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May 20, 2006
The Da Vinci Code
Saw the Da Vinci Code movie tonight. I haven't read the book, but I knew of the story and its argument, which incidently is one of the oldest mystry stories of Christianity.
Historically, it is simply horrible. Even the date of Constantine's conversion is wrong: he converted in 313 Mr. Brown, not in 325...
I wasn't expecting much of the history. It has obviously chosen bits and pieces of history and it is funny to see how the old Merovingian claim is resurrected by a modern movie/novel.
The acting is what particularly annoyed me. Tom Hanks and Paul Bettany and Audrey Tautou are usually good actors and actrsses, but all of them, particularly the (already) three times Oscar winner Tom Hanks, were really horrible. Hanks said his lines as if he is reading them off cue-cards and acted like a robot. Paul Bettany's face is too sweet to be believable as a psycho, and Audrey Tautou needs to learn to act in English. Sir Ian McKellen saved the movie, barely.
All in all, bad movie. Not worth the ten dollars paid for it.
Posted by Khodadad at 01:08 AM | Comments (2555)
May 18, 2006
Stoopid!
Today, I did something that in my own humble opinion, is the stupidest thing I have ever done!
I woke up a bit late and since I had to get to a class early, I decided to drive rather than relying on the bus. So, I drove to the campus and parked at a parkmetered space. I got out and put one hour worth of quarters in the parkmeter and found out that I don't have any more quarters. Since my class was to last about 1:30 hours and I still had a few minutes left, I decided to walk to the nearest store and ask for some quarters.
That went on pretty smoothly and I walked back to my car, but to my surprise, the parkmeter was flashing "EXPIRED". I thought to myself that I just put worth one hour of coins in this thing, how can that have happened? I was gone for three minutes only.
Then I found out: I had put the coins in the neighbouring parkmeter, donating one hour of free parking to a nice, black, 2006 BMW. I hope the lucky owner is happy. I was laughing at myself for about ten minutes straight.
I am going to celebrate this day as the day I finally realised that I am becoming a proper "professor absent-minded".
Plain stoopid...
Posted by Khodadad at 12:38 PM | Comments (1)
May 16, 2006
Why I write (or don't write) a blog!
I was talking to a friend of mine from Washington DC (hey there!) who is an occasional reader of this weblog. He was asking me why I don't update more often (David asked this too, thanks for the email pal!). I was wondering about that myself. Parts of it is the fact that I don't have much to say anymore. What is there to talk about? I can only write about things that concern me at the moment, and right now, that is mostly Late Antique economy!
I am also trying to produce some real academic papers and am finding out that I have several deficiencies in that aspect, most of them the result of the fact that I have worked on my own for a long time. Being an ancient/Medieval historian is a lonely job, and being a historian of ancient/Medieval West Asia is even lonlier. As a result, I have nothing to say really. My problems don't really relate to the real world. I am more worried about the religious policies of the Sasanian Empire in the third century right now than what is going on around the world.
But there is also another reason. I have used these weblogs (Persian and the English one) as a way of practicing my writing. I like writing and I often get bored of academic stuff and so try to write things that are easier and more fun. Remember the "My Uncle Osman" story intro (I am working on it, trust me)?! Well, those kind of things were a manjor part of my motivation for writing a blog.
However, lately this has been more of a case with my Persian blog. I need to practice writing Persian and speaking and thinking in it. I am surrounded by an English (and increasingly German) speaking world. I seldom speak Persian, beyond a few words with my mother. I am in the middle of Tehrangeles (formerly LA), and I don't speak Persian! Maybe because most of the Iranians are in engineering fields and history is so empty of them.
Another reason for the fact that I write my Persian blog more often than the English one is the interaction. The Persian blogosphere is huge! I know quite a lot of people in the Persian blogging world. I read their blogs and in a way, write stuff in reaction to them. But this has not been the case with this one. My English blog has never had many readers, and I am really a stranger to the English blogging world. So, in isolation, I write stuff only when I see it necessary, which is not often.
This is neither a complaint nor an excuse. This is just an exercise in self-assessment and problematisation! Maybe I can figure it out one of these days...
Posted by Khodadad at 09:57 PM | Comments (2)
May 11, 2006
Doubtful
For the first time that I can remember, I have become really mindful of what I am doing. I have so far been very sure of my goal to get a PhD in Medieval history and have been enjoying it. To be honest, I have also been rather good at it as well and so have been much encouraged.
Lately, I have been doubting the usefulness of the path I have chosen. It might have something to do with the fact that I have had some set-backs and reality-checks, but as a whole, things have not changed much. I am just a bit worried about the future and whether in 10 years, I will still think that this was a good idea.
Well, too late now, innit?
Posted by Khodadad at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
May 02, 2006
At Last!
I finally finished my big paper about the Sasanian-Byzantine relations and border conflicts in Northern Syria in the sixth century CE. It was becoming the bane of my life, but it is finally done.
You can have a look at it here if you like.
Posted by Khodadad at 01:06 AM | Comments (2)