From time to time i check You tube for Armenian stuffs and today i saw this animation. I liked it, It is not like pixar animation but its fine to me.

It seems Turkish lobby has succeeded to have the backing of 8 former U.S secretary of states. These secretaries served both democrat and republican governments and names such as Madeline Allbright and henry Kissinger and Collin Powell are among them. This time Armenian foreign ministry also came forward and criticized the move. The battle on the congress resolution on Armenian genocide is heating up more and more. you can read the story here.

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Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish Nobel laureate, was in London to promote his new book, other colors. He was accompanied by his daughter and his translator Maureen Freely who was also hrand dink’s friend.
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Marco Grigor(Marcos Grigorian), the well known Armenian-Iranian artist died in yerevan yesterday. I have not seen any armenian news website covering his death.
He is considered a pinonner of modern Iranian art. He organized the the first Tehran Biennial.
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Armenian opera singer Gohar Gasparyan passed away yesterday, at the age of 83. She was born in Egypt and moved to Armenia in the forties. Her songs were heard throughout the former USSR as well as in Europe. Condolences go to her family.

As Matt posted, Screamers, the documentary directed by Carla Garapedian , following System of a Down and their struggle for Genocide recognition , was shown by BBC tonight.

It certainly is harrowing, there are references to the Armenian Genocide, USA’s refusal to acknowledge it, as well as their deliberate under-use of the word Genocide, to avoid taking action. What affected me most was Serj Tankian (the lead singer)’s personal struggle with the Genocide as an issue. I am not too familiar with his music, I will be honest, but I can honestly say the dedication and passion , yet with balance and sensibiltiy with which he pursues his cause is highly admirable, and an example for any diasporan Armenian. The film features interviews with his own grandfather, himself a Genocide survivor, and their relationship and interaction is a key part of bringing the personal elements of the story together.

The key to this film is that it is more than just another documentary film. System of a Down ( from personal experience ) are the favourite band of many many 18-25 year old’s , many of them students. It is these people who like to(and have time to) become accquainted with political and human rights issues, and are a highly influential demographic. If this film can be seen by even one in ten of those people, who already respect the band, then we will end up with a large number of the future generation being aware of this as FACT. It shouldn’t be underestimated, and for that reason soon (hopefully) Armenian youth groups around the world will be able to mobilise and ensure this film is seen by as many such people as possible.

So, Nigel Charnock, a British based dance artist has been condemned by the Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosian, by dancing on the Armenian flag, as well as wrapping it around his naked body. Some ministers have gone as far to brand the dancer ” a criminal” under a law which claims any defacement of the Armenian tricolour constitues prosecution.

Charnock has apologised for his performance, brought over by the British Council, and he stated that he only wanted it to represent the love felt when he was in Armenia.

I couldn’t help but wonder - whilst I appreciate, seeing an Armenian flag danced upon and wrapped around a male body, is probably not a pleasant sight…we may consider the deeper meanings of this, Charnock has said why he did it. What made me sneer inside was the numerous other, far more obvious “insults” to Armenian dignity that one may come accross every day in Armenia :

The piles of rotting rubbish on the streets, people eating seeds and throwing them all over the floor outside an Opera house home to a stage named after one of this Century’s most prominent composers, or watching Armenian Grandmothers beg for money so desperately, whilst the dust from a hummer owned by a well connected “guarantor of Armenian dignity” covers the citizens on the street… Tell me, where is the ranting and raving about these everyday insults to Armenian dignity? Who is going to brand these people criminals?

Wednesday night we ended up watching American Idol’s L.A. auditions on the Fox network. Last night’s program finally televised an Armenian American from Southern California. I really don’t have the nerve to describe what I saw as this performance was beyond anything I have ever seen on national television. Check out Martik Manoukian’s unusual American Idol audition now posted on YouTube. Let us know what you think. Hey, good performance or bad, Martik was fresh and entertaining.

Just read an article about the Amazing Armenian Charles Aznavour in the International Herald Tribune (Herald Asahi). Dear Charles - oh how I admire you!!!

Sunday was a great day, I was at the official sendoff ceremony of the Armenian replica Cilicia vessel. This is a model of an 800 year old ship that is being sailed around the world by a very talented group of Armenians. The ceremony was great, with easily 1000 people present. There were excellent performances from the London community dance group, and speech from His Excellency Dr Vahe Gabrielyan, Ambassador for the R.A. - It was great to see British passersby being so interested by the event that they ended up watching it, security was needed to control the crowds, I don’t think anyone expected it to be so big…and it was truly amazing to see the ship sail through the Tower Bridge to the tune of the Zurna and Dhol , and the cheers of the Armenian Community.

I think it’s amazing that this ship is sailing around so many parts of the world, and it will be great to see it docked at Sevan lake one day…

Hoorah! Turkey has dropped the charges against Orhan Pamuk!

Turkey took advantage of a legal misunderstanding to drop its case.

The Times has great coverage.

This case was becoming an embarrassment for the Government, in Europe, at home, everywhere. The way they resolved it today was really through a convenient misunderstanding. The court trying Pamuk went to the Ministry of Justice asking permission to try him. The ministry said: actually, you don’t need permission from us. The court took that to mean that there was no case for him to answer and the trial collapsed.

The AP says that the lawyer that brought the case against Pamuk isn’t happy:

Nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, who pushed for the trial of Pamuk, said he would appeal the court decision.

“It is a scandal,” Kerincsiz said by telephone. “Orhan Pamuk must be punished for insulting Turkey and Turkishness, it is a grave crime and it should not be left unpunished.”

[Shudder]

A new documentary has been broadcasted in the US covering four university students all of whom are are transgendered. (Please skim the Wikipedia article if you don’t have any background on this subject.) It is called TransGeneration. It is on the Sundance and Logo channels (available on most digital cable and sat.)

It is a really great show. There are 8 parts, each of which features all of the four students: two of whom are transitioning female to male and two are transitioning male to female. These young adults are very interesting. Their stories are extremely compelling.

One of the students is T.J., who is Armenian from Cyprus (although he was born in Beiruit.) T.J. went to Melkonian in the 1990s as Tamar and won a Fullbright Scholarship to come to the US.

[T.J.] has embraced college as a place for intellectual, political and personal self-discovery. After graduating at the top of his high school class in Cyprus, T.J. received a Fulbright scholarship to study in the U.S. At Michigan State University in East Lansing, T.J. is part of the campus’ tight-knit transgender community, and openly expresses the male identity he sensed as a very young child. Bright and politically engaged, he has chosen to continue towards a graduate degree in Student Affairs Administration at Michigan State University. But T.J.’s gender expression is irrevocably at odds with his family and community in Cyprus, where he is expected to return after completing graduate work. His mother refuses to talk to him about the subject, and it is no secret that he is expected to sublimate his personal desires to the will of his community. As T.J. plans to a visit home in May, he realizes that he will have to confront his mother and sister about his desire to transition. And T.J. knows that if he is to become the man he deeply feels himself to be, he may never be able to go home.

When T.J. calls his mom in one of the episodes, you can hear the pain in his voice telling his mom that he only wants to visit for a week in the summer. In Armenian it is more painful than the English subtitles, certainly.

If T.J. goes to Cyprus, he will be forced to live as a woman again, something that he is not comfortable with.

Armenian GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered) people have a world of issues to deal with related to their families. T.J.’s story is not unique. Watching this show highlights a number of these issues. I can’t express in words what it is like to see this pain.

(I hate to make it sounds like this show is so upsetting - there are lots of positive moments as well.)

Armenian GLBT links

More information about T.J., including an interview.
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What a great way to start off the New Year: a new photoblog from HETQ.

Who doesn’t love photos!

Onnik says its a beta, so if it goes down, you can always see the photos directly at flickr.

Speaking of flickr, I’m addicted. Last summer I decided to put all my photos since I was 17 or so onto flickr. You could say that I sold my soul to flickr… if they go under, I’m screwed!

But what I like about it is that I can keep up with friends through it. I click on “my contacts” and see updated baby photos, trips, and so much more from personal friends.

And every few days or so, I do a search for “armenia” or “yellow labs” or whatever and see all sorts of new photos. Sometimes I even make new friends! A few months ago I saw lovely pictures of an adoption of two older children from Armenia. The things that you can see in photos are amazing… they truly can tell stories.

Anyway, if you’re bored and want to see some of my old photos, check them out here:

Armenia 1998

Armenia 1999

DC 2001

Armenia 2001

DC 2002

Armenia 2002

Postcards from Armenia

They aren’t all tagged up very well, but hopefully they’re interesting. You can also see my various hairdos throughout the years.

And yes, flickr barely works from Armenia. It is too large. Sad, isn’t it?

A few weeks back at Onnik’s London presentation I met a great young American Diasporan, Emily Artinian. Emily is an artist who makes limited edition artist’s books and text based art, exploring different aspects of literature and textual theory. This past summer she lived in Yerevan as an artist in residence at NPAK (Armenian Centre for Contemporary & Experimental Art). I love NPAK - it is a great space for a lot of good work being done.

While at NPAK Emily published ‘From Ararat to Angeltown’, a large format book about post-Soviet Armenian literature and the Yerevan based writers’ group Bnagir (Beware - the site is NOT in Unicode.) The book is in Armenian and English on corresponding pages.

Table of Contents: Love by Violet Grigorian; Yerevan is a Big City by Mariné Petrossian; Brotherhood by Vahan Ishkhanyan; Of Cats and Dogs by Gohar Nikoghosyan; Landslide by Vahram Martirosyan (the first two chapters of the novel); Love at Every Sight by Karen Karslyan.

Emily says the the works are amazing!

Also included are excerpts from transcripts of Emily’s discussions with the group during her 2004 artist’s residency in Armenia. This text highlights the difficulties of publication facing progressive writers in this ex-Soviet republic, difficulties that are a result of limited cultural acceptance at home, limited economic resources, and also a lack of connections to publication and distribution organisations in the west.

You can order the book on Emily’s site.

And, check out Emily’s site for more information about her work.