Pars Arts

Happy New Year: Iranian-Calendar Identity Crisis

Happy New Year! That’s assuming, of course, that you follow the Gregorian calendar, which has us in the year 2008 just a few hours from now. If you’re living in the West, custom dictates that you’ll be drinking champagne and wearing a funny hat tonight, pretending you know the lyrics of Auld Lang Syne as you ring in (or is that sing in?) the new year. But Azad, the man behind the photo blog Life Goes on in Tehran (here’s our interview with him) just updated with photos from the last month, with a reminder that Iran’s on a totally different calendar: the calendar in Iran (and Afghanistan), is actually a solar one called the Jalaali calendar, so our new year (aka, Norooz) is in the spring.

If you were raised outside of Iran, it gets a little tricky to remember corresponding Iranian dates for the Gregorian calendar (and vice-versa). One of Azad’s captions this month helpfully points readers to a calendar converter from the Iran Chamber Society, which notes that today, 12/31/07, is actually the tenth of Dey, 1386, in Iran… or business as usual. There’s also a great Khayam calendar here. Do you have any tips for quick, in-your-head date conversion? Please leave them in the comments below.

RIP Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto, formerly two-time prime minister of Pakistan and part of a prominent political family, was assassinated today in Islamabad. She recently returned to the country after nine years of self-exile related to charges of alleged corruption (which caused her removal from office and were dropped for her return). Bhutto is half Iranian; her mother, Nusrat, is of Iranian Kurdish heritage. Benazir was the first woman to be elected head of a Muslim state, and not one short on controversy. But the violence against her is terrible and it’s sad to see her homeland in disarray.

Here are two bios.

Persepolis, the Film

Persepolis opened yesterday. Have you seen it yet? It’s quite good. Bebin.tv has a fantastic interview with author/co-director Marjane Satrapi:

Children of Persia 2008 Calendar

Merry Christmas. Here’s a last-minute gift idea for people celebrating today: the 2008 Children of Persia calendar. The $20 donation goes to that organization’s many educational and relief efforts
in Iran and among global Iranians. And the calendar’s theme for ‘08 is Persian architecture, which makes this gift useful, beautiful, and altruistic. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Happy Yalda! And some thoughts on Pars Arts.

Another year, another Shabeh Yalda… that’s right, kids, it’s time to bust out the pomegranate and halva and celebrate the longest night of the year. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, the IRNA has a good write-up and there’s also the Wikipedia page.

This site was on hiatus for most of the last month because of work/life stuff, but I’ll be back next week with some really good and considerably longer posts, and the goal of writing more regularly so there’s always something fresh.

I’m thinking a lot about what Pars Arts should be, because though the group blog thing was a great idea, I know it’s hard for people to make the time to write. And it’s time to take another look at the site and what it should do/be. I have some ideas of my own, but all thoughts on what you want to see here would be much appreciated – you can leave a comment or email me directly: editorATparsartsDOTcom.

In the meantime, have a wonderful Yalda (and a merry Christmas, if you celebrate) and see you on Tuesday.

Iran is Top Travel Destination for 2008, Says NY Times

Earlier this month, the New York Times wrote a story about the best travel destinations for the next year. And guess what? We’re number 18! Pretty awesome, right? The story mentions Distant Horizons as a good tour provider (word is that it’s hard to get a visa otherwise, if you don’t have an Iranian passport). Update: it’s actually only hard to get that visa if you have an American passport; thanks, ec!

(Image: Greg Von Doersten, NYT)

Homeless and Iranian

The man in this video is homeless in Los Angeles. He is also Iranian. Does the stigma of homelessness, mental illness, and other social problems in Iranian society create a system in our culture in which people who have these problems find it harder to overcome them? Do Iranians have a responsibility for other Iranians’ well-being? More of a responsibility than they have to anyone else, especially if they live in an affluent city like LA? Where’s the logic in this man’s thoughts regarding gambling as income? What’s the line between helping someone and enabling them? Do Persian-language social services exist in America? Is he on drugs? All questions swirling in my head as I take in this hard-to-watch report from bebin.tv. This is just part 1, and I’m looking forward to the continuation of this story.

Shahrnush Parsipur’s New Book: Men From Various Civilizations

Renowned Iranian writer Shahrnush Parsipur recently published an e-book, Men from Various Civilizations. It’s forty pages long and costs just $3, making it a perfect last-minute gift for the literary Iranian in your life – just buy and download it from Parsipur’s website, print it on some high-quality paper, and you’re done. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can even get it bound at Kinko’s. (And I know what you’re thinking, but don’t be a cheapskate – pay for every copy you print. It’s a book, and it costs less than the overpriced latte you’re likely sipping.)

I’ve just downloaded the book and will write a review when I’ve finished reading it, but considering the high quality of Parsipur’s other work, Civilizations is probably pretty great, too.

Illustration: Nur Karlica Iverson

Iranians on Facebook

Word on the street is Facebook is banned in Iran, but there are about ten jillion global Iranians on the social network anyway, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them. Sadly, there are not nearly as many cool Iranian-related applications (Or maybe that’s a good thing, because application invites are getting really annoying – no, I do not want to be a zombie/vampire/pirate, you loser! And stop writing on my nonexistent FunWall!) but one I’ve found so far is the clever Faal e Hafez, which simulates the popular Iranian custom of fortune-telling via Hafez’s poetry.

More recently, Kiosk guitarist Babak Khiavchi created the Iranians of the Day application, which pulls current content from what is, arguably, Iranian.com’s best section – the one that highlights ordinary and extraordinary Iranians and satisfies your (okay, fine, my) inner Iranian-Internet voyeur. Seriously, without Iranians of the Day I don’t think I really would have gotten sucked into the whole Iranian thing, so if you’re on Facebook and you’re still waiting for an RSS feed for this section of Iranian.com, install the app and you’ll be content.

And another thing about Iranians on Facebook… it’s a really good way to connect with long-lost cousins (true story – I’ve found peeps from both sides, even) and get in touch with some pretty fancy professionals.

How do you use Facebook to get down with your Perzhian-ness? Leave a comment and I’ll update this post with your genius.