So the National Geographic finally gave in and changed their maps, at least online. They removed 'Ar@bian Gulf' from the paranthesis (they still include an explanatory paragraph though, which I still see as unneseccary and can be a topic of future discussions). They also removed the words 'occupied by Iran' from the three islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs. And they've also fixed the naming of Kish and a few other Iranian islands which were previously identified with their Arabic pronounciation.

Given the lack of resources and our insignificant financial weight (certainly as contrasted to the Arabs'), this is a formidable victory and the effort which went into realizing it is monumental. Everyone who took time to write letters of protest, particiapte in the google bombing, and somehow voiced their objection had a part in this, and it's great to see all that finally bear fruit.

My congradulations to everyone who made this possible. Let this be the beginning of more acheivements to come.

the worst thing about looking for your [assumingly] lost glasses is that you don't have your glasses.

Q: When's Pomegranate, the Persian restaurant at College and Bathurst closed?
A: But of course, only on the day you decide to go for the first time, walking for 15 mins from school to the retaurant in -20 degree weather to have some Persian food after a gazillion years. Short answer: Mondays. (it opens at 5PM on other days).

That was quite an annoyance. But of course, there's always Tempus, the lovely Persian joint on Yonge and south of Welleseley (NOT the souvlaki house). So I go there, and it's empty as always, except only an elderly Canadian couple who were just leaving. I really feel bad when I go there and see that it's empty. It's just such a nice restaurant, probably the nicest Persian joint I've ever been to anywhere, when it comes to the ambience.

Where else do they serve fine Pesian cuisine in a relatively hip elegant setting with old funky jazz playing in the background? I know some Persians might not be too thrilled and will call this 'soosool bazi'. But is it bad to have Persian food in an elegant ambience which isn't necessarily overwhelmed with totally cliche Persian 'stuff' ? Does it make the actual food any less Persian? What's wrong with enjoying Jazz while having ghormeh sabzi? Who says you have to have traditional Iranian music, or even worse, Iranian pop music, play while you have a meal?

Anyway, I ususally get full after eating 1/2 of the Soltani kabab and 1/5 of the accompanying rice, so ordering the Mirzaghasemi as a starter to Baghali Polo was over-ambitious. Although the non-Persian speaking waiter mistakenly brought me a Gheymeh polo, I didn't say anything; didn't want to get him in trouble (no i'm not always this nice). Besides, I like them both.

As I skimmed thru some papers I'd been meaning to read for a while, I chuckled when the two newly arrived obviously non-Iranian ladies 'WOW'ed in fascination with the ways of the Persian tea, as meticulously explained to them by the waiter. You know, the whole 'separate pots' deal for the tea and the hot water. Them trying to pronounce Kashk e Bademjoon was equally amusing, but the waiters supposedly 'correct' pronounciation, as he was teaching them, was the best =D. (To my surprise, they fell in love with the Kashk e Bademjoon btw).

Anyway, I think they have live Jazz on Friday and Saturday nights. I'm going to go this week with a few friends I think, I really hate to see these guys close down. You should go too.

After a wrist-breaking thumb-numbing finger-shattering final battle, I finally finished Prince of Persia: the Warrior Within. I'm glad I finally finished it cuz I was getting addicted to it pretty badly.

But in retrospect, I think I'm going to change what I said earlier about it being the best game I have ever played. It's definitely the best-looking game I have ever played, and I have absolutely zero complaints about the fluidity of the game. All those lucid fight moves and acrobatics were a ton of fun. The environments looked very nice too, certainly on the darker creepier side. On a side note, there were some famous people doing the voice overs as well, like Monica Belluci doing the voice of Kaileena, the empress of time. Another side note, check out the game's official blog on blogspot!

However, now that I think about it, for most of the game I did the same thing; used the same moves to get from one place to the other, fought more or less the same enemies. There were around 10 different regular enemies and 5 bosses. I think I was expecting more. I would also liked to have seen more environments. Maybe since what was made was so breath-taking that I just wanted to see more of it. The plot, although pretty good for a game, could have been a little better as well.

What bothered me the most was that looking at the credits at the end, among the hundreds of people who worked on this, I couldn't see a single Persian name. There were a few Arabic sounding names, but no Persians. And it makes we wonder, with all the talented people that we have, how could it be that not a single one of them was involved in a game that is called Prince of Persia. It would have DEFINITELY made it more authentic, and insanely more enjoyable, at least for Persians.

In any case, it was definitely one of the most enjoyable games I've played, and I'm looking forward for the next one. Heck, who knows, maybe I could join the team for that one ?

The first crazy event in this day of craziness occured at 4:30 AM. That's when the fire alarm in my building went off. I wish it was just a regular old-fashioned alarm bell though, but it's more like a scary ultrasonic polyphonic megadecible siren of death.
It's already hard enough to take in daytime while u're fully aware, but when it goes off at 4:30 AM on a night where you've already been late to bed, there are a few seconds before you regain full consciousness that a barrage of ideas go through your mind, most notibly one of aliens landing their UFO in your living room - where the siren is screaming from.
Of course the first thing to do is to put some pants on, which are as always conveniently lying on the floor by the bed. After all you don't want the aliens to catch you without pants.
As the deafening siren drives you more mad, you finally realize what is going on, that there are no aliens involved and it's only a fire alarm. As you begin leaving the flat you suddenly realize climbing down 12 flight of stairs and going out in the freezing weather is most definitely just as bad as staying in and getting deaf. It's probably just a false alarm anyway. That's when you hop back into bed and try to cover your ears. After a while it really isn't too bad either.

Despite the mayhem, I still made it to the 9 AM TA marking session, a marathonian final marking which lasted until 3:30.

But the highlight of the day, and what this post is actually all about, is the departure of a true legend from our department.

The illusive Simcoe, the old-timer of the department, the source of all knowledge, wisdom, and comedy, the black-wearing godfather is finally leaving us. He's in fact leaving the country to pursue a job. To say farewell, we all joined him for a night of crazy drinking and comedy at the Madison. Almost everyone in the group showed up, he's Simcoe afterall.

I've talked about my group and how wonderful they are numerously before. I certainly feel privileged that I'm working and studying with such a colorful and excellent bunch of people, who I'm certain I wouldn't have found in any other group. But it's definitely not going to be the same without the mighty S. We're going to have a very hard time keeping the comedy and the insanely absurd (and at times obscene) practical jokes alive. We probably won't see horrible pictures of group members stuck at places in the building ONLY spiderman could reach.

Anyway, I could go on, but you don't know him so you wouldn't care, and he doesn't read this place, so I stop.

I'm finding myself repeating the posts in my Persian blog, which is something I don't like, but this is too classic to miss.

One of the Iranian newspapers has decided to wipe off Ali Karimi's tie. Karimi is an Iranian footballer who recently won the prestigious Asian Player of the Year award for 2004. He received his award at a galla in AFC headquarters in Malaysia, and wore a tie for the occasion.

Wearing a tie is considered taboo in Iran - by the ruling clergy at least. They consider it un-Iranian and a display of western culture and influence. Usually the 'bad guys' on Iranian television are depicted as people who wear ties!

I don't think I have ever played a game as good as Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. I just can't put the controller down when I start playing it. The graphics are the most amazing in any game I have seen. More importantly, the gameplay is unimaginably smooth and enjoyable. The fights are deliciously gorey, there are a ton of moves, and maneuvering through the world of ancient Persia requires a lot of skill.

Eventhough the environment, music, wardrobe and setting are not entirely accurate (weren't there any Persians in the Ubisoft team?), you still get quite a kick out of checking out the old Achamaedian rock carvings on the walls, and fighting characters like Shahdee or the Griffin (Simorgh) using wicked combat moves like Wrath of Cyrus, Rage of Darius, Zoroaster's Ire and Ahriman's Revenge.

The latest issue of the American Anthropologist featuring my design for the cover is out, and is now available in a dark and damp corner of an anthropology department library in a university near you. Finally, my work can now be seen and appreciated by tens of senile professors and lonely graduate students.

Kidding aside, I'm pretty psyched about it. Check it out, it features Alireza's article on the "vulgarity debate" in Persian blogs.

As you've seen in the linkdump in the past few days, the google bomb story was widely covered by news agencies world-wide. From making the front page of BBC and becoming one of the most popular Yahoo! News photos, to being featured in a multitude of newspapers and online portals across the world, our story had more of an impact than a thousand petitions could ever have and it made the world hear us, in style. When I started this I had no idea I was going to see this kind of response. The unity displayed by thousand of true Persians, fighting for the preservation of our history and heritage was truly moving. I am proud of what we have acheived, and I thank everyone who took part in this and made it happen. This will definitely be remembered for a long time.

The National Geographic are not backing down, just yet. As the great San Fransisco Chronicle article wrote:

Even computer techies were stirred to action and pulled off a "Google bomb," manipulating the search engine to obtain a high ranking. Type "Arabian Gulf" on Google, and the first link is to a Web site that announces, "The gulf you are looking for does not exist. Try Persian Gulf."

National Geographic remains unapologetic. The publication recognizes "Persian Gulf" as the primary name, but "we want people searching for 'Arabian Gulf' to be able to find what they're looking for and not confuse it with the nearby Arabian Sea," said Allen Carroll, chief cartographer on the National Geographic Web site.

Well, thanks to our effort, now people will definitely find what they're looking for when they search for 'Arabian Gulf'. *grin*