Car design
Car Body design: An extensive report of the “From Dream to Reality” collective car design exhibition which took place in Tehran, Iran. It presented many projects and works of young Iranian designers, including some new projects specifically developed in teams.
“A group of young Iranian graduates in Industrial and Transportation Design surprised the automotive industry at this year’s “From Dream to Reality” exposition in Tehran. And although Iran is not considered a hotbed of design talent, check out the Audi D7 Concept by Kaveh Naser-Bakht.” Source: Design Crave
Tricyle
By Seyyed Javad Ghaffarian, winner of the student category award at the Car Design News Contest 2008
The Story of Stuff
Many friends have already posted The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard, a must see “… 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns…” Click picture
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To quote someone I didn’t know until recently: A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.
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Just received the following – Thanks Ann 🙂
From The Joy of Ageing: I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor’s permission to join a fitness club and start exercising I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. By the time I got my leotards on, the class was over!
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بررسی گرایشهای ایرانیان نسبت به هویت ایرانی و آینده ایران: چکیده همه ﯦرسی
Film Links and More
Film society presents young Iranian filmmakers. (Synopsis, trailers here)
A World Between is the true story of a young Iranian American raised in the US, who travels to Iran to discover his father’s homeland. Sample video
Young republic by Nooshin J. Navidi: Navidi made her first trip to Iran in Spring 2006 to explore the country for sixth months. Born in Southern California to an Iranian father and Korean mother, Nooshin graduated from Stanford University with a Masters in Sociology and Bachelor in Communications.
More videos on Iran including American life in Iran, 1975
Link via Peyman
Our Friend to Humanity gives some historical context for the current strained relations between America and Iran.
More links/events at Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute
Peace Corps Writers Blog: Iran
A Test from BBC-Science & Nature:
Can you tell genuine smile and fake ones?
(15 out of 20 for me)
Polish Chairs
Sandali-ye Lahestani, or Polish chair, is a well known piece of furniture to Iranians. In cities, it used to be everywhere: in our homes, cafes and other public places.
These wooden chairs have a large variety of shapes and woodwork. In the picture you can see a plain one, a survivor in my own family.
With time Polish chairs have been replaced by newer products and trends but occasionally you see one here and there.
In recent years Polish chairs have gained a nostalgic value – just google صندلي لهستاني and you’ll find poetry, books and stories named after them.
Finally they have become a classic and collectible items, restored and traded for anywhere up to $300 – depending on their shape and quality of woodwork.
This post was inspired by Voytek 🙂
Relevant links:
Poland-Iran 2007
Polish online translator
Links in Persian:
Two blogs: Polish chair by N & Polish chair by S
A post
A story: Polish chair, by Parsia Khajeh-noori
Books: Polish chair, by Mahnaz Ronaghi
Friday 28th on a Polish chair, short stories by Gazaleh Zargar Amini
Tea Glasses
In order to tie up loose ends 🙂 let me clarify this: almost every other day a few people end up here through the following search engine item: Persian/Iranian tea glasses. I got curious as I knew I had never posted anything about it so I googled the item:
A while ago, Rochonf wrote a comment in a previous post: Persian or Farsi, about the beautiful tea glasses he had bought! This post is still among the top ones, now I know why 🙂
In order to satisfy the general request here is my knowledge about this subject: As far as I know there is no such a thing as Persian or Iranian Tea Glass, we even use the Russian word stakan, meaning glass.
What is commonly used is either Turkish style glass with more or less elaborate decoration,
the Russian or Iranian made engareh, Podstakannik: a metallic, sometimes silver, glass holder. But mostly any plain glass.
Unlike North-Africa we don’t like colored glass, we like to see the color of the tea, which is a testimony to its quality, though in recent years one can find colored or painted ones in handicraft shops, but that’s for tourists! There is also a new trend of western style cup and saucers, the influence of satellite TV programs?
Formerly the tea was served in small estekans, sometimes in individual little trays with a bowl of sugar and sweets. The service was repeated as long as you had guests. Nowadays the tendency is to use larger glasses, you won’t tire yourself going back and forth to the kitchen.
Tea is made with a simple kettle or Samovars. A new popular item is the electrical tea maker.
If you are not satisfied with all this, you can always ask Rochonf 🙂
Relevant links:
The history of tea
Russian tea
The book of tea
محصولات گيلان
چاي سياست زده
يك ليوان چاي داغ
Tea-break!
Pins & Polls
Do Iranians like Ben Laden? here
What the Americans Think of:
Military Threats or Diplomacy toward Iran? here
Permanent US Military Bases in Iraq? here
The Iraq Study Group’s Proposals? here
World View
Are Religion and Culture to Blame for Tensions between Islam and the West? here & here
World View of US Role? here
World View of Iran? here
Online Poll: Have the policies of the U.S. President made the world a safer or more dangerous place?
This one is for Manas
Public Opinion in India and America?
Angus Reid
Globe Scan
The Gallup Poll
World Public Opinion
Embassy Flag
Previous post: Polls & Pins
Polls & Pins
The following is an excerpt from an article in The Christian Science Monitor: The myth of Muslim support for terror, by Kenneth Ballen, founder and president of Terror Free Tomorrow:
“According to a 2006 survey, conducted by the University of Maryland’s Program on International Public Attitudes:
46% of Americans think that “bombing and other attacks intentionally aimed at civilians” are “never justified”
24% believe these attacks are “often or sometimes justified”
2006 polling results by Terror Free Tomorrow from the world’s most-populous Muslim countries – Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria:
74% of respondents in Indonesia
86% in Pakistan
81% in Bangladesh agreed that terrorist attacks are “never justified”
… nearly half of Westerners associate Islam with violence and Muslims with terrorists. Given the many radicals who commit violence in the name of Islam around the world, that’s an understandable polling result.
But these stereotypes, affirmed by simplistic media coverage and many radicals themselves, are not supported by the facts – and they are detrimental to the war on terror … it perpetuates a myth that has the very real effect of marginalizing critical allies in the war on terror.
Terror Free Tomorrow‘s 20-plus surveys of Muslim countries in the past two years reveal another surprise:
Even among the minority who indicated support for terrorist attacks and Osama bin Laden, most overwhelmingly approved of specific American actions in their own countries.
71% of bin Laden supporters in Indonesia
79% in Pakistan, thought more favorably of the USA as a result of American humanitarian assistance in their countries – not exactly the profile of hard-core terrorist sympathizers. For most people, their professed support of terrorism/bin Laden can be more accurately characterized as a kind of “protest vote” against current US foreign policies, not as a deeply held religious conviction or even an inherently anti- American or anti-Western view …
“… Our surveys show that not only do Muslims reject terrorism as much if not more than Americans, but even those who are sympathetic to radical ideology can be won over by positive American actions that promote goodwill and offer real hope.
America’s goal, in partnership with Muslim public opinion, should be to defeat terrorists by isolating them from their own societies … build on our common humanity …” here is the article.
“Those who crusade, not for God in themselves, but against the devil in others, never succeed in making the world better, but leave it either as it was, or sometimes perceptibly worse than what it was, before the crusade began. By thinking primarily of evil we tend, however excellent our intentions, to create occasions for evil to manifest itself.” Aldous Huxley
Thx PpGg
Old Add
Peykan 1968
See also Peykan by AA
“One of my favourite automotive cast-offs has always been the Iranian Peykan. Built by Iran Khodro (formerly Iran National), this Hillman Hunter clone has been an Iranian mainstay since the late sixties, and it succinctly summed up what it was about second world nation cars … After all, the Hunter – nice as it was – was never going to set the world on fire, and yet – here we are – in 2005, and it is still for sale…” … excerpt from here.
Still, if I wanted to buy a car – I won’t – I rather buy an second hand Peykan than any of these new cars sold at least three times their worth over here.
09/05/01 Update: Peykan is always shining! or Peykan hamisheh miderakhshad!
Forever Under Construction 
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