Absolute Random Nonsense

A potential cast member on Canada’s Lake Shore–a reality show where eight cast members from different backgrounds and sexual orientations move into a house together, and learn how to not step on each other’s toes–Iranian-Canadian, Roxie aka Persia, says of the forthcoming TV show: “It’s not a competition; it’s all about [our] differences!” What’s the actual Lake Shore area like? “It’s a really cool area of Toronto,” Persia tell us. “It’s literally right by the lake shore, which is also minutes away from downtown Toronto where all the hottest private parties take place.” Not just a party-girl, Persia can cook too: “I can definitely stir up a mean ghormeh-sabzi, zereshk-polo, and adass-polo!” She says in response to whether she’s planning on cooking for her would-be housemates. I would love to cook for my roommates, I think it would be a great idea, bring some Persian flavor (literally) to the show.” "I had been doing some video blogging on youtube under the name PersonalPersia when...

With the shortage of eggs, along with most other things, we were lucky to have a couple of chickens that provided us with fresh eggs daily. It was even easy to tell the eggs apart; the gray chicken laid brown eggs and the brown chicken laid white ones. We had gotten into a routine of collecting two eggs from the chicken coop every morning until it abruptly came to a halt, a fate that we all accepted. One day during science class, in order to give us a short break from actual studies, Mr. Mohammadhosseini told us another one of his stories that we certainly thought was fake. Given the topic of our lesson was plants, he went on to tell us how plants also had feelings and understanding and do much more than we give them credit for. He told us about a friend of his who had a rose bush in his yard but for the past few years it failed to fully bloom in the spring. So one day he grabbed a saw and accompanied by a friend went up to the bush and faked a conversation with his friend about ...

Holly Dagres is an Iranian analyst and commentator on the Middle East specializing on Iran with an emphasis on the intersection of security and human rights. Based in Washington, she is a Libitzky Family Senior Fellow at the think tank, The Washington Institute. Holly spent her teenage years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, from 1999 to 2006, during which time she graduated from Tehran International School.    "When I look at some of my childhood photos from the late 1990s, I can’t help but think I dressed the part of the “cool girl.” But underneath the appearance was a little girl who was constantly made fun of while living in LA.   I was too tall for sixth grade—taller than all the boys in middle school (5’10”, a height I still have today). I was also an Iranian girl, the kind who wasn’t allowed to shave her legs and was only permitted the torture of sugar waxing, which left me in tears with every strip pulled. I’d have to go to school with my legs exposed as the hair g...

I recently visited an office park and while looking at the various offices posted in the front of the building I realized that it was home to a dental office for Dr. Azadeh Dianat. Later I checked it out further and realized another dentist, Dr. Mehrnaz Golmakani also worked there. I wished I had gone there for all of the prior dental work that I had done. Although I'm not sure whether they accept my insurance.   

Jazz singer Angelina Jordan Astar has deep ties to Iran through her maternal grandmother, Mery Zamani. Born in Oslo, Angelina credits her Iranian heritage and her grandmother's background as a significant musical and artistic influence on her life. She won the 2014 season of Norway´s Got Talent, better known as Norske Talenter in Norway. After this win, and with more than 40 million combined YouTube views, she was featured in People magazine, Time , and other news outlets all around the world. In 2015, Angelina published the book Mellom to hjerter (Between two hearts) illustrated by her grandmother Mery Zamani. The book tells the story of Angelina’s meeting with a poor motherless girl in Iran to whom Angelina gives her shoes. In return the girl promises to always pray for Angelina. It’s based on a true story which Angelina cites as reason for always performing barefoot. "They were sea green ankle boots. I loved those boots. Right then and there, I felt as if a door in...

I didn't like Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". One reason was that it wasn't her song but a remake of Dolly Parton's.  Another was that I found the song rather lame in general. Lastly when I saw the video, particularly the end of it where Whitney Houston was sitting and singing, I used to think it looked like she was constipated and was using all her might to force her poop out. Watching the video now it doesn't quite give me the same impression.    

In Japan’s underworld of organized crime, there is of course the infamous Yakuza, but there are also foreign nationals, including Iranians. For more than two decades now, they have been dealing drugs on behalf of the lower rungs of Japanese criminals. An Iranian with insider knowledge of these activities explains how this came about. Pejman (not his real name) lived in Japan from the mid-80s to the late 90s. Today, he is in close touch with Iranian friends who still live there. All the details about the drug trade he shares in the following account were confirmed by a Japanese police source and a Japanese journalist interviewed by FRANCE 24 on condition of anonymity.  "A wave of Iranian immigrants headed to Japan after the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988), when jobs were hard to come by. At that time, Japan was looking for foreign workers to do tough jobs. This attracted many Iranians from the lower classes, quite a few of whom already had criminal records back home. "However, it wa...

Going to school, albeit an international one, completely submerged me into Iranian culture. While on one hand I was able to listen in and absorb all that was being said and done around me, at the same time it gave me an idea of what my fellow students thought about the ongoings outside of the country. In one exchange, which I can’t recall whether was for or against the topic at hand, my classmate Arash asked the group of listeners gathered around him, “Do you know for how long each day they show cartoons in the US? Twenty-four hours!” For some this came as unbelievable or an exaggeration, however, others were convinced based on the signs they had already seen. Case in point on one weekend (which we quickly learned was a solitary Friday) when we were at a relative’s house, the TV was on and I immediately recognized a Saturday morning cartoon in between cartoons about a kid being lonely and singing to that effect. While most of the bit was dubbed in Persian, his singing of “I’m lonely, I...

Any fashion-conscious eye who has had a chance to see sharply fashion-savvy Iranian women in all their haute couture galore around the world (especially in Tehran), knows that Iranians are by far of the most fashionable sect on the planet. (In fact Iranians single-handedly made summer 2009, an inspiring and fiercely-emotional-yet-green one.) Now we’re delighted to introduce you to the first Iranian fashion designer, Shirin Askari, on the show of shows in fashion: Project Runway. In the words of Project Runway’s gorgeous German host, Heidi Klum: “In fashion, one day you’re in, and the next day… you’re out.” And we believe that as long as the fresh-faced designer continues to “make it work” a la’ Tim Gunn’s request, Shirin is sure to be in for a long time to come. The petite Askari won the second challenge: “We Expect Fashion” (and immunity for tomorrow night’s episode), which revolved around the designers creating a maternity dress for Hollywood actress Rebecca Romijn, on episode 2 of P...