July 03, 2006
Nothingness 1
Let the clowns play. Let the dreams be. Let the horror saturate.
Leave the reds intact, leave the feelings hurt, leave the lovers suffocate.
Let the white be white, leave the blacks in black,
Dream in vain and then, when the masterplan fails....Drink in pain and pray.
-------
For more information, please call 1-800-WTFMaan
Posted by masoud at 01:34 AM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2006
Diaries of M #1: How I Grew Up 5 Years In One Night
My sense of direction sucks big time. It used to suck a lot more till a couple of nights ago. I went to Toronto for a week, the reasons for which are yet under major investiations....and one night, after a little party I went to, I had to go back rather early to be able to catch the public transit to go back to York University.
So, after I was advised that it would take me about 15 minutes walk to this Bus/Subway station that would take me to York University, I decided to walk with my backpack and a carrying bag, specially since I had no idea how late one particualar bus that usually went to that station, was running till.
So, my supposed-to-be-15-minute walk took about 25 minutes. Then I found out that that bus that usually ran till then, wouldn't work on holidays till that late at night. After a while of thinking and hard direction-figuring-out self-debate, I took the subway to another station in which in the previous night, I had been able to catch a bus to my destination at around 2:15 and it was only about 12:30 at the time.
So, I did manage to take that bus, but the bus, after going for about 40 minutes, stopped in the middle of nowhere and I was the only passenger left on it. The bus driver came and literally shut down the bus. When I asked about it and wondered how I should go to where I wanted, he simply said he was off duty and that the bus wouldn't go to where I wanted. So I got off and waited for some other buses to come around. A few minutes after, one actually did come and I asked the driver. He thought for a bit and figured there's no way for me other than taking his bus, going to some other station, taking another one that would go close to the university and walk for a 'bit'. So I did that.
I got on that bus, got off a few stations after, got on another one, got off a while after and I was told that about 15 minutes of walking would get me to where I wanted. So I started walking.....
And I walked. and I walked. and I walked. I sang songs to myself. I thought about my poor little suitcase I was carrying on its wheels on the ground. I hoped its wheels wouldn't bail out on me. I thought about where I was. I thought about North, South, East, West. I thought about God. I thought about a girl I knew. I thought about how I thought about myself and how people thought about me. I thought about thieves. I thought about Hell and Heaven. I thought about how screwed up things can be. I thought about what I thought about the world and how it acutally might be.
So I walked for about 70 minutes...with my suitcase and carrying bag. And all my thinkings about direction and where I was, eventually got me to where I had to go. Well, not quite, but rather. I ended up walking for another half an hour after that to get to where I wanted. I survived and my sense of direction actually worked. With no Sun in the sky. With no one to help. And with no motivation to find the way.
My sense of direction is 5 years old now. It grew up all that in one night. Despite the commonly believed knowledge that brain doesn't develope new cells, I'm pretty sure a handful of new brain nerves were developed in the direction department of my brain. I have to celebrate this soon. Hopefully, all you who participated in this growing-up, can attend.
Nevertheless, after this great happening, I ended up going to Hamilton, where my friend picked me up and gave me a tour of the city in his car. Well, that was the start of an end. My newly developed brain cells in the direction-handling department, are going to starve to death for not being used, and all the food will go to the other sections that can be of an actual use for my well-being. It was a short life for these cells, nevertheless, a fruitfull life, full of joy and success. Let them rest in peace.
Posted by masoud at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2006
Quarter Finals: Art vs Technique
What is Art ? Yes indeed, that's the first question to be answered after having a full stomach, isn't it !
I had a drawing teacher who I very much liked (in an innocent, good and orthodox way), and he once said "A masterpiece is a great idea, beautifully done". Most of the time, I used to think, having great ideas was the ultimate goal, but then, if those ideas are not put into practice well enough, then what's their point ?
Now, if you just have the technique to do something, let it be carpenting, playing music or painting, it's not art yet, until you incorporate some cool ideas into it. I don't personally consider a good guitar player an artist if he can just play it real fast, without making good tunes out of it. On the other hand, if someone can spit beautifully in some interesting way, that can be considered as art. Technique comes to help an idea be beautifully done, but just by itself, it doesn't have any aritistic value. Of course the border line is quite unclear and vague and sometimes it's hard to judge if something's art or just good technique.
Now, what Brazil football team does, is not a sport, but rather a form of art, no matter what the score, you enjoy watching its beauty, but Germany only has the technique. Or what Keyvan Saket plays, is not artistic Tar, but rather great technique with no spirit. On the other hand, Joe Satriani is an artist.
Posted by masoud at 08:57 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2006
Times Roman
Do you know the history behind Times Roman font that almost all of us use in typing and is the default on most computers ?
Well, from what I heard today, seems like it was designed by the British in the Times newspaper, as an engraved Roman-style alphabet to induce the belief that everything written in that newspaper is a true solid fact.
No wonder how the British are still ruling near a dozen other countries and looting them in a generally accepted official way. It's because they think about every single thing, unlike most of the other governments who go and see what happens next.
Posted by masoud at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2005
What the hell was that ??!
What the hell were they doing ?
A few people came to the library, right beside the computers, beside the wall, in the middle of the library, two of them sat down and started talking and writing things on some piece of paper. So far it was strange, cause they could've done this at a table and instead they chose the floor and in the middle of the library too.
Then they started talking loud, and everyone could hear them, which is again strange, cause library is supposed to be a not-loud (different from quiet though) place.
Then they went to a row of computers and desks, with people working and studying, and started saying a bunch of things that I didn't understand, loudly. And then they cheered up for themselves and left.
The people I was sitting and talking with, were a bunch of morons, so that didn't even grab their attention. So I had to come up with a theory of what the heck these people were doing, all by myself.
I figured, they were probably working on an assignment, seeing how people react to abnormal things happening around them.
So I went out to ask those people what they were really up to. It turned out that this whole thing was more messed up than I thought.
From what I understood, they were just trying to see if they can grab people's attention. It wasn't for an assignment. I asked them if they had a measurement of how successful they'd been, like number of people who moved their heads to look at them, etc. They said no. So the whole thing was a strange test with no means of measuring the outcome. Think about doing something purposeless.
Moral of the story: If you think the number of retarded people is decreasing, you're dead wrong, straight up.
Posted by masoud at 10:58 PM | Comments (1)
August 18, 2005
The Doors Concert: The Jim Morrison Experience, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Vanilla Fudge, Everything From Everywhere
And there goes The Doors concert at the Vancouver Coliseum on Thursday, July 21st! The former cult singer, Ian Astbury had the difficult task of representing Jim Morrison, which he did it almost perfectly. It wasn't sold out, but the place was almost full.
As usual I took my camera inside along with some other stuff ;) and as usual, the security bugged me for taking pictures, which I don't understand why, since I never use flash to distract the band and so many people take pictures anyways. The security has to always be a pain in the ass I guess, that's part of their routine.
Ian Astbury who looks like and sings like and dances like Jim Morrison, made everyone believe that Jim Morrison's soul had got permission from God to come back for a while and bring back memories. The rest of the band had become old, while Jim Morrison was still young.
The concert proved to be quite educational besides being entertaining. It gave rise to so many philosophical questions to which the answer is still not quite known.
Does the former cult singer (which I haven't still memorized his name and refer to him as "the singer guy"), feel good or bad about himself representing Jim Morrison ? On one hand, he's representing a big idol and makes many people happy, on the other hand he's just a fake one, can't have his own personality and full creativity on the stage and has to be someone else. My friend, who is a big-time Jim Morrison fan and got into drugs, etc. just because of Jim Morrison and thought he was Jim Morrison for a while (he's ok now ! at least much better) described the concert as "the best fake show ever".
This reminded me of Kirk Hammet, the Metallica's guitar player. As I watched the movie Metallica: Some Kind of a Monster a while ago, I figured that in this band, only James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich would actually make the songs and would come and give the note sheets to the others and the others had to go along with them. In the movie Kirk Hammet was saying he was completely comfortable with his role in the band, i.e being a doll and not being creative and becomming famous and rich by just being a toy in the hands of others. This brings up another issue about the unfairness of the world; even if you are creative but at the wrong place and time, you can be much worse than some pathetic person who turns out to be at the right place and right time. And if you think too much about this, it will lead to questions about God and your own existence. I don't recommend going there.
Seemed like Jason, the bass player who separated from the band a few years ago, did it for the exact same reason; i.e that he couldn't be creative and so he tried to be creative in a small group outside Metallica, but James Hetfield, made it hard for him, cause he wanted Jason to be fully committed to Metallica, although he wouldn't let him to be creative. That's abuse of power, as the rest of the movie suggested the same thing. Although it's not right to work in another band while having the first band (Jason's case), I think James Hetfield was not justified to pressure Jason for doing that, since the cause of problem was James Hetfield himself. Had it not been because of him, he was totally right to kick Jason out for not being completely committed to Matallica.
And after Jason was gone, the band was so arrogant and cruel, that they didn't even mention his name afterwards, ignoring the fact that they had reached that level of fame together with Jason, working for 15 years together. Metallica and Napster story shows more of their attitude towards the audience as well.
This reminded me of Pink Floyd. Roger Waters separated from the band too (and they rejoined temporarily a while ago in London for the Live 8 concert to help pressure the so-called G8 leaders to pay more attention to poverty specially in Africa). But he separated because of the opposite reason, he seemed to be more creative and apparently the rest of the band didn't really like the lyrics to be always about sad things. In any case, for Pink Floyd, it was never the case that they wouldn't mention Roger Water's name, although he still has some issues with the band, they even rejoined for a good cause.
Although Metallica and Pink Floyd stories might not quite be that much similar, I put them on opposite sides, attitude-wise; while I find Metallica to be selfish, arrogant and abusive, I find Pink Floyd to have much higher moral values. This brings another question that when looking at art, do you have to consider the artists' attitudes to praise their work or not. Next time, should I go to Metallica's concert again, despite the fact that I don't like their attitude, just because the concert would be a great experience or not ?
Two bands opened for The Doors, the second one was Vanilla Fudge, a fourty-something-year-old band that many haven't even heard of their name after so many years and they're still together, all the original band members. They've had single hits like "Keep Me Hangin' On", etc., but nothing more. When I saw them, I thought whether they're being pathetic that after so many years, they haven't got to anywhere or it's that they don't really care and they just love the music ? And when you compare them with huge bands like Pink Floyd and Metallica that have reached the highest points of success, but have had problems inside the band, you wonder how powerful fame or money are that result in these conflicts. In a song called The Gypsy Meets The Boy by W.A.S.P, a boy is telling a gypsy that he wants to be the crimson idol of a million people and be famous and the gypsy tells him "do you see what I see?, be careful to choose, be careful what you wish for, cause it may come true"....
And having said all that, there are always stories going in the background that we don't know of, and therefore our judgement might be quite far away from the truth. And more over, who knows if there really is a truth....
Here are some of the photos of the concert:
Posted by masoud at 10:19 PM | Comments (3)
June 02, 2005
Meaning of Friendship
You have a store and are doing great. A good friend of yours comes to your store and you give him stuff at the cost price or with just a bit of profit, in any case a lot less than what you sell it to others. Becuase you're good friends.
A while later, the business becomes slow and you're not having a great time. Another competitor is selling at a lower price and you're struggling to compete. Your friend somehow knows about this, he comes to your store, and buys stuff from you at the regular price without expecting any discount from you, while he could've bought them at a cheaper price from some other store. Because you're good friends.
Posted by masoud at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2005
World of Warcraft
This game is introducing some amazing new concepts to life. Some of them have been suggested before, but this is the first time it's being put into practice at this scale.
So the new version of warcraft, is an online game. You buy a copy for 50$ and install it and you will be connected to a server to play with others. The game is a HUGE world and every individual will try to improve their skills, gather money, etc (as in real life) and try to kick others' asses. It will take you 8 hours to go from one side of this world to the other side.
It has broken the record of the most number of people playing online at the same time: around 400,000 people !! This is crazy.
Now remember the concept of not buying the games and hacking them or finding the serial number instead ? Well, good old times. You can't do it anymore. After the first month, you will have to pay a monthly fee to be able to continue playing and since it's online and needs registration, you can't hack it. It's a massive amount of monthly subscription fees that is not comparable to any other game ever made. As for the hacking, a while ago, two people were trying to hack it, and they stopped the game for a few hours and banned those people and anounced it to everyone.
Now in this world, you can gather money, skills, etc and improve. This has brought a new weird thing: people sell their characters, money, etc on Ebay !! So for example you can buy 100 gold of this game for 10$ on Ebay. Or some people offer money to take your character and play with it and improve it to a certain level ! By this, it has basically introduced new jobs: some people will just stay at home and play and sell their characters/money/etc or will play to improve your game character and get paid !! A new virtual world is interacting with the old real world !! Someone might be some pathetic dude in our real world and be a hero in this virtual world and can make a lot of money in the real world by being that hero in that virtual world.
As time goes by, the makers of this game, will be introducing different worlds too. So a new world that is completely different from the current world being played, will be introduced and people will play in other environments. This is very close to what you read in science-fiction stories like Asimov's or Arthur C Clark's in which there are different gallaxies and planets, etc and they interact.
Posted by masoud at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2005
Baraka
....And I watched Baraka again. To describe its beauty, here's what can be said about it: One of the best wishes you can have is to wish that you see a day (or a night or something in between) when you sit down and watch Baraka and every scene that comes you say "yeah I've seen that place"....
Posted by masoud at 07:47 AM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2005
Shajarian in Concert
So the master had another concert....BUT....
This time it was on Feb 20th, in Orpheum Theatre with about 2300 people (I guess), unlike any other time that I've heard of, it wasn't sold out, and it wasn't as good as last years and I didn't take pictures with him either (thanx to my camera that was out of battery and thanx to others who had cameras and sold me out). Maybe it's about time he changed who he works with and gave more vocal to Homayoon....
[Fortunately] (1) A good friend took some pictures and here they are:
Keyhan Kalhor, Mohammadreza Shajarian, Homayoon Shajarian, Hossein Alizadeh
Keyhan Kalhor, Mohammadreza Shajarian, Homayoon Shajarian, Hossein Alizadeh
Like Father, Like Son
(1) The question is whether "Fortunately should start with a capital letter or a small letter...."
Posted by masoud at 04:29 PM | Comments (9)
January 29, 2005
Poker God forever
It's true that I'm quite humble (as my About Me shows !), but that doesn't mean that I should constantly be hiding all of my accomplishments you know....
Yeah, so my friend dragged me to this poker tournament with 100 people playing, we were 50 minutes late (10 more minutes late and we wouldn't/couldn't even get in). I didn't rebuy or add-on and had fewer chips than everyone else at my table. My AQ lost to pocket 3's and 4's three times in all-in situations !!! I had decided to throw my AQ away forever, but in the last hand, I was the big blind, the guy went all-in, and I ditched my senses and called. Obviously he had pocket 3's again ! and that's how I became 2nd after playing for 6 hours and that's how AQ lost for the 4th time and that's why there's so much debate about why AQ sucks (now there's one more reason) ;)
Moral of the story:
1. In some poker tournaments, pocket 3's are better than pocket aces.
2. Sometimes it's quite harmful to ditch your senses.
3. It's good that your house is close to everywhere.
4. In case of emergency, make sure you dial 911.
5. Good always wins, unless Bad wins first.
6. Moral number 5 is very important.
Posted by masoud at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2005
Orkut Hacked ??
:) It seems like my orkut's either hacked or screwed up ! I am a member of "internet lovers" community, brazillian version !! Not that it's not true, but that would probably be the last community I would join. I hope it's a friend's joke who has somehow in a very strange way that I can't think of, has hacked my password. Otherwise someone might have found a way to forcefully make others a member of his/her community. That's quite interesting. Or it's just a mistake like all other orkut's screw ups.
Posted by masoud at 05:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 29, 2004
Bum
There's this bum around Hastings street who carries about 60 kilograms of metal string like a snake around his neck. Why ? Because he thinks he's so enlighted that if he doesn't carry that much weight with him, he will float and go into the air. Well, too much weed I guess....
Posted by masoud at 12:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 14, 2004
People: NO-wise
Some people spit "NO" in your face. These people are too direct and with attitude. They need rehab to get over their problem.
Some people say "NO" without any considerations that it might hurt you, but they just say "NO" without being mean. These are too-direct people. They have to work on their saying-NO skills.
Some people say "NO" but will consider the situation and say it in a way that doesn't hurt you much. These are the ideal people.
Some people say "NO" in a very subtle way that sometimes becomes hard to understand. These people will sometimes have difficulty saying what they really want which will result in their rights to be violated from time to time.
Some people never say "NO". They will run you around, screw you over, confuse you, waste your time and eventually you will learn: You hear "YES" and see "NO". These are a type of hypocrties good for being treated like themselves: Being screwed over and played around.
Posted by masoud at 08:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 11, 2004
Pantera/Damage Plan Guitarist
Guitarist Darrell Abbott known as "Dimebag", founder of Pantera and Damage Plan, one of the best guitar players I've seen, was shot on Thurs. Dec 9th, 04 by some screwed up guy at a concert. Nothing can be said, it's a sad excuse to post some photos from their concert on June 6th in Halifax, as the opening band for Slayer (the photos are not that great since I was constantly trying to hide from the security who would've taken my camera away, had they seen me)....Let him rest in musical peace....
Damage Plan
Damage Plan
Damage Plan
Slayer
Slayer
Posted by masoud at 08:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 10, 2004
Poker revisited
For those who think:
-"If you fold me, I will fold you."
-"It's only 25 cents to call...."
-You are the last person to act when everyone has checked. You fold.
-You have the most money on the table, but you have lost the most too.
* X has finally got a good hand and bets. Y thinks and folds. X shows his hand and says:
X:If I'd been a little bit more lucky, you would've called me and I would've won.
Y:No, the reason why I didn't call you, is because of my good play, not because of your bad luck. You bad luck, might be that you're playing against me who is a good player.
X:Well, if you had a good hand, but a bit worse than mine, you would've called me, even if you were a fairly good player. That's why I was unlucky: you didn't have a good hand.
Y:I did have a good hand. That's why your bad luck is the fact that you're against me, not that I didn't have a good hand to call you.
-Reraising on the turn: one good confusing act.
-All techniques of poker on one side, All-in on the other side. Except for a pre-flop all-in.
2 B cnt'd....
Posted by masoud at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)
December 04, 2004
Bob Dylan revisited
Blowin' in the Wind
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Mr Tambourine Man
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my hand,
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.
.
.
.
Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Posted by masoud at 02:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 23, 2004
??!!
"What have I done, to deserve such disrespect ?!"
- Don Vito Corleone.
Posted by masoud at 01:47 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 10, 2004
Ghost Bus
Thanx to "study" sessions accompanied by Ghalyoon, Poker, Chatting, Gossiping, Alchohol, Tea, Photography, Calligraphy, Eating, "Learning" and other things that for the sake of some people's security and "aabroo heysiat" I can't mention, I took this picture.
Unfortunately it was not appreciated by some, as much as it deserves. So to make the photo happy, I will post it here, please be nice to it and make it proud of itself. It's a long exposure photo of a Ghost Bus passing the streets. That's how photos of aliens and UFOs are reported by people.
For those of you who don't see the bus, I have to say it's because it's a ghost bus. But you can see its lights (parallel to the street, not the two big street lights) and that proves there IS a bus there. I saw it myself too. But since it was a ghost bus, when you take pictures of it, it won't appear there. I hope you're now convinced. Thank you.
Posted by masoud at 06:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 29, 2004
WUWH 2
I feel like posting the Wish You Were Here again, but then I've already done it, so....
One of the biggest wishes anyone should have, is to be able to see him/herself as others see, then s/he would've done so many things that s/he wouldn't have done otherwise and vice versa.
It seems like I never learn from past experiences when it comes to some people....I just had to say it !
One of my friends wants to write a book titled "What guys know about girls". He is a pro in this field, nevertheless his prediction is that the book will be about 100 to 900 of blank pages. Let's all wish him good luck to find a publisher for this best-selling book. Here's 2 pictures you've all seen already just out of respect in support of his true belief:
Here's what I heard today: I know it's hard for BC residents to believe, but in some parts of Canada, coke is more available than weed. In those parts, there are hot-lines you can call and order coke and they will deliver it for you by cab !
Wish you all a happy day/night, after being stood up/screwed up by a few today, I personally am perfectly ready to end today....I need another dose of "The Ski Bum" once again....
Posted by masoud at 11:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 27, 2004
Forbidden
How can one write about something that can neither be written nor be told ?
Posted by masoud at 12:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 23, 2004
One day and a few happenings....
Today all of a sudden it started hailing (the phrase "all of a sudden" is meaningless when used to describe the weather in Vancouver. "All of a sudden" implies that something unexpected happened, but the anarchism of the Weather God has resulted in Vancouver's weather changing every 2 seconds. Therefore a sudden change is not unexpected (and that's why people wear short sleeves and take an umbrella with them at the same time) and therefore the use of "all of a sudden" is irrelevant. I'm just using it so that others have a better understanding of how hail started today). After a very short while, it seemed like it had snowed. Long live anything white.
Can you see my camera in the middle of the pic ? [1]
Can you see my camera in the middle of the pic NOT ? [2]
Then I went to a Ney (Dr Hossein Omoomi), Tar (Amir Koushkani), Tonbak & Daf (Zia Tabasian) concert. As always I took a few pics and Dr Omoomi was pissed at me, because of the camera flash. Well, now he wants me to send him the pictures ;) [4]
There was this guy who was called "doctor" and was videotaping the whole concert. He was the most artistically tasteless guy ever. Seeing how he was filming the concert totally distracted me. I had to change my seat in the second half.
And I saw a woman wearing a 300,000$ necklace which she doesn't like much.
Before the concert during sound check.
Two of the most beautiful Tars made by Ostad Pooriya. The top one is a killer.
Amir Koushkani.
Dr Omoomi joking...
Playing Saaghinaameh in Homaayoon.
Playing Masnavi in Shoor.
And....
The other things that happened today are to be kept as a mystery....
[1] Yes means you have good eyes. No means you're blind. [3]
[2] Yes means you're on drugs and hallucinating. No means you might be blind or not (The reason why some of you don't see my camera in the middle of this pic, is mostly because my camera is NOT there). [3]
[3] Answer these questions once in a while and you don't need to go to an eye doctor, psychiatrist or prison for that matter.
[4] Moral of the story: Be nice to the camera man. The same applies to poets....or other people....Being nice is very nice in general. What I just said is nice too (i.e that being nice is nice itself). You know I can go on forever. I'm very talented in babbling, rambling or other verbs used to describe this gift.
Posted by masoud at 11:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 22, 2004
...and thus spoke Nobody...
Being able to play an instrument is like having a friend who whenever you want, can talk to you in the exact way you want. No other friend can be like that.
Someone will hopefully understand the elegance of this. From the capitalization, sarcasm, irony and beauty to its compactness and comprehensiveness; from the "..." of the title to the end of ".".
Posted by masoud at 03:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 20, 2004
Music and Genetics
DNAs can be looked at as very long sequences of characters that encode all the characteristics that living creatures (as opposed to dead creatures like my cellphone) have. People do studies on them to find drugs (like LSD), find which portions corresponde to what (e.g find which part of DNA has made my friend so short or has made his tongue so long that he can lick his feet while standing straight and later on change it to either make his son a basketball blocker or make his son's tongue short enough so that he won't trip for running over his tongue. Well, that might take science quite a while to figure out), etc.
Now some people are using DNA to make music. They do a study of the type of characters being used in a specific DNA and map them to notes based on whatever criteria they like and make music. DNAs are double strands of characters, so you can actually make a harmonic piece of music with one strand being the melody and the other accompanying it.
So in the near future, when your friend asks you what type of music you like, you say "Mammal" music or if you wanna be more specific, you say "Chimpanze" music. If someone asks you "What are you listening to ?", you say "Can't you tell ? I'm listening to a virus maan !".
Posted by masoud at 06:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 18, 2004
My New Love ;)
So, I finally got it....Made by Master Pooriya, this baby rocks....Doesn't have a name yet, any suggestions ?
I will post some naked pics of her soon ;)
Posted by masoud at 08:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 16, 2004
True Intentions
You and your friend are sitting at a table. You're very hungry. You say "I'm very hungry". There's an apple on the table. You're curious who the apple belongs to, but you don't want to eat it. You ask "Is that apple yours ?". Your friends says "Yaa maan (with a Jamaican accent), go ahead eat it". You say "No thanx, I just wanted to know". Your friend says "Don't be shy maan, you can have it. Seriously". Now, as if being hungry wasn't that big a problem by itself, you've got to also convince your friend that you asked that question JUST to see whom the apple belonged to and you DID NOT (I emphasize DID NOT) have any intention of eating it.
Now suppose you want to ask someone "If I asked you out, would you go out with me ?". You just wanna know the answer. Most probably, you won't ask that person out anyways. You can't ask that question whatsoever, otherwise "khar biyaar o baagheli baar kon" and try to somehow say you didn't mean to ask that person out and you just wanted to know the answer to your question (which in turn is another problem. How on earth [1] would you be able to say this without creating more misunderstandings and probably hurting the other person's feelings, etc.)
[1] Some people think on Mars that's possible. They think weaker gravity is the reason.
Well, how on earth [1] can I prove their point while I'm living on earth ? [2]
[2] Don't you just love this infinite circular loop of "[1]" going back to "[1]" in the middle of itself ?! (If you don't like it, please be a dull and kindly let me know and I will ban you from this site permenantly).[3]
[3] Well, if you've come this far, it means that you have either started reading this posting from the bottom up, or you haven't actually followed the "[1]" signs properly. Otherwise you should've been stuck in an infinite loop until you or your computer dies.
Posted by masoud at 05:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 10, 2004
International Party
Dude ! We had a party over here and there were people from 16 different countries (as opposed to 16 same countries [1]) !!
Argentina, India, Bolivia, Iran, Columbia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Lithuania, Germany, Monte Negro, Canada, France, Romania, Chile, Poland.
How wicked is that !
[1] Now this brings about a new question: Is it "16 same countries" or "16 same country" ? Note the importance of 16. Had it been 17, the answer would've been trivial of course.
Posted by masoud at 02:38 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 27, 2004
The Power of Belief
A friend of mine, writes on paper the things that she really wants to happen and she believes that this, will actually have a positive influence on what she wants to happen....
Here's a story: There was a boy who once dreamed that a wolf would eat him. When he woke up, he was so scared that he truely believed that a wolf would actually eat him. So he locked himself up in a room to make sure no wolf would eat him. He got bored after a while and started drawing, but all he could think of was wolves. So he drew a picture of a wolf. Guess what happened: The drawing became alive and ate him.
Posted by masoud at 10:33 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 24, 2004
Muse Concert
Tonight, Muse has a concert in Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. I can't go, but it's an excuse to post some pics from their concert on May 17th this year. The concert was sold out, maybe that's why they're comming back so soon again...
Now despite the fact that I had decided not to post any personal pictures on this site, I feel like to post one; This is the last [non-free :)] concert we went to with Alireza and Mahsa and interestingly enough, the first concert with a repeated band that he can't go to. hehe ;)
The Opening Band [?]
Muse
Muse
Muse
Muse
Notice the tree on the left. Trees were of special artistic interest to Alireza [ghodde saserohoshsharif]. He probably thinks this picture is a very artistic one just because of this half tree. Towards the end of his stay here, he succeeded in developing a very special relationship with trees, specially the thick ones. As a credible witness (who went on a trip with him) states, he would stand in front of thick trees, gazing at them for long periods of time and would adore their beauty. There are gossips about him making love to thick trees in his highest spiritual stages. This is what is referred to as "Fanaa" (Transience) in "'Erfaan" (Gnosticisim) in its purest form. For him, the equivalence of a picture of a heart with an arrow inside and blood drops around it, was a tree (thick one) with a broken branch and a few leaves fallen around it.
Posted by masoud at 07:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 23, 2004
Dariush in Vancouver
Dariush was in Vancouver on Sep 18th, great concert ! First Michael made fun of a few singers, this guy is hilarious. Then Dariush came and as Michael warned us, he started to "vatan saazi" :) He sang almost all his good songs in one of the greatest performances with a great band.
I saw some people who I never thought I would see in such a concert (some people had the same idea about me. that shows how well-figured-out I am !)....Well, I guess people change or maybe it was because of Dariush's smart plan; mixing his part with Michael....
Michael as Ebi:
Michael as Moeen:
Michael as Ostad Shamaeezadeh:
Michael as Vigen:
Michael as Andy:
Michael as Dariush:
Michael as [don't remember]:
Michael as Moeen:
Michael as [don't remember]:
Michael as Andy:
Michael as Vigen Singing to Dariush:
Michael as [don't remember]:
Dariush:
Dariush:
People with Dariush Singing "Bachehaaye Iran":
People with Dariush Singing "Bachehaaye Iran":
People with Dariush Singing "Bachehaaye Iran":
Guitar Player of the Band [?]:
Dariush and Michael hugging:
Dariush and Michael:
Posted by masoud at 10:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2004
Orkut: The Future Will be Weird
I went to a concert and I knew quite a few people who I'd never met before, but I knew their faces, some names and some even their hobbies :) Well not this much, cause I have a terrible memory anyways, but anybody with a better memory than me (i.e all other people) could've known many things about many other people without having met them. I'm sure there were many people who knew me (inspite of all the crap I've written in my orkut profile) without me knowing that....It's quite funny, at the same time interesting, you name it, weird, scary, whatever else.
The best part, I actually met someone from ANOTHER COUNTRY who I'd exchanged a few emails through orkut with (and I got a new nickname through these emails: Orkut Police !) and we both recognized each other (at least I did) and the encounter was kind of a strange nice shock :) who on earth would've thought !! (just to make sure you get it right, the answer is "no one". as a general rule of thumb, all the questions I ask have a similar answer. remember The Crimson Idol post ? to prove my claim, your answer is probably a "no" !)
I know there are these crappy dating services that you can find people through them and exchange photos and stuff, but this orkut has taken it to a much greater extent without necessarily putting the name of "dating service" on it. You will see people at some place and instead of saying "Oh, I know you, we've met in that party or at that person's place", you'll say "I've seen you on orkut ! I know every single detail about your life". Dates will go to the "next" stage faster, cause there are less things to ask; you already know many of them !
This is how future's gonna be: You will probably go to an office for a very important meeting and will recognize a face (from orkut) and will remember that this person likes carrots, so you take a carrot out of your pocket and start eating it and you become friends and you will have a very successfull meeting too. Nine months later you will name your child Orkut to ironically honor the founder of this miracle.
Now who's the real father/mother of this child, orkut or you (which arises the question of "can orkut be sometimes the mother and sometimes the father ?") ? (to make more sense of this question and prevent you from thinking that this question is quite dumb and irrelevant, consider a war in which a side has won. who has won the war, the soldiars or the leaders ? or for those of you who believe in God, when you do something, is it you who's doing it or God ?)
Well, thanx to orkut, everybody now thinks I'm a pot head, african american, 84 years old with multiple birthdays, 8' 11" tall, living in Vancouver in Zimbabwe and named Hasanbeyk, etc. The truth is I only think that from time to time, 2+2=1.658 or any other number or object depending on the consequences of this equality.
Posted by masoud at 08:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2004
Life is Poker
Life is a big poker game with the bankroll being our lives. It's more like a tournament but with people bringing different but fixed bankrolls.
You gotta make the best out of each hand you're dealt: gain the best from your good hands and minimize your losses from bad hands. If you're a good player you can win with your bad hands. It's not a fair game (at times you lose when you shouldn't), but in the long run, usually the better players win.
There are differences too. Sometimes you have to fold your pocket aces for friends, most of them won't ever even know that.
The most important thing is observing others. Try to learn from your past hands, how others played it, learn from them and change your style to best fit the vibe. Subtle hints are so important. When you have a strong idea that something's right, don't spend your bankroll to make sure of it. If you do that, you'll lose a lot in the long run just trying to prove to yourself that you were right ! Specially when it comes to relationships...
In a friendly game, it's good to see your friends' hands if they let you, to know them better and use the experience in non-friendly games. Talk about how others play it, how you and your friends think it should be played and learn.
Some people know different variations of the game, they're the more popular ones. Some stick to one game and become a master.
If you don't wanna risk, play tight; You won't lose much, but you probably won't gain much. Risk it if you wanna have a little bit more fun and power, but be careful, if your bankroll is finished, you're gone forever.
Whether you wanna show your winning/losing hand, is one of the most important decisions. It can change the path of the game for you. You'd better have a hand when you go all-in, otherwise good bye blue sky.
Posted by masoud at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2004
Wish You Were Here
So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain,
Can you tell a green field
from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
a walk-on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish
How I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here....
Pink Floyd
Posted by masoud at 07:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 01, 2004
The Crimson Idol: A Dream Comes True
After thousands of years, finally WASP came to Vancouver !! YEEAAHH !
Who would've thought !? (Answer at the bottom of the page)
As always, I managed to take my camera in, and take some pictures in front of the security :)
This is the first of the upcomming series of concerts Alireza's not comming to. Why ? Because he's now screwing around with the french in Quebec !
As WASP says "Be careful what you wish for, cause it may come true!"
Answer to the quiz question (in English): 1)"No One" or 2)"Nobody"
If you think you'd guessed that WASP would've come to Vancouver, well, you're wrong. You coudn't have possibly guessed even if you were in WASP. So stop pretending to be a foreteller. It won't work here. Nahaa. Zilch.
Posted by masoud at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2004
Pulp Fiction revisited
Revisited Take one:
Jules SNAPS, SAVAGELY TIPPING the card table over, removing
the only barrier between himself and Brett. Brett now sits in
a lone chair before Jules like a political prisoner in front
of an interrogator.
JULES
What country you from!
BRETT (petrified)
What?
JULES
"What" ain't no country I know! Do they speak English in "What?"
BRETT (near heart attack)
What?
JULES
English-motherfucker-can-you-speak-it?
BRETT
Yes.
JULES
Then you understand what I'm sayin'?
BRETT
Yes.
JULES
Now describe what Marsellus Wallace looks like!
BRETT (out of fear)
What?
Jules takes his .45 and PRESSES the barrel HARD in Brett's cheek.
JULES
Say "What" again! C'mon, say "What" again! I dare ya, I double dare ya motherfucker, say "What" one more goddamn time!
Brett is regressing on the spot.
JULES
Now describe to me what Marsellus Wallace looks like!
Brett does his best.
BRETT
Well he's ...he's...black --
JULES
-- go on!
BRETT
...and he's...he's...tall --
JULES
-- does he look like a bitch?!
BRETT (without thinking)
What?
Jules' eyes go to Vincent, Vincent smirks, Jules rolls his
eyes and SHOOT Brett in the shoulder.
Brett SCREAMS, breaking into a SHAKING/TREMBLING SPASM in the chair.
JULES
Does-he-look-like-a-bitch?!
BRETT (in agony)
No.
JULES
Then why did you try to fuck 'im like a bitch?!
BRETT (in spasm)
I didn't.
Now in a lower voice.
JULES
Yes ya did Brett. Ya tried ta fuck 'im. And Remember, nobody fucks Mr Wallace, but his wife. You ever read the Bible, Brett?
BRETT (in spasm)
Yes.
JULES
There's a passage I got memorized, seems appropriate for this situation: Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."
The two men EMPTY their guns at the same time on the sitting Brett.
------------------------------------------
Revisited Take two:
After Mia overdosing and Vincet taking her to Lance's house and giving her the adrenaline shot:
LANCE
If you're okay, say something.
Mia, still breathing, not looking up at them, says in a relatively normal voice.
MIA
Something.
---------------------------------------
Revisited Take three:
After Butch goes rescues himself and returns back to rescue Marcellus Wallace who's being raped by some guy:
Marsellus, looking down at his whimpering rapist, EJECTS the used shotgun shell.
Butch lowers the sword and hangs back. Not a word, until:
BUTCH
You okay?
MARSELLUS
Naw man. I'm pretty fuckin' far from okay!
Posted by masoud at 06:17 PM | Comments (2)
August 21, 2004
Poker God is on tilt
Why ?
Posted by masoud at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2004
Welcome !
Thanx to Shervin, my good friend, this site is born right now! Make a note in your notebooks and 30 years from now, tell it to your grand children. 3000 years from now, when the moon is in line with Mars, aliens from galaxies far far away will celebrate this day for its gigantic influence on mankind and parents will remember this day before they remember their children's birthday. Be Tuned for the upcomming revelations....
p.s I will reserve the right to change any of my postings any time I want without even making a note of it for the public. For example I just changed this one 2 months after its birth !
Posted by masoud at 06:51 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack