One of the greatest musicians of our generation, Prince would have been 62 today.
It’s very windy today in London. I’ve just spotted this broken branch which reminded me of the aerial view of Keshit Village in Kerman Province, Iran.
I can see a Persian cypress in my Turkish coffee reading
A police water cannon spraying disinfectant against the coronavirus in the street in Tehran & a scene from Mad Max.
Bouquet in Imperial Style by Boris Orlov 1988 at the Tate Modern and a toy peddler in Iran, 1964.
St Jude’s Church with its 178 feet long spire & the Shard
Caucasian elm & detail from a Sohrab Sepehri’s painting.
Today marks the 90th birthday of the late Sohrab Sepehri (7 October 1928 - 21 April 1980)
Russia’s electric car, the Kalashnikov CV-1 (2018) and Iran’s Paykan (1978)
Peeling paints of a wall at Calke Abbey and Mark Rothko’s “Yellow Blue Orange 1955”
English novelist George Orwell & Masoud Farzad, an early BBC Persian broadcaster and poet.
Yesterday I spotted Johnny Depp in Modigliani exhibition at Tate Modern.
The picture on the left is Dr Paul Alexandre who was Modigliani's first patron.
Portrait of a Man by Rembrandt at Hermitage Amsterdam and Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Peeling paint on a wall in Golders Green & Greenland
Two Illustrations by the evolutionary scientist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) who coined such terms as ‘stem cell’ & ‘ecology’, and two Central Medallions, the most common motif for Persian rugs.
An amusing illustration of the oldest surviving Persian Rug (4th century BC) at the British Museum's shop, possibly inspired by The Simpsons!
The Pazyryk carpet was excavated in 1949 from the grave of a Scythian nobleman in the Altai Mountains in Siberia. When it was found it had been deeply frozen in a block of ice, which is why it is so well-preserved.
The Pazyryk carpet can be seen at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
According to Professor Michael Barry, Matisse was overwhelmed by the Persian miniatures in the Paris and Munich exhibitions of 1903, 1910 and 1912, then by masterpieces in southern Spain and Morocco during his three journeys there between 1911 and 1913.
Professor Barry's illustrated talk will explore these connections in depth, within the context of painting’s amazing aesthetic revolution in the early 20th century.
Matisse and Islamic Art
16 October 2017, 19:00-20:30
Hallam Conference Centre, 44 Hallam Street, London W1W6JJ
* I went to Professor Michael Barry’s brilliant lecture on Matisse & Islamic Art.
As if Matisse was there himself giving the lecture!
Bedrooms in Hafslo (Norway) & Arles (France)
Bedroom in Arles is the title given to each of three similar paintings by Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh's own title for this composition was simply The Bedroom.
These bus seats were mistaken for burqas by members of a Norwegian anti-immigrant group.
Which one is madder?
Iraqi police display captured vehicles that were turned into armoured car bombs for suicide attacks by Islamic State militants during the battle for Mosul. The cars are covered in thick metal armour, with small glass ports for a driver to see through, and are equipped with bombs.
I have recently done a DNA test and here is the result:
When the Queen drops a subtle hint!
May drops key manifesto pledges from Queen's speech and focuses on Brexit.
British horror comedies: Advisors and Sightseers
Theresa May advisors Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill quit while the PM clings on despite no overall majority.
In Sightseers, a 2012 British horror comedy, a couple's cross-country road trip takes a deadly turn when they decide to start killing everyone who annoys them.
The Nature Bridge in Tehran & the proposed Garden Bridge across the Thames, which was scrapped by London mayor Sadiq Khan.
The multi-award-winning actors: Fatemeh Motamed-Arya and Meryl Streep.
>> Here are more look-alikes
Tehran covered in snow & detail from The Hunters in the Snow, a 1565 oil-on-wood painting by Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
A good friend & Reflection (What Does your Soul Look Like?) by the painter Peter Doig.
A pottery vessel found in Shahr-e Sukhteh, now in the National Museum of Iran and our small Christmas tree.
Bitter orange tree under the snow in Shiraz (photo taken by my cousin) and The Great Wave off Kanagawa
Hasan Abad in Tehran and Camden Town in London
Red cabbage and Gustav Klimt (1862–1918)
Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader of the Labour Party & the Dutch photographer and film director Anton Corbijn - here with the English actor Robert Pattinson.
Detail from a miniature in Bustan of Sadi 1629 and Paul Cezanne's Still Life Apples and Pears 1887
Look-alikes: Red Grapes and a Carnelian Pendant
I’m a native of Kashan.
My descent perhaps goes back to a plant in India
or to an earthen vase from the soil of Kerameikos in Athens
Sabzeh Adas (Sprouted lentils) and Iranian Soldiers marching
The paint brush is mightier than the sword. #JeSuisCharlie
Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. Ltd. (EAPC) Logo & The Azadi Tower in Tehran
Israel owes Iran $100m compensation for oil pipeline losses, rule Swiss arbitrators.
Preliminary ruling relates to Tehran’s losses from a joint oil-pipeline venture after the 1979 Revolution. It comes after two decades of arbitration, would pay the value of a 50% stake in the Iran Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company.
Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. Ltd. (EAPC) was formed in 1968 when the two countries were friends as a joint-venture company that would bring Iranian oil from the Persian Gulf to Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat and ship it to terminals in Ashkelon — avoiding the Suez Canal. From there the oil would be sold and shipped to Europe.
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters is an etching by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya. Goya imagines himself asleep amidst his drawing tools, his reason dulled by slumber and bedevilled by creatures that prowl in the dark.
The image on the right is an old photograph of the artist Lucian Freud. In the picture, Freud sits on a bed, holding his right hand to his forehead in a gesture of weariness or despair.
MoMA New York is currently hosting a new exhibition entitled Jasper Johns: Regrets, which displays works by the American artist inspired by this photograph.
Teeth on the cliffs near Worth Matravers in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset.
The map of the modern writer’s mind by Joe Dunthorne and the map of modern Iran
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) & National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT)
National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT) was the first Iranian radio and television organisation which started its work in 1966, and operated up until the Iranian Revolution in 1979, after which NIRT became the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
Blue-eyed caveman & my favourite spaghetti western star, Franco Nero in Keoma
DNA taken from the wisdom tooth of an European hunter-gatherer has given scientists an unprecedented glimpse of modern humans before the rise of farming. The Mesolithic man, who lived in Spain around 7,000 years ago, had an unusual mix of blue eyes, black or brown hair, and dark skin. The gene analysis suggests the mutation for blue eye colour appeared earlier than had been thought, with light skin evolving later.
>> Read more
Picasso's Guernica - Oil on canvas, 349 cm × 776 cm, 1937
& Klee's Untitled - Watercolour and pen on paper, 9.5 cm x 28 cm, 1917
Paul Klee — Making Visible is at Tate Modern until March 9, 2014
Kiyan playing with an iPad & Portrait of an Ottoman painter with an early tablet
The American actor Robert Downey Jr. & Hossein Tehrani
Hossein Tehrani (1912–1974), was an Iranian musician and tonbak player. He is regarded as the father of the modern tonbak.
Elvis look-alike in Aberdare Gardens, London NW7
Detail from a Safavid illuminated manuscript, Five Poems (quintet), Alexander the Great watches naked girls swim in the Sea of China, 1518
& The Dance (La Danse) by Henri Matisse, 1909
Bouncy & not so bouncy Stonehenges
Sacrilege is a life-sized inflatable replica of Stonehenge for people to bounce on by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller.
Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath, London
August 1, 2012
A model of the set being built in the Olympic Stadium & Teletubbyland
The Olympic Stadium will be transformed into the British countryside for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games on 27 July.
A cast of 10,000 volunteers & farmyard animals will help recreate country scenes!
"If it doesn't rain, we have created our own," Danny Boyle said as he revealed the latest details of the ?27m ceremony,
pointing to the four huge clouds suspended on wires overhanging a model set of the Olympic stadium.
An Indian women watch the transit of Venus in Chennai, India &
Venus is passing the sun behind clouds in Losevo, north of St Petersburg, Russia.
None of us is likely to see Venus pass, like a moving bindi, across the face of the sun again. The next transit of Venus will not be for another 105 years.
Naked Man, Back View (1991?92) by Lucian Freud & I (2012) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
As one of Britain's leading realist painters, Lucian Freud's compositions focus on the human figure and face, often revealing the humanity of his subjects while depicting their physical ugliness. From the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, one of his favorite models was Leigh Bowery (1961?1994), a fashion designer and popular avant-garde performance artist who began working the London club scene in the 1980s. Ironically, although Bowery was known for his outlandishly freakish costumes and makeup, Freud records him with stark truthfulness, naked of his theatrical regalia.
Record cover of an old Iranian song Nameh Resan (Postman) by Hassan Shojaee & Abraham Lincoln!
The painting was probably done by Mohammad Tajvidi.
Iranian Wanderers above the Sea of Fog by Alireza Teimoury
& Der Wanderer ?ber dem Nebelmeer from 1818, an oil painting by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich.
After Chris De Burgh, we now have Phil Collins in Tehran!
Herman Nackaerts the chief inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Phil Collins the English musician.
Fridge Freezer with an Energy rating label & an Iranian woman with a Hijab rating label!
The pedestrian symbol - the walking man - painted in Brent Cross Shopping Centre with a discarded chewing gum remain & John Terry the English footballer.
Caren Alpert takes amazing electron microscope images of food.
Above, is a fortune Cookie at 150x magnification.
>> View slideshow gallery of Caren Alpert's microscopic images of food
This picture of Ali Larijani, Ahmad Jannati, Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was taken on Saturday evening and has been circulating in the social media with the creative title The Daltons.
Nima thinks that Professor Sadegh Zibakalam, one of Iran's top reformist intellectuals, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed former head of Russia's biggest oil company, look like father and son. I agree!
Max's skateboard & the entrance to Television Centre at White City in West London.
Castrol GTX and Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo during Tuesday's quarter-final against Spain.
The gardens of Versailles & Yogi Bear
Max & I are going to Paris this Wednesday for 6 days. ? plus tard!
The new advertising posters by John Lewis are promoting the department store's range of clothing and accessories. They try to show that they have the accessories to match every outfit. Each poster features a shot of a model clothed in the season?s latest trends alongside an image of co-ordinating accessories. The above set of accessories look so much like a vacuum cleaner!
Banksy's version of Jean-Fran?ois Millet's The Gleaners.
Banksy also has a great version of Van Gogh's Sunflowers called Crude Oils: Sunflowers From Petrol Station.
The other is Mana Neyestani's version of Francisco Goya's The Third of May 1808.
Medieval Russian icon of Saints Boris and Gleb (14th century) and a new version I saw at The Saatchi Gallery.
An image from the 2009 Olympus BioScapes competition & a character from the new movie Avatar.
The website of Olympus BioScapes Competition, which is focused on images taken by microscopes, is full of amazing photos with striking colours.
Panel of nine 15th century Persian tiles at V&A Museum and Tic-Tac-Toe.
♪♪ You say you don?t want a rev-ol-u-tion? ♪♪
The Fab Four and not so Fab Two and a Half!
Basijis paying homage to the Abbey Road album by the Beatles, Tehran, November 4, 2009.
(Thanks to Nima and B. Orz for the suggestion).
>> View larger image
>> Haj Ebrahim Road (Ebi Road) in Tehran
The Dead Fly Art is by Magnus Muhr and the photo on the right is by artist Shirin Neshat.
Floating Skull by Damien Hirst (2006) and photo of Earthrise over the lunar horizon taken during the Apollo 8 moon mission (1968)
The exhibition No Love Lost: Blue Paintings by Damien Hirst is at The Wallace Collection from Oct. 14, 2009, to Jan. 24, 2010. It features 25 works done between 2006 and 2008 that mark the artist?s return to painting.
We spotted this broccoli look-alike in the Natural History Museum.
On Sunday we went to see the new Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum, London. The building is an eight-storey-high Cocoon and houses 20 million plant and insect specimens. The scale of the Cocoon is such that it cannot be seen in its entirety from any one position. >> Click here to view my photos of the Darwin Centre
Linear House, Highgate, North London and Chehel Sotoun in Isfahan, Iran.
Open House is London's largest architectural showcase. For one weekend in the year, 700 buildings of every conceivable type, shape and size open their doors to Londoners. This year we went to two places: a modern private house and a yurt!
Linear House is a modern house built on a sloping site. The building takes its reference from the classical architecture in its symmetry and proportion.
Antony Gormley statues on the roof of the South Bank Centre, London and boys jumping into a river from a bridge in Delhi, India.
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Haircuts!
I spotted this Faravahar look-alike in Finchley Road, North London.
Barbari Bread (a type of flatbread in Iran) and an Achaemenid Administrative Tablet
Quentin Tarantino?s photograph by Phil Fisk & the Banksy's famous Pulp Fiction graffiti painting, which shows characters from Tarantino?s film brandishing bananas instead of guns. The mural had become one of the most famous works by the street artist.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: That's no moon. It's a space station.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Google is offering a trip to the moon, courtesy of Google Earth. The interactive 3D moonscape lets users interactively explore the surface of the moon. Google Moon is available in version 5 of Google Earth which has many features, including guided tours from Nasa astronauts.
And here are some moon related posts:
>> Is the moon made of cheese?
>> Moon looks like a Daf (drum)!
I found this ET look-alike in Hampstead Heath.
>> Here is another one in Gower Street
The Wookiees from Star Wars and Iranian snipers in full camouflage in the Army Day parade
>> Star Wars: Return from Jeddah & Return Of The Jedi
>> Star Wars: Persian cat & Yoda
The sculpture of former US Secretary of State Colin Powell is based on a photograph taken when he addressed the UN in 2003, making the case for war, and is part of Goshka Macuga's exhibition at the newly redeveloped Whitechapel Gallery.
Shah Abbas King of the Persians and Pomegranate
There is a major new exhibition Shah Abbas: The Remaking of Iran at the British Museum, London. The exhibition explores seventeenth-century Iran through the reign and legacy of one of its most influential rulers, Shah Abbas I (reigned AD 1587?1629).
"Please sir, can I have another slice?"
Oliver the musical is back and this new version has Rowan Atkinson as Fagin.
>> Click here to view the larger image
I wish you a prosperous, peaceful and happy new year with a shot of the New Year's Eve spectacular fireworks display on the London Eye and an iris of an eye.
The Scream, the expressionist painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and my work (mixed media from 1989).
>> Click here to see the larger images
Cauliflowers (top) and a worker resting on bales of cotton (bottom) in Ivory Coast by French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. He is specialised in aerial photography.
Ironically my new webcam looks like a Turkish evil eye pendant (Nazar).
A Nazar is an amulet that protects against the evil eye.
Crowds in front of Federal Hall during the Great Depression & the Credit Crunch.
>> See how the Guardian compares the Great Depression with current financial situation
An email I have received from Rocketeer this morning:
Loved your catch of look-alikes. I found it by googling london eye and bicycle wheel.
On my first and (so far) only trip to london a couple of years ago, the shape of the city hall nearly drove me crazy, because I knew I'd seen it somewhere before. Thank god I finally figured it out:
The UK economy is heading closer to recession.
>> Economy nearer recession after weak growth data
>> UK housing market pain grows, hits retail sales
My cap!
It is very common for us to see faces in inanimate objects. Faces are such common things in our experience that people can see faces in all sorts of objects. The ability of our brains to recognize non-faces as faces may be a result of our neural architecture, but scientists believe that this may also be a survival strategy. They think that facial recognition, whether inherited or a learned behaviour, may be a critical reason for our evolutionary success story.
>> My set of found faces
>> Let's Face It - A blog of random objects that look like faces
>> Facial Impressions - Flickr Group
>> Lifeless Faces - Flickr Group
>> Found Faces - Flickr Group
>> I Spy a Face - Flickr Group
>> Abstract Faces - Flickr Group
>> I See Faces - Flickr Set
Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain & Men at Work Sign
>> VW GTI Golf Commercial Singin' in the Rain Remix
Recently deceased Charlton Heston and newly disgraced Max Mosley
A rolled up 10 pounds banknote and Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic torch
My left eye retina and the early development of an embryo inside an egg.
I have just ordered two pairs of glasses from my local optician.
Happy Easter! Happy Iranian New Year!
I spotted this bunny tree in Temple Fortune.
Abadan Refinery, symbol of Iran?s Oil Refining Industry and the ruins of Persepolis, symbol of the first flowering of Persian empire. The two images are stills from a documentary on Iran and its history by Kenneth Richter (Encyclopedia Britannica Films, 1953).
Hugo Cabret and Max
Max and I have just finished reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The book is about a 12-year-old orphan who secretly lives within the walls of a Parisian train station. Selznick was inspired by a 1902 film, Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), by French filmmaker George M?li?s, the father of special effects, who is a character in the novel.
The film is loosely based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells. It is recognised as one of the first films of the science fiction genre.
And here are some moon related posts:
>> Moonlight
>> The Moon
>> Moon look-alike
Persepolis is nominated for best animated feature film Oscar. Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi push the boundaries of animation and politics with the life story of an Iranian girl.
Guy Hands the new owner of the music group EMI and Jerry Springer
British music company EMI is to axe up to 2,000 jobs in a restructuring plan by its new private-equity owners. EMI was bought by Guy Hands' Terra Firma private equity house last August for ?2.4bn.
A meerkat family is one of the six shortlisted proposals that could occupy one of London's most popular tourist spots, Trafalgar Square.
The six shortlisted proposals for the next commission for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square were unveiled at the National Gallery. The exhibiting artists are Jeremy Deller, Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Yinka Shonibare and Bob & Roberta Smith. Each artist has produced a maquette of their proposed artwork for the empty plinth. The models are on public display in the National Gallery until 30 March 2008.
>> View the proposed artworks here
XP Default Desktop Wallpaper & Golders Hill Park (London) a few days ago!
The satellite picture above shows Greenland?s eastern coast. In the image, snows have yet to cover the coastal lands, and the waters in the fjords show spots of bright turquoise color from sediments deposited there by runoff.
This recent picture of William (Bill) Henry Gates reminds me of the British theoretical physicist Stephen William Hawking.
The Azadi (Shahyad) Tower in Tehran and Monument of the Martyrs ( Maquam E' chahid ) in Algiers
The Azadi (Shahyad) Tower in Tehran was built in 1971 in commemoration of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire, this "Gateway into Iran" was named the Shahyad Tower- meaning "Remembrance of the Shah (King)"- but dubbed Azadi (Freedom) after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It is 50 metres tall and is completely clad in cut marble.
The Monument of the Martyrs ( Maquam E' chahid ) in Algiers is an iconic concrete monument commemorating the Algerian war for independence. The monument was opened in 1982 on the 20th anniversary of Algeria's independence. It is fashioned in the shape of three standing palm leaves which shelter the "Eternal Flame" beneath.
Tintin & his dog Snowy - Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet in Titanic
Last May Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg caused a flurry of excitement among Tintin fans when they announced they were bringing three of Herg?'s comic-book creations to cinema. Each director will helm one movie, with the director of the third installment to be announced. Steven Moffat of Doctor Who fame is writing the script for the movie, which will be made using performance-capture technology and produced in digital 3-D.
Today's Google Holiday Logo and The War of the worlds poster!
Fifty years ago today, a beeping metal ball called Sputnik was launched into the blue yonder ? and the course of human history was forever changed. The Russian name "Спутник" means literally "co-traveler" or "traveling companion". The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball, weighed only 83.6 kg, and took about 96 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.
It seems my beloved pomegranate is the biggest thing in fruit flavours these days.
>> May your pomegranate be a mighty red juicy one!
By the way, I am sure this Korean Pomegranate Chocolate will sell very well in Germany.
Above is a painting by British painter and printmaker Howard Hodgkin.
Hodgkin's paintings may often appear to be abstract, but he describes himself as "a representational painter of emotional situations" & below the painting is my representation of a hungry situation in Vienna!
>> Pars in Wien
>> Photos of Kebabs eaten by me!
>> Kebab Koobideh - before and after the attack
>> Koobism - my favourite art form
>> Koobist Animation - move the cursor over the image
A tombak (also known as tonbak, donbak, dombak and zarb) is a goblet drum from Iran. It is considered the principal percussion instrument of Persian music. A tombak player holds the drum diagonally across his lap with the wider section usually over his right side and plays it with the fingers and the palm of the hands.
A scene from The Seventh Seal and a book cover.
Bergman lost his final game of chess.
One of the world's leading directors of modern cinema Ingmar Bergman, has died at the age of 89. Death itself had long been one of the subjects of his films - most famously represented as a chess player in his film, The Seventh Seal.
A daf is a large-sized frame drum used to accompany both popular and classical music in Iran, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey (where it is called tef), Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and India (where it is known as the Dafli).
Dasht-e Kavir & Starry Night by Van Gogh
The Dasht-e Kavir, or plain of desert, is the largest desert in Iran. It is a primarily uninhabited wasteland, made of mud and salt marshes covered with crusts of salt that protect the little moisture from completely evaporating.
Link via Forever Under Construction
Tony Blair this week used his last official foreign engagement before leaving office to tell Pope Benedict he wanted to become a Roman Catholic.
I always knew he had a bigger job in mind.
Easter Island's Moai Figure and the office Water Cooler Dispenser
Among the most renowned Polynesian sculptures are the giant stone figures, or Moai, of Easter Island. The Moai represent ancestral chiefs who were believed to be descended directly from the gods and whose supernatural powers could be harnessed for the benefit of humanity.
Water Cooler Dispenser has a longer forehead!
A diamante skull belt & Damien Hirst's diamond-encrusted human skull
Skulls are the hottest thing at the moment. Artist Damien Hirst has unveiled a diamond-encrusted human skull worth ?50m. It said to be the most expensive piece of contemporary art.
I took the photo on the left in January last year.
>> View more snap shots of Paris here
The one on the right was taken last month in Las vegas.
>> View more snap shots of Las Vegas here
George Clooney & Ismail Haniyeh
Last night I watched the DVD of geopolitical thriller "Syriana". It shows CIA is more interested in making the world safe for U.S. oil conglomerates than actually tracking terrorist networks. The film is an example of hyperlink cinema.
Spoof Kazakh reporter Borat scored a huge box office hit by offending and humiliating Americans & Kazakhs. Borat bears an uncanny resemblance to Mahir ?ağrı; a resident of İzmir, Turkey, who became an Internet celebrity in 1999. Both men are journalists, favour wearing suits, struggle with English, love playing table tennis, and are wildly enthusiastic about sex!
Women in Bandar Lange where fashion imitates nature.
Photo by Ali Agha Rabie
Venus of Willendorf and Bibendum, the Michelin Man
Venus of Willendorf has been carved 22,000 to 24,000 years ago and very little is known about its origin, method of creation, or cultural significance. Bibendum, the Michelin Man, has been introduced in 1898 by French artist O'Galop and is one of the world's oldest trademarks.
Pen?lope Cruz & Sophia Loren
I went to see the latest Pedro Almod?var film Volver starring Penelope Cruz and Carmen Maura. It's a great film full of vibrant colours and a subversive plot. In Volver, Almod?var returns to exploring the lives of Spanish women - which characterized his early films - and to his quirky sense of humour. Apparently for Volver, Almod?var asked Cruz to wear a "false bum" so she would appear more curvy like Sophia Loren.
I have just read Marjane Satrapi's fourth Graphic Novel Chicken with Plums
One thing though, Satrapi's drawing of Sophia Loren's bosoms looks more like two fish to me!
>> Snapshots from Marjane Satrapi's new illustrated book
Sigourney Weaver in the film "Alien" & Anousheh Ansari
The United States government defines "Alien" as "Any person not a citizen or national of the United States".
Newspapers in Turkey welcomed the acquittal of the novelist Elif Şafak. She had faced charges of "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. There are some references to the Armenian Genocide in one of her novels.
If Hollywood decides to make a movie about it, it could call it ?Midnight Press".
Oliver Stone could write the script. As you might remember, he wrote ?Midnight Express? the story of an American drug smuggler caught in Turkey. The Armenian director Atom Egoyan could direct and as you can see Gwyneth Paltrow is perfect for the leading role!
Elif Şafak & Gwyneth Paltrow
London Eye & wheel of a stolen bicycle
The front wheel is locked with a U-lock but the rest of the bicycle has been stolen. Locking the front wheel is obviously not a sufficient security measure in London.
An England fan's truck covered with St George?s flags and a Red Cross ambulance.
The Goldfish by Paul Klee [Swiss painter, 1879-1940] Oil and watercolor on paper, 49 x 69 cm , 1925 and a photo I took at London Aquarium.
Iranian sculptor Parviz Tanavoli & Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East is a new exhibition at the British Museum. The exhibition demonstrates the imaginative ways in which artists across the Middle East and North Africa are using the power of the written word in their art today. It includes wonderful examples of calligraphy transforming writing into art, books of poetry, and works which reflect current issues facing the modern Middle East. Sculptures in the British museum?s Great Court include works by Parviz Tanavoli.
Dr. Ramin Jahanbegloo & Christopher Eccleston as Dr. Who
Some observers fear a new round of crackdowns on intellectuals is taking place in Iran. They point to Dr. Ramin Jahanbegloo who has been held in a Tehran prison for more than three weeks.
Iranian intellectuals who are active both in Iran and abroad are like Dr. Who! They are time-travelling adventurers who explore time and space fighting for justice. I really hope Dr. Jahanbegloo could get back from the 14th to 21st century this time.
This food should be eaten with a pint of Guinness!
I was walking down Gower Street this morning where I found this ET look-alike.
President Ahmadinejad holding a Turkmen hat.
The 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt is being marked at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum. For the first time an exhibition is being devoted to two of the greatest painters: Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). While the two artists never met, similarities are evident in their paintings such as their theatrical use of light and shade. Rembrandt studied Caravaggio's style with teacher Pieter Lastman, and all three painted The Sacrifice of Abraham. Caravaggio died four years after Rembrandt was born, but his works shows he learned much from his predecessor. The Rembrandt-Caravaggio exhibition runs from today to 18 June 2006.
>> Click here to compare the paintings!
Accidental look-alikes!
Dick Cheney thinks they are look-alikes.
I watched all the six episodes of Star Wars with Max. I told him that his favourite character Master Yoda, like all the other Jedis, is Persian. To prove my point I showed him the above picture of a Persian cat and Ostad Yoda - as he is called in Persian.
>> Star Wars: Return from Jeddah!
Marjane Satrapi in 2004 and Forugh Farrokhzad in 1960s.
The Great Dictator and the official logo of the German police for the World Cup 2006. Perhaps it is the first own goal!
The Iranian missiles are getting sharper!
>> Click here to see the original picture of Bushehr Nuclear Reactor and the missiles.
Diorama of a lion attacking an antelope and a stone relief on the western fa?ade of the west staircase of the Palace of Darius at Persepolis.
Last week I went to Henri Rousseau's exhibition at Tate Modern. Rousseau created some memorable and great paintings. One of them is his painting The Hungry Lion 1905, which was based on the diorama of a lion attacking an antelope. This also reminds me of the stone reliefs at Persepolis.
Ashe kashke Pollock-e, bokhori pAteh nakhori pAteh!
My mum's Ashe Reshteh (persian noodle soup) and a Jackson Pollock's painting!
>> View larger image
If you like Abstract Expressionism, you might also like Koobism (Persian Cubism):
The picture on the right is of Rachel Whiteread's Embankment, the latest art installation to occupy Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.
Whiteread has created a labyrinth-like structure, made from 14,000 casts of the inside of different boxes, stacked to occupy Turbine Hall's huge space. Since the gallery opened in 2000, six artists have risen to the challenge of filling the 155 m x 35 m (500 ft x 115 ft) space.
>> More on Rachel Whiteread
The picture on the right is of Saturn's moon, Hyperion. This was taken during Cassini's close flyby on Sept. 26, 2005. Hyperion literally tumbles around chaotically in its orbit. It is tugged by the gravitational pull of both Saturn and Titan. Because of this, the moon changes both its rotational speed and its axis of rotation. Hyperion is composed of water ice mixed with dust.
The picture on the left is a sponge!
More Cosmic Look-alikes:
>> Cosmic Melon
>> Eye in the Sky
Works by Jack Vettriano, Scotland's most famous artist have fetched record prices at auction. But his paintings may owe a lot to teach-yourself manuals. Some of his works show strong similarities to an artist's teaching manual, it was reported yesterday. His most famous work, the Singing Butler, was last year sold for almost ?750,000. It was revealed that its characters, and many others, can be found in The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual, published in 1987.
Art imitates Life, Life imitates Art:
The top picture is of Anthony Quinn in the Federico Fellini's film La Strada.
The bottom picture is taken by a Hungarian photojournalist this year and shows an Iranian strongman in Tajrish Square, Tehran.
The photo on the left is of Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Iran's new president reinstated him as head of Iran's nuclear program, a clear sign to the Washington not to expect a change of course under the new leadership. Oil Minister of the OPEC heavyweight from 1985 to 1997, Aghazadeh is credited with advancing Iran's atomic program - which Iran insists is purely for peaceful purposes.
Bob Geldof plays up for the camera as he poses with Tony Blair.
Iranian policewomen using ropes to get down a building and Angelina Jolie getting away after killing an Iranian prince in the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Bronze statue of Enver Hoxha and the chocolate statue of Elton John.
The lifesize statue was created to celebrate Cadbury's centenary year after Elton topped a poll by the firm to see which star would look best made from chocolate. It is on show at Madame Tussauds in London in a special tent to stop it melting!
"Motherland is calling!" an old Russian poster and Women demanding equal rights at Tehran University gathering.
The young Rafsanjani & Sean Penn
Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Sean Penn is in Iran as a reporter for San Francisco Chronicle. Read more here.
Here are more look-alikes.
Here are some more Tony Blairs:
The picture on the left is taken recently in Bushehr (where Iran's Nuclear Power Station is located) and the one on the right is by artist Shirin Neshat.
Bob Hoskins & Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Mohammad Khatami
Thanks to Ian for the suggestion.
Joseph Beuys & Gunther von Hagens
Joseph Beuys (1921-86) is considered one of the most influential figures in modern and contemporary art. Joseph Beuys: Actions, Vitrines, Environments is at Tate Modern from today until 2 May. Gunther von Hagens dissects the bodies and wears a hat and vest that recalls Beuys.
Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, has denied a rift has opened between the US and Britain on how to deal with fears that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. After talks with Condoleezza Rice, Jack Straw said both are agreed on a diplomatic solution.
Mossadegh and Frank Zappa: Rock look-alikes.
Mossadegh is a new heavy metal retelling of the 1953 CIA coup that deposed the democratically elected government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh in Iran. You can listen to it here.
Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock
Pollock's major influence was Picasso. As you can see he was also influenced by Picasso's look!
Is this a holy war?
"I believe so strongly in the power of freedom. You know why I do? Because I've seen freedom work right here in our own country. I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the Earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom."
Bush
The Gherkin, the City of London's new landmark has won an architecture award.
Vladimir Putin and the portrait of Arnolfini by Jan van Eyck (National Gallery, 1434)
Chechen warlord mocked Vladimir Putin's threats while Yeltsin and Gorbachev criticised him for endangering their hard-won democratic reforms.
Kofi Annan and Morgan Freeman.
The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the BBC the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter. Better late than never!
Can you spot which painting is by a turtle and which is by Willem de Kooning?
Answer: The painting on the left is by a turtle and the one on the right is by Willem de Kooning.
Have you noticed the similarity between Apple CEO Steve Jobs (owner of iPod, iMac, iTunes) and Khatami (president of iRan)?
iTunes Music Store managed to sell 800,000 songs in Europe within its first week of operation.
Max (age 4) loves to paint and draw. Above is one of his drawings next to a Picasso?s. Picasso was 77 when he drew this one!
Gene Hackman in The French Connection and Ahmad Chalabi the Iraqi leader accused by the CIA of having a close connection with Iran.
Jesus and the wired Iraqi prisoner.
Azar Nafisi in an Audi ad and Anne Bancroft in the film "To be or not to be".
Nafisi is the Iranian author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. See her here on Audi site.
Like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kelsey Grammer wants to go into politics when he leaves Frasier. Grammer who describes himself as a ?pro-Bush guy? might run for Senate in California!
The image on the left was taken by the Hubble space telescope of the Cat's Eye Nebula; an exploding star 3,000 light years away, the image was published by NASA on Oct 31, 1999.
The photo on the left was taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and was featured on NASA's Website as an Astronomy Picture of the Day last year. The image depicts the Helix Nebula, described by astronomers as a trillion-mile-long tunnel of glowing gases.
The picture on the right is the cover of Philip K.Dick's novel Eye in the Sky from 1957.
Marcel Duchamp's Bicycle Wheel and London Eye
Duchamp called his work Bicycle Wheel "an assisted readymade". Readymade are objects manufactured for some other purpose, presented by an artist as a work of art. Marcel Duchamp, who originated this concept, selected and signed many ordinary objects. He occasionally altered these objects (sometimes called assisted readymades), which the Bicycle Wheel is a well-known example.
Has anyone noticed the similarity between the archconservative Richard Perle and the Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee?
Has anyone noticed the similarity between John Kerry and Abraham Lincoln?
John Kerry posted his second key victory in two weeks, winning the New Hampshire presidential primary on Tuesday.
The UK directory service 118 118 is to be formally investigated by the watchdog over claims by David Bedford the British former runner that the ad makers stole his image. He believes that the distinctive red socks, 1970s long hair, moustache and silky cutaway shorts featured by the 118 118 pair were all recognisably part of his unique look. The company deny the charge and say that the runners in their advert were based on a generic Seventies look.
Actor Kevin Spacey and Tim Berners-Lee
The British physicist, Tim Berners-Lee is to receive a knighthood from the Queen for "services to the Internet". He created World-wide Web in his spare time while working as a researcher at CERN. He fought to keep the Web free rather than patent it, which has led to the rapid growth of it. There has been a lot of controversy lately over the UK honours system. Recently the Sunday Times published a list of 300 refuseniks that had declined the offer of awards from the Queen.
Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and actor Sir Ben Kingsley.
In his latest film - House of Sand and Fog - Kingsley is portraying an Iranian immigrant who buys a house to begin a new life for his family in America. I am not so sure about his Iranian accent but I cannot wait to see the film anyway. Here is an interview with him about the film.
The picture on the left is the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov and the one on the right is the Beagle 2 leading scientist Professor Colin Pillinger. Beagle2 was successfully separated from the European Mars Express orbiter 400 million km from earth, to start its final leg towards Mars.
Shirin Ebadi who accepted the Nobel Peace prize yesterday and St Mary Magdalene's painting by El Greco.
Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo and Catherine Zeta-Jones!
Aghdashloo is acting in a new film "House of sand and fog" which will be on release in the US in Christmas.
Che Shirin (How Sweet in Persian) and Che Guevara (How Tasty in Persian)!
There is an interesting article about Shirin Ebadi in openDemocracy.net
Shirin Ebadi and Iran?s women: in the vanguard of change
Have you noticed the similarity between Uma Thurman in Kill Bill and the Linux mascot?
Check Afsaneh Bahrami's funny article. I think she is Iran's answer to Am?lie. She has the same sense of humour and the resemblance is uncanny!
Not an H-Bomb but an HB-Bomb! Has anyone noticed the similarity between Iranian Scud missiles and HB pencils?
The picture on the left is the winning entry for Mazda Family Photo Contest in 1988. The one on the right is a photo of my brother with his Peykan (Hillman Hunter) which was taken the same year.
Wish him a happy birthday!
Has anyone noticed the remarkable similarity between Dr Strangelove and Donald H. Rumsfeld?
Has anyone noticed the similarity between the Islamic Republic of Iran's sign and the Onion's logo? (The Onion? is America's award-winning satirical publication).
I really enjoyed the last look-alikes post so I came up with another gem!
Has anyone noticed the similarity between Dolly the sheep, who became famous as the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, and Albert Einstein?
Do you think they were related?
I am sure I am not the first person who has noticed the remarkable similarity between Sir Sean Connery and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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