vava

Some people are too sensitive.

wow

Wise words qeri jan

Allow me to clarify, lest I be misunderstood. My post was in reponse to Arpa's original post where he asks, "How many mixed marriages do you know where the “otar” converts to Armenian?" and "When is the last time that anyone converted and BECAME Armenian???" And it was under that context (otar-Armenian marriage) that I made my comments on Armenian hospitality. When I said the Armenian hospitality comes to an end, I was perhaps being a tad cynical. My point was that many Armenian families will often welcome, love and accept their otar daughters&sons-in-law, however there exists a line that's not very often crossed. That line is where the newcomer is actually considered family - and hence Armenian. Anahit still refers to her Uncle's wife as her "AMERICAN" aunt - her family loves her, and yet she's not blood - she's still an outsider... you see what I'm trying to say? There's no malevolence there, or 'fakeness' for that matter - it's a subconcious thing likely, brought about by generations of victimisation. But that's another topic - I hope I clarified my comments a bit That's wonderful I have similar relationships with my cousins wives.

Interesting first post. Welcome alexan. I'm not much of a history buff, but kakachik is correct. Yerevan was a fortress, and strategically important. It changed hands several times between the Persians and various turkic empires - however as recently as the early 1800's the population of yerevan was reportedly less than a scant 10,000 inhabitants. Compared to Tabriz, which was the capital city of the persian kingdom prior to the Safavids in the 13 century - yerevan as a city would have been rather insignificant. Perhaps some other members can shed more light.

Anahid - yes I certainly can say it's illogical. One thing that my relatively limited experience has taught me is to not place ANY stock on the credibilty of "stories" told by in-laws of relationships gone bad - especially in Armenian gossip circles. Boy some of the "stories" I have heard would make you stand on your head - but rather sadly, there is very little truth them - most are concocted to "save face" in front of other family members lest their son/nephew/cousin look bad. There are motives behind these stories - and old-world families are masters of this kind of "public relations spin". Sheesh! Legendary Armenian hospitality is ever-present when welcoming otars into our households. But it morphs into some unrecognizable sort of resentment when that otar gets close - or seeks marriage into the family. There the welcome ends, the hospitality disappears and the rifts begin.

Bravo Pazeh Some fine photos you have there. Welcome to HF! Thank you for bringing this to us Armenak

Thank you for proving my point.

That's exactly the problem - I don't have a perception of "them". I bet if you were to speak to the wives families, you could probably end up with a bad "perception" of Egyptian-Armenian men. You see how that works? Generalizations based upon a few anecdotes aren't necessarily facts. Anyway - forgive me, this is way off topic.

Armenians won't premit it. Even if we exclude moslems & jews and we only consider inter-christian marriages, Armenian families aren't likely to accept the 'otar' wife/husband. Armenians often don't like to 'share' their culture - they will certainly be proud of it, but more often then not, Armenians regard their culture as a commodity onto which they wish to hold exclusive rights. The otar new comer to the family sadly doesn't have the right to share in that commodity - and if we're aiming for growth in diaspora, we must be more inclusive and create the community structures that not only accept mixed marriage, but help bring the otars of mixed marriages "into the fold" - so they can also be part of the Armenian culture. What is this about French Canadian women being degenerates?? Very strange - I know only two 'French Canadian' women who are involved with Armenians, but both of them are strong supporters of Armenian and Armenian culture. One, in fact, has been to Armenia 6 times already - she even helps run tours for other 'otars' married to Armenians! But I won't use one simple example to make a crazy generalization. I just don't get the point of your post Takuhi jan...

New Turkish genre paints U.S. as the enemy By BENJAMIN HARVEY Thursday, February 2, 2006 Posted at 8:56 PM EST Source: CBC Associated Press Istanbul, Turkey — The latest in a new genre of Turkish popular culture that vilifies the United States, a Turkish movie shows American soldiers in Iraq crashing a wedding and pumping a little boy full of lead in front of his mother. They randomly machine-gun dozens of people to death, shoot the groom in the head and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison — where a Jewish-American doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv. “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq,” which opens in Turkey on Friday, feeds off the increasingly negative feelings many Turks harbour toward their long-time allies: Americans. It stars Billy Zane as a self-professed “peacekeeper sent by God” and Gary Busey as the doctor. The movie reportedly was made for some $10-million (U.S.) — the most expensive Turkish film ever — and it follows the best-selling novel “Metal Storm,” about a war between Turkey and the U.S. Advertisements ad1 One recent opinion poll revealed the depth of the hostility in Turkey toward Americans: 53 per cent of Turks who responded to the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes survey associated Americans with the word “rude”; 70 per cent with “violent”; 68 per cent with “greedy”; and 57 per cent with “immoral.” Advance tickets for the film already are selling out across Turkey. And the film is scheduled for release in more than a dozen other countries — including the United States. U.S. soldiers have become hate figures in Muslim countries around the world after the war in Iraq. But in Turkey, a personal grudge fuels the resentment. “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq” — a spinoff of a popular Turkish TV series — opens with a true story: On July 4, 2003, in northern Iraq, troops from the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade raided and ransacked a Turkish special forces office, threw hoods over the heads of 11 officers, and held them in custody for more than two days. The Americans said they had been loo king for Iraqi insurgents and unwittingly rounded up the Turks because they were not in uniform. Still, the incident damaged Turkish-U.S. relations and hurt Turkish national pride. Turks traditionally idolize their soldiers; most enthusiastically send their sons off for mandatory military service. In the movie, which veers into fiction after the opening scenes, one of the Turkish special forces officers commits suicide to save his honour. His farewell letter reaches Polat Alemdar, an elite Turkish intelligence officer who travels to northern Iraq with a small group of men to avenge the humiliation. They find rogue U.S. soldiers led by Sam William Marshall (Zane). In the bloodfest that ensues, the small band of Turks bonds with the people of Iraq and eventually ends American atrocities there, killing Zane and his men in the final scene. “The scenario is great,” Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas told The Associated Press after the film was shown at a posh opening gala Tuesday night. “It was very successful. ... a soldier's honor must never be damaged.” But Topbas and other Turks at the premiere weren't too concerned about how the movie would be perceived in the United States. “There isn't going to be a war over this,” said Nefise Karatay, a Turkish model lounging on a sofa after the premiere. “Everyone knows that Americans have a good side. That's not what this is about.”

Thanks for sharing your pictures gevo nice to have you back.

Beautiful dog EZ! Welcome back, nice to see you again....

My grandmother & mother both made amazing Zeresh Polo. I've tried it at some Persian restaurants & Cello Kababi's but nothing compares... I think Armenians in Iran had their own specific versions of the persian recipes. For example, the Ghormeh sabzi you get at most Persian places is really dark green - almost black - with that thick layer of oil on top. My mom's was bright green, full of herbs with big chunks of lamb (or beef) and tasted fresh, not oily. Anyway, getting back to Zereshk Polo, it should be fairly simple for an Armenian (I would modify the recipe in the link above just slightly: Marinade you chicken in lemon juice, saffron & onion (and a little salt) Make your regular basmati rice with saffron. Take the dried Zereshk, rinse, and heat in butter for a few minutes. Grill the chicken, and serve it on the rice, slightly mixed with the Zereshk & butter. MMmmm - I think i'll have that tomorrow. Too late for tonight (I just ate).

That recipe seems pretty simple to me - I remember as a kid I always thought Zereshk Polo took a lot of time & care to prepare properly. I use to love it, but alas I haven't had it in years. BTW my instinct tells me that the chicken marinade should include saffron as well...

Happy Brithday dude Make it a memorable one!

What'll ya do then? Honestly, I don't think I'll ever retire - unless it's to sail a boat around the world or such. I can't imagine becoming "irrelevant" as many of our marginalised senior citizens quickly become... that's arguably a fate worse than death (depending on your idea of death, of course)... But then, this is off-topic I,ll just end here.

You still get Time? Weren't you going to cancel your subscription?

I suppose I prefer to get rich slow except that recently it,s been too slow for my liking

What? Aren't you in Quebec Vergy? I would have though someone like you would support independance.

I honestly don't see it as a true intelligence test - essentially it tests pattern recognition (and even dolphins can do that!)

Must be Asian - maybe Beijing for the olympics? It's a developers free-for-all going on over there...

Less squeks when the weather warms up - mor squeaks when it drops below -20. I figure some of the joints are 'looser' as everything shrinks as it gets so cold. Tried the wash & lube thing, and haven't had many squeaks since but it hasn't bee quite as cold. Difficult for me to do an effective lube job as I have no garage. We'll see what the spring brings.

Is that a real building? Looks a lot like digital artistry - pretty incredible though....