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June 25, 2006
History in Iran
This is one of the best quotations about Iranian history that I have ever read:
"For Leopold von Ranke history was the report of what actually happened. Others have been less sanguine and have characterized history as that which historians thought had happened. In Iran one could go a step further and say that history is what people thought should have happened."
(Frye, R. N. "Methodology in Iranian History" in Neue Methodologie in der Iranistik: Festschrift fuer W. Lenz, ed. R. N Frye, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1974, p. 59)
I now know why Frye is held in such high esteem in my field!
Posted by Khodadad at 12:49 AM | Comments (5)
June 20, 2006
To Berkeley and Beyond...
Okay, since this weblog has been in a state of hibernation, I have decided to turn it into a proper travelogue for this summer.
I do this every summer, going around places and visit my friends and most importantly, my girlfriend. However, I am naturally very lazy and easily bored and so I have never had the patience to write a proper travelogue of the places I went to.
But this summer is going to be more interesting. I was able to fool UCLA's graduate division to thinking that I am a serious "scholar" and so they gave me some money to go and do research. Well, need I tell more?:P Just in case a UCLA administrator is reading this, I should specify that I will, certainly will, do research and will present the wonderful grad division with a full paper on Sasanian seals, coins, and bullae.
Now, to more fun stuff. As the first leg of my trip, I have come to Berkeley to visit my mom and also to do some work on these seals in the Bancroft Library (the said administrator shall take note...). It is such a relief! I spent the last week moving out of my apartment into a storage. Saturday was all moving big stuff (couch, desk, books) and then for the rest, short trips to the storage to leave things. In between, like everyone else, I had papers to write and papers to correct. I also managed to hang out with my good friends and enjoy my last days a bit (thanks everyone).
Today, however, I woke up and realised how much I have not done! So, thanks to Melissa and Aaron, I made two more trips to the storage and in between, threw away most of my clothes and a whole lotta other stuff. I was so busy that I forgot to have breakfast or lunch, and so, when Aaron dropped me off at the airport (thanks bud), I just checked in and then ran to get a sandwich! After wolfing that one, I realised how hungry I was. So, I have no shame in saying that when I arrived in Berkeley, I also had two plates of my mom's wonderful Tahchin (a sort of rice dish with Saffron and chicken)!!
I am now happy, stuffed, relaxed, and relieved. I already miss the guys in LA, but look forward to a the next stage of the trip: I will be off to Iceland in two weeks! Meanwhile, I will write more about Berkeley, a wonderful city by all measures. I will also regularly upload pictures to my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/khodadad.
Posted by Khodadad at 09:11 PM | Comments (1)
June 13, 2006
Ouch
The US loss to the Czechs was rather horrible. Considering that it was a match between two teams ranked numbers four and five by the fifa, it was also rather embarrassing...
Obviously, the Czech striker Tomas Roscky was on fire, but both of his goals can be partially credited to the US defence line which acted very weakly. A goal from behind the 18 feet box limit is almost unheard of these days, and yet that is exactly what the third goal was.
The US team needs a serious re-evaluation of their training and tactics. However, in the absence of a serious and world-class league, they are not to be blamed much.
Well, now let's see what the Brazilians do...
Posted by Khodadad at 01:52 AM | Comments (2)
June 11, 2006
Football
Alright, I cannot stay away from all the vibe that is the World Cup! I am not a great football fan and anyway, in the US one does not get much opportunity to watch good teams. However, the World Cup is here, and I am noticing that the craze is more observable here than before.
Anyway, I just watched Mexico win over Iran 3-1. I love Mexico! They are a pretty good team and their striker, Bravo, is a great, and very young, player. They deserved to win and I am so touched by the fact that they showed an enormous amount of self-control by stopping at only three goals, while they could have made at least five.
No particular reason to be patriotic here. I will be supporting first the Netherlands (my favourite team), and then the US in this cup (although at present I am filled with love for Mexico and the great play it displayed), and then probably Germany (my girlfriend is German, I had to say that!).
Looking forward to Iran losing the rest of the games so we can get to some serious football action and watch some good games.
Posted by Khodadad at 10:26 AM | Comments (1)
June 04, 2006
Slogans
10:45 AM. 31 May, 2006
"Welcome to Icelandair, the coolest airline crossing the Atlantic...
our offices are currently closed"
Frigid, indeed.
Posted by Khodadad at 11:38 PM | Comments (1)