The Worst Olives

I like Olives very much, not that anyone care and not that many people like it here. If it's not Chips, Cookies, Candy Bar, Licorice or so, it's not considered snack. I used to be Olives from The Real Canadians Superasshole but then realized that these thieves have increased the price so much that it's not even worse going to the store. I tried the Kalamata Grocery in Downtown Calgary, a few time. It's not bad. There're so many varieties and that's what makes the selection very difficult. 
Lina's, based on my experience, is the best source for Olives. I'm not saying they have the best, I'm just saying that they're the best to go. Limited variety, reasonable price. Available both in bulk and jar and of course the bulk is from a big jar! 
The Olives don't last long, when I buy. I add them to my salad, to my sandwich or just eat them as snack. I bought a pack of 1 Kg Moroccan Olives from kalamata Grocery nearly three months ago. More than half of it still sitting in the refrigerator! I had added Morocco to my travel list a few years ago. I was hoping to do a hike and see a couple of places. I considered that to be a good trip and attractive price-wise. I have moved it to the bottom of the list now with the possibility of completely removing it but that's not why the Olives have not been eaten! The damn Olives are too salty and dry and no flavour. Perhaps that's normal in Morocco but comparing it with all sorts of other olives I've tried from different sources, this has been the least appealing and has had the worst taste. 
I have a plan to visit an Olive growing country before the end of the year and despite the fact that most of my time will be spent in the non or less Olive growing regions(!) I will try to buy and try as much as I can. I believe based on what CBSA says I can bring as much as 20 Kg or 20 L. for personal use. We will see.

(Picture: The Moroccan Olives as they are seen in a container in the refrigerator. I tried one and they're not rotten or anything. I think olives last long but this one's story is different. Just not good!)

24 Years and Counting

I thought of something special for the 24th anniversary of my arrival in Canada but nothing came to mind! It was the 29th of the last month but I have been so tired that I couldn't write a damn thing. Not that anyone was waiting for it! Couples might go for a nice meal. Not many options for singles! So I decided to go for a massage on Sat. night. What a waste of dollars and time it was! It could have been a much better experience, had I selected the right person! I don't wanna even write about it! 

Then I thought to myself: There's nothing to celebrate. I haven't achieved anything. In fact I haven't reached my goals. I, have always been a failure. In fact this word could be used as my middle name! The only good thing was that a cousin of mine who lives in L. A. was here to enjoy skiing. I had not seen him for probably 25 years, perhaps one year or more before I left the old country for Canada. We all had a meal in a local restaurant and then he and his family headed to Banff National Park area. I joined them later just to hang out with them, not to ski! I'm not a skier. That was the only highlight of the last week. 

We went up to Sulfur Mountain by gondola, of course. That was my third ride, each 10 years or more apart! It was a pleasant experience. Then we had dinner at Sky Bistro which was really good. The views up there are really amazing and they have added lots of stuff to make it memorable and interesting for visitors, including fire pits, igloos(!), fur blankets and indigenous traditional music and displays and translated to English. They liked it very much. It's a one of a kind experience which you cannot get anywhere else in the world and I must admit that if I was Canadian, I'd be really proud of my country. I'm not Canadian and I'm proud that I was able to show them something that they like a lot.

I didn't pay much attention to the cost. It's a cost that you pay once in your life. Besides the cousin had already taken us to dinner and brought us all gifts. He even paid for the dinner there which was not cheap, believe me but I think the gondola ride was around $280 and it's not important at all. I don't know when if I ever meet this people. Family and friends is all you have in life and if you don't have a good one, you have nothing. For me it's over. I can't have a family now. My family is my Mom and my siblings and a few relatives I have here and there but I also keep my distance to make sure I don't with their family life. All the money, best cars, good job. Nothing could make for a good and lovely family.

(Photo: People go inside these igloos on the top of Sulphur Mountain and enjoy themselves)

Out after 10 Years (7): Paying Respect to Kurosawa and Mifune

Japanese movies, particularly Akira Kurosawa's, were amongst very few foreign movies were shown on TV when I was growing up in the old country. Films such Yujimbo, Red Beard and most notably Seven Samurai which was the inspiration to make The Magnificent Seven by John Sturges! Other foreign movies shown were WWII war movies where Slovak people of different former Eastern Bloc countries were fighting the Germans, at times some heavily altered and censored British and American movies. Going back to the subject, majority of Kurosawa movies which were shown are about old feudal Japan where people fought over territory, money and generally everything worth fighting for and hired Samurai warrior. Women do not have major roles in majority of the plots. There're some movies with women having role including Rashomon and Hidden Fortress but those movies were never shown because the authorities would have had to remove the majority of the scenes! Kurosawa had a long collaboration with Tashiro Mifune who had many first roles in his movies including all the above.

This week I decided to pay my respect to two of my all-time favorite artists Kurosawa and Mifune by visiting their graves. I visited their related cemeteries in two different days. Kurosawa is buried in a small cemetery in a very beautiful and small town called Kamakura in Kanagawa. 

It is quite surprising that the town has no mentioning of this great director! It's impossible to find someone's grave in Japan if you don't know Japanese and I only had a photo and as I said the cemetery is small, so I found it! It's probably only 15 minutes' walk from the train station and of course because no foreigner goes that way, people look at you strangely, although there was barely anyone on the street on that side of the town! The cemetery is surrounded by residential buildings and the background of the picture helped me to easily find the grave quickly. No picture, no flag, no banner, no nothing! Kurosawa is rested there 1998. He is buried like an ordinary man but he's no ordinary, this man, who is regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema!

Mifune's grave in another. He was born in China but of course he was a Japanese. This is the discussion I always have with people: Your birthplace does not tell you what you are. What you do and what you believe tell what you are.

I went to Kawasaki in another day, and this is surprisingly part of Kanagawa but all the way at the other side! getting there was not easy either. I mean going everywhere easy in Japan as long as you follow the train route but it's not always possible! To get there I went over Tama River and at the last station there is supposed to be a shuttle but to take you there but considering the trouble I had to go to make them understand where I was going, I scratched that and followed Google Maps in a rainy, humid and hot day! 

The cemetery that is known in Google Maps as 春秋苑(!) is less than 15 minutes from Ikuta station and is a huge cemetery and is built in multiple steps. There's also a funeral home adjacent to it but I didn't even think of asking anyone! The background again and the shape of the next grave, in this case, both help me to find the resting piece of Mifune but this time it took much longer, and it was raining. I almost was ready to leave as I always fear I might be late, even on a trip that you cannot be late for anything, but the next visit and I suddenly found it. I took a few pictures and headed back to the station. Thanks Kurosawa and Mifune for what you did nearly 60 years ago. You gave me lots of fun when I was a kid in a society that nothing else was available. I still have to watch every movie at least once again.

(Photo, top: Kurosawa's grave in Anyo-in Temple in Kamakura)

Revenge is a Dish best Served Cold

This piece of work, ugly creature who works with me, runs his mouth too much at times. An oriental from a place that I doubt he had enough food to eat at times before coming to Canada. Fair enough. Now you have, it means shut your mouth after eating! When we went for the course a couple of weeks ago, the asshole act weirdly. One two people from the same party go somewhere together, they stay together, eat together, study together and do most of the things together. He was sneaking to his room after the class, perhaps to sext, if you know what I mean, with his wife.
We're planned to go for for another course in a few weeks from now and I have a good plan for him! I'm all nice and friendly to him. When we're going back, I'm going to leave him at the side of the road with his stupid suitcase! I never brag about the things I do or I'm planning to do but I wanted to write this one because this piece of work does not even offer to drive to the course while I drove him the last time! I can't wait to see his stupid face with the giant suitcase next to him after I tell him that I have to go and he has to take a bus home! 
The other asshole that I have a plan for and I'm skeptical to see if I can execute that is a freaking asshole from the old country. I went to high school with this guy for three years and then we went to the same college, different programs. He had to drop out or was expelled, I'm not sure and it doesn't matter now because he was not able to pass Calculus 1 until semester 7 (the program consisted of 9 semesters, minimum at the time, a total of more than 152 credits, which I think has been reduced now!). He served military, I think, after that, because I was no longer in touch with him, or perhaps I shall say that he was not in touch with me and then he went to another school and finished a degree or masters in the field that he liked, successfully.
I was not in touch with him for years, even before leaving the old country until nearly 15 years ago that we exchanged a few e-mails and then again 2 years ago or so, I don't remember why(!) we got in touch. That was the time he told me that his daughter would starting studying a program in The University of Waterloo. Then about a month ago he said he was waiting for his visa to visit his daughter and would pay me a visit. I asked him if he could bring a few thing for me and I would pay him here once I see him. He agreed and told me not to be worry about the money. 
The last time we were in touch was about 10 days before the day which he had said that it would be his departure day. He said that he had not yet heard from the embassy about his visa. When I reminded him of the things that I had asked him to bring, this time, he sort of hesitated and said that he would check with his wife to see if they have room. I didn't like it.
The day that he was supposed to fly has passed. in fact it's been more than 10 days since he was supposed to be in Ontario and I don't know if he is there or not. He has not contacted me. Or perhaps he hasn't received his visa which I doubt because these days the Government of Canada issues visa to everyone who could set foot on Canadian soil. So now that he hasn't even told me what has happened to his visa, I have a good plan for him but before that I'm going to write a bit about the times that he would act like a total jerk when we used to hang out: We used to go to gym at times to work out together. I asked him to spot me a few times and he did a few times but once aggressively said: I'm not going to the gym just to lift your weights for you! This stupid sentence has been tattooed in my brain! Our relationship would turn to more  rivalry than friendship. He used to brag about the place that he had gone with his friends and so did I! There were time that he was ditched and it pissed him off. aside all the above, he criticized me a few times about the jokes that I had made about girls. There were not directed at anyone specific or too offensive and we were very young and ignorant but he took it personally, I think especially because she had a sister that he probably thought I had an eye on! She was a pretty girl and right for my age but who thought about getting in a relationship with his friend's sister on those years?!
My plan was that if he wanted to come to Alberta, to tell him that I would pick him up at YYC but when I talked to my Mom as she knows him, she didn't like it and said it was too harsh and even inhumane! There another thing that Mom said. She said that he has not contacted simply because I have asked him to do me a favour! That has scared him off, she added! I think she's right. And I don't think I execute my plan simply because Mom said that I shall not, although that would be a good lesson for him! We'll see.

(Photo: One of my favorite salads and I've made this one myself. So good. It, of course, is served cold but it tastes way better and is much healthier than my revenge!)

Hot Water instead of Tea!

The widespread of Internet in the past 20 years or so have had many negative affects on people's lives but that's what the Corporate West wants! (If you do not know what the term Corporate West mean, let me know and I will explain it to you!) This way they reduce their cost. Look at the banks: Many of the branches are closed now and they continuously ask you to use banking App. Not even online banking! They want to close done all of the malls, restaurants and movie theaters so people do their shopping online, order their food online and eat at home and watch their favorite movies or series while sitting at home and streaming. I do not do any of the above, not because I dislike the internet. I don't eat at 95% of the restaurants and I'm not a person who enjoys buying the things they don't need! But the whole internet thing has a negative effect on me this way:  I used to read a lot but know I spent a whole awful lot of time on the net reading and watching nonsense materials, mostly! And compare the the majority of the population, particularly the young, I spent a lot less! 

With that in mind, one of the great books that I read years ago and I've written about it once is Dragon Seed. I remember it was a gloomy January evening and we, the family, all were out and my Dad bought the book for my birthday. You might be surprised as why it was such a lame birthday party but you have to understand the fact that, first of all we were in the old country and unlike today, birthday parties were not as common. Secondly, those were the war days and while I was only a kid, only now I can imagine the hardship that parents had to go to provide everything to their kids despite the fact that both of my parents were working and they had good jobs. So I read the book and enjoyed what Pearl Buck has written but what it has to bring up here is the fact that she was saying the fact that the Chinese as a result of the devastating war had to cut back even on the most basic necessities of their lives. She narrates in her book how some Chinese had to drink hot water instead tea to save even more, in their daily lives the concept that now is applicable to many Canadians these days due to the high cost of living. It is worse for me because I live on E. I. now and I hardly spend between the two pays. I'm very careful as all these expenses pile up at the end of each months and in between. I've had one face-to-face interview, one phone screening, one e-mail regarding an application and one evaluation exam and none has led to anything! For that I have to keep drinking hot water instead of tea, metaphorically, until things get better. 

(Photo: This post would not be completed without a picture that somehow relates to Pearl S. Buck. This house in West Virginia is her birthplace, which, I hope, has been preserved to this day and I hope it will stand forever. What a great novelist)

The Island of Dr. Moreau, a Traumatizing Experience!

I don't know what made me to watch The Island of Dr. Moreau, despite all the negative reviews I had just read. I think one of the reasons was that it was shown once on IRIB many years ago and I missed it at the time. I think my friends were talking about that and it was the time I heard the name for the first time. It was not very common to see American movies on IRIB, unless the government could you it for its propaganda purposes, which was most of the case the reason why showed one! I think I've written about the version(!) of Southern Comfort which was shown on one of the IRIB channels, many years ago. It was shown under a new made up(!) title of The Operation Lagoon! It's not uncommon for other countries to change the name of a movie to something more suitable as it's not always easy to translate it literally but changing the plot is not very common. Most of the countries don't even dob the movie. IRIB always does as it's wouldn't be easy for people to enjoy, I think, although I watched Titanic in a small , but alright movie theater in Damascus in English, with Arabic subtitles, of course (I don't speak Arabic, I just happen to be there at the time the movie had just been released. It was like that even before the IRIB. Dobbing has always been part of showing foreign movies in the country. 
Then if you look at the cast, you'd find it quite impressing: Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, Davis Thewlis (I've watched his performance in Seven Years in Tibet) and Firuza Balk. I've never been a big fan of Brando and never watched Godfather or other major old movies, from the time he was very young. Kilmer's fame, to me, has come mostly from Top Gun, the movie that I never care about(!) and found it only an American stupid propaganda and Balk was in American History X. She had a small role and it was okay. Firuza, by the name is a Persian name which is a sort of very beautiful blue precious stone. 
And then we get to this point that the movie is based on a H. G. Wales book. So what could go wrong?!
For me, almost everything! It was so horrific at times that I wished I had not started the damn movie. So many scenes with freaks, deformed faces and body, blood and gore, you name it!
Both Brando and Kilmer have no major roles in the film. Brando, in his last years, already suffering from obesity, gives a few speeches and then his character gets butchered! Kilmer, probably in his first years of acting, although would've not made any changes, in my opinion, doesn't have a significant performance either. The movie mainly revolves around the character of David Thewlis which delivers somewhat acceptable performance but after a few minutes, you'll realize what the fate of him and pretty much others would be! The only thing you don't know you'd get is lots of growling, shooting, killing and other awful scenes! And they hang poor Firuza, simply probably, because her dad's favorite, spoiler alert!  
Not recommended and sort of the movie that I'll not watch again. If I want to be very generous I'd give it 1.5 out of 5.

(Photo: Actor Ron Perlman plays the role of a blind spiritual leader to the group of genetically modified[!] creatures in the movie. He survives the riot/fire fight or whatever you might call it, of the end) 

Forever 21!

There was this big clothing store, for women only, I think, in Chinook Center, called Forever 21. I don't think it's there any more. Maybe it is. Maybe not! I went there once or maybe twice with The Lady. Now she's gone and it's been years, I barely go to malls. Malls are not meant for single people or perhaps I should say single people going by themselves! You could be a single person and go with your single friend or family. So why did I bring up this Forever 21 store story? Because number 21 indicates the fact that today marks the 21st year of my arrival in Canada.

I marked this months ago and promised myself to do something special but all I did was going to work, getting a haircut and picking up a few items from a Safeway! I clearly remember the 21 years ago, the night I stayed at this Super 8 Motel and the thing that I was doing and the conversations that I had with people, some of them might not be alive now. I also remember that it was not as cold! I do believe in global warming but I do clearly recall that it was not as cold as -17 ℃ (≈ 1.4 ℉).

The good thing is I have a job now although I don't know how long it will be available and also I have a meeting come up and why I call it a meeting because the lady whom was asked out told me that we could go " as friends! " and I accepted that. There might be another possibility but I will find out about that tomorrow. 

(Photo: The entrance of a Forever 21 clothing store. I read it filed for bankruptcy in 2019 but I don't know it was for the Canadian operations or all. Doesn't matter here!)

Not Without My Daughter after 30 years

Not Without my Daughter came out in 1991, from what I've read, and I think it was a few years after that when I was still doing my degree that I watched it with a friend or couple at his home on VHS! I'm referring to the movie not the book. The movie is based on the book of the same name written by an American woman who was held in Iran against her will. American movie were rarely shown in theaters or on TV but this one was different. This movie was banned for showing a cruel and wild image of Iranian society, after the revolution and at the early years of Iran-Iraq War. I remember that the movie's quality was very poor at the time and that was because it had probably been copied several times from different formats and of course my English was not good. So we didn't get much of the story but the images shown, which even now I believe is exaggeration, was ugly and embarrassing!

Even today I wouldn't be able to watch the movie with a foreigner who has never been to Iran! With all the propagation against Iran and its nuclear ambition, no one would believe what I said about the movie! Some of the scenes are truly a joke and a silly but I can understand many of the behaviours that are shown in the movie. The fact that Iran at the time and even to a certain point, now, is a male dominant society, is undeniable. Add on the top of it, the brutal Islamic law which basically deprives women from most of their rights! They might not be, in appearance, as bad as Taliban but they're certainly not much better. 

Women still cannot leave the country without first the permission from either their father or husband. They cannot divorce men. They do not have much rights when it comes to what is left from their parents and what they can inherit. They have to cover themselves from head to toe and even when they are together, where men are not present have to do that! If anything goes to the court, women have no chance of getting what they want. 

A very famous picture taken by Alfred Yaghobzadeh during the first years of Iran-Iraq War shows a very young soldier. The young fella later was reported kIA.

So that's what Betty (Sally Field) learnt after a few months of living in the country and that was when he realized if she doesn't leave soon, she'd be stuck forever. In the meantime I'd like to point at a few things for someone who has recently watched the movie but have never been to the country:

1- Scene 1: Betty and Mahtob (her daughter) get off a cab to walk home and in the background a small herd of sheep and their shepherd is shown! Domesticated animals are never seen in major cities, running around and grazing! You might see them if you go to a small village but never even in a town! 

2- Scene 2: Dr. Mahmmody's uncle, who is a Mulla (Islamic clergy with a sort of turban on the head and robe on the shoulders) is their guest for lunch one day. Everyone is sitting on the floor, around a kind of table-cloth which is food is being served (was common at the time). He is a clean-shaven clergy! Shaving is something close to taboo in many Islamic sects, particularly if you're a clergy! You're an idol! You cannot shave your beards! 

3- Scene 3: Betty, Dr. Mahmoody and the relatives are going back home from shopping where is sort of police car stops next to them and asks Betty, violently to cover her head. The so-called police/soldiers in the film, who are holding a Kalashnikov Assault Rifle, are all clean shaven! Another gaffe that the Israelis (I believe that's who produces the film) made! 

4- Scene 4: The Friday Prayer Scene in University of Tehran is a real joke! Betty is standing in balcony, with a few others and they're looking directly down at the prayers! There's no building, even in the university that you can have that view and I truly don't know what is the reason behind showing something that is not even close to reality! 

5- Scene: Betty is sitting in a vehicle, next to someone who is trying to help her to leave the country when a is scene stopping next to the kids who are playing on the street. The kids are loaded to the pick up and the guy says that they are being taken to the front line of Iran-Iraq war! It's true that young soldier were fighting in the war but they were mostly either volunteers or from small villages. I, personally know 4 students who went to war, all my classmates in grade 10 or 11 and 3 of them got killed. I know very well that no one forced them to go. It was their believes which sent them to the fields. 

Scenes like that are a lot and there are other scenes worse than that. They constantly show armed soldiers walking up and down the streets! Something you would never see anywhere in the entire country! I think their intention was to show a totalitarian society but their approach were wrong. Iran is not such a better place now. It was the chaos of after the revolution and the war in those years. Now it is the economy, the brutality of the regime and sanctions but I think, or perhaps I should say, I hope, people are awake now. Took them 40 years, yes! forty  years to understand that religion is not a way to go with, if they want to manage their country! 

(Photo, top: Sally field, as Betty Mahmoody [Nee, Lover], delivers a magnificent performance in the movie)

20 Years Now

Yesterday, the 29th of November was the 20th anniversary of my immigration. No celebration. No regret either. I wanted to go to the cafe that I sent my first messages home to tell them I was safe but was too tired as a result of the trip. 
There won't be any celebration at all, not even this weekend because I have not achieved my goals in these past 20 years. My past 20 years have been mostly full of failures. One after another. Big and small. costly and cheap, in terms of money, of course. A failure is a lack of success, lack of accomplishment, reaching something that you had planned for. It's always costly because you have lost the most valuable thing: Time! 
My marriage fell apart and I'm single for nearly 6 years now! Not that my marriage was so good when we were together but I know we loved it each other and now that we're not together, I miss her a lot and I know I won't be able to find someone like her again. The women I have met in the past 6 years, I can't even call them date because I never liked any of them. Today I was going to talk the Blue-eyed Lady but I couldn't. Her door was shut and I didn't want to wait the entire afternoon there to see when she has time. 
Almost everything else has been a failure as well. There's no point to name them all here. Someone by simply going back to what I have written so far will find how big of a loser I am! A few accomplishments that I have are not even worth counting! So I'm going to leave now as there's no pint to waste other's time with the failure stories. I do have some good New Year's Resolution which I will post time when it is the time. 

(Photo: Rubles in Afghanistan. People are  getting sleeping stuff up. This is Afghanistan after 20 years, when the Americans left and their forces gave up, for the reasons beyond my understanding. My life has not been much better than Afghanistan's! A total failure. Just hope youngsters learn from my mistakes. Select a goal and aim for it. Don't divert or you'll end up a loser like me)

Addicted to Gambling

When I was in grade school, in the old country, every time we would go to my oldest aunt's, gambling was going on, if it was a Fri. and we always were there on Fri. because that is the weekend in the old country. When I say gambling was going on I'm talking about a big, probably 12-seated dining table in the big dining room that many of the relatives sat around it and play different card games or perhaps Poker only. I'm not sure because I never part of it and never have been interested in any card games. My father never played but because we were very close family, we went there to see aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives. My oldest aunt's husband was a realtor and to be specific was a wealthy realtor. I can fit my entire first floor in their kitchen! That's how big their mansion was in a good neighbourhood of the capital, Tehran. The house had a swimming pool, gardens full of beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees, fountains, you name it. It even had a caretaker little suit next to the garage. 

But what I do not ever forget is the fights over the game that eventually led to people leave one after another throughout the years. In the last years of the game(!) there were only four players, as far as I remember. The other ones had left for another leagues(!) because when you are addicted to gambling you can't easily give it up! You need to find other addicted to share your illness! I personally never saw any fights but that was we all knew in the family. We, for example knew that cousin ... left the game last week because he had a harsh argument with Mr. ... . One particular fight that I remember, and in fact it was post-fight(!) event was the time we were at my aunt's and this cousin of mine who lives in Denmark now was talking to my aunt and others angrily! This sentence I clearly remember after probably more than 30 years: ... I'd never consider Mr. ... as my father! He was referring to the aunt's husband and apparently they had an argument over their game and considering my cousin's mom was divorced, I think someone had mentioned something to him like respect him, he's like your father and such and had made him upset!

I told this little story to get to this Chinese guy who works at the same place as I do. He keeps saying that he has been born and raised here in Canada but I find him as Chinese as any other Chinese who just has come to Canada a year ago or even less! He's a married guy but he always spend his time with older Chinese women in the break-room, talking in their language or eating their disgusting cheap food. Despite saying that he has been born here, you can clearly detect Chinese accent when he talks. He told me once that he goes to casino, without naming which one, on his days off! I also heard from other fellas once that he had won big, something around $50,000. Another time he said he was going to sign for a condo he had recently purchased, not mentioning the money he had won!  

The other day I saw him at work after his day off: Head down, quiet and not saying even hello or anything, dragging himself on the floor(!), in a nutshell completely down. I didn't talk to him but the signs implied that he had a bad day at a casino! Apparently the loss was so big that the guy could not forget it by recalling the big amount he has won! This guy claims that he had gone to U of C and has done his Bachelors Degree in ... but insists that he is happier in this crappy and nasty job, hanging out with old Chinese women and listen to their nonsense!! What, an university graduate could possibly have in common with a village woman in China?! That proves that the guy is a rube! Doesn't matter that he is born in Canada, he still is a stupid peasant from mainland China, brought to an industrial complex to work to one of many sweatshops!! His wife works at a luxury retailer in one of the top shopping malls in Calgary but their relationship is quite strange to me when I compare it with the one I had with my wife when I was married: He says by the time he gets home his wife has already eaten and is in the bed!!  

Gambling addiction is very common within Orientals particularly Filipinos, Chinese and Vietnamese. There was a Filipino girl in Cargill Foods when I used to work there years ago. She had left her husband because the guy spent hours and hours in casinos blowing everything he earned. I even have been to Las Vegas and will definitely go again to enjoy but have never gambled in my life. I hate gambling and the addiction it creates.

(Photo: Gambling often comes with heavy drinking, smoking and other harmful habits)

Unappreciative and Disgusting As*holes

I have written about this issue that Canada has turned itself to a big public toilet of the world by letting every pile of s*it in, unscreened to the country. I took me 5 years to get my immigration visa and here I am with almost nothing after all these years!

People come to the border or go to UNCHR and make up stories to benefit from the country. There are hundreds of thousands of them in Canada involved in all sorts of illegal and legal(!) activities to suck blood out of the society:

1- Human trafficking.

2- Tax evading

3- Cash working

4- Hanging out around Alpha House, D. I. and Mustard Seed

5- Mooching off the Calgary Food Bank

6- Joining or creating extremist groups to harm people and the country. Example: The 2006 Toronto terrorist plot.

With that in mind, I came across this big African guy just a few days after I started this new job who asked about my faith. These human-like animals don't understand that religion and belief is something personal and they have no right to ask that, especially in the first meeting. I deterred(!) him somehow and bumped to him the bathroom again a few days after that. He goes: Hi. I go: What do you want?! I just wanted to get him off my back. He goes: What do I want?! And I leave!

Sop for about 5 months we had barely any contact until a few days ago when I was helping a customer. One of the foremen asked him to help me to expedite customer's order. He didn't move! I finished the first batch and went to get the second one. He was sitting there pretending that he was doing some paperwork. The foreman asked him two more times and eventually he came to help with the second batch. He probably helped with 5 out of the 31 that was in there! 

I got really pissed off and I thought I should so something to this piece of sh*t who didn't even have a meal a day before imposing himself on Canadian society and now instead of being appreciative, he acts like he's a big guy!

I went to the foreman and I said that the guy basically didn't help. He said that he knew that the guy was lazy. I said knowing didn't help. He should do something about it and added that I would talk to the management. Then I saw him approaching us, not that he wanted to join the conversation or anything. I waited until he got close enough and then in front of everyone pointed at him and said: You are a lazy person! And kept going with stuff like that until when the managers were out, the way she heard, he said: That is not my job to help you! I turned to the lady and asked: Did you hear it. The supervisor and the QC guy were out as well and they directed us to the meeting room. 

Now I'm happy and relaxed because I have enough witnesses, two of them amongst the management team, who heard him saying that nonsense out load! I told my side of the story while they were listening and then when I and the lady were talking he tried to jump in but shut by both them. He said he wanted to " Keep his distance "! but that was too late! He had said what he should not have and the lady here says that she was offended by what he had said and added that if he thinks that he cannot work the way the company expects from him, he should think of another place. The supervisor also said that he had told him during the interview that employees of different departments might be asked to help others with their job. Here I was just sitting and listening and then I was asked to leave! I happily left because I had all of the winning cards in my hand and he was getting sh*t by everyone!

I saw him once later that day when I was leaving. He was entering the room I was in and left as soon as saw me! Lazy, liar! 

I have nothing against African or any other hard-working individual who is honest and tries to make a living but I have more respect for sewer rats and cockroaches than a lying, lazy rude creature. He was all.
(Photo: Alpha House near Downtown Calgary. I hesitated to get out of the car to take the picture! You never know what might happen near this scary place that its walls are protected by thick metal fence! You are not allowed in unless you're so drunk that barely able to stand on your feet according to The Chef! The Van belongs to the place)

Stupid Mistake by Trump Administration

This is something that I couldn't close my eyes to although it happened at the other side of the globe, not this side that I always write about: The assassination of General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. I have never been a supporter of The Islamic Republic of Iran and in fact in a post called The Islamic Murderers of Republic of Iran but I believe what Trump did was a mistake regardless of what the Iranians, led by Soleimani had done prior to that. 

First of all that was an act of terrorism. There's no difference between what The IMRI did to its opposition leaders such as Dr. Shapour Bakhtiar and what Trump did to Soleimani. Second of all that act not only does not stop violence in the region but also will increase it. The IMRI now has supporters and affiliates in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and a number of other countries in the region as well of agents and supporters around the world. Anything can happen any day. This will be a never-ending war. 

I also believe that Soleimani had role of protecting Iran from ISIS. What he did in northern Iraq basically protected the country from being destroyed like Iraq. He was a soldier who protected his country though he had to obey The Supreme Leader. His role in the devastating 8-year Iraq-Iraq War is not known to me but he was a volunteer who, again, defended his country from the Iraqi bastards at the time. 

Two years after Trump was elected, I, unlike what many may think, had lots of respect for him. I think many Americans did. Unemployment was very low, illegal immigration was being dealt with, China was being held back and all good things he was doing. I, travelled to the US twice and did not have to wait at the border for more than 1 minute! 

Now everything is changed and unpredictable. We don't know to what extend these two crazy guys are going to go at each other but one thing is probably easy to predict: Trump's re-election is very unlikely. And for the last word: I don't think I will get any number of days off in 2020 to be able to travel but if I get, I make sure I will travel to the US to see what the reaction of the CBP would be!

(Photo: An Iranian poster which shows the reaction of the people to Soleimani's assassination. A kid is putting a photo of him up)

Factors Affecting Sexual Orientation

I remember one evening I and a couple of buddies in the old country were heading somewhere and we stopped at a bakery on our way. Bakeries in the old country are different from what you see here in Canada. First of all the beard are all flat which is nice for making wraps or simply dipping them in your stew or whatever. Second of all you stay in a line, if the bakery is busy, and wait for the bread to come out of the oven hot and you'd take it.

It was more than 20 years ago. I don't remember much detail. What I do remember is one of the bakers, as the bakery has a number of employees working together, told me that his co-workers don't let him sleep at nights! It was very common that people share a place so they don't have to pay a lot on those days. I'm sure it probably is the same now although the situation has changed and I don't know how the low-income can survive. I know this has been the practice for East Indian workers in UAE for years.  In Canada though if the landlord fined someone not on the lease, they will kick both the actual tenant and the other one out unless the landlord is East Indian! Here in Canada, or more specifically in Alberta I remember a few years ago there was a fuss about foreign workers who worked in a fast food joint and I guess they were sleeping in the premises!

Gay and Lesbian club in 11th Ave. SW, Calgary. Looks like a sort of event is going on as a media vehicle is parked in front of the main entrance. Two rainbow flags are hanging. Just hard to see

Someone might wonder why I'm telling story of a guy villager from the old country 20 years after it happened and now that I'm in Canada! Here's why:

There was a news on the radio a couple of days ago indicating that physicians have been researching about the factors which affect people's sexual orientation and they have considers the two factors of gene and environment as the most important and influential ones. They then denied the first factor, gene and  just stuck to the second one, meaning no one is born homosexual. The story I told above is the good proof that the fella scientists are correct! That only was it!

(Photo: This, unfortunately, is not a good picture but a bar/restaurant in Downtown Calgary is hanging homosexual flags out of his windows to celebrate the parade day, I would think)

My Band

I decided to sell my wedding band a few years ago. The whole world crumbled around me after The Lady left. Everything, perhaps almost everything has been a downhill from then. I thought to myself: What's the point of having this band? The Lady's gone, Life's almost gone and I'll never be able to find someone like her. So I'd be better, if I sold it. 

Therefore I checked into a so-called gold store. The fella did a test and confirmed that it was 18K gold. I was quite happy at the time because we had purchased that in Honar Bazaar (The Market of Art) in Isfahan and there were news that some jewelers are selling kind of fake items such as jewelry which in fact has less gold that what they claim but it was not true about my band. I and The Lady purchased ours after extensive searched in that market. Honar Bazzar is a market solely for jewelry and to be specifically for gold because that is what people mostly like or care about in that part of the world. I guess she had gotten rid of hers way before she left me although she later regretted that but it was late. I regretted that too and I still regret it today but it's gone! 

She was doing wired things at times, including not wearing her wedding band but wearing her engagement ring which was diamond and I knew she liked it very much! What happened between us is not the subject of this post but I wanted to briefly refer to that as well. 

The guy said that he would pay around $330 for it! I had looked at their website and the price of gold for every gram at the time was indicated $43 but he said it was $38. I told him that I would rather to keep it and left. Same story in another store and this guy offered something around $318! I left as well! It's not that I don't need the money or can do something with the band. It's not that it reminds me of The Lady. I have memories of her that I'm thinking of her every day and night. It's just I thought they were not being honest and wanted to cheat me. 

(Photo: I like this band. It's not mine of course but mine is as thick as this one)

The Strategic Reserves

I and my ex-friend(!) Cyrus went to Rudbar, a small nice town nearly 65 Km away from Rasht, the capital of Gilan province in Iran, by bicycle, some 25 years ago. Considering I lived in Tehran my whole life before immigration, that was one of my best trips I have ever taken so far in my life. Almost 365 Km (227 miles) by bicycle, of course not in one day(!) and one way only.

How we did that is we first paddled to Qazvin a major city on our way and stayed a night over there and then the next day headed to Rudbar. I eliminate the detail here to make my point. but on the way back we decided to rent a car, and drive up the valley because we simply didn't think we could bike up! Rudbar is located on the bottom of a valley which Sefid-Rud (White River) is passing through. Going back to Tehran required us to peddle up the valley and we didn't see it in ourselves in those days to be able to do that! We hired a guy, after talking to the locals to just get us up the road. Cyrus asked me how would pay the guy and I referred to the strategic reserves! I had enough cash to not only pay the fella but also get us to home.

You can get the best olive in the world in Rudbar. This is a typical olive store in that town. I hope I can go there one day soon again

Now more than 25 years after those years which the country was still stable and habitable I am using my strategic reserves here! The difference is these reserves are being used while I don't know when they could be replaced unlike those years that I was employed! These strategic reserves of mine are divided to low reserves and high reserves and I have been using them both in the past two weeks since I came back from my unsuccessful training.

My strategic reserves while are good and help me to stay floated are quite similar to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserves! Considering the amount of consumption per day, those reserves only, as far as I know last for 35 days only, no surprise though, considering how much is consumed on daily bases!

But the story of how these reserves of the US is quite interesting which I may say later alongside the story of my trip to Rudbar.

(Photo, top: John Pinkerton the Scottish cartographer made this map of northern part of Persia [Iran's name at the time] in 1818. The town of Rudbar can easily be seen in this map of 201 years ago! In the map Rudbar is spelled Roudbar which is fine!)

Reading and Books in Canada

Electronic devices have replaced books and magazines in North America these days but books are still popular. One thing that I like very much about Canadians is the amount of time they spend on reading and I hope that will not be reduced and replaced by looking at stupid social media profiles of him and her!

Librarirs and bookstore are usually busy although boostores are monopolized similar to many other industries in North America and books are mostly sold by Chapters owned by a siminngly Jewish woman who banned selling of Mein Kampf in her(!) stores. This is the country which freedom of speach is indicated in The Canadian Charter or Rights and Freedom. 

I was in a Chapters a few months ago, looking at the titles. There are many good books that I would like to buy and read but I haven't. First of all because I don't have a stable life, a nice place that I can put my bookcase and also don't have a quite and nice leaving room that I can simply sit and enjoy a book. Second of all books are mostly expensive. And not to mention that I've been living in sh*t in the past 2 years, not being able to get a real job and cover my expenses.

A copy of the official Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom which was introduced in 1982 and signed by Queen Elizabeth II in the same year

Nevertheless I contacted my friend S. G. in the old country and asked him what he thought of turning these notes to a book and sell them. He is a very good friend of mine whom I know her since Grade 5 but his answer was very disappoiting! He said that he did not think that the current government lasts another years and he was somehow confident there would just be chaos the time the book is worked on to be translated and publish and most likely no eraders! 

I contacted two other friends, The Little Pika and M. E. and their answers were quite similar. I also checked the news on that part of the world and realized that things looked pretty hairy. I concluded that he could be right. 

I will be writing these notes despite what S. G. mentioned. The origianl reason for this weblog was not turn it to a book but if an opportunity presents itself, I will.

(Photo: I found this book in a Chapters about an obese woman who climbed Mt. Kilanjarou! I really don't know who would pay, prehaps $20 to read it. I know that I wouldn't!)

The Little Pika

I first met The Little Pika many years ago in the old country when I was still in high school and then we became friends a few years after that. He is one of the guys who has had the most influence on me. But why am I bringing this up know and here at this side of the globe? It's because he had recently became a resident of the US. I must add here that unlike many others, I'm not the one who has selected this nickname for him! This nickname was given to him by one of the guys in those years in the old country and I just translated that a bit and made it nicer! The literal meaning of the given nickname would be The Little Mouse but since I've seen the cute and little Pika of Alberta Rockies (More specifically during a hike in The Wedge), I decided to use that for him as it's nicer!

Anyways The Little Pika was contacted by me last Aug. when I still was at the CFLRS. He sounded dazed and confused (just like Led Zeppelin's song!) and was not able to talk much. So I let him go and then called him again a few days ago. He's now in Texas. We talked, or I should probably say, he talked, as mostly he did(!). for nearly 70 min.! He had so much trouble after he would to the US, as part of US Green Card Lottery, he said and even had to take medication! That's very different from The Little Pika I used to know and hang out in the old country. The Little Pika I used to spend time with in the old country, and that relationship was diluted (I'm not sure if I can use that term here!) a few years before my immigration, was a guy who traveled constantly, made lots of money, bought property, was a very charming and friendly guy and was always positive and happy. 

I was always welcomed at his place and every time we went out he generously paid for our meal. Nevertheless the hard time, when he was talking to me, sounded that took a toll of him. However he, as usual invited me over to spend time with him down in Texas and I'm not even going to say what city or town but if I get a chance I will definitely go and there will be posts about that. What's better than spending 10 days in the great State of Texas, with an old friend while you don't have to pay even a Penny for your accommodation? We'll see. 

(Photo: Unfortunately at the time I was hiking in The Wedge I didn't have my good camera. So all of the photos that I have taken from the cute Pika are small and not very clear. That is why I had to borrow this from the web)

Quince

There's this store at the corner of 12th St. and 46nd Ave. SE that I've checked it a few times so far. It's ran by an Oriental family I believe and they have mostly good items with reasonable prices. I noticed a big crate full of a type of fruit during one of my visits and when I looked closely I realized it is something that I haven't tried for years and not specifically in Canada: Quince. 

This is a type of fruit which, as far as I've experienced, is not eaten raw because it's hard, even when it's ripen and a despite its unique taste it's acrid. 

I have tried that as jam and stew in the old country. So here I did the same: I made Quince Stew out of the one I had purchased just to see how it would taste and it was fantastic. I'm sure it is fixed differently in other cultures including China where this family is probably coming from and is a major producer of the fruit but it was a good buy. Many recipes are available on the internet and cooking books which prevents me from writing one here but get one or two or as many as you want while they're open. Their winter closure is imminent and I have not seen this fruit anywhere else in the city or for that matter anywhere else in the country(!) in the past 15 years or so! 

(Photo: A randomly selected photo from Internet which shows good looking quinces!)

A Briliant Work: Bowling for Columbine

It is an interesting coincidence that I found this movie, a documentary, called Bowling for Columbine at the same time that a maniac opened fire from his hotel in Las Vegas on innocent people who were attending a music festival. As soon as I saw Michael Moore on the DVD in Value Village, where we went to get something for The Chef, a few weeks ago, as I mentioned earlier, I garbed it because I was sure that Michael Moore doesn't make something which doesn't make sense. It's got to be good! And after watching the documentary I have to say that it really is good. It's a briliant documentary.

This movie actually show how wrong Americans are. This was made back in 2002 and who knows how many innocent people have been killed in the past 15 years because by maniac simply because stupid Americans do not accept the fact of gun control. I am not following the news these days to the same level I used to. First of all it's because I don't have a TV. Secondly it's because I don't live in a comfortable place that I can move around freely and do what I want to do, whenever I want to do it. I'm sharing a small apartment with others and it's like living in hell but what can I do while I don't have a stable and reliable work? It's the subject of another of another post later.

So the Americans, I found out after a little study, that they have different amendments to their constitution which is basically the Basic Law.

The fact is the US Constitution was created in Sep. of 1787, originally and then ratified less than a year after that. The constitution has 27 amendments! It seems that when they were writing the damn thing, they all of a sudden or during a period, they remembered they had forgotten a number of key subjects and then decided to add them to the document!

The second amendment, which by its placement seems to have a high priority in Americans' list, refers to firearm possession. It protects the right of people to keep and bear arms which was adopted in Dec. of 1791, three years after the constitution was ratified.

The reason for having such right has been described as the natural right of self-defense(!),  resistance to oppression(!), and the civic duty in concert (agreement it means here. Don't mix it up with the meaning of the concert in Las Vegas that poor spectators where mascaraed!) in defense of the state!

All the above reason, when they were included in the silly amendment, made sense more than 225 years ago but they all seem stupid and ridiculous at the same time, today. Is this so hard for Americans to understand that the law which was enacted more than 200 years ago, could not work today?! Apparently it is! It's the same fact with Muslims who want to include Sharia Law to Canadian and other countries' laws! A law which was probably good 200 or more than 1000 years ago, now belongs to garbage can! 

Let's look at the reasons that they refer to in order to keep the damn, stupid Second Amendment acceptable and enforceable:

1- Natural right of self-defence! That's what the police is for. Especially in a country like the US that there's no shortage of them: local police, FBI and many other law enforcement agencies. Maybe more than 200 years ago that would make sense but not now. Besides you have to find the root cause of crime and resolve that permanently. as much as possible, instead of giving everyone a gun and tell them to shoot when they file they should.

2- Resistance to oppression! This is the funniest amongst the three. What type of oppression are we talking about in the 21 century?!  Oppression that Black people use to be under? Or oppression that a woman might feel from her abusive partner? Either one, in today's world cannot remove that oppression buy using a firearm. If they conquer the oppressor, that would be only temporary. That does not the other oppressors from doing the same thing. 

3- And the last one, as stupid and ridiculous as the first two, indicates the time that people have to defend the state! Maybe not 220 something years ago but now the US has enough armed forces in different shapes and types that can engage in fight at five corners of the globe without being short on military staff.

So if that's why you people think you should stick to the second amendment, I have to say, that's stupid and has caused innocent people to die every years in big numbers. 

Michael Moore tries to analysis the situation and come up with this answer as why the number of people who are killed in similar incidents are more than anywhere else in the world and evaluates different hypothesis. But none of them answers the question. 

He also interviews different people in the film. From the parents of victims of Columbine High School to famous actors such as Charlton Heston and popular singers such as Marlin Manson. 

Moore in Heston's home interviewing him in a short part of the movie. Heston died 6 years after that at the age of 84 in his home in Beverly Hills, California, of course. Where else his residence would have been?!

The film is so great and you don't want to leave it until it's done but the short interview with the late actor Heston is very interesting. I knew from a Jim Carry clip, which was released, I guess 3 years ago, that Heston was one of the supporters of the Second Amendment and condemners of gun control. He was in the town that the high school shooting occurred in the State of Colorado just one day after the massacre, rose a rifle and said: I'll give you my gun when you take it from my cold dead hand! I always liked Heston movies and in fact two of them Soylent Green and Planet of the Apes are amongst my all time favourites but you should be an idiot to go to the town, where people have just lost their children to two maniacs and shout a stupid slogan like that. Moore asked him if he thought he should apologize to the people of Columbine. He left!

So this is the movie and of course I'm not going to narrate the whole story here. You've got to see it for yourself. 4.7 out of 5 and I deducted 0.3 because I would want him to have a longer discussion over the subject so the movie would be longer. Don't miss it.

(Photo, top: Moore's interviewing Marlin Manson in this scene of the movie. Manson was blamed to encourage violence in his songs! He answers the questions wisely)

Hard to Do Policing in Canada

I've applied for 4 police forces, yes four(!) throughout the country and have failed all of them at different stages! Here there are:

Province of British Columbia:

Two municipalities (of course I'm not going to name them to protect my identity)

- I failed Memory Test for and they rejected me.

- They indicated that they were not hiring at that moment! 

Another one which I'm not even going to name the jurisdiction: 

- I had a credit problem at the time and that resulted in my application to be rejected despite the fact that I had passed their main written test.

A Prairie province(!):

- I failed the written test(s) once and then passed the second time. I was interviewed before even being evaluated physically, which still sounds strange to me. I failed the interview and never pursued that career since. 

Now with that in mind, I guess I'm somehow lucky that I haven't been selected by any of the above to do policing business because all you read or hear in the news these days is officers being suspended, put on leave or administrative duties after they do something, during their daily work, which sounds a little too much especially if it involves firearms. 

Two police officers from CPS were just put on leave last week after one of them had to shoot a crazy man who had started fire in a 7-Eleven store and had threatened people with a knife! The officers used every other alternatives including talking and Taser. 

If the police is not supposed to use a firearm then why the hell you give it to them in the first place?! The firearm is for the members to use when they are in danger or a member of the public is, or a partner of them is, as well. The officers are trained and trusted to use them and I'm sure no officer would use that unless he or she is absolutely have to. So what the hell is the big deal that the media and some authorities make every time an officer discharges his or in rare cases her firearm?! 

Indian police is getting ready to serve the public with their long sticks! Even The Chef should me a story about them that I should probably post it here. That would be interesting to read! Perhaps the ones who criticize officers should will be happy if the police's firearm is replaced with Bamboo sticks! 

Just give CPS officers a long stick, like Indian Police and ask them to use that when a situation escalates! I'm sure the crime will go down! In the society that the crime is going up, and that's due to high unemployment rate and uncontrolled entrance of refugees, the police should be equipped and ready more than any time. Not crippled and paralyzed, like it almost is at the moment. CPS is in need of at least 50 more officer, the chief has just said and these idiots criticize officers who put their life in danger to protect the public and bring peace to the neighbourhoods of the City! 

Policing in Canada, I must say, is even different from the US. Forget about Third World countries! I had two encounters, in my entire life before immigration with police:

1- A VCR, and possibly a few other items once was stolen from my aunt's house (the crazy Aunt from my Dad's side! This just reminds me of who she was if I read this post years from now and can't remember her!). I don't know how I ended up being there to see what has happened! Was I with Dad or someone else? I can't recall! It must have been Dad. We went to the Aunt's house as they were on vacation, I guess, to see what had happened. The police was there and we were asked to go to the station to provide them with an statement on the actual owner's behalf. This part I remember clearly that as soon as we sat in the backseat, the driver turned so fast and erratically that I thought, for a second, that we would either hit something or turn on our side! He didn't have to do that because we were not pursuing any suspect or were in rush for any other reason. It's just the way police drives there! if they do that here, it will be all over the news and probably more than 50 clips would be downloaded to YouTube! We later on found out that it was the boyfriend of my aunt's adopted daughter who had stolen the VCR, on those days that having a VCR was something like having a Mercedes now! Not everyone can afford one! The guy was never arrested and of course the adopted girl moved on!

2- Our below neighbour's house was broken into. The police questioned everyone in the building, especially me, as I was the only young male there. They took me to the station and questions stated raining upon me! I remember that I was standing and there was a guy in front of me and another one at the side, sitting on a chair. While I was answering the guy in front, I felt something was stoke my butt! I turned back and that was the asshole who was sitting on the chair! These guys were obviously  both detectives because they were in plain cloths but I don't think their method was very advanced! I don't remember much about the rest of the session but I remember only that they released me because they knew it was a silly questioning from the beginning. They had no evidence. I guess if the police does the same here to a young boy during questioning or interrogation (or whatever fancy name should be given to it) it will be considered assault and the officer would be charged! 

I'm not saying the police should be more rough. They should only serious enough based on the law and the public should let them to do their job. They are all trained and swore an oath. And everyone makes a mistake, including the police. Just don't exaggerate. 

(Photo, top: A 7-Eleven store in Calgary, near Mount Royal University which was set on fire from inside by a maniac! The fire crew and the police car are seen)