More books

Book I'm reading

• Notes from Underground

Book to read

• Funny in Farsi

Book I've just finished

• Lullaby

Book recommendations

A friend of mine asked me about some book recommendations, here are mine in no particular order:

• A Tale of Two Cities
• Sophie's World
• The Stranger
• Nineteen Eighty-Four
• Animal Farm
• The Left Hand of Darkness
• The Dispossessed
• Veronika Decides to Die
• Memories of My Melancholy Whores
• The Little Prince

Proud to be a human

I was reading a robot story by Asimov in which a sophisticated intelligent robot is trying to become more and more like humans. Why do we think that we have the best physical bodies? Why would a robot not have wheels instead of legs? Why would they speak in human language instead of binary numbers?

My roommate is right. The only way intelligent machines might be interested in us would be as pets or as lab rats. (see "The Matrix")

Morals of "The Dark Knight"

1. It is alright to spy on people as long as you are looking for a bad guy.
2. It is NOT OK to share information about illegal activities with the public
3. You should give the people something to have faith in.
4. A priviliged few have the right to decide what is best for everyone
5. Cops are the good guys even if they sell your fiance to the bad guys
6. Bad guys do what they do without any reason
7. Guns are useless and fail a lot and metal detectors are nonexistant

Translation of a Persian poem

My Garden

Its sky is embraced tightly
by wet thick coat of clouds.
The leafless garden
is lonely night and day
in a sad innocent silence.
It has rain for an instrument and wind for voice.
Its garment is nakedness,
or if it needs any other garment
it has been woven from golden threads by the wind.
"Let them grow or not grow, anyone anywhere it wants or does not want"
There is not a gardener or a passer by.
The garden of the hopeless
is not waiting for a spring.
If there is no warm glow in its eyes,
and if no leaf of smile grows on its lips,
who says the leafless garden is not beautiful?
It is telling the story of the hight up in the sky fruits which are now buried in the lowly coffin of the soil.

The leafless garden
Its smile is tear and blood.
Forever trotting on its long haired yellow horse in it is,
the king of seasons, Autumn.

Politics

Although I am neither a politician nor a philosopher, I do have a political stance. I can classify myself as a libertarian socialist. I like Noam Chomsky's political views. I found a few nice videos of his talks and interviews on Google Video.

Fucking Åmål

This is the best movie I have seen in the last few months. Highly recommended.