Gerard Manley Hopkins</a> <br /><em>Wiki's own note: It has been claimed that some or all of this article or section is incoherent and not understandable, and should possibly be reworded if the intended meaning can be determined.</em><br /><br /><strong>Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). Poems. 1918.</strong><br /> <br />50. <strong>‘Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend’</strong><br /> <br /><em>Justus quidem tu es, Domine, si disputem tecum: verumtamen justa loquar ad te: Quare via impiorum prosperatur? &c.</em><br /><br /><blockquote><strong>THOU art indeed just</strong>, Lord, if I contend <br />With thee; but, sir, so what I plead is just. <br />Why do sinners’ ways prosper? and why must <br />Disappointment all I endeavour end? <br /> <br /> Wert thou my enemy, O thou my friend,<br />How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost <br />Defeat, thwart me? Oh, the sots and thralls of lust <br />Do in spare hours more thrive than I that spend, <br />Sir, life upon thy cause. See, banks and brakes <br />Now leavèd how thick! lacèd they are again<br />With fretty chervil, look, and fresh wind shakes <br />Them; birds build—but not I build; no, but strain, <br />Time’s eunuch, and not breed one work that wakes. <br />Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain <br /></blockquote>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-4442798039974739472007-10-26T18:45:00.000-07:002009-11-15T10:50:11.995-08:00Narcissism<blockquote><br /><strong>XLIII. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."<br />by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)<br /></strong><br />How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.<br />I love thee to the depth and breadth and height<br />My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight<br />For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.<br />I love thee to the level of everyday's<br />Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.<br />I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;<br />I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.<br />I love thee with a passion put to use<br />In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.<br />I love thee with a love I seemed to lose<br />With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,<br />Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,<br />I shall but love thee better after death.<br /><br /></blockquote><br /><strong>About Narcissism: </strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjjsepbbAiPr7-TcfQDvSSOIQ17ZRrZAwwwdYDTHfiA9mKHWR7EZfFXA4mGHJkxnh-qZeZB_SulkMHwkLkF96HkTxeLY-fQEaENhXZVor3MP8XYXo2pJqQ0nEeztpt98qXYG8Quw/s1600-h/scoop+pix.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125848258037535410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjjsepbbAiPr7-TcfQDvSSOIQ17ZRrZAwwwdYDTHfiA9mKHWR7EZfFXA4mGHJkxnh-qZeZB_SulkMHwkLkF96HkTxeLY-fQEaENhXZVor3MP8XYXo2pJqQ0nEeztpt98qXYG8Quw/s320/scoop+pix.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I picked up that line on this movie, <a href="http://www.scoopmovie.net/">Scoop</a>, one of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen">Woody Allen’s</a> latest movies (the movie (hint: In a party, as he is talking to bunch of new people and he is exif not the last, but I don’t know that for sure and who cares!) with <strong>Scarlet Johansson:):);)</strong> See if you can pick up that line in plaining describing himself…)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglAcmTR8LF6wqZY77J3clrQZhS-ZjWqQsSujOfNVfgGCKmVu5zNxi-EDGBUjFYMZttLKZoT_cfJHCsbwewgWYawe9fSuynENeJpvbEr544xwB9crKymwu101WADFo1AQqbGOisbg/s1600-h/Scarlett-Johansson-n-Woody-Allen-01.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125851174320329410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglAcmTR8LF6wqZY77J3clrQZhS-ZjWqQsSujOfNVfgGCKmVu5zNxi-EDGBUjFYMZttLKZoT_cfJHCsbwewgWYawe9fSuynENeJpvbEr544xwB9crKymwu101WADFo1AQqbGOisbg/s320/Scarlett-Johansson-n-Woody-Allen-01.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And don’t get me started on her cause I’ll start to moan and groan! Now there is a woman, and I might add a very beautiful, sexy, and young woman after my heart (Not!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisn5EkIMRLdL5urfTh73eO-qczM-D2VixnAJ-vEtL2_NQk_gpy0vvPufYjdSzWTlCJAVCp5-Ju-yZDgUg8IpGxtFeNTdnx3NyATfiugPNuKD9swn-8MrsqAV7hR5IBeVN0VSBJ_A/s1600-h/Scarlet+Johansen+-+1+-+1563898429_61a5a19512.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125846346777088674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisn5EkIMRLdL5urfTh73eO-qczM-D2VixnAJ-vEtL2_NQk_gpy0vvPufYjdSzWTlCJAVCp5-Ju-yZDgUg8IpGxtFeNTdnx3NyATfiugPNuKD9swn-8MrsqAV7hR5IBeVN0VSBJ_A/s320/Scarlet+Johansen+-+1+-+1563898429_61a5a19512.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><em>A big lie!</em><br /><br />Well ever since I broke up with <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=heidi+klum&hl=en&rlz=1T4HPIC_en___US241&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title">Heidi</a>, a have been seeing a lot of Scarlet, as much as my schedule and trips allows me. And, I have made it very clear to her to not to lose herself over me, because I’m not into serious relationships. I have my reasons, but that’s for me to know and you to find out;)<br /><br />And, Scarlet, my dear love, if you happen to read this, please don’t get all upset and pick the phone and ask me to explain, because I know I have made myself very clear. Besides you’re too young for me and I’m not into starting a family all over again. So, sweetheart, I’m sorry to break your heart all over again (if you happen to read this on location), but you should have listened to me. Anyhow, no more about us, since this was mostly about <strong>Moi</strong>!<br /><br /><em>You wish!</em><br />"Aarezo bar javanan aeib neest", There is no shame to aiming high or you can’t fault young & playful wishes, or something like that!<br /><br />Old Flame:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAb_VoFyNOqSgBxKnIx3tW7lp8odowFJBME1pyrxfC1iXjXaBdZmILikUmCGOrl_cBu0WbSjDx_VO0qBw-ilhcmA5B0m8ccL8YF44a4yzl4UfNxSwa8qwMwCCKrlz6XMfeXsuIA/s1600-h/heidi-klum+-+old+flame.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125852059083592402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAb_VoFyNOqSgBxKnIx3tW7lp8odowFJBME1pyrxfC1iXjXaBdZmILikUmCGOrl_cBu0WbSjDx_VO0qBw-ilhcmA5B0m8ccL8YF44a4yzl4UfNxSwa8qwMwCCKrlz6XMfeXsuIA/s320/heidi-klum+-+old+flame.jpg" border="0" /></a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-85998528289579028502007-10-26T01:24:00.000-07:002007-10-26T01:27:28.052-07:00Military Attack on Iran - An email from a friend<em><strong>email from mjshahidiusa@aol.com</strong></em><br /><br /><blockquote><strong>EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:</strong>I am sorry to send you this ominous message. And, I beg you to forward it to others.<br />A U.S. military attack on Iran is about to take place. The U.S. armed forces are waiting for President Bush's "Execute Command" order. Some reporters as well as former intelligence and military official are saying so.<br /><br />Even though the majority of the American people are against it, a small but powerful lobby is pushing for it.<br /><br />Please contact your political and community leaders and explain to them that a military attack on Iran will bring retaliation against Israel and U.S. personnel in the area and cause worldwide economic depression. Iran has the capability to do severe damage to U.S. allies in the region. The entire Middle East will be thrown into chaos and bloodshed for decades. Such action, now, would be madness.<br />There is still time for diplomacy. Let the U.N. and other negotiating groups do their work.<br /><br />I will explain this issue on Twin Cities Public Television, Ch. 17 or 13, at 10:30 p.m. tonight. <br /><br /></blockquote>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-23699698628133639402007-10-24T20:31:00.001-07:002007-10-26T16:54:46.509-07:00Top 10 Cancer Fighting Foods (& more!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx9UR9G6DOW2l9l4esPvnSOtjkBtor18drEHjO3hou-gVgN3F0AaStfQ-Nml9e37uSThe2gIPuu4wX1WdNv4A5_9IH9Z6Rb7sv3WObYDX8ilp_S6d8rt3m_Q1WJiMopIaOMAhfIQ/s1600-h/20071024+-+Fight_Cancer+-+The+Top+10+Cancer+Fighting+Foods.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125114183702139474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx9UR9G6DOW2l9l4esPvnSOtjkBtor18drEHjO3hou-gVgN3F0AaStfQ-Nml9e37uSThe2gIPuu4wX1WdNv4A5_9IH9Z6Rb7sv3WObYDX8ilp_S6d8rt3m_Q1WJiMopIaOMAhfIQ/s320/20071024+-+Fight_Cancer+-+The+Top+10+Cancer+Fighting+Foods.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Top 10 Cancer Fighting Foods & there is more to this blog than the <strong>title</strong> may suggest!<br /><br />Is this really true? I like to challenge everyone to share their thoughts and beliefs on this subject. You don’t need to limit your comments to just these ten items. I’m even interested in the Oldwives’ tales as well! Are you into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food">Organic Food? </a>What does that mean? What really constitute organic? <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbPjnf0ssCiX3SG_t-M6W_Lqq0nfqIXnDljyZ8urJaVfGtDpArzl12BXezG3HHK8AXtwUV4nfGGL2sC8MMvARc9SOFFn1SbY8AP1i5w80eVnJwAf4J3v6b-EWSluntHCfX8y30g/s1600-h/A+Typical+Chemical+Compound.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125795554493846130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbPjnf0ssCiX3SG_t-M6W_Lqq0nfqIXnDljyZ8urJaVfGtDpArzl12BXezG3HHK8AXtwUV4nfGGL2sC8MMvARc9SOFFn1SbY8AP1i5w80eVnJwAf4J3v6b-EWSluntHCfX8y30g/s320/A+Typical+Chemical+Compound.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Isn’t it, after all, all made out of similar <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_compound#Nature_of_a_chemical_compound">Chemical Compounds?</a> Is Caw shit fertilizer superior to other chemical fertilizers or are all pesticides that harmful? What do you think about companies like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_Daniels_Midland">ADM</a>, the super market to the world? What about genetically engineered foods? What is the tradeoff here?<br /><br />Are you into recycling and saving the planet? I am, but my belief is that for anyone of like me, there is one who drives gas guzzlers and pullouts just enough to ruin my efforts. That’s okay too! I assume we cancel each other out and at the end it all balances itself. We can’t all be perfect! Just as there is one war monger amongst us, there is one who does <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International">Amnesty International</a> and other peaceful efforts (i.e., <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/">Greenpeace organization</a>) to make up for the damages cost for the other. I like what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bono">Bono</a> is doing and I admire people like my friend Jay Shahidi who is involved as dedicates time and effort as much he can afford. When I grow up, I like to be just like them! I’m not too sure about <a href="http://www.michaelmoore.com/">Michael Moore</a> though! Well, how about <a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/">Al Gore? </a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGJbzjDjUbAvA2Ej6V7MX7RI8iIWvB_HzJ3gLXjO5XV1MDqY8eYOD4APB-ankF0PmAi2kU84qGb5ifYiCJREA4yXTyDhPoPnpTLRwg4c-iofZZ0O0YqQIM4qt89Q2XgKKNo66JQ/s1600-h/The+Nobel+Peace+Price+2007+-+ipcc.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125116764977484386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGJbzjDjUbAvA2Ej6V7MX7RI8iIWvB_HzJ3gLXjO5XV1MDqY8eYOD4APB-ankF0PmAi2kU84qGb5ifYiCJREA4yXTyDhPoPnpTLRwg4c-iofZZ0O0YqQIM4qt89Q2XgKKNo66JQ/s320/The+Nobel+Peace+Price+2007+-+ipcc.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Last but not least, solar energy and conservation!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilMixgl_WI4INolol8Xa2Mn9_derg0ycqK9VJSE41E-rXNGnKW38hyphenhyphenT1HjVk3627urjiqCGVy8YBk4Mp8FSoS5E92Sxa8wKyu-KDNLPaOTaon6YtY72kZU3H7O9DDvOkIzTpvS6Q/s1600-h/ADM-logo_cirR_2CP.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125114016198414914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilMixgl_WI4INolol8Xa2Mn9_derg0ycqK9VJSE41E-rXNGnKW38hyphenhyphenT1HjVk3627urjiqCGVy8YBk4Mp8FSoS5E92Sxa8wKyu-KDNLPaOTaon6YtY72kZU3H7O9DDvOkIzTpvS6Q/s320/ADM-logo_cirR_2CP.png" border="0" /></a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-78531745910795360812007-10-08T17:56:00.000-07:002008-11-30T12:57:01.337-08:00Hearst Castle - First Mini Vacation In July<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCBlpO0np7diHpUCKB1ppFkzuIbmI4SrXQa7JxZIAKq4mklKVSrB7HYPCrOtGWRysEPju5Fas2ZalmRNLkD9hBcculB98CGzfATSvG1zK-zHrOYj_pAE8qAvH1G7MJsBgn6x1Jg/s1600-h/800px-Hearst_Castle02.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCBlpO0np7diHpUCKB1ppFkzuIbmI4SrXQa7JxZIAKq4mklKVSrB7HYPCrOtGWRysEPju5Fas2ZalmRNLkD9hBcculB98CGzfATSvG1zK-zHrOYj_pAE8qAvH1G7MJsBgn6x1Jg/s320/800px-Hearst_Castle02.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274555406933395058" /></a><br /><br />(Correction after a blogger comment!) + another link to <a href="http://www.hearstcastle.org/">H.C.</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ5YebmQ9gI6ZzEId5Vl9WpG12cuDCJPS3PHFtX3DosVuXIk9EGEp5TlmV_SPo5t7rAsIVmrjKlDGWB8V437P5PSSiYnTpyfg8sbzFOY9QRI7tSif6hQDE44BNfoql7h7KIgjFBg/s1600-h/Hearst+Castle+-+Main+Pix.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ5YebmQ9gI6ZzEId5Vl9WpG12cuDCJPS3PHFtX3DosVuXIk9EGEp5TlmV_SPo5t7rAsIVmrjKlDGWB8V437P5PSSiYnTpyfg8sbzFOY9QRI7tSif6hQDE44BNfoql7h7KIgjFBg/s320/Hearst+Castle+-+Main+Pix.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119148798053742898" /></a> Neuschwanstein in Germany (a comment by a blogger pointed out my error?)<br /><br />Hearst Castle - The Pool:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBd4O2UOHfPuLrWqHZ0Sh6A59zDQWFkhiAyYAYNLApa02nMQFCipps4qyLgW1s0x7s6C7G9FhcHCJPUCEwfVapOK2YyLizEVD8J9FdRA4In95hZt1Q3FZcCgNyDftqsS7llpl1wA/s1600-h/Pool+Pix+-+45504362_ef8f4628ce.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBd4O2UOHfPuLrWqHZ0Sh6A59zDQWFkhiAyYAYNLApa02nMQFCipps4qyLgW1s0x7s6C7G9FhcHCJPUCEwfVapOK2YyLizEVD8J9FdRA4In95hZt1Q3FZcCgNyDftqsS7llpl1wA/s320/Pool+Pix+-+45504362_ef8f4628ce.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119148213938190626" /></a><br /><<br />First Mini Vacation this (last) summer in July! Sorry! I’ve been busy! Better late than never! Too many exclamations! Well, I just let the pictures to speak for themselves ;) <a href=” http://www.hearstcastle.org/”>Hearst Castle in San Simian.</a> A MUST SEE PLACE! (Oomret be fanahe ageh ino nabini!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVfiSbYJN_1Wzm9V_zUfpyqqzvFf2QEXfHq4KMGDYmnbOU00PSQ_tAjGk8HovcRZmJmiXjsZhHEp7G93Tm18eTGcl0knC_K8fTFaZFtEuFtZtRdSUscjfzDj2CoiXSRvJHyeOyg/s1600-h/Picture+054.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVfiSbYJN_1Wzm9V_zUfpyqqzvFf2QEXfHq4KMGDYmnbOU00PSQ_tAjGk8HovcRZmJmiXjsZhHEp7G93Tm18eTGcl0knC_K8fTFaZFtEuFtZtRdSUscjfzDj2CoiXSRvJHyeOyg/s320/Picture+054.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119139851636865218" /></a><br />First Mini Vacation this (last) summer in July! Sorry! I’ve been busy! Better late than never! Too many exclamations! Well, I just let the pictures to speak for themselves ;)<br /><br />It’s way back there! These are the binoculars you can use to see it way way back there!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqmkNFxgFl0DxwVFwinJGDrATpiJO8OtN03JQTP8Oc55ihz-qmh790Z6kOwdlekNtafqM5W2ZGVniP3DtGglv9tr-_cApk2219G1nJPBId9Jc6gW4GXnfngxJSoHKvry3SKtLaA/s1600-h/Picture+018.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqmkNFxgFl0DxwVFwinJGDrATpiJO8OtN03JQTP8Oc55ihz-qmh790Z6kOwdlekNtafqM5W2ZGVniP3DtGglv9tr-_cApk2219G1nJPBId9Jc6gW4GXnfngxJSoHKvry3SKtLaA/s320/Picture+018.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119141625458358482" /></a><br /><br />The entry to the onsite store (souvenirs and all kind of neat stuff!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1F05ox_c87FbGbcPdX4XCRfRFO1aRCdCNjPvGLYERbd6QzEGhQsfj7AQcHKdnV-PgukHb2jg-_VS4ASklazwtHyNzYNxQ0_gfFsrF0gTdZpq-gUGkTBFFxQdg7vrnYwMsOx8TKw/s1600-h/Picture+042.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1F05ox_c87FbGbcPdX4XCRfRFO1aRCdCNjPvGLYERbd6QzEGhQsfj7AQcHKdnV-PgukHb2jg-_VS4ASklazwtHyNzYNxQ0_gfFsrF0gTdZpq-gUGkTBFFxQdg7vrnYwMsOx8TKw/s320/Picture+042.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119142767919659234" /></a><br /><br />The life size statutes are awesome. You’ve got to see the indoor/outdoor pool!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoWqx4PMLCdPRdgZDEhtTtJ7RC0oVDAIeNj6O2FG_6BXSpgmQlPCaNzmC3SUDsy_2MZGRG6ACLJJ7hUaNwBkUhydXgUlcF8roC2-EXTl3OikmRh62ZKZzxjiXeulm34fzBcdPkw/s1600-h/Picture+073.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoWqx4PMLCdPRdgZDEhtTtJ7RC0oVDAIeNj6O2FG_6BXSpgmQlPCaNzmC3SUDsy_2MZGRG6ACLJJ7hUaNwBkUhydXgUlcF8roC2-EXTl3OikmRh62ZKZzxjiXeulm34fzBcdPkw/s320/Picture+073.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119144086474619122" /></a><br /><br />FYI: Program & Tour Information:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7CbSZA1pLbEJLK5pKnWoye0h9ZNuZfTm8cajT3I0Vxud6O5N32bFpGrX6oAR11TgbZ3ELFCFSwpd-aptWTCmw6YJkEbWvWSXdDV1nIYI2mPqvqyqcIBLkgGtghd5lYasMlYkWg/s1600-h/Picture+070.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7CbSZA1pLbEJLK5pKnWoye0h9ZNuZfTm8cajT3I0Vxud6O5N32bFpGrX6oAR11TgbZ3ELFCFSwpd-aptWTCmw6YJkEbWvWSXdDV1nIYI2mPqvqyqcIBLkgGtghd5lYasMlYkWg/s320/Picture+070.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119144919698274562" /></a><br />Hearst Castle<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KBRynMd5Cd5fEMSF3rWK2XN14LUvz0Clb9og25R3V1kQ-WWQiJevd9G-VxFw9WIgVlQrCrgJjEj9j5hA0mOanT7dNOFEQvcQt0cMW8B_74jIEuiGycTVBekEDHmMgx2Z-CQUFg/s1600-h/Picture+060.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KBRynMd5Cd5fEMSF3rWK2XN14LUvz0Clb9og25R3V1kQ-WWQiJevd9G-VxFw9WIgVlQrCrgJjEj9j5hA0mOanT7dNOFEQvcQt0cMW8B_74jIEuiGycTVBekEDHmMgx2Z-CQUFg/s320/Picture+060.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119145439389317394" /></a><br /><br />I really can not do this justice. Not to mention, we couldn’t get any tickets that day, on site. You MUST have reservations way in advance. I have been there before, but you never see enough! Just google it and read about it. It really is one of those WORLD MARVELS that you must see. I did take many pictures of the surrounding areas, then again you must see it for yourself to appreciate the magnificence of it.bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-89117929471294408292007-08-20T17:57:00.000-07:002007-08-20T20:04:00.756-07:00Salvador Dali's Original Lithographs<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7o5Hco-oy6xIQKyYUw6RyJ5o6QbUqzHOK7G23vz52Ro6aFhdG5P0SLAoY8EW0auPHr52gjVmY39k7fh5HBCbRlRKoZ6MrdwYG8GwsGIREIc_MqFasCZ3C4MIFYdm8KBXzqN7hYA/s1600-h/Bijan's+The+Surrender+at+Bread+Pix.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7o5Hco-oy6xIQKyYUw6RyJ5o6QbUqzHOK7G23vz52Ro6aFhdG5P0SLAoY8EW0auPHr52gjVmY39k7fh5HBCbRlRKoZ6MrdwYG8GwsGIREIc_MqFasCZ3C4MIFYdm8KBXzqN7hYA/s320/Bijan's+The+Surrender+at+Bread+Pix.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100984064917905970" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD">Salvador Dali (1904-1989)</a> on Wiki. For more info. check out <a href="http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/home.html"> Dali Museum.</a><br />Other links: <a href="http://www.dali-gallery.com/">Salvador Dali Art Gallery"</a><br /><br /><i>The (my) Two Paintings</i><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmXATXEAXXimFlJJzoRF7coEgl4RR2lEkyQuODTZpdlz4Ra7mD5cROuNV1-GF32sLL8_9dk3mwmn7Kyg_bXOaMp3LMVnj-8XWkQW5wr54Q8cRnQ0xijPuEaZ-6kw5cYQBEnXeTQ/s1600-h/The+Surrender+of+Breda+-(1642-35)+by+Velazquez+-+0401vela.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmXATXEAXXimFlJJzoRF7coEgl4RR2lEkyQuODTZpdlz4Ra7mD5cROuNV1-GF32sLL8_9dk3mwmn7Kyg_bXOaMp3LMVnj-8XWkQW5wr54Q8cRnQ0xijPuEaZ-6kw5cYQBEnXeTQ/s320/The+Surrender+of+Breda+-(1642-35)+by+Velazquez+-+0401vela.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100954163355591090" /></a><br /><b>Salvador Dali's Original Lithographs</b><br /><br />They finally arrived over a week ago and I couldn’t wait to tell you ALL about it!<br /><br />My two Salvador Dali’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithographs">Original Lithographs: </a> Surrender of Breda, Salvador Dali’s Interpretation of Diego Vealzquez's original painting and The Black Devil. Here is some excerpts on Diego Velazquez:<br /><br />VELÁZQUEZ, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y (b. 1599, Sevilla, d. 1660, Madrid)<br />The Surrender of Breda (Las Lanzas)<br />before 1635<br />Oil on canvas, 307 x 367 cm<br />Museo del Prado, Madrid<br />It was in 1625, ten years before this picture was painted, that Justin von Nassau, the commanding officer of Breda, surrendered the city to the Genoese Ambrosio Spinola, commander of the Spanish forces. Breda was one of the border fortresses of the Netherlands, a military base which had long been a bone of contention, alternately seized by the Spaniards or returned to the Princes of Orange. After a long siege Spinola learned from an intercepted letter that the defendants were in desperate straits, short of both equipment and food, and he therefore proposed that von Nassau should freely surrender rather than continue the bloodshed. The proposal was accepted and the army withdrew in good order, keeping their goods and some of their arms. The citizens did not suffer any harm at all. This victory was one of the last triumphs achieved by Spain in the period when she was accounted a great world power, and it was also one of the fine instances when humanism prevailed even in times of war. <br />The main problem of a history painting featuring a large number of figures is the question of how to handle the crowd scenes. Velázquez initially tackles this difficulty by dividing the picture plane into two levels - a higher area of action on which the main event is acted out as on a stage, and an area below it in which we see the city and harbour of Breda and the sea. The stage-like situation is further emphasized by various foreground elements. The two military leaders - the defeated commandant of Breda handing over the keys of the fortress to the Spanish commander Spinola - are immediately recognizable as the protagonists because the view opens up behind them towards the otherwise hidden background, whereas to the right and left the respective military entourage is grouped like stage extras. Yet Velázquez does not portray them as anonymous soldiers. Amongst the group of Spanish victors brandishing their lances, we can make out just as many individual expressions of exhaustion as we can amongst the resigned group of defeated Dutch soldiers. <br />It is thought that the composition of the picture derives from a contemporary book-illustration of the Bible; this is certainly true of the two central figures of the commanders. In its colouring - the brown masses of the horses, the blue and red garments of the soldiers - we see the influence of Venetian painting, particularly that of Tintoretto.<br /><br />And last but not least my other lithograph, The Black Devil:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7Gr9sYbXo5-uxQ3hJwFiCGE5xVO5BnJO2RcxZ-mV0x0rXbmGj7RL4DcDq1YFUxYcUKoZzOlcDJJIkfmG4ozhXQR0DzbWEylOBKm6C6dlkooGJWJt_VfgGA95fZznXo_HFyYNhA/s1600-h/Dali's+The+Black+Devil+Lithograph+painting.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7Gr9sYbXo5-uxQ3hJwFiCGE5xVO5BnJO2RcxZ-mV0x0rXbmGj7RL4DcDq1YFUxYcUKoZzOlcDJJIkfmG4ozhXQR0DzbWEylOBKm6C6dlkooGJWJt_VfgGA95fZznXo_HFyYNhA/s320/Dali's+The+Black+Devil+Lithograph+painting.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100955962946888130" /></a><br /><br />My own pictures: <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhViiZVU2fNx70UVV5R96xQH-TWkY-hE2wJxDqN4Z_6EUnTt5NjsJ_i6ywJ9tI20Csb4q-N_eTF3lZ6w34p5hO_bbJaQ5jlcLURjY6KcpJd0lNTUtRs3vG3PBKwxDDNDPP6nJbw/s1600-h/Bijan+CA-Driver%27s+License+Picture+in+B%26W+GIF+FMT+(10-Dec-2004)+003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhViiZVU2fNx70UVV5R96xQH-TWkY-hE2wJxDqN4Z_6EUnTt5NjsJ_i6ywJ9tI20Csb4q-N_eTF3lZ6w34p5hO_bbJaQ5jlcLURjY6KcpJd0lNTUtRs3vG3PBKwxDDNDPP6nJbw/s320/Bijan+CA-Driver%27s+License+Picture+in+B%26W+GIF+FMT+(10-Dec-2004)+003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100956877774922194" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ItWqBRvimuP9OubANlQCpCzYgk8sMLp6sqB1olvlXZfIEZwtuy5ksxXkaQM8r5B4oZM1UmEIv2UG_MY6NGhtKatF75WHTVyQ4tYSNrtZXhZbiBNWqkqkyJBfZBLSHEHXpnpH5Q/s1600-h/Bijan's+The+Surrender+at+Breda+-+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ItWqBRvimuP9OubANlQCpCzYgk8sMLp6sqB1olvlXZfIEZwtuy5ksxXkaQM8r5B4oZM1UmEIv2UG_MY6NGhtKatF75WHTVyQ4tYSNrtZXhZbiBNWqkqkyJBfZBLSHEHXpnpH5Q/s320/Bijan's+The+Surrender+at+Breda+-+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100981621081514530" /></a><br /><br /><b>See the Details</b><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIeZCqu-u_TuWUtT_3GU3K4prEFQgmaNcHRYDfXBh52L4Xxneqg6cjsiJukHwhQJW2c7uFNGor5YCPaAxVKgmqB6gmHzYGdNBljysxj55wR2rYR4Q4jrwS52gtIq0Hlu6jjoJ-g/s1600-h/20070808+-+Bijan%27s+The+Surrender+at+Berda+-+133.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIeZCqu-u_TuWUtT_3GU3K4prEFQgmaNcHRYDfXBh52L4Xxneqg6cjsiJukHwhQJW2c7uFNGor5YCPaAxVKgmqB6gmHzYGdNBljysxj55wR2rYR4Q4jrwS52gtIq0Hlu6jjoJ-g/s320/20070808+-+Bijan%27s+The+Surrender+at+Berda+-+133.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100978120683168274" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-EFw4m21vmdIEs-VQm_ZaBBiKJX8rMLamIAndfsu3Ingx2mOml8zkjKFZjge00gRopdxscfidJKENL_ByQ0LndxthavunwBSgVDh9aBq5svKF0qPXKvqmNUpPKOjGgDX9-t6IA/s1600-h/20070808+-+Bijan%27s+The+Surrender+at+Berda+-124.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-EFw4m21vmdIEs-VQm_ZaBBiKJX8rMLamIAndfsu3Ingx2mOml8zkjKFZjge00gRopdxscfidJKENL_ByQ0LndxthavunwBSgVDh9aBq5svKF0qPXKvqmNUpPKOjGgDX9-t6IA/s320/20070808+-+Bijan%27s+The+Surrender+at+Berda+-124.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100977764200882690" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk1wE8cQPJtIrSISqOWlxBotLyGXh2XrRAHEXrUGBfiEx6UiS2Yey9qnJGVZKzL5gE1-IibNTGdFHZGAW66XXUAyz0nvlKdOmEJB8BH5dEiUnCOA2FS8pum6D5WjTp2P-j1Fl7w/s1600-h/20070808+-+Bijan%27s+The+Surrender+at+Berda+-125.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk1wE8cQPJtIrSISqOWlxBotLyGXh2XrRAHEXrUGBfiEx6UiS2Yey9qnJGVZKzL5gE1-IibNTGdFHZGAW66XXUAyz0nvlKdOmEJB8BH5dEiUnCOA2FS8pum6D5WjTp2P-j1Fl7w/s320/20070808+-+Bijan%27s+The+Surrender+at+Berda+-125.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100977600992125426" /></a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36266196.post-45299623879076806142007-08-20T02:04:00.000-07:002007-08-20T03:21:35.511-07:00Something Juicy: 68-69<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFUDf-hKLSUM_nToSpQ7jDnU70FcC9k0f1SCNArlEmsUykhm6_fICdSr0HHYiLwIYLFqClHrZ0Ff817qdismXOBm4mM2s_3qto7SjVt2HHq3G2RxxgOnfpItjpY5PRZ-gx-EqeA/s1600-h/Ferrari%2520360%2520Modena.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFUDf-hKLSUM_nToSpQ7jDnU70FcC9k0f1SCNArlEmsUykhm6_fICdSr0HHYiLwIYLFqClHrZ0Ff817qdismXOBm4mM2s_3qto7SjVt2HHq3G2RxxgOnfpItjpY5PRZ-gx-EqeA/s320/Ferrari%2520360%2520Modena.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100723334633234818" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxE27G_cYGeVg9gsVeoVKiYq7Q3jFIstiyo0N6Jj-18kxmF4Xzla9R7D6XTP34Bxd9XrBAOshp6CbDm6imNGjbsJbRlBAeOXrhZYH4Lhv2bLyWeD2LjEXgwsHtmFYTM78uibbgig/s1600-h/Dallas-060326-69.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxE27G_cYGeVg9gsVeoVKiYq7Q3jFIstiyo0N6Jj-18kxmF4Xzla9R7D6XTP34Bxd9XrBAOshp6CbDm6imNGjbsJbRlBAeOXrhZYH4Lhv2bLyWeD2LjEXgwsHtmFYTM78uibbgig/s320/Dallas-060326-69.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100721483502330226" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEyJ_iOfSk9BCbr4kkV0c2yj3PC_WYlM0Y4h7JwJKy5-Fv0A92HVtyA8FhV-oq-B93pRCL6172CqWmNRWOnqfMRQg2w-aMsbLwS0RI97YtFNb5g8cFHgG1QQLW8xlMsY__XE0LrQ/s1600-h/Statute-69+-+images.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEyJ_iOfSk9BCbr4kkV0c2yj3PC_WYlM0Y4h7JwJKy5-Fv0A92HVtyA8FhV-oq-B93pRCL6172CqWmNRWOnqfMRQg2w-aMsbLwS0RI97YtFNb5g8cFHgG1QQLW8xlMsY__XE0LrQ/s320/Statute-69+-+images.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100719975968809282" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/69_(number)">Number 69."</a> But wait there is more! <a href="http://www.phamous69.com/">Phamouse69 Sexy Magazine</a> And there is even more! As in: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpucUihZ4HE">Summer of 69 Song</a> <br />How about something on 68? <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-68.html">STS-68?</a> Or even this: The year of the four emperors: Galba (68), Otho (69) and Vitellius (69) all govern a very short time before Vespasian becomes emperor. ... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/68">68 on Wiki</a> or perhaps <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3wiGRhU4gHPVstbqeUNU2zPz3gPdZ3wh_fYmKN9PPQaLGOHqFxKTZSsY60YdKQIYZ3h6Zx3HHT9Jaxdq44X0BWLxI6TG0DTKhN3CAZfs2_yArCyxjwU_4V4YbGjkHsXyU7rDoQ/s1600-h/STS-69+Crew+Pix.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3wiGRhU4gHPVstbqeUNU2zPz3gPdZ3wh_fYmKN9PPQaLGOHqFxKTZSsY60YdKQIYZ3h6Zx3HHT9Jaxdq44X0BWLxI6TG0DTKhN3CAZfs2_yArCyxjwU_4V4YbGjkHsXyU7rDoQ/s320/STS-69+Crew+Pix.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100720560084361570" /></a><br /><br />But for real, jokes aside:<br /><br />One of my readers (the few that I suppose have) has asked me to TELL him/her something JUICY about myself! I hardly know him/her and intact I’m not very fund of him (I’m just going to refer to IT as HE, just for the sake of arguments.) He knows who he is and I’m not sure you care. A while back, he left, as comment, a set of URL to some grouse sexual sites! I still haven’t checked it for myself, but from what I’ve gathered, according to a friend of mine, it’s just a GARDEN VARIETY porn site. Well, I left it intact, since I strongly believe in Freedom of Speech! But, I realize some people were offended by it. As for myself, I wasn’t even slightly curious to check it out for myself. I’ve seen them before and they DON’T DO MUCH for me. I think of SE Swimsuit issue more desirable or even the gorgeous ladies in the Vitoria Secret catalogues as MUCH more JUICY as any of those porn site which demonstrate and assume men are like animals (perhaps close cousin, apes or orangutans) and women just like to GET ALL NIGHT LONG and THE HARDER and the BIGER THE BETTER bang! And of course they show off SEMAN (come) dripping from their faces, lips or other desirable/sexy (according to their philosophy of what is sexy or what turns MEN on are showed off and displayed like women have a popsicle in a hot afternoon summer day!)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpvOGEuGILkDZNOvmyV-5mqCCtQACOxtlqWLreM6QjNv7SH-S26gcFQJi75PADvMY3FetOEpn8hyphenhyphen-jqHa8NdSb5vUrC-lqcQq1anzaxYSbhF-O94wRhL3jdsHM18WbtnIeIx20A/s1600-h/Heidiwonderland.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpvOGEuGILkDZNOvmyV-5mqCCtQACOxtlqWLreM6QjNv7SH-S26gcFQJi75PADvMY3FetOEpn8hyphenhyphen-jqHa8NdSb5vUrC-lqcQq1anzaxYSbhF-O94wRhL3jdsHM18WbtnIeIx20A/s320/Heidiwonderland.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100724412670026146" /></a><br /><br />Well, I hate to write about this and I apologize and agree that this subject may be TOO private to some or even distasteful and disgusting to argue about. I agree, but it’s my blog and I’m not arguing BACK with anyone, so there you have it. I think I’ll let the secret out. I adore Heidi Klum! Well, she is not the only one, but ONE example should suffice! Actually she is married now and has three kids, but still looks fantastic. She was on Leno a few nights ago and was adorable and interesting too and when one of the other guests started talking about premature ejaculations, she put both index fingers in here ears and started to sing to block her ears and not hear the rest of the conversations! That was very cute to me. I think she is still married to Seal!<br /><br />Well, my point or my reason to talk or mention this is that I believe, what’s sexy or juicy to one person may not be as exciting to another. Don’t want to get too philosophical and beat this horse to death! You know what I mean and if you don’t just continue reading. Here is a quick joke: You all know what 69 stand for, right? Quest: “What about 68?” Ans: You give me one and I’ll owe you one:) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/69_(sex_position)">Sex Position 69</a><br /><br />These are the FIVE (actually many more) things that I find juicy, exciting, or even moving: The Victoria Secret catalogue, The Beethoven Symphony No. 9, a good movie, a beautiful scenery (beach or greenery), a NEW GADGET, well, there are many more to name and I don’t want to take the next few pages to recall all of my fetishes or my DEEP SECRETS (there really aren’t many!) Let me clarify one thing about naked women! I think, they should be covered more so to leave more to the imagination! I really don’t like g-sting bikinis either! I don’t like men model in bulgy underwear either! Now you know it! Some modesty, I think, will go a long way! <br /><br />I just like life & I try to enjoy and have a great day any day I can by surrounding myself with things that matter to me & there are endless things that MOVE me and get my attention (a great painting, a beautiful song, a SMART person, intellectual but not boring conversation – oh well, I said I will not name them all, but here I go. So I shall stop it right here!) Left out Porsches & Motorcycles! <br /><br />Here is more about Heidi, for those who get it:<br />Born June 1, 1973, in Bergische Gladbach, Germany, Heidi Klum catapulted to the supermodel scene when she got the cover of Sports Illustrated's 1998 Swimsuit Issue as an unknown at the time. <br /><br />All this came as a disappointing shock to Caprice Bournet, the supermodel who assumed she had the cover wrapped up. Ever since, Heidi has been flooded with work, the 5'9 35-24-34 vixen had not even thought of modeling until a friend coaxed her into entering a modeling competition called Model '92, after winning several rounds on her way, she eventually was crowned. She then signed a 3 year contract with Metropolitan and has grown ever larger in the modeling scene with each successive year. Heidi was involved in the well publicized Victoria's Secret internet broadcast, largely hyped but much too grainy and miniature to appreciate any of the girl's beauty. 1999 brought another appearance in the SI Swimsuit Issue and also brought Heidi in front of the TV camera's with a 3 episode role in Spin City, in which she played Michael J. Fox's love interest. The year before she saw a bit part in the movie 54, based on the old New York nightclub, Studio 54. … Google her and you shall find the rest!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0A0rcCkKkrk_EOg0FzF2kQ-q6u0t5Ig_m9UkL1JOZbeV9pkH5GtNDbFAy_N0fUa98OGaCGJ1-moYDOANrdtykBUO1eBMfkrlLuw1mDea2a8cIzcQ5DFKdVwqjkrQx7-XeR712hQ/s1600-h/Molecular+Cloud+Barnard+68+-+images.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0A0rcCkKkrk_EOg0FzF2kQ-q6u0t5Ig_m9UkL1JOZbeV9pkH5GtNDbFAy_N0fUa98OGaCGJ1-moYDOANrdtykBUO1eBMfkrlLuw1mDea2a8cIzcQ5DFKdVwqjkrQx7-XeR712hQ/s320/Molecular+Cloud+Barnard+68+-+images.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100720113407762770" /></a><br /><br />And for those who also get Porsches:<br />The 2008 Porsche Limited Edition Boxster that was first shown privately at the New York Auto Show last April will go on sale this September with a base price of $49,990 (Original MSRP $45,800). The higher-performance Limited Edition Boxster S, meanwhile, will start at $59,990 (Original MSRP $55,700).<br /><br />Dipped in the same eye-popping orange paint as the 911 GT3 RS, the Limited Edition Boxsters also feature the SportDesign package that adds front spoiler lips, a new automatically extending rear spoiler, and slightly altered rear trim to allow for an integrated diffuser. Add to that standard 18-inch black alloy wheels (19-inch for the Boxster S) and additional black trim pieces on the exterior, and you've got a fairly stunning exterior package that overshadows a garden variety Porsche Boxster with ease. <br /><br />Black carries over to the interior where it's applied to most surfaces including the seats, carpet, dash and door panels. The interior is also trimmed with Alcantara and additional pieces that match the exterior's orange body color. And while the motors in both cars were left alone, each gets a new sport exhaust system that may liberate some extra power by offering less restriction. <br /><br />The 2008 Porsche Limited Edition Boxster and Boxster S officially go on sale September 28th, and since Porsche is only building 500 examples, you may want to get your deposit in now.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.porsche.com/http://www.porsche.com/">My Other True Love – A Nice Porshce!</a><br /><br />ALAF BAYAD BE DAHANE BOZZI KHISH BEYAD!<br /><br /><a herf="http://flash.porsche.com/all/911turbocabriolet/phase2/flash/default.aspx?language=en-us&market=PCNA&pool=usa&browser=other&instance=874&variant=§ion=&showintro=true&bandwidth=dsl&width=949&height=800">Or see for yourself & you shall SEE what I mean</a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAm-VhB4OMZxaKv8gY-OzSB5JFYEzZhyphenhyphenIQlT4y8VV5lsZIbO4HyHf3oTno10oulnbGMbGhEUfUmn4xIq9DtbmckHY1SZv92Pax3R_OZSdViQWiCee_zuqEZLcRV3lyn0HhjnR0Q/s1600-h/porsche-911-carrera-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAm-VhB4OMZxaKv8gY-OzSB5JFYEzZhyphenhyphenIQlT4y8VV5lsZIbO4HyHf3oTno10oulnbGMbGhEUfUmn4xIq9DtbmckHY1SZv92Pax3R_OZSdViQWiCee_zuqEZLcRV3lyn0HhjnR0Q/s320/porsche-911-carrera-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100723673935651218" /></a><br /><br />How about a <A href="http://www.ferrariworld.com/FWorld/fw/index.jsp"> juicy Red Ferrari?</a> or Read about it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari">Here!I guess you the old saying, Bigger the Boy, the Bigger the Toy!</a>bijanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15650005556043472980noreply@blogger.com3