Funny in Farsi, learning about Persian Culture

I am learning a number of things about Iran, not from reading the Big Read book (http://www.bigread.org/), but from preparing for the discussion and talking with my coworkers and patrons.

• Iranians consider themselves Persian, not Arabic. For example, Arabs would do belly dancing, whereas Persians do Persian dancing.


• From the book Persepolis I am learning about the Iranian revolution (1979) and the Iran-Iraq war.


• Persian food is not generally seen in America, and if it is, we lump it together with other Middle Eastern or Mediterranean foods. Most of the foods I have never seen or hear of, but the fruits, yes. Some are: plums, pomegranates, prunes, apricots, raisins, dates, and limes. I have also heard of cinnamon and feta cheese. Certainly I have tea before, too. Thank you to Nan Allen of the Germantown Public Library for this information.
  

April 15

I filed my income tax return, then promptly found out about some stock trades that I did not report, so now I have to file an amended return (using tax forms available at my local public library). I don't look forward to having to fill out the forms all over again, since I have already done the math and it is only going to be $7.00 difference in my federal rebate check and $2.00 difference in the state check.

I had never asked a question on Yahoo Answers before, although I had answered some questions during Slam the Boards day.

http://answerboards.wetpaint.com/page/Slam+the+Boards!?t=anon

http://answers.yahoo.com/

I asked if Yahoo users thought that I had to bother to file amended returns for such miniscule amounts. I was warned by some answerers that I had better re-file, even though it was a small amount because the IRS computers see that an amount has not been reported, but their software is not sophisticated enough to tell that it is such a small amount.

I was suprised at such a good answer. I did get a few screwball answers as well, which is what I expected from Yahoo.

So, I will be taking home those 1040x forms from the library's stacks and re-filing. Insert appropriate curse word here.

I also decided to check out this book:
Fair Tax by Neal Boortz. Adult nonfiction.
I checked out the 2005 edition because our library didn't have the 2008 edition processed yet.

I will update this post later to tell if the book had anything to say that was worth reading.

April 16, 2008 - I read some of it, but did not finish it. After all, it is a book on taxes and would only be interesting to a few accountant and politician types. I think I got the gist of what it had to say in the first two chapters, however: simplify the tax code and have taxes only be on final sales of goods and services.

Big Read Funny in Farsi

If You Liked Funny in Farsi, try

Books on Iran, Iraq, Pakistan
Azar Nafisi Reading Lolita in Tehran

Kite Runner Kahid Husseini

Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Morgensen, Greg. Three Cups of Tea. A mountain climbing nurse wishes to repay the kindness of the Afghan and Pakistani people by building schools.

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind

Books on First Generation Americans
Becoming American : personal essays by first generation immigrant women Meri Nana-Ama Danquah.
Babylon sisters : a novel / Pearl Cleage.
Growing up ethnic in America : contemporary fiction about learning to be American / edited by Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Jennifer Gillan.
Golden, Arthur. Memoirs of a Geisha
Rain of gold / Victor Villaseñor.
Obama, Barack. Dreams from my Father.
Nonfiction B O121
Some Movies featuring life in Iran or Iraq
Children of Heaven
Cafe Setareh
Donya
Dokhtari ba kafsh-haye-katani = The girl in the sneakers
Dokhtaran khorshid [videorecording] = Daughters of the sun
Bānū-yi Urdībihisht [videorecording] = The May lady
One Night with the King – story of Esther/Hadassah and King Xerxes
Not without my daughter
Thief and the Cobbler – cartoon, an ancient tale retold. Extraordinary modern artwork nodding to the traditional art of the region.

Some Movies featuring immigrants to America
American Tale
West Side Story
Real Women Have Curves
Moscow on the Hudson
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Family
Coming to America

Big Read Funny in Farsi

If You Liked Funny in Farsi, try

Books on Iran, Iraq, Pakistan

Reading Lolita in Tehran. Azar Nafisi

*Kite Runner. Kahid Husseini

*Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. Marjane Satrapi

*Three Cups of Tea. Greg Morgensen. A mountain climbing nurse wishes to repay the kindness of the Afghan and Pakistani people by building schools.

*Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. Suzanne Fisher Staples

Books on First Generation Americans

Becoming American : Personal Essays by First Generation Immigrant Women. Meri Nana-Ama Danquah.

Babylon Sisters : a Novel. Pearl Cleage.

Growing up Ethnic in America : Contemporary Fiction about Learning to Be American. Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Jennifer Gillan.

*Memoirs of a Geisha. Arthur Golden.

Rain of Gold. Victor Villaseñor.

*Dreams from my Father. Barack Obama

Some Movies featuring life in Iran or Iraq
Children of Heaven

Cafe Setareh

Donya

Dokhtari ba kafsh-haye-katani = The Girl in the Sneakers

Dokhtaran khorshid [videorecording] = Daughters of the Sun

Bānū-yi Urdībihisht [videorecording] = The May Lady

One Night with the King – story of Esther/Hadassah and King Xerxes

*Not without My Daughter

*Thief and the Cobbler – cartoon, an ancient tale retold. Extraordinary modern artwork nodding to the traditional art of the region.

Some Movies featuring immigrants to America
*American Tale

*West Side Story

Real Women Have Curves

Moscow on the Hudson

*My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My Family

*Coming to America

I have not read or watched all of these. Those that I have are marked with a *.

Movie Nights: 25 Movies to Spark Spiritual Discussions with Your Teen

Smithhouser, Bob, editor. Tyndale books. Promoted on Focus on the Family.

I checked out this book because I thought it would be a list of family-friendly, Christian or secular movies to promote at the library and with other groups and a list of DVDs to add to our library collection in case we only have them on VHS.

I thought there would be films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Flywheel, Left Behind, Scheindler's List, Hiding Place, Facing the Giants and others with blatantly Judeo-Christian beliefs.

I was suprised to see that almost all of them were secular and some I didn't even think were well written. In the introduction the author says that these are all PG or PG-13, almost all recent movies (recent as of the 2002 printing of the book). Each has at least one positive moral aspect to it, but not necessarily exclusively Christian. These morals are things like truthfulness, honor, patriotism, tolerance, and kindness.

There are discussion questions and Bible verses that can accompany viewing if someone wants to watch a movie with a youth group or a singles group. Some of them seem to me to be stretching it, but I guess that the point of the book is that anything can be used to teach moral lessons by examination. The author is encouraging people to be active and dynamic viewers of films, instead of being a passive audience and using the films as launching points for conversations.

He encourages parents to teach their children (especially teenagers who are going to have to make all their own decisions soon) DISCERNMENT. As librarians, this falls under the same kind of thinking as our code of ethics that calls for us to have a variety of materials available, and a level of cataloging and labelling that can help patrons to best discern what is appropriate for their particular families and what reflects the values of our particular communities.

Here is their list of movies:
Apollo 13
Chariots of Fire
Count of Monte Cristo (with James Caviezel)
Ever After
Fiddler on the Roof
Galaxy Quest
Groundhog Day
Hoosiers
It's a Wonderful Life
Knight's Tale
Life Iis Beautiful
Little Women (with Winona Ryder)
Mission (Jeremy Irons)
Mr. Holland's Opus
October Sky
Princess Bride
Quiz Show
Remember the Titans
Searching for Bobby Fischer
Sense and Sensibility (with Kate Winslet)
Sergeant York
Shadowlands
To Kill a Mockingbird *
Truman Show
Unbreakable
* I am glad this one is in there because a few years ago we showed it at the library as part of our Big Read. http://www.bigread.org/

These may be movies that libraries can consider showing for library movie nights, if your library has such events.

At last, some appreciation for Superman

For updates on the Summer of Superman see:
http://www.positivelycleveland.com/
On the schedule as of 7 March 2008
Maltz Museum exhibit
ZAP! POW! BAM!
The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950
September 16, 2008 - January 4, 2009
http://maltzjewishmuseum.org/pr/2008ExhibitionWinterPrograms.pdf
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Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cleveland considers how to celebrate Superman
City hopes to honor icon this summer
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Grant Segall
Plain Dealer Reporter

excerpts:
...Civic boosters hope to celebrate the "Summer of Superman" this year as part of the never-ending battle for truth, justice and the Cleveland way.
Nearly 20 community leaders met Thursday to talk about honoring the Man of Steel.

... And they hope someday for a permanent Superman museum.
... Glenville Development Corp. plans to place a plaque and paint the exterior walls of Siegel's home.

...To help with the Summer of Superman, contact Positively Cleveland, 216-871-6631,
cvb@positivelycleveland.com.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: gsegall@plaind.com, 216-999-4187