Bill Maher's New Rules

If you’re playing a sport where most of the speed comes from gravity, you’re not an athlete, you’re a weight!

Get ready TO, I'm comming again!

It’s been three years, well exactly three years and a month, that I’ve been living in Montreal and I never forget the first day and the first glance. I cannot describe how discouraged I got when I saw the city for the first time. I mean, when you hear all those raving about how beautiful “Paris of the North America” is, discouragement is almost guaranteed! I don’t blame anybody. In fact, I should have guessed my self that a city which has been built by some fur merchants and has never had any form of aristocracy, let alone monarchy, can’t be as beautiful as Paris, Vienna or any other European city but one always tends to believe what he likes to believe. Even the first pictures that I took from Montreal were horrendous, reflecting my feeling toward the city. Some rusty air-conditioning fans, on top of an ugly ugly rooftop!

But like not-a-conventional-beautiful girl, who doesn’t catch your eyes at the first sight but the way she moves, talks and behaves will eventually makes you fall in love with her, I got soon hunted by the sexy and somewhat attractive character of this charming lady. An affair, which has been lasted till today.

This weekend, I’m going to Toronto again. She has also managed to change my view somehow drastically in the past visits and something’s telling me that she can do more.

But honestly, with this appearance, she got to have quite a personality :)

Stop testing on Animals...what does it really mean?

I like to call them insiders who sabotage every group from within by neutralizing all the efforts of sane and moderate activists, fighting for the same cause but in a much civilized manner. I’m talking about extremists. Those who give the people in charge, the luxury of diverting public’s opinions from the real problem by magnifying the act of bunch of anarchists, stereotyping anybody who talks about the same issue.

And this time, the case is the same old “fighting against testing drugs on animals”. A precious cause and some genuinely valuable efforts that have been tarnished by some who vandalizing properties, beating researchers and black mailing their families.

Just in England, they’ve gone so far that the government now has got enough support to publicly back up pro-testing movement to the point that Tony Blair himself signed a petition, supporting the continuation of the testing, something unheard of so far.
Well, that was exactly what we need. Some people marching in the streets, shouting “performing tests on animals are necessary for human’s sake” as if all those activists are some lunatics who want to save rats and guinea pigs at the cost of people’s lives!

So let’s make some points clear so you don’t think all those against testing are crazy, irrational or idealist. What they say (those with at least 80% of their brain cells still functioning!) simply are,

1. Test on animals should only be performed when it’s absolutely necessary to save lives. So it’s ok if you want to test anti-Cancer or anti-Aids drugs, but it’s not Ok when you torture and kill animals for heart burn medications or much worse, cosmetic products!

2. A huge amount of test being performed on poor animals is downright redundant. (they say 70%. I think it has been exaggerated but even 25% is already too much!). This is not hard to comprehend since anybody who has worked in an office has an idea about how much resources (paper for instance) is being wasted every day and there is no reason we assume the same pattern is not followed in labs! There’s only a small and minor difference and that is, those animals can feel the pain and they can’t be recycled!

3. Testing on animals is not a reliable way of insuring new drugs are safe since even those small genetic differences make some successfully tested drugs on rats, dogs and even monkeys, almost lethal when tested on human beings (they are hundreds of documented examples, all over the world). So it’s rational if one expect drug companies to invest on developing alternative ways and to support those methods that exist, not only to reduce the number of animals being subjected to tests, but also to secure the health of those volunteers in final stages of testing.

In other words, they are alternative ways, not for all procedures but for lots of them and also there are ways to maximize the efficiency of the methods, when performing a test on animals is essential.

The medical and pharmaceutical industry should realize that every life of every animal is precious and if it’s not absolutely necessary to take it, it’s absolutely unnecessary to do so. It may cost a bit more, but it worth it to the last penny! That’s all. Is it so much to ask?


Comment to my self: In fact, in the world that we can’t convince people not to buy fur coats, or SUV’s or at least not to vote for an anti-environmentalist stupid ass like Bush, maybe it is too much to ask. Sometimes I think if the slavery has not been abolished so far, there were certainly no way in this age that anybody could even propose that, considering its devastating effect on businesses and the economical growth and other craps! Think about it!

A Sunday afternoon’s nostalgia

I don’t know if it’s the nostalgic mood of “Les poupées rousses”, which is the continuation of L’auberge espagnole’s story, or just a regular Sunday afternoon but I can’t stop thinking that only a year ago, I had the best people in the world around me. Form Kasra’s relentless efforts to gather everybody in one of the St-Laurent’s clubs on Saturday nights to Sunday afternoon’s tea and ghalyoon in “Gitana” with Leili, from tasting delicious roasted pork and horrendous Chinese pastry with Joubin in Chinatown to watching intellectual movies and talking about them for hours with Siamak. From playing Tennis with my best friend Ali and then laughing about almost everything in the world, to Kamool’s stupid comments and Maryam’s delcious “Khoresh Gheime”, from celebrating every Persian ceremony chez Azadeh to nearly every night’s discussions and laughers over an almost friendly Hokm, one of the best chapters of my life is so intertwined with you guys that without you, I can hardly enjoy this city anymore and I’m looking forward to Arash and Mana’s wedding to bring all of us together one more time, just like the movie “Les poupées rousses”!

Today, Montreal was as beautiful as can be, but I really miss our “L’auberge Montréalaise”!

No comment!

Another funny comment from Bill

Bill Maher for president!
I think after our president and the United States president, this guy is the funniest man alive but unlike those he is as blunt as can be. I just love his attitude!

Tom Cruise's Mission impossible!

Rainy weekends in a row!

Oh God! Do you really think it’s funny to seduce people with beautiful sunny days when they’re working and then spoil their weekends with three days of consecutive rain?! Well I too, thought that it was funny for the first time, but this weekend would be the forth times and it’s not funny anymore! Believe me, it’s not!

I’m beginning to understand religious people! It’s much more amusing to blame God than a randomly moving low pressure system!

For those who really like this brilliant smart hilarious comedian “Bill Maher” and like myself, don’t have access to HBO, you can download his weekly program “real time” as a pod cast! I recently found out that he’s pod casting and I’m so excited…

Whenever I feel tired, sad or bored, I check out this website. It gives me tons of energy every time I visit it. The cuteness is unresisitable!

Thanks Maryami for introducing me to this fabulous website!

Paai e sohbat e Haj aaghaa! Enjoy

Spasm Story

During the past decade, actually more than a decade!, that I’ve been dating,
just one time and only one time I had the luxury of being with someone who actually knew how to give a massage (to say the least!) and although one may not consider this ability as a decisive advantage, last night that I had this killer spasm in my shoulder, I really missed her with all my heart!
Today, I went with the second choice (first choice was not available in this area!) and I bought this super cool “Aquassager”.


If I wanted to describe the feeling, I’d rate it somewhere between sex and a delicate handmade chocolate truffle, still much below her heavenly technique but slightly higher than magnificent “L’auberge Espagnole” that I saw last night for the 10th times, and it just doesn’t lose it’s charm.

Quote of the week, from myself!

Love always comes when it’s least expected and leaves when it’s most needed.

Madredeus

I’m sure anybody who’s a fan of “Wim Wenders” remembers, even if vaguely, the scene in “Lisbon Story” in which a lovely lady approaches the puzzled “Phillip Winter “ ,who was desperately looking for the source of some kind of mystical music he was hearing through the walls of his room, and tells him in a very charming way “I’m Teresa and we’re Madredeus!”.
What I’m not so sure about is that so many people got so intrigued by this magical voice and exquisite music that searched the whole world to get the records.
By using Fado (an almost melancholic, melodic and extremely beautiful style of vocal music in Portugal) and some other Portuguese styles and giving them a rather more international frame, Madredeus has managed to create a delicious fusion which is genuinely unique and stunningly beautiful.
Somehow sad yet delightful melodies, tasteful selections of instruments and above all, the magical voice of Teresa Salgueiro has made this band and it’s music, one of the most unique in the world to say the least.
I mean, just take a look at their pictures and the design of the website and read the rest. Abundant amount of taste is truly in the air.

Although I strongly prefer the early albums like Existir, O Paraiso and O Espirito da paz to the latest ones, but that is only a matter of taste. However If you want to go by my taste, try these songs first:

O Pomar Das Laranjeiras (From Existir)
A Andorinha Da Primavera (From O Paraiso)
Nao Muito Distante (From O Paraiso)
Um Raio de Luz Ardente (From Movimento)
O Pastor (From Existir)

A website dedicated to “Kaftar Baazi”!!

Dear Mr. Bin Laden

If you want to attack the United States, now it’s the time since all the CIA’s specialists and analysts are trying to decode the phrase “Vasalam Ala Man Ataba’l Hoda” at the end of President Ahmadinejad’s letter to President Bush!

Regards

Noosh e Joonet khaahar!

Contest!

That was the headline:
Iranian officials confirmed that the president of Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad, has written a letter to the president of the United States about some new solutions for the nuclear issue and the full contents of the letter will be disclosed as soon as the reception of this letter is announced by the White house officials.

I want to hold a contest here in my blog. What do you think the content of this letter would be?

Here are some suggestions.

1. Asking some serious incentives in order to keep the enrichment in the experimental level and transfer the real procedure to Russia. End of the story

2. Warning him about the consequences of a possible assault to Iran and explaining to him how the combination of “Imaan” and “Emdaad e Gheibi” could destroy the US army, like one that happened in “Tabas”

3. Explaining why Islam is the best religion in the world while Christianity, also not so bad but it’s no Islam! Furthermore inviting him to become a Muslim.


4. Lecturing him about the history of the US (like some predecessor did) and informing him about the Americans historical coolness.


5. A letter that begins with “Ajjall-al allah ta’aalaa va farajah o sharif”, continues with “Down to USA” and some “Down to Israel” for two full pages, back and front, and ends with “Nasr o men allah va fath on gharib”!

6. Asking him to send back the umbrella, he left behind in UN.

7. sending him a letter bomb.

But seriously, if you picked the first one, either you’ve been in comma for the past 10 months or you need to see a Doctor as soon as possible.

Ça Ira

Last night, I finally got my hand on the long-anticipated “Ça Ira”, Roger Waters first opera, an opera in English about the French revolution in three acts that had been occupied his mind for almost a decade.

Although I was excepting some kind of jubilation, almost the same ecstasy that I felt after listening to “Pros and Cons of hitch-hiking” or “Amused to Death” for the first time, what I felt was more a sense of disillusionment rather than anything close to a joyous one. Almost the same feeling that had when I was leaving the theatre, where I saw Woody Allen’s latest movie, “Match Point”, except then, I was accompanied by a lovely lady who lessened the pain dramatically!

While I still firmly believe that English is not a suitable language for the Opera, and this one strengthened my stand too, I’m not suggesting at all that “Ça Ira” is not a good piece of work. The same way that I absolutely do not think “Match Point” is a bad movie. Surly there are beautiful moments in this opera, “Marie Antoinette, the last night on earth” and “To the windward Isles” to name a few, and certainly “Match Point” has its brilliant scenes and of course traces of their styles can be found in both works (Ça Ira” is more Waters though than “Match Point” is Allen-ish!), but for God’s sake, there are hundreds, if not thousands, who are able to write a rather good opera or a well-constructed movie, but there are only two people on this planet who can make “Annie Hall” or “The Final Cut” and these two are better stop fooling around with this experimenting thing since unfortunately there are not in their twenties!

And if anytime we need a cheesy but relatively OK opera in English, we always have Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber to do so!

I recall somebody wrote in Leonard Bernstein’s remembrance that “There are so many people in the world who can conduct a Bruckner’s symphony as good as you did, but Music I heard with you (also one of his compositions) will not be repeated ever again!



P.S. I have to admit that I’ve only listened to 2 CD’s extract version and not the original 6 CD version but Since the extract versions usually comprise all the good arias, I doubt that the full version would change my mind, but if it did, I’d let you know and also, the CD cover is really cool!