Barry’s BlueSky- Untitled April 27, 2024I don't get the New York Times "mid TV" article. The article complains - at great length - that most TV shows aren't chancy or trailblazing, and admits at the end that there's a small number of more challenging shows. When has that not been the case?
- Untitled April 27, 2024Seinfeld's so right! Other than Ghosts, Abbot, Young Sheldon, Sunny In Philadelphia, What We Do In The Shadows, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Unstable, Animal Control, Bob Hearts Abishola, Letterkenny, Nora From Queens, Lopez v Lopez, and a zillion others, no sitcom had new episodes in 2024.
- Untitled April 27, 2024I'm not sure if Jill Stein said "homeland" or "Poland," but either way I'm not sure what she intended. It sounds to me like she began a point in reply to the heckler, decided halfway through a sentence not to engage with him further, and as a result never finished her point, whatever it was.
- Untitled April 27, 2024I'm enough of a nerd to enjoy reading people's ideas for better formats for Presidential debates. But keep in mind the underlying problem; it's that candidates have strong incentives to negotiate for watered-down formats, and debates can't happen without their cooperation.
- Untitled April 27, 2024Solidarity from U.S. students matters more to some Palestinians than I ever would have dreamed. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6OsxlbsSjD/
- Untitled April 26, 2024Thread [contains quote post or other embedded content]
- Untitled April 27, 2024
Category Archives: Iran
Translating Classical Persian Literature: Introducing Ferdowsi and the Shahnameh – Part 1
Often called the national epic of Iran, the Shahnameh or Book of Kings, was written in the 10th century CE by Abolqasem Ferdowsi, who took as his subject the pre-Islamic history of the Iranian people, starting with the creation of … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, literature
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Norouz Pirouz! Eid Moborak! Happy Iranian New Year!
It is Norouz, the Persian New Year, which is celebrated far and wide throughout what used to be the Persian Empire, and I thought I would share with you the section of Shahnameh, the Book of Kings, often called the … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, literature
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An Online Graphic Novel About Iran
Zahra’s Paradise. Here’s the first page: Only chapter one is up so far, but it looks like it’s going to be a very good book. Go check it out.
Posted in Cartooning & comics, Iran
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The Tehran Symphony Orchestra in Geneva and Richard Taruskin's "Common Fallacy"
Writing in this past Thursday’s issue of The New York Times (February 4th), Michael Kimmelman compares the European tour on which the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent the Tehran Symphony Orchestra to similar tours on which the former Soviet Union … Continue reading
Posted in In the news, Iran, Music
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Tehran University professor Massoud Alimohammadi assassinated in Iran
This is my constant refrain these days when it comes to current events in Iran: I wish I had time to do more than write this little bit and link to a couple of blog posts and articles worth reading, … Continue reading
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Translating Classical Persian Poetry: Why Retranslate Attar's "Ilahi-Nama?"
Farid Al-Din Attar is one of the most important writers in the Persian canon. Not only is he a major poet in his own right, but his work offers crucial insight into Sufi thought and experience, while prefiguring other important … Continue reading
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Translating Classical Persian Poetry: Farid al-Din Attar's "Ilahi-Nama"
One of eight major works that can reliably be ascribed to Attar, Ilahi-Nama (Book of God or, sometimes, Divine Book) has, according to Encyclopedia Iranica, been translated once into English, by John A. Boyle in 1976, and once into French, … Continue reading
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Translating Classical Iranian Poetry: Farid al-Din Attar
The only things we know for sure about the life of Farid al-Din Attar are that he was a pharmacist and a native of Nishapur, Iran, where a monument to him that was built over his tomb at the end … Continue reading
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Maziar Bahari on The Daily Show
Edited to add: Bahari has written in Newsweek a harrowing and necessary-to-read account of his imprisonment. Go read it right now. Maziar Bahari, a Newsweek journalist, was held in prison for 118 days in Iran after the contested elections in … Continue reading
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The Opposition in Iran is Still Protesting
I wish I had the time to do more than link to this post on The Lede blog over at The New York Times because there is a lot to say and think about in terms of what is happening … Continue reading
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