Singing Quran in a musical style!

“Oy” which means ouch, is the name of third studio album of Iranian controversial musician, Mohsen Namjoo’s. In his new released album he sings “Shams” song once again.

“In 2006 he was sentenced in absentia to a five-year jail term for allegedly ridiculing the ash-Shams ,a sura of Quran in the song named "Shams" by Iranian judicial system. The conviction took place in spite of his formal apology. Later Namjoo claimed that he will perform an orchestral version of this song in Venice. He also sang this song in Oy album as a single.” – Wikipedia

Song is very cool, if you’re a Muslim. That’s new way of singing Quran, I believe, which you haven’t heard before. You feel strange and if you’re a Muslim, you may experience some kind of dissonance.
Enjoy the Song. Buy the Song or download here!

Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal, is a new political website that covers also news on Middle East. Check it out here. It seems the name (Wall Street JOURNAL) dosent mean a Journal as we suppose: You cannot publish your articles! But still is a good source of news!
Check out and enjoy.

Mohsen Namjoo, Iranian talented musician! Prison?!!!

Mohsen Namjoo, is an Iranian song-writer, singer, and musician who has sentenced to five years prison! He is an innovator Persian musician that has changed Persian traditional music. I've heard some has called him "Iran's Bob Dylan"! He's a music talent.

He has sentenced to prison while he is not in Iran fortunately because of singing a Quranic verse! Just it.
And that's the way I. R. Iran appreciates its artists.
I believe he's at Vienna right now. He's been deported from university once, and now from country. He's a tough guy and that's better for an intelligent, I believe.

Download the song which sentenced Namjoo to five years of prison!

Learn More:
* The Washington Post
* RightWingBob

Some other Namjoo songs:
Zolf bar baad (Hair on air)
Jabre Joghrafia (Geography Constraint)
Sim-e Band (Speaker Cable)
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Rest in Peace King of Pop

I really liked him and still like him. He was of those artists that the world owes to. He changed many standards.
It was very hard for me when I heard his death today, the death of King of Pop. I still don’t believe!

Rest in Peace,

Love, se.x and hate Dilemma!

Excerpt from "Annie Hall":




After that it got pretty late, and we both had to go, but it was great seeing Annie again. I... I realized what a terrific person she was, and... and how much fun it was just knowing her; and I... I, I thought of that old joke, y'know, the, this... this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken." And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?" The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs." Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.
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Music always heals what Religion destroys!

Music always heals what Religion destroys!

I strongly believe that external function of religion is not to unite the human beings, but to discriminate them into two groups of insiders and outsiders. Here the challenge starts, leading to wars.

My proofs and arguments on this topic are very long, maybe in future I write a whole issue; but I wanted to introduce a beautiful song called “There must be another way”, which aired for the first time at Eurovision 2009 Contest.

Lyric is in three languages of English, Arabic and Hebrew. Beautiful song and lyric to unite Jews and Arabs, and to heal the wounds that religion harrows and creates.

Watch here: watch?v=RN8B1xvCxI0
Click here for lyric with translation.
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Civil unrests; Iran and Moldova

Today, I tried to set my mind free from Iran’s protests and riots, after a depressive night. Last night many were shot by riot police and died in Iran, CNN reports about 150; but I believe its more than that. Last night was not good for me; was a depressive night.

Today, I tried to listen to music to get a little rid of news. Since I’m really into folk music, especially Balkan’s folks, I played a song from Eurovision 2009 Contest called Hora din Moldova or Dance from Moldova. I really like this song.
This song made me curious to discover where and how Moldova is. I reached Moldova by Wikipedia out. The thing was amazing was Moldovan protests against parliamentary election result like Iran two months ago! Also situation was like Iran but in lesser extent.

Wikipedia:

"The 2009 civil unrest in Moldova began on April 7, 2009, in major cities of Moldova after the results of the 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election were announced. The demonstrators claimed that the elections, which saw the governing Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) win a majority of seats, were fraudulent, and variably demanded a recount, a new election, or resignation of the government.The protesters organized themselves using an online social network service, Twitter, hence its moniker used by the media, the Twitter Revolution or Grape revolution."

I wanted to know more about Moldovan wine, but I learned more about its civil unrests! I believe I’m trapped in politics!

Google's Persian translator sucks!

Today, Google launched its Farsi to English and vice versa translator option in Google Translate.
Farsi (Persian) language is very different of English in statement structure. The most obvious difference is the position of verb in statement.

For example:
In English: Today is a good day to study.
This statement in Farsi: Today, day a good to study is.

Google translator can't translate this phenomenon and even sometimes omits the verbs, both in English to Farsi and Farsi to English.

Another problem is Farsi's words multiple meanings. Google translation can't understand what does these words in the context mean. In Farsi, a word can have many meanings related to the statement context.

By the way, Google's English to Farsi translation is much better than the opposite which is bullshit I believe.

A brief analysis of Iran: One week after 2009 presidential election

I believe after Ali Khamenei speech today at friday pray, Iran's election policy has become determined. Since he is the supreme leader of Islamic Republic of Iran and many who living in Iran believe in him as their guardian, I believe Iranian civil movement which has appeared these days in opposition and riot with Mir-Hossein Mousavi as its leader, will have no result.

In this week I was really engaged with political events in Iran and followed it precisely. Many things have changed in Iran which is not comparable with last week. In government it seems to be a crack or a gap between politicians. This gap has always been existed but in this week it showed itself and made all the people aware of it, which was unprecedented.

Now in Iran everyone knows what is happening between politicians and after thirty years in Islamic Republic government (and somehow in Iran's history), it’s the first time this obscurity in politics is fading away! I regard this and believe Iran won't be the same; it’s a great jump. I respect this.

What is happening in Iran: Iran communicative situation

Iran is facing the hardest times and unfortunately there is no communication in this country. Yahoo Mail, Gmail, AOL and many other hosts are not accessible and their pages can't be open! Internet speed is low!

In Tehran all mobiles has been inactivated and no one can use them (its about 7-8 days). SMS centers all around the country has been inactivated for 7-8 days. All communicative websites such as Facebook.com, Youtube.com, Twitter.com and etc. has become filtered and are not accessible with proxies.

Making the world aware of what is taking place by government in Iran is very hard in this situation. You may know that no foreign media is coverging at this moment, all have been expelled.
Loging in all weblog hosts are also unavailable, so no one can even write what is happening on their weblogs.
Cities have no news about other cities! No one knows what is happening in Iran. BBC Persian TV is not available in Iran, just VOA. VOA is the only way Iran can be heard within Iran. World cant see what is happening inside Iran!

All I want is her lips!

There is not so much information on internet about band, Nexx. But I’m really into its singer, the way she sings the song “Synchronize Lips” and especially the lyric she utters. I suggest it cuz all I want is her lips and it is better than wine ;)
Here is the download link.

Joseph and Zulaikha story criticism: Difference between male and female psychology!

These days, IRIB is broadcasting a movie serial about Joseph (Yusuf), called “Joseph, the Prophet”.It’s the story of Joseph, a man who is known as a prophet in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Many have also tried to find him in pharaohs’ dynasties as a real person, but haven’t been much successful. Many have attributed Yuya, the courtier of eighteen dynasty of Egypt to Joseph. Although he has many characteristics of Joseph but there are some impediments which won’t let to conceive him as Joseph.But it’s not what I wanted to mention. In this story we learn about Zulaikha affections toward Joseph and her efforts to sedu.ce him which fails. After this story being revealed all around the empire, and everyone condemned Zulaikha, she manages a fest with noble women being invited in to justify herself. She gives each an orange and lets the Joseph to reveal himself. Here all the women cut their hands since they can’t prevent looking at him.
I’m not a girl, nor a relationship expert. But I know the different chemistry of affections in two genders of male and female. These are different. Women can’t fall in love instantly and become insane by just seeing a male! It’s not important how beautiful he may be, but that’s not the way a woman falls in love. Maybe she likes his beauty and confirms it in an instant observation, but cant becomes spelled and so much fascinated, falling in love.
This love (by observation) just exists in male gender. We all know many stories about men who are fascinated in a woman instantly by observation and they crash the car, bang to the wall, fall in canal and can’t help themselves. If you’re a male, there’s no usage for more explanation. For example listen to James Blunt great song ‘You’re Beautiful’, which describes a particular falling in love situation: seeing a beautiful woman in street with his man passing by and falling in love with her!
It’s hard to believe for a woman to conceive that many women in this story have fallen in love in this manner (if you’re a man, you can’t understand it, so don’t dispute). These attractions work just for men whom are evolutionary, physiologically and psychologically different.Then one may conclude this story (Joseph and Zulaikha) has been written by a male or who hasn’t been aware of female psychology! What do you think?

The Ten Commandments and James Hetfield

Last night I was watching “The Ten Commandments” once again and thinking how righteous pharaoh was! And how cruel Yahweh is! In every part of story Yahweh cheats and revenges in worst possible ways; but pharaoh acts and talks more logical. Sometime Yahweh can’t understand who is on his side or not, then his people should paint blood on their door for this omniscient to understand whose first born child should be died! Again after Jews exodus, we understand these people who had suffered many years and are really righteous, when they’re near Sinai mountain, after forty days, they turn to some vicious sinful beasts! That’s a great change and I believe is not possible in reality, but just in myths! And again cruel Yahweh punishes them for forty years of wandering because of forty days of sinning! What a justice!
But today I don’t want talk about bible and its myths; I wanna talk about influence of this movie on James Hetfield, lead singer and guitarist of American heavy metal band of Metallica. After watching this movie, under its influence he wrote “Creeping Death” lyric and played it for about more than twenty years. This lyric is an explanation of this movie and he believes in this conquering of slaves over masters which isn’t a noble idea in Nietzsche’s philosophy. But now after more than twenty years, he has changed his ideology and now believes in that Nietzschean philosophy and in song “The End of The Line” from Metallica new album, “Death Magnetic”, says “Slave becomes the master, needs more and more”. This change is interesting and realizable!

I'm back again!

Many things had happened lately and I wasn’t here to write about them for awhile. But I’ve been engaged with my Persian weblog and writing again in my mother-tongue was joyful for me. Some good news was my matriculation for M.S. course. Since matriculation in Iranian universities (esp. state universities) isn’t very simple; that was an honor for me.
Lately, I’ve got a belief that politics and writing about it, doesn’t satisfy me very much, since I’m not a political guy (mentioned before). And I believe Music, Science and Philosophy make me happier! Then I think I won’t write political anymore like what I’ve done a little here and in a huge expense in MidEastYouth.
I don’t think that I will write here regularly; but I’ll write here since now about everything comes in my mind.

Regards,

The Truth Behind '300' (the movie)

For many Iranians the cinematic movie '300' may come as a shocking revelation. But to those of us who came up through America's school system, the 'Battle of Thermopylae,' which is what the movie '300' is based on, is as familiar as George Washington's fabled "cherry tree" episode.

The Battle of Thermopylae was of course written by the classical Greek author, Herodotus, who lived in the Persian city of Halicarnassus. His book, 'The Histories' became part of Western folklore only recently. It was not until about 1850 that America embraced Herodotus as the leading authority on Persian history.

Before 1850, however, the West had a very favorable impression of the Persian Empire. That's because the West's main source for Persian history was the Bible and the 'Cyropaedia,' written by another Greek author named Xenophon.

But the Cyropaedia glorified the monarchy of Cyrus The Great, and in the wake of two bloody revolutions fought by America and France to liberate themselves from their own monarchies, a major campaign began, around the mid 19th century, to promote democracy throughout the rest of Europe, and Herodotus was the perfect propaganda tool.

Herodotus was a democratic groupie and was quickly ushered in as the "Father Of History." Around 1850, his 'Battle Of Thermopylae' came to symbolize the West's struggle for democracy against the powerful forces of Persia's monarchy.

The story is easy to buy into: 300 brave Spartans saved Western democracy from 2.7 million evil Persians. But aside from the fanciful numbers which need decimal-point adjustments, this whimsical tale has far graver consequences than a mere biased account of history.

The 'Battle Of Thermopylae' has been the single most powerful wedge, which has divided East and West for over 2 millennia. In a time when East and West should be reconciling their differences, along comes the movie '300' to drive that wedge even deeper.

What is most disturbing about this movie is not that it lacks historical accuracy. It is not that Xerxes, the Grandson of Cyrus The Great and loving husband of Esther, is shown as an oversized drag queen. It is not even the outdated racist cliché of casting the Persians as Africans and the Spartans as white, blue-eyed 'Chippendale dancers,' when in reality the roles may well have been reversed.

What is so distressing about this movie is the realization of the tremendous power Hollywood wields in determining a people's identity. It is the same nightmare Native Americans endured during the whole 'cowboy-movie' genre.

But for those who are quick to dismiss '300' as a fleeting fantasy flick aimed at the insignificant, 17 to 24 year-old male video-gamer, think again. First there was Alexander, now '300,' next could well be the 'Battle Of Marathon,' another one of Herodotus's glowing accounts of ancient Persia.

Herodotus is accepted blindly by virtually all Western demographics. Even the New York Times is not immune. Here is how it described the Persians in its April 20, 2004 issue about the Battle Of Marathon: "the defeat of a ruthless state (Persia) that had enslaved much of the known world from the Balkans to the Himalayas." - William J. Broad, (NY Times)

"the ancient Greeks defeated the Asian invaders (Persia) and saved Europe in what scholars call one of the first great victories of freedom over tyranny" - William J. Broad, (NY Times)

What stretches the limits of hypocrisy is that there isn't a single shred of archeological evidence that the Persians ever owned slaves. Yet we know that slavery was an integral cornerstone of Greek society. Aristotle's manifesto even sanctions it. Persia, which was once a haven for runaway slaves from Egypt, Greece, and later Rome, is today branded as a slave-hungry empire by cultures which were built on slavery!

What makes Herodotus's propaganda so difficult to refute is that it is peppered with facts. But in reality, it is a desperate diatribe. Perhaps his biggest ploy is his attempt to equate democracy with freedom. These two words are used virtually interchangeably throughout his book. And the West has swallowed it hook-line-and-sinker.

But America's founding fathers knew better. They implemented many safeguards to protect freedom from the pitfalls that mired Athenian democracy. Even Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others which have been tried."

Democracy may well be the best form of government. But what makes America great is not so much democracy, as it is its Bill Of Rights. And this is exactly what made Persia Great. Democracy can often lead to tyranny by the majority as was the case in democratic Athens, where women, slaves and foreigners did not have the right to vote.

In monarchic Persia, however, women enjoyed a level of gender equality unmatched even to this day, and slavery was not practiced. The fact is, Persia's monarchy was more free than Athens' democracy, all because of Persia's Bill Of Rights. No one exemplifies Persia's freedom better than Herodotus himself. He describes Athens as the bastion of freedom, yet he chose to live in Persia.

Xenophon, on the other hand, who actually lived in Athens, reminisces enviously about the monarchy of Cyrus The Great.

Herodotus claims Persia had enslaved most of the known world, yet we know Herodotus was not a slave. He traveled freely throughout the empire, openly criticizing it.

Why did Herodotus not live in Greece? Because Persia - the empire he is so quick to demonize - afforded him the very freedom to publish his scathing report of it. People want to live where their god-given rights are protected, regardless of whether its democratic or monarchic.These god-given rights were first drafted into law by the founder of the Persian empire, Cyrus The Great. In fact, ancient Persia may well have served as the blue print for America's Bill Of Rights.

Both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the architects of America's Constitution, were great admirers and owned several copies of Xenophon's Cyropaedia.

Today, no other country resembles ancient Persia as closely as does the United States. If any country should sympathize with, rather than celebrate, Persia's quagmire in Greece, it is the United States. Few events in history mirror America's war on terror as closely as Persia's war on Greece.

The Greeks had been carrying out terrorist attacks on Persian holdings for years. They had attacked Persian cities, set fire to Persian temples, disrupted key trade routes, and pirated merchant ships crossing the Bosphorus. They incited rebellions inside Persian provinces, but perhaps most abhorrent to the Persians was the ease by which the Greeks broke their treaties and betrayed Persia's trust.

Rather than resort to violence, however, Persia tried to keep the Greeks in check by financially supporting Greek politicians who were "pro-Persian," much the same way America fights its proxy wars. But what finally triggered Persia's wrath was an act rarely mentioned in the West, though well documented, even by Herodotus (7:11).

Persia's 9/11:

In 498 BCE, Athens carried out a terrorist attack on Sardis, a major Persian city, which made 9/11 seem like child's play. Aristagoras, an Athenian, set fire to the "outlying parts" of Sardis trapping most of its population "in a ring of fire." (Herodotus 5:101)

More innocent civilians died at the hands of Aristagoras than Osama bin Laden could ever hope to kill. And just as most of the world supported America's retaliation against Al Qaeda, so did it rally in support of Persia's attack on Athens.

The Spartans were not even targets of Persia's attack, until they violated a universal protocol by killing a Persian messenger who Herodotus claims was asking for Sparta's submission but in reality was probably sent by Persia's king, Xerxes to convey the same message America sent to the entire world after 9/11: "you're either with us, or against us."

The Spartans were Greek Jihadists who lived only to die. They were by all accounts ruthless savages who murdered Greek slaves known as "Helots" just for sport, cultivated a culture of thievery and rape, and practiced infanticide, as the movie '300' rightly points out in its opening scenes. Sparta was not even democratic. It was an oligarchy at best. Despite knowing all this, the West continues to hail the Spartans as the saviors of Western democracy.

Yes, the Spartans died fighting a foreign invader. But so do countless terrorists. Yet few would consider them "good guys." Those who do are then not much different from Westerners who cheer for the Spartans.

Persia was drawn into a protracted war against terror, much the same way the U.S. was. Cheering for the Spartans merely because they were underdogs, is like cheering for Osama bin Laden today.

The Power Of Film:

History is no longer written by the victors, it is written by filmmakers. Most minority groups in America have come to realize this fact and are quick to bankroll films that communicate their stories to the rest of the world. Perhaps the movie '300' was a necessary wake-up call for the Iranian/Persian community to support responsible filmmakers, who report history with honesty and integrity.

Alex Jovy's epic movie about Cyrus The Great could have done wonders for the Iranian image (http://www.chahayagroup.com/). But Alex Jovy's movie today sits idle due lack of money. My documentary film about Cyrus The Great has languished for a mere want of $400,000 (www.spentaproductions.com/cyruspreview.htm).

Iranians are the most affluent minority group in America. If they set their mind to it, they could set the historical record straight virtually overnight. Until then, their history will be written by the likes of Zack Snyder.

Cyrus Kar

Source: Spenta Productions

Baha’i Holy Places on UNESCO World Heritage Center

Last week, 8 July, UNESCO World Heritage Center, inscribed 21 new places as world heritage places on its list. Among them, was Baha’i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee. It’s a great event for Bahai’s, at one hand for their holy places being inscribed and for Israelis at the other hand, to have another Heritage Place on their land. Maybe it brings Israelis and Iranians a little together; maybe not!

The Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee are inscribed for the testimony they provide to the Bahá’i’s strong tradition of pilgrimage and for their profound meaning for the faith. The property numbers 26 buildings, monuments and sites at 11 locations in Acre and Haifa, associated with the founders of the faith, among them the Shrine of the Bahá’u’lláh in Acre and the Mausoleum of the Báb in Haifa. It also includes houses, gardens, a cemetery and a large group of modern buildings in the neoclassical style that serve for administration, archives and a research centre. 1




And also Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran inscribed among those new UNESCO World Heritage Places; an honor for my land.


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1. UNESCO World Heritage Center

Basir Seerat, An Afghan Photo Journalist

Wandering in blogosphere, led me today to Afghan’s weblogs which were really interesting. Of those, was Basir Seerat’s photo weblog.

He is 26 years old who has B.A in directing theater and cinema. Also is photo journalist for Human Rights in Afghanistan. He had made some art works in filmmaking, photography and calligraphy.

I found his photos interesting and like you to check him out in Basir Seerat weblog here and here.

Chris de Burgh in Iran!

You may know Chris de Burgh or not. But if you do not know, he is an Irish song writer singer and musician. He’s got astounding popularity in some countries such as Germany, Norway, Iran, Lebanon and Brazil, according to Wikipedia.
By the way Iranian go crazy for his songs and everyone knows him inside Iran! The cause is not clear why there is such a thing; at least I do not know.
Lately, Arian band which is an Iranian famous pop band, has invited him to perform together. Last week, Chris de Burgh has been in Iran to record a song with Arian and also prepare for his Iran tour. It’s the first western act in Iran after 1979 revolution, according to Wikipedia.
He, in press conference in Tehran said:" This has been a dream of mine since I was a little boy (to visit Iran)....I am not here for any political reasons. “

Arian new album has just released and has a song featuring Chris de Burgh. That song is a new version of “The Words I Love You” from his 2004 album, “The Road to the Freedom”. This song is like “Lebanese Nights” that he had performed with Elissa, that Lebanese singer.
And I believe this song is going to be a hit in Iran. Watch it here:

My Persian Weblog!

Yes and yes! I did it again and after writing just in english for one year, I turned to Persian! But I will keep writing in english too.
If you are Persian, you can check my persian weblog out: A Weblog about Everything and Nothing!

My German Weblog!

I will write my posts also in German and you can enjoy if you are a Deutsch!
But because I'm not a professional in German, then these posts will be a translation of my english one!
Check it out here: Ein Weblog über Alles und Nichts!