|
||||||||||||||||
 Search
This Month
Greeklish.org Features
 The Story of Zoya and Shura full text from greeklish.org 
Bandiera Rossa by Pankrti Youth Against Fascism by Sonic Youth On My Radio '91 by The Selecter The Lonesome Death of Rachel Corrie by Billy Bragg CM Punk wins the World Heavyweight Championship (2008) Rob Van Dam wins the WWE Championship at One Night Stand (2006) Month Archive
Favorite greeklish.org articles
Photo Galleries/Φωτογραφίες
Categories
|
Thursday, June 29
Tuesday, June 27
The women's movement in Iran
by
Mike
on Tue 27 Jun 2006 11:18 PM EDT
On June 12 at around 5:00 PM, more than one thousand people assembled in Tehran to demonstrate in support of equal rights for Iranian women. The police had assembled at the location prior to the event and they attempted to prevent participants from displaying placards, shouting slogans and distributing brochures. Police ultimately suppressed the demonstration by using tear gas, electrical batons and other types of physical force. About 70 people — mostly women — were arrested. Many of those who were arrested were human rights activists. Among them was the wife of one of the most prominent activists of the Tehran bus drivers' syndicate, Mansoor Hayat Gheyb. Further reading I am a woman. I have rights. photo essay from iranian.com Iranian Police Forcibly Disperse Women's Rights Protest In Tehran from payvand.com International Women's Day in Tehran greeklish.org Strikebreaking: More on the labor movement in Iran greeklish.org Saturday, June 24
Capital and Class, Issue 89
by
Mike
on Sat 24 Jun 2006 10:03 PM EDT
 The Summer 2006 issue of Capital and Class is on stands now. The issue includes a short article by some guy named Mike Bessler entitled "Research Note on the Marxists Internet Archive."You should probably go out and buy a copy. But if you ask me really nicely, I might share my copy with you.  Wednesday, June 21
Greek Funnies, volume 1
by
Mike
on Wed 21 Jun 2006 10:59 PM EDT
In celebration of our 150th blog post, here’s the first installment of our new feature, "Greek Funnies."
Monday, June 19
Beyond frustrated
by
Mike
on Mon 19 Jun 2006 09:04 PM EDT
Well, it's beyond the point of being funny now...In just under 60 days, I have lost a total of 6 fish. Captain Marvel
kicked the bucket last night after only 4 days in the tank. I
took his remains back to the pet store this afternoon and exchanged the dead
fish for a live one. While I was there, I had a water sample
tested from my tank and the pet store guy said that my water looked
fine. No other ideas, no other answers..."He just died," -- that's what
the guy told me.
I have a 10 gallon glass tank waiting in the wings and I might get that cleaned up and ready by the weekend. I am not sure what it will accomplish to move to a bigger tank, but I am almost out of ideas and I am beyond frustrated.  Saturday, June 17
Adventures in androgyny
by
Mike
on Sat 17 Jun 2006 11:19 AM EDT
This
morning, I was running some Saturday morning errands and enjoying the
company of Baby Z. After visiting a garage sale, we stopped at
the drug store. As we walked from the parking lot up to the store
entrance, Baby Z. caught the eye of an elderly woman who walking to her
car. The lady smiled at Z. and said, "Well, look at you!
Are you going to help Mommy
with some shopping?" I think Z. was a little confused by the
comment because she did not answer. As for me, I figured I had
better things to do than to have an argument with an old lady, so I
groaned through a forced smile and said, "Uh....yeah."
People who know me well know that this is an almost regular occurrence these days. I figure I must look like a really ugly woman. Maybe I really should think about getting a haircut. Maybe. Thursday, June 15
Tales from the fishbowl: The saga continues
by
Mike
on Thu 15 Jun 2006 10:14 PM EDT
After dinner, we headed for the pet store...again. I had a nice chat with a very knowledgeable young fellow and he recommended we try our hand with some goldfish, as they are much heartier than mollie fish. So as of this evening, we now have two new fish. One fish is a Calico Fantail and the other is a Black Moor. I have dubbed the fish "Captain Marvel" and "Black Adam," respectively...and yes, I am that big of a geek! I have decided that there's really no point in uploading pictures of the new fish at this point, given that we have gone through them pretty quickly up to now. If they make it past thirty days, then perhaps we'll share them with everyone. Keep your fins crossed! Tuesday, June 13
Zoya Sabet and Khatereh Parvaneh
by
Mike
on Tue 13 Jun 2006 10:26 PM EDT
It’s
been a little while now since I became acquainted with the music of
Zoya Sabet. I don’t really know how long it’s been, but I do
remember what I was doing when I first discovered her music...At the
time I was searching for an alternate version of Shostakovich’s music
from the film "Zoya" (Some versions of op. 64 include a vocal
arrangement in the "Adagio" portion of this particular work). As
I searched and searched, the name "Zoya Sabet" kept popping up in my
search results. With the help of Google, I did a little reading on
Ms.Sabet and I learned that she is a very accomplished performer of
classical Persian music and that she has performed abroad for a number
of years, accumulating a very respectable body of work. I enjoy
corresponding with a few Iranian friends from time to time, but we
mostly discuss Iranian politics and I know little about Iran with
respect to its art or culture. With my curiousity piqued, I
listened to a few tracks by Zoya Sabet that were readily available over
the Internet and despite the fact that I do not understand Persian, I
found the music and vocals to be absolutely amazing. I enjoy a
fair amount of Greek and Indian music and while classical Persian has
some similarities to these styles, it is very compelling and hypnotic
in its own right. For those of us who grew up listening Led
Zeppelin, it is very interesting to experience some of the music that
served as a profound influence over some of Zeppelin's more intricate
works.
 Over the course of a few months, I accumulated a small sampling of songs by Ms. Sabet and I listened to them over and over again for quite a while. I checked with some of the larger Internet sellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble to try and order some full-length CDs, but I found that neither of them carry works by Ms. Sabet. So last week I ordered Zoya Sabet’s "Mehregan Concert: The Harvest Festival" on CD from an Iranian/Persian music specialty store. I received the CD in the mail last night and I have listened to it 4 or 5 times already. I had already heard a few tracks on the album, but it is an altogether different experience to hear the entire presentation. Most of the writing on the CD is in Persian (I think) but there are a few notes in English on the back: Mehregan: The Harvest Festival
A tribute to knowledge through festival of friendship and music This album features a harvest of songs featuring the most memorable and well-known Iranian Poets and composers of the past fifty years. This retrospective honors those creators through the voice of Zoya Sabet. Perhaps I can persuade some of my Iranian friends to share a little insight on the lyrics of these songs and the stories behind them. But even if the lyrical content remains a mystery to me, I will still enjoy the music immensely.
Although Ms. Sabet's work is a bit difficult to come by, a CD entitled "Iran - Classical Persian Music" is widely available in the US (it’s even listed on Amazon.com). I purchased this CD a few months ago and I have been quite happy with it. A few of the tracks feature vocals by a very famous Iranian vocalist named Khatereh Parvaneh. Shortly after I found this CD, I found an article by Najmeh Fakhraie in which she describes a 2001 performance by Khatereh Parvaneh. The story describes Ms. Parvaneh's descent into virtual obscurity following the rise of Political Islam in Iran. The story also recounts one of the only performances by Khatereh Parvaneh in recent years, noting that the performance was in relative seclusion and the the audience was composed of women only, which is a requirement under the law: I've
seen showers that only women can use, salons that only women can go to
and I've even heard of a hospital for females alone when those crazy
goats in parliament were talking of starting one. But this one I had
not even dreamed of: a concert performed and attended only by females.
It sounded too bizarre to be real. "Do they ask the guys standing
outside to cover their ears?" I ask a friend.
[...] The staff there, who are always males wearing light green, have given way to females for this exclusive performance. There is not a man in sight. I feel like I've stepped on another planet and I know I don't like the change. Once inside the main hall, things are even more different. A concert I had planned to attend looks more like a fashion show. "This is sick," I tell myself a million times. And I wonder what has brought these people all the way here today. The chance to show off their wardrobe and pretty hair? Boredom? The love of music? But when the singer comes on stage looking older and more wrinkled up than her pictures, when she opens those lips to let out that heavenly voice that has been bottled up for two decades, and I see the tears rolling down the face of the old lady sitting beside me with that awful tank top, I know that none of those reasons would be complete. Khatereh Parvaneh sounds as beautiful as she did when she first stepped on stage more than 30 years ago. Bringing to life Parvaneh's memory better than anyone on earth. I am not an eyewitness, but I have all of my grandfather's tapes and records that clearly tell me that. [full article] It is unfortunate that more recent examples of Khatereh Parvaneh’s work are not readily available outside Iran, but the "Classical Persian Music" CD is a stirring example of Khatereh Parvaneh in her heyday. As recently as last year, Ms. Parvaneh was still performing, although the work of female artists is still under the heavy constraints of government regulation. But it would seem that Khatereh Parvaneh is not one to go along quietly. Parvaneh publicly criticized restrictions on performances by women in 2005: TEHRAN,
Jan. 26 (2005)--Popular Iranian singer Khatereh Parvaneh has criticized
the time constraints for women singers in Fajr International Music
Festival.
The festival is making progress each year, but, women singers have always faced limitations in timing the concerts at the event, she said. She told ILNA that women perform at the festival, but, the time of the performance is too short for the singer to communicate with the audience and understand what they expect from the artists. She said that only one day has been allocated for three women's musical groups in the festival and this is not sufficient for the program. "Both the singers and the audience are dissatisfied with the time constraints at the festival," she complained. [...] She appealed to the organizers of the festival to review their policies towards women singers and deal with them as they do with the male vocalists. [full article] "Iran - Classical Persian Music" includes notes in English which provide selected translations of lyrics as well as commentary on the theory and performance of classical Persian music. As noted above, the album features work by Khatereh Parvaneh as well as other noted Iranian musicians and this compilation is an excellent starting point for those who are interested in classical Persian music. Sunday, June 11
Mike's favorite comics, Part 7
by
Mike
on Sun 11 Jun 2006 10:22 PM EDT
For
a bunch of reasons, I somehow lost the motivation to polish off my
ongoing "favorite comics series" a while back. So now I’m picking up where I left off with this entry...
 Number 2: Crisis on Infinite Earths #9“War Zone” (DC Comics, December, 1985) This issue was billed as "The Villain War" in the “next issue” blurb of Crisis #8. It seemed as if it would be a pretty tall order to bring together every surviving villain in the DC Universe for a huge free-for-all, but this issue delivered in a big way. The cover alone is phenomenal (here’s a larger scan), as it crams a ton of the worst villains into one senses-shattering panel. And then, beginning with page 1, it’s pure action. The issue starts with the destruction of Oa and the death of all but one of the Guardians of the Universe. A few pages later, Lex Luthor of Earth-1 murders the Luthor of Earth-2. The issue is a blockbuster that is crammed with the best of DC, including the Teen Titans, Sgt. Rock and many others. There are cameos from the Charlton group, including Captain Atom and Dr. Spectro and a plethora of obscure heroes and villains from the Golden and the Silver Ages. By page 11, Braniac crashes a meeting of the U.N. and announces that the villains have captured three of the remaining Earths: Earths 4, X and S. The rest of the issue features scenes from some amazing battles, including heroes and villains from the Fawcett group as well as the Doom Patrol, Kid Flash and the Flash of Earth-2, the JSA and Infinity Inc. And just when it looks like the villains are on the very brink of total victory, the alliance starts to unravel with Psimon’s betrayal of the Luthor-Braniac alliance. For me, this is where Crisis really came together and picked up momentum. But even by itself, it’s a terrific read! Tuesday, June 6
Go, Keith, go!
by
Mike
on Tue 06 Jun 2006 08:18 PM EDT
Monday Night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann featured Olbermann’s most blistering indictment of Bill O'Reilly since their very public feud began...whenever that was, anyway. Last night’s #3 segment on Countdown was a continuation
of the flap over O’Reilly’s baffling comments regarding the WWII massacre
at Malmedy (which was actually O'Reilly's thinly-veiled justification of the Haditha massacre). Although
Olbermann’s previous barbs and spots on O'Reilly have been largely
satirical up to this point (he frequently refers to O'Reilly as "The
Big Giant Head" and "Ted Baxter"),
last night's segment was an utterly
(and justifiably) scathing assessment of O’Reilly's complete disdain
for the truth...And when I say "the truth," I am not just referring the
truth about Malmedy but "the truth" as aconcept in and of itself. While the segment
included archival footage of the exhumation of the mass grave at Malmedy, the most
powerful moments of the spot were the shots of Olbermann himself – who
is often cool and composed – virtually trembling with contempt for
O'Reilly as he recounted the flap step by step, from O’Reilly’s initial misrepresentation of the events at Malmedy to the FOX News revision of O’Reilly’s on-air transcripts to O’Reilly’s half-assed on-air correction (which made even less sense than his original gaffe).
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is on MSNBC every weeknight at 8 PM and again at 12 AM (Eastern). If you’re not already watching it, you might want to give it a shot.
Go, Keith, go!
Further Reading Countdown with Keith Olbermann June 5, 2006 full transcript (Malmedy segment is about halfway down the page) |
Login
Web Essentials
News
Local News from Favorite Places
 Ελληνικό
Marxism on the Web
Soviet History
 Politics , Philosophy and Activism
History
India/South Asia
Iran
 Science & Technology
Booksellers and Merchants
Family and Friends
More Blogs & the Like
Revolutionary Music
Metal & the Like
Wrestling!
Computer Stuff
Blog Related
 |
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
