Mohsen Namjoo's Solo Concert, San Diego

Mohsen Namjoo was having a solo concert tour in the states and by states I mean California. I went to the San Diego concert last Friday. Mohsen is a true artist. I mean, he is smart and knows what his strengths are and what people want from him. He is a fun guy too, apparently, and makes sarcastic jokes.
I'm not a traditional music expert of course and even if his 3-tar goes a little out of tune I may not realized it. But what I see is a controversial artist who doesn't mind breaking the rules and traditions if it's necessary. Most Iranian artists don't like to digress or jump from one poem to another one but he mixes poems of Shamlou with Sa'adi and adds some of his own words to the who thing if it feels good. He screams, shouts or changes his tone to a girlish voice and doesn't mind people laughing at him. Growing up in Iran during the last thirty years, Mohsen Namjoo owes his fame to a society of double standards, pretentiousnesses, confusions, disappointments, and superfacialities. His art is to put all his feelings about this society in lyrics and songs.
I don't know if you like this guy or hate him (I haven't seen any one who doesn't mind him, it's either love or hate!) but he is a good artist who was missing from our generation for a while. He is not a pretender nor wants to make a revolution in the persian music; he is just himself and that's sometimes all people want from an artist.
If you go to his concert next time, make sure you buy his CDs at the door. They say the whole revenue of the sales goes to his pocket and not to the greedy entertainment companies.

Epiman's new job search

Since I started working for my current employer, I started looking for a new job! Literally! They are very very nice people but I feel I have more to offer but they are not willing to take. So, like many others struggling in this recession, I accepted this job offer about four months ago mostly to pay my bills. I mean, I like the company and I’m not being underpaid that much but I miss those challenging projects at school. Here, projects are time consuming but not challenging. So, I’m looking for a new job preferably in a big corporation. Of course, I am pickier now and don’t sell myself for a low price. I really look into the job descriptions and talk to the recruiters over the benefits and the working environment. It’s actually very pleasant to have a job as a back up and look for what you want freely. You have this peace of mind of having enough money to pay your bills and you are building up your reputation gradually too. Hence, you can take your time, negotiate with greedy recruiters and can have the upper hand in negotiations. Vey pleasant, very,....
As a result, I am more confident during interviews too. I start talking about my background sometimes before they ask about it. I direct the conversation to what I want and even make jokes! They all come naturally. I don’t even “try” to be relaxed anymore. There was this guy at school who used to say it’s easier to find a new girl friend while you already have one!
P.S. I was away for a week after the Richard Wright’s death. No, I was not mourning for him! I was sick and didn’t want to do anything but to rest. Hope you don’t ever be sick my friend, it’s a very bad thing even when you take some sick days off of work. I am willing to trade off part of my life for a sudden death. I mean, if I suppose to die in 184 years, from one year of disease, I like to trade five years of my life with a sudden death in the 179th year. Theoretical? yes, Possible? hopefully, Realistic? Neiiii!!!

Richard Wright, Pink Floyd's Keyboardist, died at the age of 65

Richard Wright,one of the founding members of Pink Floyd died yesterday after a battle with cancer. He was the keyboard player of the band "6 Sigma" with Roger Waters and Nick Mason which eventually became Pink Floyd. As an experimental instrumentalist, he played keyboards, synthsizer and organ. His most amazing works appeared in early Pink Floyd albums when Pink Floyd members were equally sharing their ideas. After "The Wall" album he left the band and rejoined it later with David Gilmour. He was a contributor vocalist of Pink Floyd over years too. His special voice brought a more psychedelic feeling to many songs including "Us and them", "Comfortably numb" and "Wearing the inside out".
We lost a legendary musician yesterday who affected many people in this world. Condolences to his fans and the global musicians community.
Here is the song "Comfortably Numb" sang by Richard Wright and David Gilmour in Gilmour's concert two years ago:


A tribute to Richard Wright on Youtube.com with the song "Wish you were here":



And my favorite song by Richard Wright/David Gilmour in the last Pink Floyd's album, " Wearing the Inside Out" which, I think, reflects his introverted personality:

Saturday Night Live: Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton's debate, very funny

SNL made a very good point about Hillary Clinton's candidency and the sexism issue of the on going presidential election in its last week opening. Very funny too, especially Palin's poses for the camera :)

To be special or not to be at all

O.K, it’s about Creep, presumably the most famous song of the British rock band, Radiohead. I’m not going to talk about the song per se. What I want to say is about the concept of being special in our lives which I think is related to our greed to be perfect. For instance, how many people go to gyms to have a healthy exercise? I say less than 5%. What about that 95%? Well, they either go to lose some weight or to have more muscles. What is wrong with it? Nothing, but most of them go on unhealthy diets, use proteins or fat burners to gain better results in a small period. Why? Because they want to look good as fast as possible.
Think about how society looks at unaccomplished people. People who don't fit in the standard sucess frame. The industry defines a standard over being a successful person for its own benefits. This covers everyone no matter how different they are. Everything is labeled from the clothes and cars, to ideas and social manners. You follow a certain path and you will be considered homosexual, intelligent, rich, etc. We mock these standards too like in movies and shows but we never ignore them. Remember that comedy show where the star changed his manner to pretend to be rich by talking intelligently and driving that luxury car for the first date.
What if someone misses the ride toward making his/her own predefined frame? What if I’m not smart enough- or simply don't want- to have a good job, body, manners, etc. I think that is where the lack of being special kicks in.

Epiman's Half Marathon

I recently started practicing for a half marathon. There are several marathons for charity in October that I hope to make one of them. Wednesday I ran seven miles as a part of my half marathon program I got somewhere on the internet. I used to run while I living in Ohio; but since Ohio was almost always so cold or so hot I had to do it at the University of Dayton's gym which was not so much fun. The thing was that I couldn't stand running in the same gym every day and seeing the same walls and windows and- after a while- the same people. It was a very beautiful gym though. Anyhow, I gave up running after a while and just did lifting.

But things are different in Southern California. Everyday is sunny and the weather is awesome. Neither getting cold in the winter nor very hot in the summer makes it a perfect place for outdoor sports. For a lazy man like me running is the least excusable one! You just can’t find any reason to escape it. The only thing you need is to do is to decide when to go and you are on your way in 2 minutes. There is also a good biking route close to where I live. It passes by a small water canal and people use it for walking or running too. It’s very nice especially in the evenings when people go out for exercise. Everyone does his/her best. Some walk, some jog, some run so fast and can’t help breathing, some take it easy and let their feet run them, some ride fancy bikes, some cycle really seriously and some just go to have their dogs toilet and go back home ASAP so that they don’t miss the early evenings TV shows!
So, I started this marathon program about a month ago and now I am half way through it. In less than a month- hopefully- I will finish a half marathon and go for a race. If you see me somewhere in Long beach, LA or Newport beach marathon races, make sure to shake your hands for me or at least make a smile. I will be wearing a running short and shoes with a T-shirt. See you there :)

DRUGS R US

A while back, I ran into this blog. The author tries to say drugs are not bad; and in fact, some of them are good or their advantages are more than their harmfulness . Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a fan of drugs at all but the author’s controversial view was interesting to me.
I remember a classmate of mine who used to tell me that he was looking for a book which proved God’s inexistence. He wanted to see what the God’s unbelievers say and judge the validity of their reasoning himself.
So, if you are someone who has the potential to go for drugs, this blog is a good source for you to show the other extreme of the case. You can see why people enjoy drugs and what they say about their experience. Judge it yourself especially if you are an unbeliever too.

How to be famous in the Persian artists community out of Iran

Per your request!, here is my instruction in how to become famous in the Persian artists community. With the help of this instruction you can beat anyone regardless of how dumb you are.

1. Find anyone around you who has connections to famous or semi-famous artists. Remember, this is the first and the most important step toward your goal. Be as picky as you can and find people who you want to be alike. Being cool is very important and the group you hang out with defines your level of coolness.
2. Go to all arts events. Try to take as many pictures as you can with famous artists even if someone else is taking the picture. Put your pics up in your facebook page and the other pics will pop up from someone else's blog or profile.
3. Make comments on your pictures as soon as you publish them on facebook so that even friends of your friends can see them.
4. Add as many artists you know to your facebook profile. Don’t worry, they will confirm your friend request. They want to be famous as much as you do.
5. When you see the same artist that you took that picture with a while back, go to him/her and try to make a conversation. Don’t bother if they can’t remember you in the first place. In fact, lots of them recall you but it’s so uncool to recognize you right away.
6. Try to hang out with them in the second time as much as you can. Be creative. Buy them drinks, invite them to an after-party, ask them to attend that other art show, etc.
7. Always have some ideas about the show or event you are attending. It doesn’t matter how dumb your view is because almost nothing makes sense in arts. Just throw the words out using vague descriptions and ask them about their opinion too.
8. Try to make friends with reporters from Radiozamaaneh, RadioFarda, VOA and BBC Persian. Avoid talking to Guardian or New York Times people. They are fair.
9. Start being an artist yourself. Do you know how to play the piano? Good! It doesn’t matter if you barely finished Beyer ten years ago. Go find a piece of music that no one has ever heard of and read everything about it from the composition structure to the composer’s biography. Memorize the piece and have it always handy to play especially in private parties. If you are so dumb, you can always write. So, start a blog and with the help of your friends in Radiozamaaneh, Radio Farda or BBC you can establish your fame in no time.
10. Try to make a circle of friends. Always adore their works of art religiously. Think of it as a trade-in business. You adore their work, they adore your work and everyone is happy. On the other hand, when there is an opportunity, even if you are not qualified to take it, don't recommend your friends for it. Do you want your friends to be more famous than you? No!, never! they better be dead!
11. The last step is to keep up with the community. You don’t need to show up in every event anymore. Actually it’s not cool at all. But when you show up, try to be late and hang out in the waiting room or at the bar more than where the main even is going on. You need to provide other people an opportunity to meet you and continue their own dumb path of becoming famous.
    
    See how smart this plan is. So, give up trying to be a true artist to fit in this community my friend. It doesn’t work that way.

Be an Epitaphs Follower now and enjoy no benefits at all

Department of Social Relationships (D.S.R)
Epitaphs Blog
Irvine, CA, U.S.A

Dear Reader,

We have added the new Blogger feature, the Blog Follower, to this page on the first side bar section under the same name as of this topic. Now, you can enjoy being a follower of this blog by adding your name and probably your blog address to this section. We have not even bothered checking how it works but it seems like something cool. We are glad to offer you no benefits at all by being a follower. Your support makes us feel like being famous instead. Therefore, this feature is absolutely pointless and we strongly suggest you using it.

Thanks for your all time support,

Sincerely,

Head of Epitaphs Social Relationships Department
September/ 7th/ 2008

Why did Eric Clapton write Leila?

Do you remember the song “Leila” of Eric Clapton? Or I’m too old?
If you’re Persian you may remember it even if you’ve listened to it once. It was ten years ago when I first heard it. The Unplugged version of MTV. It’s a very nice song and no Iranian can ignore the word Leila in it. Leila is a girl’s name in Farsi and is famous for a very old Persian love story where the beloved’s name was Leili or Leila. Again, like most Iranian I was wondering how Eric Clapton found this name. So, after ten years, I made a small Google search.
Apparently, Eric was in love with Pattie Boyd who was married to his friend George Harrison , drummer of The Beatles. While Eric was in love, like many other desperate lovers he turned to love story when he found the story of "Leili and Majnoun" by "Nezami" . He found himself in the same situation as “Majnoun”( Leili’s lover) who was in love with Leili , a beautiful unavailable woman to him. So he decided to picture his feelings in this song and named it Leila. When the album released, he played the song to Pattie and expressed his love. They had a brief affair but Pattie broke it off and refused to leave her husband.
Eric was not very passionate about that love like Majnoun. Although he married her several years later they divorced unhappily.
This post doesn’t have strong references but if you want, you can find more information about the song yourself. I swear I didn’t make up the story!
P.S. The story is written in the form of verse (poem) by the famous Iranian poet "Nezami". Some people say, Nezami was from Azerbaijan to give the credit to them. It's like saying Rumi was from Turkey or Afghanistan despite the fact that his entire books are in Farsi and he was born in Persia- which included both of these countries back then and its remains is known as Iran- and descendants of Shams, his mentor, were from Tabriz (a city in the north west of Iran).

To read more articles about music on this blog click here

I love fast food

Image taken from: http://calorielab.com/news/2007/04/26/your-kids-dont-let-them-eat-fake-food/

I really like fast food although I don’t have it a lot. The good thing about it is that you don’t need to prepare anything ahead of time. You just have to decide and you’ll have it in less than 10 minutes, thanks to its growing business all around the world. And if you get it while you are going back home using the drive-through, it’s even better. Why? ‘Cause you don’t even have to stop your car and go to the restaurant. You just sit in your car; order what you want through the microphone without looking at the nice smiley tired face of the cashier. Then you slowly drive towards the pick-up window, pay and wait for a minute or two to get your meal in a “paper bag”. Your order is usually prepared more quickly than in-house guests. They don’t want too many cars waiting in the drive-through so that lazy people like me pass by their restaurant in search for a less-crowded fast food place. They don’t even bother you with asking to sign your credit card bill! And every card is accepted. Even your mean American Express which no business likes to deal with!
Have you got your food just now and you are starving? It’s O.K too. You can start having some of the handy parts of it, like the fries, while you’re reaching your destination.
Remember when you cook for an hour or more and after you prepare everything there’s a big mess in the kitchen? Three dishes, some cookware and spices residue all over the place? Well, there’s no such a thing when you have fast food. Just have your food wrapped in a paper or in a paper box and use the napkins and single-served sauces with it. No need to reach that cold sauce in the fridge or look for the salt shaker that only God knows where you left it last time. Are you enjoying it? good, keep on. You know what? Turn on that TV and watch some 80's comedy shows and laugh as laud as you can with the recorded laughing sounds! :)

After having your food with no strings attached, you drop all the trash in your food bag again. See how smart it is? You use the same bag as your garbage bag. You don’t have to use a dish or pick up the dirty napkins, the paper wrap and… separately and throw them into the garbage bin. Just put everything in the same food bag and throw it out. Now, look at your watch, it just took you thirty minutes at most from the decision making part till finishing the task!
So, next time, before you decide to cook yourself, think about it. Does it worth the try? How many dirty dishes and cookware you’re going to have? How long is it gonna take? Can you throw out the whole garbage at once?! And if you are a kind of person who becomes stuffed while cooking only by smelling the food, you really really need to quit cooking and start fastfooding.
Consider fast food seriously my friend. Oh, .. Are you worried about your weight and blood cholesterol? It’s not the fast food's fault, it’s because you don’t want to exercise. But if you have fast food, you save time for exercise too. O,.. wait, don’t forget that you’re being green by using paper bags and not turning on your inefficient oven. So, you’re making the world a better place for the children!