مجله کیانوش

Atlanta's Latest Attraction

The other day I went to Georgia Aquarium, but forgot to take my camera. The good news was that I had my cell phone with me.

I thought this one might be artistic!

پایان جام جهانی

چند بار در طول عمرم این شانس را خواهم داشت که فینال جام جهانی را با برندگان آن تماشا کنم؟ ... هرچند در آخر با ایتالیایی ها بالا و پایین پریدم، ولی در آن مسابقه طرفدار فرانسه بودم؛ شانس آوردم که ایتالیا برد!

ایران - مکزیک

حیف شد! نتیجه بازی می توانست بهتر باشد. شب قبل از بازی، در یک پارتی کلی به دانشجوهای خارجی (آرژانتین، کلمبیا، فرانسه، کره و ...) درباره پیروزی ایران رجز خواندم  ولی همه اش با اشتباه دروازه بان و دفاع نقش بر آب شد. بیشتر مکزیکیهایی که اینجا دیده ام مثل کارگران افغانی در ایران هستند، و حس من الان مثل این است که ایران به بحرین باخته است. اگرچه مکزیک کشور بزرگ و پرجمعیتی است. آدمهایی که سرشان به تنشان بیارزد هم در مکزیک کم نیستند. مثلاً سرود ملی شان یک اثر بسیار حماسی و زیباست و وقتی قبل از بازی تماشاچیان و بازیکنان هم صدا آن را می خواندند، با وجودی که ایران دربرابر آنها بازی می کرد، ولی یک احساس هیجان انگیزی به آدم دست می داد. در عوض، به جر بازیکنان ایران ، که البته جا خورده بودند، تقریباً صدای هیچ کس دیگری در هنگام پخش سرود جمهوری اسلامی شنیده نمی شد.

این آهنگ "آربوا ریوا مهیکو" هم تا حدود زیادی شور و هیجان فوتبال در مکزیک را منعکس می کند.

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Who is looking for what?

The new service form Google, Google Trend, has opened a new dimension for a smart man. The potential of this service is incredibly high in hunting jobs, regional investment, and also finding the social attitudes.

For example, first I tried to see where the main applications to the my school are coming from. I searched for Georgia Tech, and I wasn't surprised to see India in the second rank. On the other hand, the same search for MIT showed more interested European students, unless we consider that MIT in German means "with"!

When I searched for restaurant, it turned out that Swiss people love dining out, so if you want to make a fortune from Swiss tourists, run a restaurant. Based on the same search but only in the US, New York and San Fransisco are the main cities that people love to dine out.

The result for MEMS in the US region shows where the potential recruiters/investors are located. So if you want to find a job in that field, or want to start a company, try to find your partner from those cities.

To find the mentality of Internet users, I searched for the keyword porn; the result was not very surprising: Brits love Porn! And if you search for gay, South America has the highest turnout. Finally, for the keyword sex, Muslim countries top the rank!

Happy Persian New Year!

Happy Norouz, St. Patrick's day and Spring!

Here you can find the exact Persian rollover time in the world major cities. This year in Atlanta, the rollover time is at 1:27 PM (EST) on Monday 20th.

Lord of War

Lord of War is a great movie, but too bad that the general American audiences seem cannot fully appreciate this internationally themed movie, even despite of excellent critics. The story is about an international gun dealer, whose fortune goes tremendously high specially after the collapse of the soviet. Nicolas Cage's actting as the dealer is flawless, with his cold, confident, innocent, and sad face. Screenwriter and director, Andrew Niccole, has implied his message through witty and bitter humors. The movie is a real drama by any definition. The opening of the movie is stunning: it is the story of a Kalashnikov bullet, from the point it was made in a factory in Russia, to the the point that it made its way into the brain of a young African guerrilla! Among the many masterly crafted scenes of the movie, one of my favorites is the scene that an Afghan fighter starts shooting the soviet soldiers (of course with a Russian made AK-47) and Yuri, the dealer, eagerly is gazing at him while we hear the sound of cartridge revolver turning to that of a cash machine. What makes this great movie more pleasant to watch, is its fantastic cinematography, with beautiful, and in contrast, shocking scenes.

It is such a clever movie that every time you watch it, probably you will find a new thing there.

Syriana and Munich

What Syriana and Munich have in common, regardless of their political stories, is about the terrorism with Middle Eastern roots.

Syriana starts in Tehran, where a CIA field-agent blows off a car. The story revolves around literally countless individuals in Washington DC, Dubai, Texas and ... who are all related by one thing in common, Oil. There is a comprehensive critic about this movie in the New Yorker. The screenwriter has been completely aware of the recent history of Persian Gulf, and the movie is really taking its audience serious. The only problem, besides its many characters, is the ending; when some officials on the other side of the globe kill an Arab prince with a guided missile in the middle of desert. In my opinion, that was politically unrealistic and very cynical.

There is a good review of Munich in the New York Times. I liked the movie a lot. It was the best movie that I've watched in 2005 (I haven't watched Cinderella Man yet). The story, which is based on real events, is not exactly like a Spy Movie or a Terror Movie ( for example the Day of the Jackal), but more reflecting on the mentality behind a terror action; however it never loses the surprise and excitement elements hidden in those types of movie. The original score was excellent too, as well as the sound. I strongly recommend watching this movie in a movie theater. The explosion sounds are so real, that even in one scene, when a bomb detonates in a hotel (ironically named Olympic Hotel), you can hear the whistling sound of after-explosion for a while, as you have been there. Finally, I believe this movie has introduced a beautiful Israeli actress to the world, Ayelet Zorer.

Hanukkah Dinner

When you are alone on Christmas Day which plan sounds better than driving around the city to see the decorations? At least for me the answer was nothing!
Driving around the empty streets of Atlanta and listening to 90.1 WABE, I learned that it is customary for Jewish people to have dinner in Chinese restaurants on the first night of Hanukkah, which coincided with Christmas Day this year.

I went to a nice restaurnt in its own class ($-$$), Chin Chin on Howell Mill Road. On their brusher it is claimed that their restaurnts have been voted for the best Chinese food in Atlanta for 8 years in a row. It had a nice environment and classy, except a TV set which was hung on the wall. Also the waiters were not very fluent in English. For example they were about to fill my 7up glass with water, although they quickly bring me another glass of 7up!
In general, I vote 8 out of 10 to Chin Chin Howell Mill.

Ghorme Sabzi

It was very exciting to see my first-ever cooked Ghormeh Sabzi not only looked good, but also tasted good!

Ghorme Sabzi (قورمه سبزی) is a tradition Persian cuisine served with steam boiled rice, but it is possible to have it even with bread. If translated in English word by word, its name is the stew of chopped beef and green leaves. Maybe what I made was not 100% faithful to the original recipe, but I liked it, and my German roommate did too!

It took about four hours to prepare the food out of scratch. Here is a very simplified recipe I used. I hope by recording it here, I can remember how to cook it later; also contribute my style of Ghormeh Sabzi cooking to the world! (Actually I learned it from a relative in Newport Beach, CA)

Le Pain Quotidien

Once in Santa Monica, I ended up in a European style coffee-house with a long table people sitting around it, discussing in French, Italian, or surfing internet on their laptops. It seemed that I was the only non-European there.

I had a French donut with an excelent coffee. It was decent to such an extend to wish there was a branch of Le Pain Quotidien in Atlanta too. They have several branches, but only in NYC and LA.