kubideh kitchen

conflict kitchen is a take-out restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries the united states is in conflict with. started up by artists, academics, and general geniuses, kubideh kitchen is a politico-culinary nook in pittsburgh that rotate identities every 4 months (currently: iran) to show case the culture, politics, and general societal “milieu” of countries that amerikiyee finds herself at odds with. if the role of art (pop, performance, or otherwise) is to showcase the doings and undoings of our time, what better way than this: north american brainchild take-out restaurant meets traditional persian cuisine. nom nom.

if you don’t believe me, see for yourself.

(fantastic graphic design thanks to this guy here).

On Revolutions

One more thought before I return to the inferno that is thesis writing.

In my research (on Iran and new media and technology and political reform), I have been coming across much literature on various shades of civil disobedience. They range from the most phantasmagorical (Singing Revolution of Estonia, more on this later as it is my newest obsession) to the not so successful (Saffron Revolution of Burma), to the too-soon-to-tell (Green Revolution of Iran).

And all of this reading inspire three thoughts:

a.) It gives me hope for the future. That if history repeats itself, as it often has, perhaps more revolutions and protests and lives sacrificed will bear fruit and avoid the brutal fate of indifference.

b.) It brings me equal measure despair in knowing that we are intrinsically more similar than we care to admit. And yet, remain the sole species to commit systematic acts of violence and repression on one another.

c.) It makes me question the inherent value of what I am doing. Aside from the impending deadline and the need to finish my degree, what is the utility of my paper? Will it some how add to the canon of social science research? But then if the meta-objective of any research is to advance our understanding of this world, then what has the millions of PhD dissertations and field research gotten us? Shouldn’t we have solutions to problems by now?

Ah well. Back to work.

no one cares for persian cats

i just finished watching bahman ghobadi‘s “no one knows about persian cats.”

i have seen similar takes on the lebanese underground music scene, and have often been curious to see what lies behind those essentialized, exoticized, orientalized persian walls. it turns out, a whole lot more than you would have expected.

farnam had sent around the link and had been urging me to watch the film. when i clicked on the link, it clocked the film at a little over 100 minutes. finding it difficult to commit to an average youtube clip let alone a whole feature length film, it took me a while to get around to it. plus, my heart had already been broken once earlier last month by another iranian film (“heiran.” iranian girl meets an afghan refugee. they fall in love. the boy leaves for tehran. the girl follows. they get married. child birth. illegal work permits. deportation. buses that lead no where. you get the picture).

i have ten minutes before i take off for another attempt at watching avatar (it was sold out last time! haram!), so let me get to the point.

my rough cut eyes tell me that the movie lacks cinematography. it is not exactly an eye candy and the initial plot line is not as tight as it could have been. any possibility of romance between the two main actors are never explained, which might aggravate some. you are left wondering what else their lives are made of – aside from their shared love for music.

but all of this is some how made up for by the raw worth of the film, i think. it is staccatic on some fronts, and not at all polished in others. but that seems to be the beauty of it. i found myself tut-tuting at some of the actors who seemed so naive, so blinded by faith and passion, to perhaps not grasp the true meaning of making music in tehran – that it will lead to no where. much of their pursuits at times seemed to be going around in circles. but as you get attached to the two youthful souls who are not here for the business of sustainance but that of growth, beauty, and that ethereal language we call music, you realize that there is no coming to your senses. that rationality has no play here, that the only thing you can do really, is tweak that guitar string, and take note of the persian cats.

shot in 17 days with a SI-2K camera, co-written by roxana saberi, and filmed discreetly sans permit, this music video style montage is based on real people, places, and events, ultimately winning the special jury prize at canne.

so i guess some do care for the persian cats.