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October 30, 2004
Megadeth!
I went to a Megadeth concert in the Hollywood Paladium last night! It was great! A friend of mine bought the tickets and since we seem to be the only two Iranian Megadeth fans around here, we went together.
The concert was great, although the openning act, Exodus, was awful, boring, and very Metal cliche! While they were "playing" and cursing at the people, I watched the Metal going crowd (I stand out, I admit, but so what, I never fit the streotypes anyway!). There seems to be a new sport developing, one that I call "Metal Wrestling!". The crowd was overwhelmingly male (I would say 90 per-cent) and mostly your streotypical shaved headed, tatooed, bearded ones for that. These seem to like a sport which consists of people running in circles and people on the side pushing them hard to make them fall. It seems to be a way of proving your strength and "manhood" and to me, it sounded like a new manhood right of passage: in a society where no tradition of proving your masculanity remains, the old tribal ways have to find a way to express themselves, and this seems to be the answer. Anyway, I was fascinated by how engaged they were in this, but I was also glad that I was standing by the middle fence!
After Exodus left, Dave Mustain and his new Megadeth appeared. The new band is good, and the guitar player is note perfect. Dave himself was in great shape, very nice and gentlemanly, quite different than Exodus' frontman. He played with energy, spoke kindly and respectfully, and sang with clarity and passion. I loved his performance. He also started by sitting on an amp and praying: yes, Dave has found god! (Oh god, now what?!).
They played great songs, including stuff from the new album (Something That You Are, Something that I'm Not: his song for Lars Ulrich of Metallica) and most famous old songs (Tornado of Souls, Symphony of Destruction, Hangar 18, ...). When he played "Train of Consequences", I went crazy and started shouting, and my friend Safa was looking at me in awe, saying: "I never knew you could get that crazy!".
In the middle of Peace Sells...But Who's Buying, a 15 litter large trash can hit Safa and I in the head and left us stunned for a few minutes. I guess violence and throwing things is also part of the mannly ritual as well! Stupidity certainly seems to be! I also got into a fight with someone, but I guess he was a bit scared about the fact that I was not scared! The security guy took him after I had pushed him to the fence and told him to go away in a rather unflattering way!
We could not take pictures (why Dave? Why? We don't sell pictures of you!). We took some pictures outside which I will upload later.
Anyway, now I have a bump in my head and 1:40 minutes full of Megadeth in my ears! Until next time, TTFN!
Posted by Khodadad at 02:48 PM | Comments (4)
October 23, 2004
Languages
I came here to study "economic history of late antique Sasanian empire", in layman's words (!!!), I wanted to see how economy of the Sasanian and early Islamic world worked between 500-900. I am not trying to be a Sasaniologist (I just made a word, yeah!) or Islamologist (I am sure someone has thought of that before!). I am much more interested in World History and global economic forces that I believe go back thousands of years.
However, since I have arrived (I admit, it is just a month!), I have been doing more languages than anything else! No economic history so far, just Sanskrit and Middle Persian.
Sanskrit is a great language and I think after knowing it, Avestan and Latin will be child's play! Middle Persian is annoying, since I know so much of the language already, but I am horrible in the grammar, thus making stupid mistakes such as translating a sentenceas "The man's enemy was tall" instead of "the man was taller than his enemy"!!! Annoying really!
A question: how come everything in the world is becoming more complecated, but languages become easier? Older version of languages have a very complecated grammar and inflection system and sound modification patterns, while in modern languages these features have petered out?
Also, if you are in the US, on Novermber 1st, please watch the History Channel at 10pm eastern time for a programme called "The Kings: From Babylon to Baghdad". A friend of mine, Prof. Touraj Daryaee, is interviewed in it, and it is about the history of Mesopotamia since the earliest times.
Posted by Khodadad at 12:11 AM | Comments (1)
October 14, 2004
Los Angeles and Berkeley
Well, I am new in Los Angeles, and despite the fact that I have been here many times before, to see the family, I am pretty much a stranger and thus, an observer.
Obvioulsy, many things in Los Angeles are unique or specific to this city. We all know its reputation for being self-indulged and pretentious. We also know its "power" and "cultural influence".
What attracts my attention though, is the UCLA and its surroundings. The campus is in many ways unusual. Yes, it is beautiful and charming, with amazing buildings (although they tell a story of the American fascination with "Old Europe") and green areas and open spaces. But the very interesting thing about it is that it is located in one of the most expensive areas of this city! Westwood Village, located west of Beverly Hills and souht of Bel Air, is a centre of high class shopping and other elite institutions! As a result, the most expensive restaurants and supermarkets surround the students who live here, making the situation quite funny in a sense: the "poor" students living in the poshest area possible!
Other than that, the contrast between UCLA and Berkeley (remember, Berkeley is "UC" as well, University of California). Berkeley, as we know, is a liberal city with a population that are famous for being enviromentally conscious, extremely liberal in their political views, and generally left leaning, including their less-than-friendly attitude towards corporations.
As a result of this, Berkeley is remarkable among many American cities for the noticable absence of "chains", these prominent icons of Americanism. In and around the campus, you seldom see any chain stores: no MacDonalds, no Burger Kings, etc. There are some chains such as Gap and Footlockers, but those are noticably small and only marginally there, while local clothing stores and other shops are much more crowded and successful. Tower Records in Berkeley had to close down since everyone bought CDs from Rasputin and Amoeba, two local music stores. Above all, absolutely no chains inside the campus!
In sharp contrast, seldom does one find non-chains in and around the UCLA! Anne Taylor Loft, TWO Coffee Beans, one starbucks, Kinko's, CVS Pharmacy, Rite Aide Pharmacy, Ralph's Supermarket, Wholefoods Supermarket, and to top it all off, chains INSIDE the campus, including a Taco Bell!
This was very interesting to me: both universities belong to the same system, both have a stundet population that are politically liberal, but they have very different attitudes towards the matter of supporting local businesses and the presence of corporations.
I am not sure why, but I do prefer Berkeley!
Posted by Khodadad at 09:41 PM | Comments (1)
October 09, 2004
A life under construction
First things first: someone complained about the fact that my comment system did not work. I think it was the fault of MT that had a faulty comments template. It should be fixed now!
I was thinking of putting a big "Under Construction" sign on this weblog. Then I thought that my whole life is under construction, in a sense! Three years ago, when I started my masters degree at the LSE, I was thinking that I have started my life really. I was hoping to finish the MSc and by virtue of attending such a prestigious university, get a job really quick and join 'the real world' (how Orwellian, don't you think? By the way, isn't it ironic that George Orwell's real last name was Blair?).
Anyway, I am very glad that the life did not happen the way I imagined it. I am happy to be here, and as boring as it sounds, I like going to school and studying and researching. It seems to be more fulfilling than becoming a consultant or something of the sort.
Anyway, other than classes, I have two Readerships this term, so it means that life will be full! I am sure I will start writing about all the things I did before and create a mind-numbingly boring environment here, discussing history and languages and things.
Posted by Khodadad at 03:09 PM | Comments (2)
October 04, 2004
First in the English Section!
This is the first entry I am writing in the English blog. I am still trying to move my old archive from the old site to this one, but no success so far. If you want to see something, just go to the old page.
I have moved to Los Angeles, California, against my will really! I don't like Los Angeles and its car culture and its size and its attitudes. But well, I have to complete my education, and that means attending UCLA. I am doing my PhD here and it seems like a fine department. Very large, but very easy to study in. I am taking a Byzantine History, a Middle Persian, and a Sanskrit class here. I think it is going to be fine.
Sorry for the long absence. I just didn't want to repeat what I write in the Persian blog here, and I didn't have time for writing in both languages and also do all the work I did and all the places I visited. Just to tell you all that I did have a great time this year!
'till later.
Posted by Khodadad at 08:22 PM | Comments (2)