Aside

Yep, FP Passport has it right. This has to be the best lede ever written: A jazz musician was injured Friday after jumping from a burning motor home driven by a one-time roller skating stripper from Lodi.

I’ve been informed that at last check, my radio piece on the new WiFi bus in Estonia will be on The World today! Will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): New York – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 3 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston – 4 pm Eastern –…

So today I was digging around the interwebs for some info about burritos. Three items stick out: 1) I found this 85 burrito odyssey in the Chronicle from last September. 2) I found a possible reference to myself in UrbanDictionary.com, under the entry “california burrito”. Guacamole may be substituted for sour cream, though this not a true Cali burrito, just an imposter (known as a Cyrus Burrito). This is strange, because I almost always order my burritos without sour cream,…

Sorry I didn’t get this up sooner, but Sarmad was on NPR’s “On Point” last week, on February 21. He talks about his experiences and his piece in the WSJ during the first 12 minutes. The remainder of the show is a discussion with three other Iraqis living in America. You can download the entire show via the link below. On Point – February 21, 2007 – 20 MB

Ok guys, Tuesday is the new Thursday (which, by the way was the new Friday). So on March 13, on behalf of the Bay Area Persian community (of which I’m a very non-active member), I invite all locals, Persian and non-Persian alike to come join me at the Persian Center for my very first Chaharshanbe Suri. Chaharshanbe Suri (in Persian: چهارشنبه‌سوری‎) is the ancient Iranian festival dating at least back to 1700 BCE of the early Zoroastrian era.[1] The festival…

Oakland Magazine: 7. Oliveto’s Whole Hog Dinner is plugged into your PDA. Every February, Oliveto, the gourmet anchor of Oakland’s food scene, brings down the house with its Whole Hog Dinner—and, yes, said hog is shipped direct from a pig farm in Iowa. The annual event incorporates the whole hog, and the 2006 deluxe dinner included everything from expected pork classics like headcheese (coppa di testa), prosciutto and pastrami but rounded out the evening with new treats such as bacon…

The following piece was written by Sarmad Ali, one of my very good friends from Columbia. When I first met him, I knew I had to be friends with him, as I knew that he must have surely felt very much out of his element upon first arriving. He’s spent more than one holiday with my family both in California and Connecticut and we are always welcome to have him and to serve as his surrogate family in the US.…

I made it home, safe and sound, despite threatening snowstorms in Chicago. I’m so over this winter thing.

Argh, just when I thought I would be able to get home without any problems, it looks like I may get stuck in Paris for another day. There’s major snow storms in Chicago (I’m transiting through O’Hare), and today’s American Airlines Flight 41 from Paris to Chicago was canceled. That means that mine (also Flight 41) could be canceled too. Fortunately for me, if I get stuck in Paris I do have somewhere to stay. But still, think warm thoughts.