Importance of Shandiz in Islamic Literature

"Hail Caesar", said Maximus, "this food you brought me, reminds me of the snow-capped peaks of Alborz restaurant!" Naayeb happily smiled, and nodded her head in agreement, but the tail of Shandiz is a spectacular one: when Emam Reza set foot on the holy city of Mashhad he wondered in ignorance: "why is this city holy?" An old man stepped forward, smiled and said: "Come with me, though shall be saved". And although there are contradictory stories on the details, but all historians agree on the fact that Emam Reza was taken to Shandiz restaurant where a new food tradition had been born, a place were Kababs reached their longest lengths, and shy tomatoes blushed in charm and beauty! Yes my friends, Shandiz restaurant is a holy and well respected place for us all. Emam Reza has said:

Fourteen hundred years later, Shandiz opened a branch in Waterloo , that day all of God's children, Arab and Ajam, gathered for its grand opening. Yes my friends, Shandiz restaurant here in the holy city of Waterloo ! Waiting has come to an end, and Persian food is glowing in glory among all other junk food in the university plaza. And "I have a dream, I have a dream that one day, all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and gather around this one holy place to see the blessing of God, and to remind themselves that Khomeini in fact, was a magnificent leader! (Martin Luther King) May Chelokababe Soltani, bring happiness, and mouth watering delicious flavour to your boring microwavable noodles.

پیش از مرگ

این آخرین آرزوی من پیش از مرگ خواهد بود:

وقتی مردم، برایم مهم نیست که کجا خاک شوم، تمامی این گیتی سرای من است. وقتی مردم، برایم خوشحال باشید، که من در خوابی آرام خفته ام. اگر سنگ قبری داشتم، این شعر از حکیم ابوالقاسم فردوسی که به عقیده ی من بر گردن همه ی  ما ایرانیان و پارسی زبانان بخاطر زبان شیوا و فرهنگ کهن سرزمینمان حق دارد را بر روی آن سنگ بنگارید:

 اگر آسمان  بر زمین  بر  زنی      و   گر آتش   اندر جهان در زنی
نیاری همان  رفته را  باز  جای      روانش کهن دان به دیگر سرای

 و هر چند که...

 ما  لعبتگانیم  و  فلک  لعبت  باز     از روی حقیقتی نه از روی مجاز
بازیچه همی  کنیم بر  نطع  وجود     افتیم به صندوق عدم یک یک باز

 و به قول لسان الغیب، حافظ شیرازی:

 بارها   گفته ام   و   بار  دگر   می گویم     که من دلشده این ره نه به خود می پویم
در  پس  آینه  طوطی صفتم  داشته اند     آنچه   استاد  ازل  گفت  بگو  می  گویم
من اگر خارم و گر گل چمن آرایی  هست     که از آن دست که او می کشدم می رویم

...ولی زندگی برای من زیبا بود و من خوشبخت زیستم. به خدا اعتقاد قلبی داشتم ولی هیچگاه او را  با استدلال اثبات نکردم. به منطق بیشتر از احساس و به استدلال بیشتر از ایمان می اندیشدم، ولی هیچگاه احساس و ایمان را از یاد نبردم. به پدر و مادرم بی نهایت عشق می ورزیدم، و آن دو را بزرگترین عامل پیشرفت و خوشبختی خود می دانستم. به تمامی دوستانم و از جمله مادر، پدر و برادرم،  به خاطر لحظات شیرین زندگیم مدیونم. من خوشبخت زیستم.

ای خوش آن روز که پرواز کنم تا بر دوست     به هوای سر کویش پر و بالی بزنم

و تا روزی که آرزویی دیگر کنم...

            پویا فرقانی اقدم
            بامداد هشتم بهمنماه یکهزار و سیصد و هشتاد و دو خورشیدی

SNOW DAYYYYY! YES!

And the prayers were answered! Hands were all joined in the air, hearts all came together, and laziness strived. May God bring freezing rain and slippery glassy, watery, shiny snow to the streets of Waterloo, Amen! May God bring fear to the heart of Waterloo School Board, Amen. May God break the spell of Satan which kept the schools open last week, Amen! And when enough people prayed, and enough souls were taken, the dream came true and the prayers answered and snow day became a reality. For the third consecutive year, and for the second time during my stay in the land of snow, freezing rain and frost, Waterloo School Board declared a Snow Day: "The University of Waterloo is closed today (Tuesday) because of severe winter weather. Classes will not be held, and staff are not expected to come to work." Hallelujah!

LCBO and the party?!

There was this guy who was invited to a goodbye party of a friend on Saturday night. All the friends were invited and everyone was gonna show up, so he decided to add some more fun to the whole deal and drink that night. So he called up his friends and said hey what's your plan like tonight? What time are you gonna be there? And eventually, he managed to take two of his friends to LCBO, and buy a bottle of Lemon Bacardi and take it to the party. Upon his arrival, everyone was happy to see the LCBO bag, so the minute he took out the shot glasses everyone's like: "oh hey guy! What's up?! How you doin'?!" So he got along and tried to keep everyone happy, as well as himself, he started drinkin, and drinkin, and drinkin, 8, 9, 10 and 11. And the Bacardi hit the bottom of the bottle! By 1:30 the guy was feeling as good as Prince of Persia after saving the princess! And he thought to himself, well isn't this nice? He told me, that he had the time of his life, and he hoped that I felt the same way too. He also wished that all you guys, had a blast at the party, and for all of you who couldn't make it, he said tough luck, the greatest things in life, comes to those who wait. May God bring happiness to your cold, dark, saturated hearts! Peace out!

"Being Twenty-Something"

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

This was sent to me as a forward by Sara, so many thanks to her.

New Poll!

I have posted a new question for the poll. I think this question is an interesting one, so I would really like to get your feedback on it, please do vote. This question was raised by Saeed on "Shabeh Yalda" and caused a whole lot of discussion. Mahdi encouraged me to put it on Barobax, so thanks to both of these guys.

Barobax.net might be moving to a new home!

Barobax.net might be moving to a new host within a few days. I am hoping that this migration makes browsing barobax.net easier.

Philosophy and Quantum Mechanics

Tonight was yet another long night of philosophical discussion about the world with the guys. Tonight, I talked to Hamed and Khosro about determinism in the world, and I happened to learn a lot from their knowledge of quantum physics. Hamed showed me a very interesting passage from a book on quantum mechanics by David Griffiths, if you are not interested about these matters I suggest you read no further.
In my opinion the following passage tells a great deal about the advanced philosophical views of the world:

Suppose I do measure the position of the particle, and I find it to be at the point C.
Question: Where was the particle just before I made the measurement? There are three plausible answers to this question, and they serve to characterize the main schools of thought regarding quantum indeterminacy:

1. The realist position: The particle was at C. This certainly seems like a sensible response, and it is the one Einstein advocated. Note, however, that if this is true then quantum mechanics is an incomplete theory, since the particle really was at C, and yet quantum mechanics was unable to tell us so. To the realist, indeterminacy is not a fact of nature, but a reflection of our ignorance. As d'Espagnat put it, "the position of the particle was never indeterminate, but was merely unknown to the experimenter" Evidently Si is not the whole story-some additional information (known as the hidden variable) is needed to provide a complete description of the particle.
   
   
2. The orthodox position: The particle wasn't really anywhere. It was the act of measurement that forced the particle to "take a stand" (though how and why it decided on the point C we dare not ask). Jordan said it most starkly: "Observations not only disturb what is to be measured, they produce it. …We compel [the particle] to assume a definite position." This view (the so-called Copenhagen interpretation) is associated with Bohr and his followers. Among physicists it has always been the most widely accepted position. Note, however, that if it is correct there is something very peculiar about the act of measurement-something that over half a century of debate has done precious little to illuminate.
   
   
3. The agnostic position: Refuse to answer. This is not quite as silly as it sounds-after all, what sense can there be in making assertions about the status of a particle before a measurement, when the only way of knowing whether you were right is precisely to conduct a measurement, in which case what you get is no longer "before the measurement"? It is metaphysics (in the pejorative sense of the word) to worry about something that cannot, by its nature be tested. Pauli said, "One should no more rack one's brain about the problem of whether something one cannot know anything about exists all the same, than about the ancient question of how many angels are able to sit on the point of a needle." For decades this was the "fall-back" position of most physicists: They'd try to sell you answer 2, but if you were persistent they'd switch to 3 and terminate the conversation.

Make Sure Your Underwear's Battery Is Charged!

We used to be in Tehran and the weather would get cold in the winter, it would start snowing soon, and the temperature would go as low as -4. That is the lowest I can remember. Then I went to Dubai and lived there for a nice long period of ten, eleven years and the temp would go as high as 48. Then came the idea of Canada, people living in Toronto telling me "you know it gets cold down here" and in my mind cold had a very well defined definition: -4. And even though I had read that the lowest possible temperature is 0 Kelvin, or -273 Celcius, -4 was as low as I could interpret with my humanly cells. But then they started clarifying the subject matter for me that cold means -30, -35, -40. There is this thing called windchill. huh?! So then came the talk or perhaps the rumor of people wearing underwear that has a battery operated heater on it to keep your ...ehem... "important" parts warm. But then that was all sent to the non-gray layer of my brain where it could be happily forgotten. Until the day the cold became a reality. Today, the temperature of Waterloo with windchill was -31. And trust me, although last year I went out the night it was -35, this evening was the single coldest experience I've ever had. Ironically on this same day, as I am walking towards home feeling that every living cell in my body is about to be transformed into a crystal, I look across the street, and see this Chinese guy standing by the curb without toque or gloves, and is carefully peeling a banana! I froze in shock! I'm thinking to myself that if at that moment I took my hand out of my pocket to pick my nose, either my hands would freeze on the way reaching my nose and my fingers fall off, or that my finger would freeze and get stuck in the hole for good! For the sake of the snowy white polar bears of southern pole of this icy planet, how could a human being perform such a heroic act?! May God bring moderate weather to this land and the land of camel riding, Mercedes driving, Arabs. And just as a warning: don't forget to charge your underwear's battery before you leave home, coz if you don't...well let's just say that you might be quite disappointed with your performance in the near future.

Partyyyyyyy!

The term has started and many of barobax are back from their work term/vacation. It is time to party, isn't it?! everyone on campus seems to be talking about it and yet there is no sign of a good Persian party. If my place was bigger, it would be the place to be this weekend but unfortunately it is not! So in search of a good party room, we make calls and talk to our contacts. Barobax let's see whatchyougot!

Oh and by the way! I will be changing this lame poll very soon. It is just a test, I'm still trying to come up with a good topic, although I have some VERY good ones in mind (yeah you know what I'm talkin' about) but there are some that I can't put up, so in search of a postable poll question and a good party room.

Wings of Fire

I shall call upon the golden sand dunes of the Arabian peninsula and the crystallic waters of the Persian Gulf as well as the shining snows of the Canadian peaks as witness. May God bring joy to the land of Kentucky, from which Colonel* arose and set forward a tradition in which chicken found itself valuable and KFC found a new meaning. Where chicken was no longer born, but raised!** (The Matrix) The glorifying wings of "Simorgh"*** reminisce the Monday evenings of Plaza's Front Row, where wings were auctioned at a price lower than your laundry change, and at a spicy taste which made even Indians quench their thirst with a rising desperation towards Pepsi. And of course, at the dawn of those days, came others, the days of pain and fire, the days of chaos in the washrooms where screams reached the 7 skys and shook the cosmos at a rate which made Richter embarrassed. Yes my friends, the 35 cent wings have their downsides, and the lust for food, and the pleasure of the call for the next 10 pieces of wings shall be punished by the conscious souls of those very chicken that lost their lives. They shall come down on you like angels from the sky when nature calls, and of course, nature is the mother of all things and the most powerful of all forces. "May God have mercy on your soul" (The Green Mile).

* Colonel Harland Sanders the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
** Based on the rumor in the late 90's that KFC's chicken is genetically raised by machines
*** Simorgh: a legendary bird in Persian literature which has gigantic wings and is thought to be the composition of 30 birds as one

Barobax.net & Technical Difficulties

Dear friends, during the past few days my host has been facing technical difficulties, hopefully this issue will be resolved as soon as possible. As soon as stability is achieved I will upload all the remaining pictures. Thanks for your patience.

Saturday, January 10, 2004 11:35 AM Update: All new albums have been completely uploaded & site is operational.

Cell Phone vs. Muffins

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! I was happily checking out my site statistics and the messages in the friends and communcation page that I saw 3 new postings! And they ALL happen to be about a so called "cell phone" and the fact that I like muffins. Firstly, I remember the good old days when I owned a 2200 Dirham (equivalent of C$800) Nokia 9210 that I had received as a birthday present by the barobax themselves and used to show off and walk in the streets of Dubai thinking I'm cool, but had to sell it off because the "well developed" communcation technology of the land of snow and frost wouldn't support it. Secondly, it is true that I like muffins but how is that contradictory to the fact that I am well capable of owning a cell phone?! One can own a cell phone AND eat muffins. In fact I used to eat 2 muffins a day even when I had a cell phone!! However it is important to mention that due to extreme busyness during these few days I haven't been able to go shopping and buy muffins. As a result, during the past few days not only I've been out of muffins but also have not owned a cell phone, which puts me in a very upseting position. However, just so that you know I assure you that the next time I go shopping which I think is going to be on Friday, not only I will buy muffins but fruit sticks too, and I will take pictures of my lovely food (i.e. muffins and fruit sticks) for you to see and enjoy too. In fact I find myself to be in a unique position, because with all the food that I eat, I am only 61 Kilograms, and NO, NO, don't you dare getting me started on the whole "angal" deal, because we all know that I have been tested negative. May God bring laughter to your soul and fruit sticks to your daily meals. God Bless Dunkin Donuts.

Barobax.net update coming soon

When I first made the website, I made a promise that I will improve the friends and communications page. This promise is soon to be fulfilled. I'm currently working on it and I have almost finished the job. Hopefully by the end of this week you will see a major update on the friends and communication page. Stay tuned...

The Terrorists Attack Barobax.net!

I was happily walking in the UW campus today, enjoying the freezing weather and that beautiful sense of the first day of the term, that my cell phone rang. RING RING...RING RING. Hello? [Pooya RUN! Someone has hacked barobax.net]...WHAT???! Are you kidding me? [No I'm serious, hurry man!] Alright Alright, I'll be at it in a jiffy! And I ran towards my house which happens to be 20 minutes walk (10 minutes run) from campus in Cardill Crescent. I reach home in dripping sweat all over my body and reach for my computer, and see that all the barobax have messaged me telling me that Barobax.net is down!

OK! Let's not panic. First things first! Message the technical support: Ali, the site is down man! DO SOMETHING. Ali is not replying and the site is still down. Phone calls, instant messages and emails arrive from top official organizations urging me to do something about this horrific catastrophe. After a long and challenging struggle, at around 11 P.M, the technical support successfully eliminates all the DoS (Denial of Service attack).

At this point 2:50 AM Eastern Time, barobax proudly informs all its respected and loyal viewers that the attack has been eliminated and the terrorists are in the custody of top officials (namely Ali Gh. and Ameen T. J.). Moreover, we would like to take the opportunity to thank all those who supported us by informing us of such dangerous attack on such holy ground. But let us remember, let us recite, that those people who attempted this attack, those who made an army and performed this "cowardly act" (George Bush Jr.) have "failed with flying colors"!! (Mahdi S.). And "tonight let us send a message to that army. Tonight let us shake this cave! Tonight let us tremble these halls of earth, steel, and stone! Let us be heard from red core to black sky. Tonight, let us make them remember. This is ["Barobax"] And we are not afraid!" (Morpheus: Matrix Reloaded)

New Year Resolution

The beautiful weather of the land of frost, wind and snow brings one cold night to Ontario's New Year's Eve, and me being the person standing at the peak of laziness go: "meh! It's not my new year anyway! Am I gonna bother going all the way to Toronto, to stand and shiver with 1000 other people just because it's new year's eve? of course not! I will sleep! so I slept at 10:30 PM on December 31 and when the ball dropped at New York's Times square I was dreaming about McDonald's BigMac back in Dubai and Nayeb's Chelokababs in Tehran. New year's eve couldn't get any better for me. Next day I wake up at 8:00 AM, take a shower, and call Saeed to see if he is on his way to our place, because we had planned to go to Niagra Falls. Saeed oversleeps and by the time he gets here it's 12:30 PM. So are we gonna go to Niagra Falls or what?! and I go..."meehhh...forget the falls man, I say we lay down right here and just sleeeeeeep, actually not, let's eat first, coz that's more important". So we go to Pizza Hut's ALL YOU CAN EAT. We eat happily and then come home hang out, make dinner, eat, and then at around 12 midnight we go to Dooly's to play pool. After winning 4 out of 5 games, we leave, go to Mahdi's place to put his stuff in the Van, come home sleep. Today I woke up, and went to the barber with Saeed, and then I buy a new pair of shoes. Man! I couldn't resist, seriously, shoes in Canada look awesome and are cheaaap...if I wanted to buy this shoe in Dubai I should have paid 300 Dirhams, around C$110, but here I just paid C$25!! Isn't that great!? But I also found out that my digital camera is being sold at $520 in here, while I bought it for $320 in Dubai! And Microsoft Windows XP is $300 here while it is $3, in Tehran. Isn't life great?! Actually this is the benefit of being the resident of 4 countries at one time!!