Absolute Random Nonsense

The most unexpected Duran Duran song that I saw performed live and that I didn't first recognize was on August 13, 1999 at Foxwoods Casino. The opening keys sounded familiar and yet I couldn't identify it but I knew that with every passing second it would become more familiar. Finally when Nick went into second gear on his keyboard, and just before Simon started singing I realized that it was "Friends of Mine". The most unexpected Duran Duran song that I saw performed live and that I recognized right off the bat was on April 3, 2005 at Mohegan Sun Casino. The opening notes were all I needed to be pleasantly surprised by "Hold Back the Rain". During the performance Simon changed the line "I probably didn't even say that right and I really don't gave a damn" to "I probably didn't even say that right and I really don't gave a fuck".  

After a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court, Amanj Hasan Zada, the 34-year-old Iranian national of Stefano Road, Preston, was convicted on three counts of facilitating illegal immigration. The 34-year-old organised three separate crossings from France to the UK in November and December 2023, but NCA investigators believe he was involved in many more. Each of the identified crossings involved Kurdish migrants who had travelled through eastern Europe, into Germany, Belgium and then France. The defendant advertised his business on social media under the name Amanj Zaman and featured videos of thankful migrants who paid for his services.  

In the mid 80s, and later early 2000s, some people thought that one and one make five.  

Zoya Biglary was on shark tank. She got a deal.  

I think I was in 8th grade and everyone else was home. It was only our school that was open and there was hardly anyone there. Anyways we all started to have snowball fights until we were tired and decided to go home but then the bus wasn't working or something because of the snow. So we had to walk home which was really really far (1 hour of walking or more). Anyways there were people with cars passing and we decided to start throwing snow at the cars going past us. We were in a street and it was quiet because of the snow. So we threw snow balls at cars and one guy in the car got out and ran after us. We all screamed and ran back to school but by now it was icy so we kept on dropping because of the ice. We were scared and were screaming and I think one of my friends cried because he was so scared and so we were laughing at the same time. Then we realized that someone else was laughing and it turned out that it was the guy from the car laughing at us. He didn't want to s...

An Iranian woman who was among 299 migrants deported by the United States to Panama has appealed to President Donald Trump for a reprieve so she can avoid being sent back to Iran.  Speaking to the FRANCE 24 Observers from the hotel in Panama City where the migrants are being held, Artemis Ghasemzadeh said: “Our first request is a reprieve from President Trump – just for our cases to be reviewed.” Ghasemzadeh said US officials had confiscated many of the deportees’ phones and that she was the only one talking to the media: “Everyone, really everyone, has asked me to say please do not deport us to our country of origin.” The Iranians were among the first group of 119 people flown to Panama on a US Army flight on February 12. A second flight followed a day later. A total of 360 people are expected to be removed from the US and sent to Panama. Ghasemzadeh first gained attention by posting a dramatic call for help from the Decapolis Hotel in Panama City, where the deportees are being he...

In the early 2000s I learned about the system and its different levels. Over the years I attempted to advance to a higher level and eventually believed I had managed to do so. Ultimately I realized it hadn't quite happened and I was at the same level. I learned that you can't beat the system.  

I was at a friend's house some time ago when I heard a bright, colorful voice playing through his laptop. "You've heard this, right?," he asked me. Well, that was my first time hearing Darya Dadvar, and that was all I needed to hear to appreciate her talent. After that, I went online and bought all of her music, as I found her voice and style to be a refreshing change among what I was used to hearing. I was also pleasantly surprised by the collection of well known melodies and lyrics that she has revisited. Darya Dadvar, an Iranian soprano vocalist with a style of her own.  

After serving clam chowder I always ask everyone if they would like some desert.

Ashley Aghilipour was on Judge Judy. She lost custody of a dog she co-owned.  

In the 3rd grade when a student was reading a story out loud Mr. Yowell stopped him and asked who had done a certain action in the story. While the student went silent trying to think of the answer, Mr. Yowell said, "Was it George? Or was it Charlie Brown?" The story had neither of those characters.    

Back in 2000, Golshid Mola was a graphic design student at Tehran's Azad University. She belonged to a small but close-knit community of artists and designers. "We made hand-made jewelry, clothing, even home decor," she recalls. "It was a lot of fun." But their reach was limited to their friends and family. The Internet crawled along at a snail's pace, making it difficult to showcase their work to the outside world. A few years later, Mola was in New York City, working at an ad agency after graduating from New York University. Yet she kept thinking about the friends she left behind in Tehran. Every time she visited, she was surprised at the vibrancy of the city's art and design communities, even despite the limitations artists face in Iran. "Everyone was talking about the Iranian underground music scene, but there was also this very active underground art and design scene as well,"...

I once found free wifi in an Istanbul airport and thus didn't have to pay 6TL for a cup of tea just to use the internet.What I ended up doing was securing the area, heating up some water in a microwave, grabbing some tea bags and start selling tea advertised with free wifi for 6TL.  

Another time as we finished our routine we stopped to grab something to eat near Vali Asr Square. Although it had gotten much harder, however, we still had not given up on our game of making one another laugh when drinking sodas. Ardi had gotten much better than me at not laughing and so I always had to try very hard and get creative. That night as we were having our sandwiches (with sodas) once again I could see that none of my efforts had any effect on him so I decided to kick it up a notch. Anytime I suspected the owner couldn’t see us, I began doing intense booty shakes (which in fact did make Ardi laugh). Unfortunately for me the owner was just in my blind spot and was witnessing the whole incident. After turning a blind eye to it for a couple of rounds he finally spoke up. “This isn’t a dance club. Have your food and have a nice day.” Neither one of us said a word but instead quickly finished our sodas (whose bottles we had to return) so that we could leave with our san...

I considered studying at the Sorbonne and d octoring in mathematics. Instead I went to Sharif University.  

It's absurd that in the new Smurfs movie Rihanna sings "Heaven is a place on Earth" while Belinda Carlisle is still alive and kicking.

One night after we had gotten together to see a movie we began our descent towards Vali Asr Square. Along the way we made our usual stops for snacks, dinner and phone calls. We seemingly spent too much because by the time we got to Vali Asr Square we realized we didn't have enough money to get back.  Ardi kept insisting to take a taxi to Abbas Abad Street and for me to spend the night at their house and leave early in the morning (with money from him or his parents). On the other hand I thought it was possible for both of us to make it home if only we took a minibus (which would have cost us 3 tomans each as opposed to the higher taxi fare). This would take longer depending on when the next minibus would pass by but would at least let me get back home for the night. As we stood there debating the issue, a cigarette vendor at the Square overheard our discussion and jumped in. “What’s the matter? You guys having some kind of problem here?” “No, we’re fine,” I responded. “We...

“I grew up in the streets of Tehran during a revolution and war but playing soccer was the best part of my teenager life. Soccer taught me teamwork, respect, and desire to win which are the spirit of Pear today” - Pejman Nozad, one of silicon valley's most unlikely venture capitalists