Absolute Random Nonsense

The university team was much more convenient for me as I was already there and most players were my own age. In spite of the lack of regular competition, Vatankhah ran a very disciplined practice and expected maximum effort from us. We mainly played against other universities although during my time with the team we did play once against a first division team, Bonyad Shahid, that ended in a 2-2 tie. Most of the team had played with each other for some time and knew each other well while I was trying to fit in with them. One day while in the locker room after practice one of the players announced that someone had passed away and that he was collecting money for their wake. He jokingly added that he would not let anyone leave before collecting 100 tomans from them. Once I changed I approached the player and handed him a 100-toman bill. “No, no,” he said. “You don’t have to. You didn’t know the guy.” I insisted that he take it as it would be going to a good cause and he finally reluctan...

Dara Daivari is a professional wrestler who is best known for his work with World Wrestling Entertainment as simply Daivari and with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as Sheik Abdul Bashir. In the WWE Daivari would scream instructions in Persian to Muhammad Hassan when working as his manager.  In 2012 Daivari was on his way to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport via the Hiawatha Line when a fellow passenger began threatening another rider. When he got on the train in the Warehouse District in downtown Minneapolis, there was a “crazy guy on the train screaming stuff,” Daivari said in an interview. He ignored the incident until the “crazy guy,” told to sit down and be quiet, threatened to kill an older passenger, he said,. “People were pushing the emergency call buttons,” Daivari said. “No cops showed up… “We had probably been on the train 15 to 20 minutes … I am not going to wait around to see if they are empty threats.” Daivari said he put the man in a “rear naked chok...

Our phone number at our house in Mirdamad was 227195 which I liked as I could split it evenly into 2 groups of 13. Our number when we moved to Zaferanieh was 271141 which also split evenly, in two groups of 8. Our phone number at our house in Velenjak was 296477 which could not split evenly as it added up to an odd number.  

Despite pleas from her family to have Elnaz Hajtamiri returned home, the woman, who was 37 at the time, has not been seen or heard from since, and police believe she is dead. Investigators said three men wearing balaclavas posing as police officers with a fake warrant for Hajtamiri’s arrest ripped her from the home along Trailwood Place at about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2022. Witnesses told police Hajtamiri was loaded barefoot into what investigators believe was a stolen white Lexus SUV. To date 11 men and women have been charged in the case. Mohamad Lilo, Hajtamiri’s ex-boyfriend, is at the center of it all, according to investigators who have charged Lilo with first-degree murder and kidnapping. Police confirmed Hajtamiri worked with Lilo, who ran a shipping container business. Arrested in Quebec months later, Lilo was brought to Ontario and has been behind bars for three-and-a-half years. He is set to stand trial for Hajtamiri’s presumed murder this spring. Lilo was convicted of ag...

In the early 2000s at the end of lunch a coworker went to dump an untouched portion of food in the garbage. I told her not to and that if she did I would reach in and take it out and eat it. I asked her if she had seen the Seinfeld episode when George had done that. She said she had. In spite of her throwing the food away I didn't fish it out of the trash. Years later though I would do so without giving anyone a heads up beforehand. Also she would die a few years after our conversation.    

The duo of Kiarash Reghabi and Christian Pierce directed and wrote ‘Types of Drunks,’ which is basically a quick tutorial of personalities anyone can expect at a party. Considering how many different drunks there are. There’s the standard orator who always talks about how drunk they are, followed by a list of booze they’ve ingested into their body. There’s the “vultures” who ninjas booze for themselves. Of course, there’s the “bro” who fist pumps, wears sunglasses indoors (not even ironically) and calls you things like “DUUUUDE" or "BRAH” -- endearingly, of course. Kiarash also worked on the Justin Bieber documentary.   

One day during math class in response to a question from Mr. Tehrani, and possibly with a promise of some kind of reward, everyone raised their hand. In our enthused state and trying our hardest to get Mr. Tehrani’s attention, many of us stood up in our seats with our arms erect and extended. Mr. Tehrani asked everyone to take their seats and seeing no results, followed it up with a threat of forcing anyone who remained standing to stand for the rest of the year. Four students refused to take their seats, welcoming the challenge of continuous standing even as Mr. Tehrani emphasized their punishment as he wrote their names down. Three of the students were Lamehpour, Eghbali and Hamidayne. I was the fourth. We were moved to the back of the class so as to not block anyone’s view. At first the four of us were thrilled about it and enjoyed the curious stares from our classmates during class as they glanced back to see if we were indeed doing this. However, towards the end of the second da...

Shahin Moghbel was on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. He is the owner of Chickpeas Mediterranean Café in Las Vegas. He gained recognition for his delicious Mediterranean cuisine, which led to his appearance on Guy Fieri’s popular show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. His restaurant is known for its flavorful dishes and has become a local favorite, recognized as one of the best cheap eats buffets in Las Vegas. His background and culinary expertise bring a unique and authentic touch to the Mediterranean dishes he serves at Chickpeas Mediterranean Café.   Chickpeas offers a variety of Mediterranean and Indo-European dishes created by three chefs. Executive Chef Pawan Jalota, formerly of the Sensi Restaurant at Bellagio, creates exquisite and popular Indian dishes such as butter chicken, along with many vegan and vegetarian curries. The other two chefs are responsible for Mediterranean salads and main dishes, including Persian kabobs.   Chickpeas Mediterrane...

One morning for some reason Mr. Tehrani was absent and thus we were left to ourselves. It seemed like the perfect time for each group to conduct internal voting and determine who their new leader would be. Up to that point, much to my disappointment, as I considered myself a better student than him, our group leader was Vahid Siahkolah. I wasn’t so sure how I would fare in a vote as Vahid’s namesake and cousin, Behzad, was also in our group, thus guaranteeing him at least two out of six votes. We each made our case to the rest of the group as to why they should vote for us and then we all verbally cast our votes. I was assured of my own vote and that of Noroozi who sat next to me and had become close friends with me. However, much to my surprise I received one more vote from Ravani, who in turn had received a vote from Mousavi, thus leaving Vahid with only two votes. While I declared victory, Vahid claimed that there had been miscommunication and that to avoid it each person should w...