Posted on 30 June 2010. Tags: gregorian calendar, iranian calendar, iranian girls, marjaneh halati, omid foundation, omid foundations, persian calendar

Purchase the 2010/10 Iranian/Gregorian calendar designed and produced by the girls at the Omid Foundation showing their own paintings and photographs. Part of the proceeds is donated to the girls who created the calendar.
The calendar shows both the Iranian as well as the Gregorian dates/months from 22 March 2010 until 21 March 2011. Continue Reading
Posted in Art & Design, Books, Community, Culture, Features, Iran & Iranians, Lifestyle
Posted on 29 March 2010. Tags: ancient iran, book abour iranians, book about persians, books about iran, eric parnes, iran books, iranian history, massoume price, Persian History

Stepping off of Westwood Blvd. in LA, into a Persian bookstore, I made a complete examination of the space, and noticed that one book was placed in two different locations.
“Ancient Iran,” by Massoume Price–and published by Anahita Productions Limited (2008)–was placed in both the “Children’s” section, as well as the “Adult Arts.”
It seems that the owner of the store was aware of the book’s dualistic qualities. The book is seemingly geared toward the young reader (by the indication: “Culture of Iran Youth Series” on top of the book), who may be inexperienced with the culture and rich historical timeline of ancient Iran.
Photo-inclusive, and broken down into sections, the book attempts to categorize the different periods of Iranian history starting from the “Burnt City’–over 5000 years ago–ending at the Sasanian dynasty of the 7th century AD. Simple, yet compact paragraphs describe the basic time periods, while the large color imagery serves to engage the eye and mind.
There is much to be said about the photographs, and there are plenty of rich treasures that are printed within this book. The almost life-size photo of a Gold Bracelet (pg. 15) is as real as one can get without being at a museum. Ms. Price succeeds in highlighting archeological finds that give proper perspective into civilization, and to Iran, in particular showing the earliest finds for games such as Backgammon, wine making, and of course the garden.
I must admit, that while I consider myself an amateur historian, I found this brief read, insightful in ways that inspired me to research more of a particular time period. When I grew up in the 80s in the states, regrettably there was nothing like this book, and I can only say that it serves both the young child, who is ready to learn about Iran, as well as the adult who could use a refresher course, or might not even be aware of Iranian history.
Ms. Price, also involves other aspects of Iranian culture, that being a description of the ancient writing forms of Iran ranging from cuneiform, to middle Persian, and even insight into clothing styles, and food. While children can learn about Persian culture by cooking with the family, those of us without children can also replicate ancient recopies for Parthian Bread, and Parthian Chicken.
I always wondered what we did to prepare food before the tomato, and the potato reached Iran.
Perhaps in terms of a civilization that is over 5000 years old, we are all children who can benefit from learning more about the past.
Posted in Books, Community, Culture, Features, History, Iran & Iranians, Lifestyle, Persian
Posted on 13 January 2010. Tags: abc, Barry Sonnenfeld, firoozeh dumas, Fruit Flicking Forefather, funny in farsi, hrach titizian, iranian actor, iranian actress, iranian american comedy, Jeffrey Hodes, kaz, marjan neshat, maz jobrani, maz jobrani cartoon, mohammed sayed kazem jazayeri, Nastaran Dibai, persian cosby show

Iranian-American Actor/Comedian: Maz Jobrani, Original Photo: MazJobrani.com
Iranian-American actor and mega-comedian, Maz Jobrani, is set to star in ABC’s first Iranian-American comedy pilot based on Firoozeh Dumas’s book about growing up in the 1970s in Newport Beach, California: Funny in Farsi.
For those that know, Persian humor is truly some of the most clever and unique form of comedy. And with Maz Jobrani’s timing and skills, we’re positive that he’ll be providing some authentic Persian flavor to the mainstream tube; which will surely prove to be funny in English as well.
How does Maz feel about being a part of this project?
“Like Tony the Tiger,” he tells us. “Grrrrrrreeeat!”
Posted in Announcements, Books, Community, Entertainment, Features, Iran & Iranians, Lifestyle, Persian
Posted on 07 December 2009. Tags: ahmed ahmed, bridging the gap, max amini, NBC, nbc diversity showcase, showtime, the middle east comedy talks
East-Coast-bred Iranian comedian, Max Amini, is set to tape a comedy show for the Showtime network: “Bridging the Gap: The Middle East Comedy Talks“.
“I will be doing a live taping for Showtime Saturday, Dec. 12th,” the comedian tells us. ”The show will be hosted by Ahmed-Ahmed and the line-up is great.”
In addition to his Showtime gig, Max was also recently chosen to be a part of the “NBC Diversity Showcase” this year. Continue Reading
Posted in Announcements, Books, Entertainment, Features, Iran & Iranians, Lifestyle
Posted on 24 June 2009. Tags: 1970's iran, 1979 revolution, 2009 Iranian movement, iranian-american author, mahbod seraji, novel set in Tehran, rooftops of tehran, tehran rooftops

Washington, DC — Anyone who has seen the aftermath of the Iranian election on the news or online, has been undeniably rocked to their human core by the violent backlash Iranians have received for speaking up and asking for their long-overdue freedom(s). Yet, the original party-people and poets of the world: the Iranians, have taken their rebuttal to Ahmadinejad’s statement about the people who protested the outcome of this year’s Iranian election (and his “presidency”) to a new, perhaps romantic level.
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Posted in Books, Features, Interviews, Iran & Iranians
Posted on 01 June 2009. Tags: afrasiab, cameron douraghy, comic book, hyperwerks, kai kavous, persian literature, princess of the white castle, rostam, rostam tales from the shahnameh, roudabeh, shah nameh, shahnameh, shahnameh project, sohrab, soudabeh, tahmineh, zal

The Shahnameh (Book of Kings), was written by Persian literary-master: Ferdosi (also spelled Ferdowsi). The Persian literary masterpiece, amassed over several decades in the tenth and eleventh centuries, is a collection of some 60,000 couplets full of Persian Miniatures created to illustrate scenes from the Persian epic, and has now reemerged in the form of HYPERWERKS‘ highly-entertaining comic book series: Rostam – Tales from the Shahnameh.
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Posted in Art & Design, Books, Entertainment, Features, History, Interviews, Iran & Iranians, Persian
Posted on 28 May 2009. Tags: cosmic war, globalization, how to win a cosmic war, iran expert, iranian author, iranian scholar, leila forouhar, religious extremism, reza aslan, terrorism explained, war on terror

Photo Credit: Hilary Jones
WASHINGTON, DC – From the release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi (who is incidentally half-Japanese) to the elections in Iran, Iranians continue to be quite the headline-nabbing theme du jour. And we’ve got another one for you to add to the list of Iranian notables: Dr. Reza Aslan. An assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, Aslan is a coveted commentator on CNN, CBS, NPR, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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Posted in Books, Features, Interviews, Iran & Iranians, Lifestyle, News, Persian, Politics
Posted on 15 May 2009. Tags: dagger, exhibition, gifts from iran, mask, museum, persian artifacts, persian gifts, sackler gallery, safavid iran, shield, smithsonian institute, tsars and the east

“Organized by the Smithsonian Institution’s Arthur M. Sackler Galleryin collaboration with The Moscow Kremlin Museums, this presentation features more than sixty exceptional objects that large embassies, diplomatic missions, and trade delegations from Ottoman Turkey and Safavid Iran offered to the tsars of Russia.”
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Posted in Art & Design, Books, Features, History, Iran & Iranians, Persian