Cosmopolitan Cobra

The Daily Show - Poisonous Cobra Enjoys FreedomTags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook Apparently, this adventurous cobra has been found chilling in a corner of the Reptile House in the Bronx Zoo. But, by the tweets that the BronxZoosCobra posted on its Twitter, it sounds like the snake had a good time out on the town. Some of the BronxZoosCobra's highlights are as followsss: Does anyone know if the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle sells organic mice? "Indiana Jones, why did it have to be Indiana Jones?" "Give me your tired, your poor/Your coiled masses yearning...

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Posted in: Daily Show,English,J-Mad,New York City,snake,Washington DC

Noruz and Early Spring in the District

In the weeks since I last wrote, lots has been happening. On the work side, we were extremely busy with nationwide community service projects and hosting large conference featuring some pretty influential speakers. We are now gearing up for more events, and I am busy as ever writing articles, figuring out placement for the summer, as well as housing for the summer and fall. Through friends, I started taking a small, conversation-based Farsi class. It is really good to be practicing speaking again, as I haven't had much of an opportunity since graduating in December. The class moves quickly, and it's pretty impressive how good some of the American students are with the language. Noruz, Persian New Year celebrated...

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Posted in: Cherry Blossoms,English,J-Mad,Library of Congress,Maz Jobrani,Noruz,Shahnameh,Washington DC

Book List

I have been keeping lists of books to read and to buy in so many different places, that I figured I ought to consolidate all such lists here. As you can see, I keep finding interesting books faster than I can read. If you have any recommendations that I should add to my list, please post them in the comments section below! Books to Buy ANYTHING ever written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ANYTHING ever written by Richard Wright The Little Prince in every language that I can read (so I just need it in Farsi now) Shahnameh by Ferdosi (in English, Farsi, and Comic Book) Orientalism by Edward Said Imperial Eyes: Studies in Travel Writing and Transculturation by Mary Louise Pratt Power Plays Power Works by John Fiske Out of Place: a Memoir by Edward...

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Posted in: Book List,English,J-Mad

Film Festival Finales

Last week was the end of two film festivals in DC that I have been attending and blogging about. On Thursday, February 24, the North African Film Festival series came to an end and saved its best (and most timely film) for the night: Rachid Bouchareb’s masterpiece Outside the Law. In French and Arabic, it is a fantastically done film about three [fictional] Algerian brothers and their involvement in the Algerian independence movement both in Algeria and in France. A good film by any standard, it was nominated for the Acadamy Award for Best Foreign Language film this year. Although the discussion following the film was not as good as previous events, the film was one of the best that I have seen recently, and I would highly recommend...

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Posted in: Eastern Market,English,film,J-Mad,Noruz,Outside the Law,Smithsonian,Washington DC