Bella ciao

One morning I awakened

Oh Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful! Bye! Bye!

One morning I awakened

And I found the invader

Oh partisan carry me away

Oh Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful! Bye! Bye!

Oh partisan carry me away

Because I feel death approaching

And if I die as a partisan

(And if I die on the mountain)

Oh Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful! Bye! Bye!

And if I die as a partisan

(And if I die on the mountain)

Then you must bury me

Bury me up in the mountain

(And you have to bury me)

Oh Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful! Bye! Bye!

Bury me up in the mountain

(And you have to bury me)

Under the shade of a beautiful flower

And the people who shall pass

(And all those who shall pass)

Oh Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful! Bye! Bye!

And the people who shall pass

(And all those who shall pass)

Will tell me: "what a beautiful flower"

(And they will say: "what a beautiful flower")

This is the flower of the partisan

(And this is the flower of the partisan)

Oh Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful, Goodbye beautiful! Bye! Bye!

This is the flower of the partisan

(And this is the flower of the partisan)

Who died for freedom

If I win a lottery...

If I win a lottery, I will save some of it for traveling with these experts around the world!!!

National geography travel section has several delicious travel programs, like a trip to the heart of Africa or to the far far away land of Antarctica to watch emperor penguins, or 12-day adventure on New Zealand’s South Island (how about that)

But everything has a price, if you can spare $60,000 , get ready for your 24-day trip around the earth in a privet jet :)

Bravo My Proud Iranian Fellows

I'm following the news from Iran like so many other of my Iranian friends everyday. God knows how proud I am. I am proud of you guys, for your mature act and behavior in response to savageness , darkness and cruelty . I am proud of your sincerity and braveness.
Despite all those limitations, how this mature, wise, brave, open minded, aware generation formed? Guys I am so proud of you!!!
Democracy can't be given to any nation as a gift. Democracy is a goal to be reached to. every nation has to pass the path to democracy on their own feet. There is no free ride. If we don't feel the necessity of having a freedom of speech/act with our skin, democracy won't come or if it comes easy through outsiders interference it will go easy and won't last.
I remember my math teacher back in high school used to say: "If I solve 100 problems for you; you won't learn as much as you solve 1 problem by yourself"
My people are solving a hard problem of "how to reach to real democracy" these days. God Bless you All
Be safe and sound

Hanna beats Barbie

I remember two years ago when I came back to Iran, I found out that my niece (Ava) loves Barbie. This time I asked her what she like me to bring to her. I remember the conversation.

-Do you know Hanna Montana, Aunt Hiva? (She asked me)

- No, who is she honey? (I answered and at the same time googled the name)

- She is a singer and actress. Can you buy her latest movie for me please?

- Sure, sure, I’ll bring it to you sweetie!

I bought one of her latest DVD for Ava and also a book of her lyrics and some shirts. Ava is so into her when Hanna is on TV we literally can’t talk to Ava; she simply can’t hear you :).

She is not that interested in Barbies any more. One day I went to her room and noticed there are plenty Barbie girls around.

-Ava! why so many? (I asked her)

- Dad and mom and my friends bought these for me

It seems during last year every person who wanted to gave her a gift found a Barbie girl as the safe option, but apparently it’s not the best choice anymore.

Ava’s Barbies in different sizes and dresses amazed me, I put them all together and took some pictures. Can you find the lucky Barbie boy???

Coming back to normal life

I came back from Iran.
So many things that I probably won't talk about, so many images that I would never forget.
Iran I went to is not the same country that I left. Something happened, I don't know how long it will take but change is on its way...

Nima and I arrived home late at night, we took a sleep pill and went to bed. Yesterday we tried to rest; had a little shopping , checking e-mails, doing some laundry, yeah we returned to our normal life.

Today I am trying to catch up. I made a note for myself before I left home month ago so that when I came back I knew what I'm supposed to do for the research. It's a big help believe me.

The weather is so nice, around 20 degree It is not like Toronto summer at all. I'll write more about my trip as soon as I catch up a little.

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL ; BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

I believe one of the hardest thing for humans is to have power but not to fall in love with it. The ring of power lures us, not everyone can be a ring bearer.

Asking for change, fighting for equality, coming to power, falling in love with it, becoming a dictator is a repetitive story of our time

Poooooooh

It's hopless

I'm Home

I'm home (my parent's place actually). The weather here in Shahi (northern city of Iran in beautiful Mazandaran) is perfect. I'm catching up

Presidential election is in few days. Everyone talk about it. Presidential debate between four remaining candidates are on. People excitedly talk about it and sending funny SMS (text), making jokes,..

I watched all debates by curiosity, this type of debate between candidates are kind of new. The only thing stunned me was the way Ahmadinejad defended his performance during last four years. Iran from his point of view is:

One of the most powerfull country in the world :O

Our people are totally happy and inflation and recession does not affect Iranian as much as it affects other people around the globe :O

Rate of unemplyment is decreasing :O

He is showing fake graphs to prove Iran have positive economy growth. I am still shocked. How could he do this!!!!

I don't know if he is more a lair or a delusionary. I can't believe it, he tells big big lies right into camera to 70 million people.

All three other rivals called him a lair but he aggressively attacked them and accused them of trying to frame him because he was honest and was doing right things.

I am not living in Iran but how can I be reluctant toward my country mates and all those who I love and are living here.

Iranian deserve better than this. God how would you feel watching poeple whose foreheads are marked by long and frequent prays for you and lying , insulting, cursing ...

Election is getting closer and closer, I just hope Iranian don't be misled by all theses confusing signals and make the best choice. Please Do :)

A Trip In a Glance

Kissing Nima goodbye
Having 1 hour delay in flight to St. John's
Settling down in MUN grad lab with my suitcase ;)
Texting to Nima
Having dinner with Eily and Ashkan my lovely friends
Meeting Shawn, my supervisor from 9 to 12
Talking to Nima on the phone
watching my supervisor gorgeous twins, surrounded in the most colorful toys
Calming my mom on the phone after a bad dream my younger sister had about me
Having a good laugh with 15 Iranians of MUN at UC
Catching up with close friends
Wishing a friend having fun at Hawaii
Solving middle east and the world problems after having delicious dinner
Counting 10000 sheep after a late night tea
watching pretty Asian girl having extra large coffee for the breakfast
Meeting my British smart supervisor early in the morning, talking about 'English got talent' show
Reading an article that Harper government is going to sell another company
Hiking a long way with Eily
Licking an ice cream while my friends are talking
Talking to Nima before sleep
Counting another 10000 sheep
Blogging Friday morning in grad lab
going to have presentation in the afternoon

Are some of my latest St. John's trip highlights...

An Accident!

Monday early in the morning I have a flight to St. John's. I had some last minute shopping, thus Nima drove me to the nearby mall. The initial plan was that he drop me off at mall and head to gym himself. Right before he dropped me off I saw an old man trying to sit on a flat stone, suddenly he lost his balance and fell down on his forehead.
Nime stopped a car right away and I ran toward him. There was blood allover his face.

-You OK? Let me help you sit down

I looked at his face, it was like an old wound open up. the cut was deep and it was bleeding strongly. Two other young girls also hurried toward us.

-Are you guys fine?
- He fell down on his forehead. He is bleeding.
-Let's call 911

We helped him sit back and press some clinex on the wound to help his bleeding stop. 911 asked different kind of questions, I think it took about 5 minutes.
- how old is he? (a 911 operator asked)
-How old are you? we asked him
-I'm 90 something (he answered), I was in world war II (he added)
-Does he feels drowsy?...Is he diabetic?...Is he using specific medicine? (and some other detailed questions that operator asked before deciding to send an ambulance.)

-Good, they are on their way. (a girl who was talking on the phone said)

At this time another car stopped and a lady came out.

-Is he doing fine? (she asked)
- I am a nurse, let me check him! .. she came closer, looked at his wound. Then ask him if he know his name. if he has any numbers, we could call. She looked at his wallet and find a phone number. She called and found his wife on the line.

-Mam your husband fell down in front of the mall, he is fine now. the ambulance is on the way. She brought a bottle of water and helped him drink.
-OK guys I'm living now the ambulance will be here soon. Talk to him don't let him sleep

We start talking to him, one of the other girl asked him about his experience in war to keep him awake.

-How much time do you have? (an old man asked)
-I have time, I should have time, to help you so maybe one day when I fell down someone else take care of me (the lovely girl answered)

Nima went to guide the ambulance toward us. Finally they showed up and we could leave.
We say goodbye to them. The all things took about 40 minutes.

-Oh Nima don't you wanna go to gym? (I asked him)
-Nay forget it, let's go to the mall.

Don't think he was looking for any excuses :))

Start Counting Down

These days I'm busy making slides, writing reports..In two weeks I have another trip to St. John's to meet my supervisors and to attend a conferee. When I come back, in less than a week I'll be on my way to Iran. It has been more than a year and a half that I haven't seen my family.

My mom was telling me she starts making my favorite jam, drying some vegetable from our yard so that I can bring them back. When you are away from those who you love, you really don't feel it until you go back to them. Right there you feel , Gosh what I was missing. I was talking to couple of friends who haven't seen their families for more than 5 or 12 years. For me it sounds impossible.

Anyway it's going to be a very busy month for me but I like it this way. My heart becomes wam by the idea of vising my family again..Cheerssss

Smile :)

I love these photos of me and my older sister Roja. We are standing hand in hand in my grandpa backyard, wearing the same dress; Roja has a flower in her hand .
My dad took these pictures from us. Photography was one of his major hobby...
In the background you can see a part of my grandpa garden.

In this one we are sitting right in front of the house entrance door. ..I love these photos, I really do :))

The Black Shirt

Listening to this song cheers me up and reminds me of a cute Colombian girl, Erica who played this song for me on her ipod. She enthusiastically translated the song to me and explained how popular Juanes is (I had no idea who he was honestly). Listen and Enjoy:

My Heroic Moments

Pica Pica
I was 14 or 15 years old. I came back from school and like everyday call for my dog, Liza (she was a Terrier/Lab mix breed. Black colored with white strip started from her nose to her tail. I found her when she was just a baby) to start our usual journey deep into grandpa garden.
we had a heavy rain the day before and every where was still wet. We almost reached to the one end of the garden that I saw a bucket. Just out of curiosity I went ahead to look inside. There he was, a pica pica, almost drawn in a water collected in that bucket due to rain. He was obviously tired of struggling to come out. he managed to keep the tip of his beak out of water to breath. I took him out, he was too tired to show any reactions. He couldn't fly his wings was totally wet. I ran toward home while Liza was following me with her curious eyes on pica pica.
We had an small store room in our backyard. I took a blow dryer and went inside the room. he was gradually getting warm and as his feathers dried he gathered his strength back. when he totally dried he stood on his feet, looked up and saw me and with a sudden move he flew toward the window. But before flying out he stood there, looked back for a moment and then flew away. I felt like a hero. :))

Liza's Puppy
I was 12 or 13. Liza gave birth to 7/8 super cute puppies. There were colorful chubby woolly creatures with pink nose. I couldn't took my eyes off them. There was an old forsaken shed at a corner of Grandpa Garden with old sofa inside. Liza chose an old comfortable sofa to put her babies on. It was a midnight that I woke up by a continuous noise of one of Liza's baby. I waited for a while to see if it was gonna end but it didn't. I went out toward the shed to see what's going on. Liza came to me, moving her tail in excitement. I saw one of Liza's baby had fallen down the sofa and that's why it was making all those noises for help. I put it back and it became quite. I felt so good, went back to bed and slept like a baby.

Wounded Crow
I was 6 or 7 . I noticed our German Shepherd dog was jumping up and down. I ran toward him and saw a pretty large crow trying to fly away but he couldn't because of his wounded wing. The poor crow was jumping in the air and falling down while our dog was trying to chase him. It was emergency call :). one of the time that the crows jumped up, I stood in a place that he would probably crash on and that was what exactly happened. He crashed down in my arms and I grabbed him quickly. Now imagine 6/7 years old girl carrying a pretty large crow with bloody wing, in her arms which is easily half of her size. I ran toward home to find a bandage. I remember my mom opened the door and screamed:

"for God sake Hiva what is this????"
- Mom, I saved him from the dog, he is wounded.
- Noooooooooo, we can't bring him home. Let him go somewhere out of dogs reach. He can take care of himself.

I let him go. I don't remember how I felt. It was long time ago. :)

Flower of My Vase, Moon On My Porch

Listen to This beautiful music video by Monica Jalili. The music is an old Iranian song.

Wishful Thoughts

News from here and there. He does this, she said that. That guy is not happy with his job, this girl wants to move to another city..He is complaining, and is pessimistic just like a Glum in Gulliver, she believes ...
My mind analyzing, analyzing, processing the information all the time.
I really don't want to hear all these, I can't help analyzing but I might be able to build a filter. then I can prevent some information to get in, in first place, so that I don't have to think or judge.
I'm tired, the grown up world is complicated. I want to keep my simple world forever.
When I am happy I'll show. When I am sad I'll show that too. If I'm concern I'll talk about it.
I want the real world be as simple as my childhood cartoons. there where bad people and good ones. Bad people always loose at the end , they tried hard to trap good people or make troubles for them but always good people was the winner.
I want the world be a fair place, those who deserve better achieve better and those who cheat and are not honest be caught red handed.
Is that too much to ask!!!

Zeta Brain Wave

I can't sleep.
I watched a presentation on Brain Music Therapy on youtube. In one slide it was saying that our brain produces small amount of electrical activities which induces brain waves. Our brain waves are responding differently to different activities. We have 4 type of Brain Waves:

- Delta: 2 to 4 Hz during sleeping
- Theta: 4 to 8 during day dreaming
- Alpha: 8-12 when you are focused and relaxed, for example watching movie
- Beta: above 12 during high concentration, like doing math

What type of brain wave it is, when you can't focus on anything but you can't sleep either?? Zeta??

You too, Brutus?!!!

I don't know if you ever read the story of Julius Caesar assassination. For along time there were conflict between Caesar and Senate. Finally a group of senators plan to murder him. They made a false petition and called Caesar to read it.
When he started reading the fake petition, suddenly one of the traitors pulled down Caesar tunic and the other stabbed him in a neck. within the moments the entire group of traitors striking him out one by one. It is said that, there were 60 men in his assassination and Caesar was stabbed 23 times. Among those 60 men, there was one who called Brutus. Brutus was like a son to Caesar, he was highly trusted and accepted in Caesar's inner circle.
It says that when Brutus stabbed him in the back, Caesar turned back and looked at him in shock and said "You too, Brutus??"

For some reason, I just remember this story...

WILFRED W. GELDER

this is an update to my previous post. We went back to "Gelder Fine Arts" shop. He remembered us in first glance.
-Barabara these are the couple I told you (Barbara is a lovely girl who is managing the shop).
We took a picture with him, he said : Let me hold my brush, just like I'm painting. :)
The above picture is the painting we bought , shows a girl and her dog walking along the river.
The second photo is Nima and I behind him.

Home for Gelder's Painting

Nima and I were looking for a painting for a while. Finally we found it yesterday and it was quite a unique experience for both of us.
We were driving when my eyes caught the site of a small and narrow shop called, "Gelder Fine Art". At first glance I saw several paintings hanged on the shop's walls. We parked the car and walked in.
when we entered, an old man with a bent back was sitting behind the incomplete canvas alone. There were several paint stains all over his pants and coats.
He looked up and smiled.
-It's a nice sunny day isn't it
- Yeah very lovely (I replied, while looking around)
There were so many beautiful paints all over the shops.
-I think these are all his painting Hiva (Nima whispered in my ears)
- These are all my paintings
- Oh there are really beautiful
-Thanks (He answered with his low voice)
I've had this shop for 47 years
- Wow (Nima and I reacted)
- You know next week is my birthday, in March
- Nice, next week is my birthday too
- Really, mine is on March 25th (He seemed amazed)
I am gonna be 92 years old
- I am gonna be 29 (I was thinking God 92, 29 both in March such a coincident)
- 92, 29.. Really? are you going to be 29 years old? (He asked me with excitement)
I am lucky to come so far, I served in military for 8 years during world war II in South Africa, India and Italy.
and then he told us about how he met her wife there and fell in love at first sight.
- I saw her and I told to myself, God I can't live without her. We married in one month
We looked at all of his paintings one by one, while he was briefly explaining where usually he painted them. Most of his paintings were scenery in impressionist style.
- Most of these scenes are somewhere around Mississauga and beautiful Credit river (He said)
- That's interesting I did a lot of photography around credit river before winter (Nima said excitedly)
There was one paint that caught my eyes more than the others, beautiful summer day along the credit river with a girl and her dog walking near the river.
- If you like it take it down , bring it home hang it on the wall for few days and then if you find it what you were looking for come back and pay it.
He offered us a very fair price with huge discount!!
- At this age, all I want is to make sure my paintings are finding a good home. I don't have too many years left and usually after the painters death his paintings' value increases.
Nima and I were speechless. I couldn't think of any thing to tell him in response.
We love the painting , it's just so perfect in our cosy dinning room but more than that this experience make it so special to us. Each time looking at his small signature beneath the picture "Wilfred W. Gelder" remind me of a lovely old man in small cosy shop in streets ville.
We will go back to his shop in few days to pay for the painting and this time I will have my camera with me.