Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
Oct 30, 2004

FROM THE MARGINS
On two arguments and seven visions

PATRICK AZADIAN
Sergei Paradjanov’s “Seven Visions” accompanied Shota to the cemetery
every time.

Shota Kaladze considered himself an American, but felt a common bond
with the mysterious Soviet-Armenian artist. The two men had been born
in the Caucasian city of Tbilisi. Shota had made it his mission to read
the scenarios of the Georgian-born master, until he made some sense of
the complex literary scenarios.

On the snake-like Forest Lawn Drive, the paperback always occupied the
passenger seat. As usual, it oscillated on the leather surface until it
conquered the forces of friction and escaped into the crack in between
the chair and the door. “Seven Visions” would be resting to prepare for
an intense reading session by Shota at the park.

A moral dilemma had been on Shota’s mind. His thoughts were occupied by
a conversation he’d had with his favorite half-Georgian redhead,
Endzela.

Endzela and Shota shared a somewhat similar ethnic background. She had
been born in the Ukrainian city of Lvov to a Georgian father and a
Russian mother. Just a few days ago, the two had been engaged in a
conversation on why people do things for others. According to Endzela,
people ultimately did things for themselves, and there was no room for
altruism.

Endzela was passionate about her point of view: “I cannot believe some
of the things I used to do for my ex-boyfriend. I used to comply
without question. You know me; I am not the submissive type. Now, I
realize I did all those things for myself. Doing things for him made me
happy.”

Shota’s response was muted: “That’s discomforting.”

Endzela continued: “But it’s true. Let’s say, I am sick and call a
friend for help. Either he will come and help, and in the process
strengthen our friendship, or he doesn’t want to come, but since he
needs me as a friend, he will show up. Either way, he’ll be doing it
out of self interest.”

Shota could not put his finger on what was wrong with the argument:
“But there may be a third derivative. Let’s say, your friend cares for
you deeply, and you call him for help.”

“Da.” Endzela responded in Russian.

“And before he has time to process the information, and determine what
is in his interest, he drops everything and comes to you.”

Endzela had a response ready: “That sounds like love and I don’t
believe in it. If couples are lucky, love evolves into ‘like and
friendship’ and if not, they end up with ‘hate and resentment.’ Yours
is a special case … ”

Shota continued: “I see some holes in your theory. Speaking of love,
you know of Paradjanov?”

“Of course.”

“He had a much more optimistic view on love. I think he wrote:

‘I can compare you to satin,

But in time it wears out.

I could compare you to a flower,

But it withers in an hour.

I could compare you to a doe,

But then everyone would know.

My words take wings like a dove,

What can I say o my love.’ ”

Endzela was rarely impressed: “He must’ve written that in the onset of
a relationship. What most people call ‘love,’ I call infatuation.”

“Coming back to my ‘derivative,’ when you care for someone, selves can
be so intertwined that you don’t give yourself time to figure out why
you’re doing certain things. The border between your own self interest
and the other person’s interests can become blurry. Do you know what
your name means in Georgian?”

“Yes ‘Snow drop.’ I was a very pale but pretty child.”

“And modesty is not one of your virtues, is it?”

“Sincerity is. Modesty is often a fake virtue.”

“It’s a pretty name; it goes with the face.”

Shota pulled into the parking lot at the cemetery to review the choice
of flowers. He rotated through the Snapdragon colors at each visit. He
had already gone through white, red, orange, pink and yellow. It was
the turn of lavender to rest its feathery weight on Mr. Kaladze. Shota
eventually parked at curbside and began walking to his destination in a
pattern of half-squares. He tried to avoid stepping over the
gravestones. Armenian surnames had always caught his eyes during this
short walk to chat with his father. He had always been fascinated with
Georgia’s southern neighbors. He was glad Mr. Kaladze was among old
friends.

Shota threw down his blue towel, knelt down and began his report to his
father: “I am doing well … ”

His short briefing was followed by a reading from Paradjanov and
concluded in a verse: “The poet is dead, but his muse lives on …”

On his way back home, Shota’s thoughts snapped back to the half-Russian
redhead. Why had he come to the cemetery? For whom? For whose benefit?
He was only sure of one thing: He simply wanted to be there. He dialed
Endzela: “Endzela?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Shota.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Can I get you to have coffee with me?”

“Yes, but come here. I’ll make coffee. I’ve had a little accident, I
can’t leave the house.”

“I’ll be there in a few; what happened…”

– PATRICK AZADIAN lives and works in Glendale. He is an identity and
branding consultant for the retail industry. Reach him at
[email protected].

Iran capable of exporting gas to major markets

IranMania
27 Oct. 2004

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 – ©2004 IranMania.com

LONDON, Oct 27 (IranMania) – Iran will increase its natural gas
production capacity from 130 billion cubic meter per year to 300
billion cubic meter within next 10 years and the figure is expected
to hit 400 billion cubic meter in 20 years.

According to Petroenergy Information Network (P.I.N), Hadi Nejad
Hosseinian, deputy oil minister for international affairs, told
the conference on ‘energy transfer in Asia, Europe; challenges and
prospect’ in Brussels, Belgium that Iran is also planning to boost its
crude output from the current figure of 4.2 mln barrels per day to 6
mln barrels a day within next 10 years. He said during past seven years
more than $46 bln have been invested in Iran’s oil and gas industry,
65% of which came through foreign investment, adding, “We are planning
to invest about $100 bln in oil and gas industries by 2015.”

The official noted that Iran has made plans to export liquefied
natural gas to china, India, Japan, East Asia and Europe.

“We are currently exporting gas to Turkey and exports to Armenia,
Nakhichevan and the United Arab Emirates will start soon,” he noted.

Nejad Hosseinian added that Iran’s proximity to big gas producing
and exporting countries has given it many options in international
negotiations while geographical conditions of the country played a
great role in this regard.

The deputy minister said European countries’ dependence on natural gas
will increase in coming decades and European states are expected to
supply 65 percent of their needed natural gas through imports within
next 25 years (by 2030).

“Russia is currently supplying the lion’s share of the European gas,
but it may not be able to supply all needed gas to member states of the
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),” he said.

The official added that Iran, which is a neighbor to Russia,
Commonwealth of Independent States and Caucasus, is also capable of
meeting the needs of markets with exceptional demand such as Pakistan,
India, China, and even Japan. Nejad Hosseinian stated that transferring
Caspian oil to Persian Gulf through Iran was a vital projects that
would lead to bolstering regional cooperation, but “interference of
countries from outside the region that follow political goals will
result in an economic catastrophe.”

He mentioned financial requirements for gas transfer projects, low
price of gas, the need to predetermined customers, high value of gas
transfer, passage through various countries and political risks in
every country as major challenges facing gas transfer projects.

“I believe that high oil price which is partly due to inadequate
supply, is a warning for natural gas users among member states of the
European Union. Low oil price in past years preventing investment in
production which led to current undesirable situation,” he noted. He
noted that cooperation among Caspian littoral states will benefit
all those countries, noting, “Stability and lack of political chaos
are major factors ensuring safe signing of natural gas contracts.”

The conference on ‘energy transfer in Asia, Europe; challenges and
prospect’ was held in Brussels for two days and was attended by
representatives from Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, and Kazakhstan
as well as directors and representatives of major oil companies.

–Boundary_(ID_+ctZ4Vfjoxt5UcRxpMZCEg)–

CEREMONY OF REMEMBRANCE OF VICTIMS OF OCTOBER 27 TERRORIST ACT TAKES PLACE IN
YARD OF NA BUILDING

ATTENTION: UPDATED NEWS SENT YEREVAN, October 26 (Noyan Tapan). As
of 6:30 p.m., the rally organized by the “Ardarutiun” (“Justice”)
bloc in Liberty Square was over, and the rally participants went to
the NA building to pay tribute to the memory of the political figures
perished during the October 27 1999 terrorist act and to lay wreaths
to the memorial stone set up in the yard of the NA building. A group
of 50 people among participants of the rally, representatives of the
opposition and relatives of the victims of the October 27 terrorist
act, entered the territory of the parliament. Small perturbation arouse
at the gates of the parliamemt, as many participants of the rally
also wanted to enter the yard of the building. But the list of people,
who have the right to come in the yard, was preliminarily coordinated
with the leadership of the National Assembly whose representatives
and MPs representing the political forces of the ruling coalition have
already been waiting for an hour and a half for representatives of the
opposition organizing the rally in Liberty Square. Participants of
the mourning ceremony laid wreaths to the monument of the victims of
the October 27 terrorist act. RA NA Chairman Artur Baghdasarian in his
short speech presented his condolences to the relatives and friends
of the victims of the tragedy. He also mentioned the necessity of
the full disclosing of the crime. Viktor Dallakian, Secretary of the
“Ardarutyun” faction, spoke on behalf of the opposition. He mentioned
that terrorism is unacceptable independently of the fact for what
goals it serves. Dallakian stressed that the purpose of this crime
was to change the results of the 1999 parliamentary elections.
Mentioning that he doesn’t what to give assessments, the MP said
that all the political forces should unite in order to exclude the
possibility of the repetition of terrorist acts in Armenia. The
mourning ceremony lasted for 10-15 minutes, then participants of the
rally left the NA building.

Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
Oct 21 2004

Scholar to discuss Armenian immigration to America

Visiting scholar Dr. Knarik Avakian of the Institute of History,
National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, will speak on “Armenian
Immigration to the U.S.: Evidence From the Constantinople
Patriarchate” tonight (Thursday) at 8 p.m. at the Center and
Headquarters of the National Association for Armenian Studies and
Research (NAASR), 395 Concord Ave., Belmont.

Avakian has conducted a thorough study of the origins and
development of the largest and most organized Armenian diasporan
community, that of the United States of America. The author of the
Armenian-language “History of the Armenian Community of the United
States of America (From the beginning to 1924),” published in Yerevan
in 2000, she is also the author of over 50 articles on the Armenian
Diaspora, especially immigration to the United States.

Under various historical circumstances, the Armenians were
compelled to leave their native lands and immigrate to the United
States for individual, educational, economic, political, cultural,
religious and other purposes. These Armenian emigrants, who came
primarily from the Armenian-inhabited regions of Turkey and Western
Armenia, maintained their relations with the Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople, regarding it as their permanent spiritual, moral, and
practical bulwark. This fact is testified to by the extremely
valuable documents kept up to the present day at the Archives of the
Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople (founded in 1461).

Avakian was educated at Yerevan State University, where she
received a master’s degree in history, and completed a Ph.D. at the
Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of
Armenia. She has taught history at the university level in Armenia
and currently serves as senior researcher at the Institute of
History, senior editor at the Armenian Encyclopedia, and is head of
the Young Scientists’ Council at the Institute of History.

Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The
NAASR bookstore will open at 7:30 p.m. The NAASR Center and
Headquarters is located opposite the First Armenian Church and next
to the U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available around the
building and in adjacent areas.

For more information about the lecture call 617-489-1610, or
e-mail [email protected].

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT IS GOING TO DISCUSS ISSUES OF RECOGNITION OF
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP IN EUROPEAN UNION

BRATISLAVA, October 20 (Noyan Tapan). The National Assembly of
Slovakia is going to discuss the issues of Turkey’s possible
membership in the European Union during this and next weeks. According
to Ashot Grigorian, Chairman of the Armenian Community of Slovakia, it
will follow the discussion of the issue of Slovakia’s recognition of
the Armenian Genocide by the suggestion of the Christian-Democratic
faction of the parliament. It is also expected that the issue of
Turkey’s membership in the European Union will be connected with the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey.

Europe – AP

Armenian Arrested With Radioactive Load
Europe – AP
October 18, 2004

YEREVAN, Armenia – Authorities have arrested a man found with
radioactive cesium-137 in the trunk of his car, a state official said
Monday.

The highly toxic material, which could contaminate large areas if used
in a “dirty bomb,” was found Friday and “rendered harmless,” Ashot
Martirosian, chief of the State Atomic Oversight department, said.

Yerevan resident Gagik Tovmasian was arrested on charges of illegal
trade in radioactive materials, Martirosian said.

It was unclear how the man obtained the material, but various sources
for it exist in Armenia, a small former Soviet republic in the
Caucasus Mountains, Martirosian said.

Various industries use cesium-137 in density gauges and for machine
calibration. Authorities in neighboring Georgia have spoken of the
need to create a storage site for gauges in which cesium-137 was used
to measure the level of gasoline in underground tanks at gas stations.

Martirosian did not say how much cesium was found, but he said the
substance is very hazardous to human health.

Devices containing cesium-137 can cause serious radiation exposure if
broken and held. Depending on the amount and form, experts say a dirty
bomb made with cesium-137 could spread intense radioactivity over a
section of a city, making it uninhabitable.

In February, Martirosian said a powerful source of radiation was found
on the Armenian-Iranian border, among scrap metal headed for Iran.

“CILICIA” TO WINTER IN VENICE

Azg/am
19 Oct 04

On October 14, “Cilicia” arrived in Venice and moored by the Island of
St. Lazarus, one of the centers of Armenian culture. The first part
of the program envisaged by Ayas club members is already carried
out. The members of the crew are already getting ready for winter.
>From Poti to Venice the ship had 22 stations. They passed across 7
seas and visited 11 countries in 93 days. All the Armenians followed
the voyage of “Cilicia” with great interest. RA President Robert
Kocharian sent a message to the members of the crew reading: “It is
over three weeks that we attentively follow your courageous voyage on
the copy of the 13-th century Cilicia ship. You carried with pride the
flag of our motherland on “Cilicia” after 800 years. Today is a day of
joy. You reachedthe harbor of Venice. I congratulate you with
finishing the first part of your long voyage. I wish you health and
successful return.”

The sailors also think that their main goal is attained and, giving
excellent mark to their activities, they state that all the possible
was done on higher level. They only regret that they couldn’t take
time for visiting Egypt. But it is already an undeniable fact that the
members of Ayas club are already sailors, men of sea.

“Cilicia” participated in the international parade of sailing ships,
carrying the Armenian flag among the fags of other countries.
Afterwards, the ship will stay moored in the former military harbor of
Venice during the whole winter. The Armenian sailors will be back to
Armenia by the end of October.

By Tamar Minasian

Family of slain Minnesotan visits Armenia, appeals to possible witnesses

Associated Press
Oct 16 2004

YEREVAN, Armenia – Visiting the country where her son was killed,
the mother of an American man who was stabbed to death in Armenia
earlier this year made a plea Friday for anyone with information
about the unsolved slaying to come forward.

Maxine Haglund-Blommer said she and two other sons, James and John,
came to the former Soviet republic in part to acquaint themselves
with the places where Joshua Haglund lived and worked before his
killing. At a news conference, Haglund-Blommer gave an address where
possible witness can turn to aid in the investigation.

The body of Haglund, a 33-year-old from Shoreview, Minn., who was
teaching English in Armenia, was found May 17 by his landlady on the
street outside his apartment in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. No
one has been arrested in the killing.

Haglund-Blommer aid that the U.S. Ambassador and Armenia’s chief
prosecutor consider the investigation into his death a priority, and
that police have worked hard on the case, but added that it hasn’t
been enough to solve his slaying.

Haglund was gay, and his family has wondered if his killing was a
hate crime.

Before leaving for Armenia, Haglund’s brother James said he and other
members of the family believed the trip would be part of the healing
process. The family planned to spend 10 days in Yerevan meeting with
local court officials and Haglund’s friends and colleagues here.

At the time of his killing, Haglund had been planning to leave
Armenia for a trip through Iran before returning to Minnesota for
the summer. Before coming to Armenia, a Caucasus Mountain nation
that gained independence in the 1991 Soviet breakup, he had lived
for extended periods in Japan, India and Puerto Rico.

He graduated from Mounds View High School and the University of
Minnesota.

Enchanting music keeps singer-pianist Galas ‘alive’
by Nancy Lanthier, Vancouver Sun

The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
October 14, 2004 Thursday
Final Edition

Sometimes intelligent, sensitive artists are impelled to make art
that has nothing to do with beauty or emotional comfort. Rather,
these artists hurl a horrific hell at us, works that are bleak,
black, raging.

When artists handle topical monstrosities articulately, though, it
can be like a scouring pad to the soul; it feels like an extraordinary
gift.

So, let us give thanks to ferociously uncompromising vocalist and
pianist Diamanda Galas. For more than 20 years the New Yorker has
purged devastating performances about plagues and apocalypse on an
steadily expanding international cultdom.

Her latest double CD, Defixiones: Will and Testament continues
the bleakness. Focusing on victims of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek
genocides, Galas growls, hisses, groans and shrieks while clawing
at the piano like Chopin possessed, creating a soundscape that’s
terrifying and beautiful.

On the phone from her home, the artist is an open book; today’s
chapter is a dark one, revealing what she’d like to do to the “inept
imbeciles,” who three weeks ago cancelled her entire U.S. tour —
while she was one show into it. (Her Tuesday concert at the Vogue
was independently arranged.)

Hard to believe, but yes, someone dared cross Diamanda Galas.

“The guy’s a spoiled, rich boy, vice-president of the company,” she
seethes. “What he doesn’t understand is that while he has all this
money, I’m doing what they say when they tell drug addicts to watch
themselves because, ‘your addiction is doing push-ups while you’re
relaxing.’ I’m the one doing push-ups while he’s relaxing. He’s going
to pay.”

I commiserate with her and steer the conversation back to her work.
But she immediately slides into describing the revenge she’s going to
take on this guy — to the point where I begin to wonder what toll it
takes on an artist to be acclaimed as the “Diva of the Dispossessed.”
To thoroughly research, record and tour extreme music that fixates
on the biggest, saddest themes. What kind of woman becomes a legend
for AIDS-related works such as Plague Mass, Litanies of Satan and
the Masque of the Red Death Trilogy?

She is the same woman who has also just released La Serpenta Canta,
crucial interpretations of blues and country standards by Hank
Williams, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and others.

She is the same artist who says, “there is genius in this world and
Janis Joplin had it.”

She is the same woman who slams “that monkey” president for among other
things, his voice: “You don’t even have to listen to what he has to
say! Listen to the resonance of that little guy. His intelligence is
radiated in that little sign wave of his.”

She is the same artist who describes the most intense moments of her
performance as “going beyond myself. It’s like a gift. Everything is
free and you want to keep going as much as you can in that direction.
It’s beautiful.”

But ultimately, Galas is an angry woman. Her ability to focus on
monstrosity, she admits, is not balanced by a content state of mind.
“The times that everything seems just perfect are very few. I think
some of us are in positions where we have to do a lot of fighting and
that becomes a central part of our existence. So, when you actually
have the opportunity of doing something as enchanting as music,
it keeps you alive for the rest of this crap; it allows you to get
through those things. If you get too introverted when you’re going
through a very difficult stage, that’s the place where people usually
hang themselves.

You’re a very lucky person if you can do something that takes you
beyond it. For some people there’s no escape. ”

She has described the truth of her conviction as “having her own
religion.

“It’s about fighting until the end to defend your beliefs, what it
is you feel you were put on this planet to experience. You believe
in the blessing that it is to be alive and you know how limited and
short that can be. So everything is a fight against people who put
you in a position of slavery. And I don’t mean black slavery; in
terms of Albanians, rape of Bosnians — there’s so much of this all
over the world in different forms. So let’s not use the word slavery.
It’s a fight against being treated like a dog. That’s my religion.”

GRAPHIC: Photo: New Yorker Diamanda Galas plays the Vogue on Tuesday.

LOVE ON THE ROCKS

Irish Times
Oct 15, 2004

Donald Clarke

REVIEWED – VODKA LEMON: Several times in Hiner Saleem’s engaging
Armenian drama a horseman races across the screen, his progress
unacknowledged by any of the characters. One is reminded of the
speeding motorcyclist in Local Hero, and Vodka Lemon, though darker
and more fatalistic than Bill Forsyth’s film, takes a similar delight
in eccentric lives.

Following the trials of Hamo (Romik Avinian), an ageing musician
trying to get by in a country coping poorly with capitalism, the
picture touches on what is becoming a common theme in world cinema:
stubborn nostalgia for the certainties of the communist system. Much of
the picture is taken up with the characters attempting to sell their
possessions for US dollars. “We’ve nothing left but our freedom,”
somebody says at one point.

Hamo, whose apparently useless son has left his isolated Kurdish
village for Paris, travels each day to the graveyard to pay his
respects to his late wife. Over time, he becomes aware of the
middle-aged woman who repeatedly asks the bus driver – a kindly fellow
like most of the film’s characters – to allow her to travel for free.

The two lonely people tiptoe towards an unlikely romantic relationship.

Composed for the most part of static shots, often taken from face-on,
the picture has the steady, uncomplicated feel of folk cinema. The
snow, the booze and the surrealism call to mind the work of Aki
Kaurismäki, but Saleem has managed to find a humane, confident voice
of his own. And, though terrible things happen, the director always
manages to maintain a welcoming ambience.

That said, there are more than enough outbreaks of wilful quirkiness
in the picture and readers allergic to narrative cop-outs may wish
to cover their eyes for the last five minutes. Solid work, nonetheless.