the brother - sister photoshoot.

yep. basically that's it. jorma and i went on a photoshoot in minneapolis/st. paul this past weekend. here are some of the greats:

thanks for taking a peek. isn't the fisheye so neat? what about the warehouse face? what about the neon green windows? what about my scary bandit face?? heh, heh. i miss you, friends.

p.s. i might be moving to south dakota. (YES!!! MORE SOON...)

ooooooooooh fun!!

totally love this comic (marriedtothesea.com). totally speaks to me as a photographer (and a comedian). great, right???

some of my friends deserve a big pat on their back(s).

so we all love portland (oregon, not maine!) and i used to live there in 2006. THE BEST coffee shop in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD has one of their cafes on belmont ave. I used to frequent that cafe ATLEAST once a day, and would always have to pass by this really offensive shop called the "dixie mattress company". on each side of the sign/banner, they have confederate flags. see what some of my friends did that caused alot of talk in that cute little city:



thanks to m for the coming up with the idea. thanks to t & j for making this vid.

kind note: if you haven't ever experienced the awesomeness that is STUMPTOWN, you must get over there and get a latte with extra foam. i dont think there is anything better in the whole world. really, i dont.

i have a bone to pick with all ya'll cowardly "anonymous" samimi-extremie blog commenters.

seriously dudes, do you have to leave rude and downright mean comments on my blog AND then leave yourself anonymous? get me straight-- i am all for people saying how they feel, what they think of my blog entries, as far as i'm concerned, i like honesty and i encourage it. but if you're gonna do it, and be mean or critical about it, identify yourselves, you cowards. honestly!

so this is how its gonna go down -- if you hate one of my blog entries and you leave your comment anonymous, i'm gonna trash it. but if you say who you are, where you're from, then i'll keep it. until then, you are wasting your time commenting, b/c samimi-extremie thoroughly dislikes a coward + will delete the heck out of your comment.

so if you do it again, i'll sick this guys on yer trail:

( i quite like this photo set. it is actually really hilarious and i never would have thought to put them all together like this! cool! )

and for you other darling readers whom i love and adore, thank you for your comments, your love, your support. we've had such good times together. we've laughed, we've cried, we've gotten upset. thanks for sticking with me, my two readers.

i love my blog readers, dont get me wrong. i really love you guys.

♥

lay

one more disclaimer: if i DONT know you and you leave me a creepy, strange comment, and you just give me your first name, and i still dont know who you are, i'll delete you. i mean, lets be honest here, this blog is mostly for my buddies, my cyber buddies and my future buddies and cyber buddies.

me fisheye!

YO!!

i am in minneapolis right now visiting my family + some buds and my fisheye camera is pretty darn fantastic. i want to share with both of you readers some recent shots i have taken. it is pretty crazy not shooting strictly with polaroid film...kinda super sad, but kinda refreshing too. i mean, its nice to not have to worry that the colours wont pop. as you can see below, these 35 mm beauts' didn't have much trouble "popping". i am super pumped about the way the sky turned out. super pumped to see parham + franz as well...(see parham + franz below...)

i would REALLY love some feedback on what you think. i mean, i already know they're awesome, but i want you to tell me too. atleast maybe tell me which one is your favorite. (heh. heh.). i'll be peacin' out now.

unpaid internships

i was just reading the blog "stuff white people like" and i came across the post about white people loving unpaid internships. it is a really funny and appropriate blog entry seeing as how i am in the process of finding an internship for the second portion of my grad program. this process has been equally stressful + stressful.

i am looking for something PAID (maybe that's the Iranian side of me; i DONT want an unpaid internship), and finding something that is worth it + PAID is almost unimaginable. but i will find one. wish me luck.

this quote from the blog really hit home:

If all goes according to plan, an internship will end with an offer of a job that pays $24,000 per year and will consist entirely of the same tasks they were recently doing for free. In fact, the transition to full time status results in the addition of only one new responsibility: feeling superior to the new interns.

i am looking for an internship in the Conflict Transformation/Resolution field, specifically i would like to work with the Native American population in regards to reconciliation/peacebuilding. we shall see. i'll keep you posted.

this is how i feel right about now:

and i WANT to feel like this again someday soon (sheesh!!! is that too much to ask??):

thank you for listening to me gripe. i am going to go now. and look for some paid internships. goodbye.
♥

amazing things, then creepy things.

amazing: www.blogotheque.net , "take-away shows"

baktash introduced me to this site. it is fantastic for a couple of reasons:

1. the bands that videographer vincent moon records are phenomenal (and some of my favorite bands)
2. he records them in random places, not using all of their equipment, so they are more adhoc, etc.
3. they are really creative and fun to watch. (way better than MTV music videos--hey! do they even play music videos anymore???)
4. i believe all the videos are shot only once , one shot. vincent moon tells a story about each video he shot, and how alot of times, they didnt even have electricity, or something so they have to bang on plastic buckets or their heads. hee.

here are a couple of my favorites:


#80.3 - VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Walcott / One
by lablogotheque




#80.1 - VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Mansard Roof
by lablogotheque



#40.3 - The National - Start a war
by lablogotheque

i was going to mix it up a bit, and not show you two VAMPIRE WEEKEND vids, but the fact of the matter is that they both rock. plus, you can go onto the site and find some of your own favs.

and now for two creepy things:<>

some secrets just dont need to be shared. (weirdo):


some photographs don't need to be shared (except by me, to you with the understanding that this is creepy, not cute):

aaaah yeeehhhhh...LISH is a MUST.

come ma' ladies, come, come ma' ladies..be my butterfly..shugga babeez!!
between constantly job searching for my Conflict Transformation practicum (HEY! any ideas/connections guys/ladies??) + stressing about getting a job + networking + interviewing for jobs, your dear old friend (me), has made time to whip out two new designs for LISH!

SUPER stoked to let you two readers have the FIRST peeks at my very new creations!! WOOHOO!!

This is the FIRST time i have used chain on my LISH earrings. so you should be as jazzed as i am. seriously.

Introducing: kya: chained:

this super hot pair of LISH is for sale here. kya: chained is made with red + white agate + gold chain + handmade gold earwires (by yours truly)!

entrodoosing: black stealth: chained:

this onyx stone is an oldie but goodie. and it now has a face lift, well, not really. but maybe a makeover? no thats not right either. i suppose a "haircut" or a "wardrobe change". I love the way these two pairs feel when i wear them...lightweight and stylie!

black stealth: chained can be purchased here. they are made with onyx stone + sterling silver wire and chain.

attn: ladies (and gents) i would really like to know what you think of my new LISH designs!! could you please comment below + give me some feedback? i'd really appreciate it!

love love and more love.

♥

they've got to be MESSING with us!!!

they have to be pulling our leg(s), yanking our (communal) chain, totally tweaking our mind(s): as if CROCS weren't bad enough (loving disclaimer: for those of you that DO wear crocs, i dont discriminate, i understand that they are comfortable, etc. some people have to wear them for work, etc...) but NOW THEY'RE MAKING A HIGH HEEL??????????????????????? oh wow. and their line is "its hard to believe the parents were ugly", what is SERIOUSLY hard to believe it??? hahahaha. no way. this is true garbage. albeit comfy garbage. but come on. i cant wait to see someone wearing these in the mall or on the street. i promise you (two) readers that i will ask her (or him) if they are comfortable. i will kindly request that they give me five one-word descriptions of just how amazing their new "fashionable" crocs are.

i do believe that my and mr. davis' fashion sense is far superior:

the fashion world is so awesome.

seriously though, how unbelievable are these people??? wow. take a look-see for yourself:


i cant wait for sasha cohen to come out with his latest, BRUNO. this is a taste of what is to come in his movie.

p.s. sorry for the shotty quality. still watch it though; its worth it.

in the midwestie.

okay. so baktash and i finished our roadtrip from boston --> minneapolis. i have experienced quite a culture shock: israeli harsh ---> minnesota nice. dude. but do have to say that i was getting super sick of vermonters; they are so so rude. living there for a year was hard in that sense. it is good to be back where people smile and say hello to you. i get to spend time with my older bro and my sister in law + their little baby who's in her belly! YAY! i'll be an auntie come october 15, 2008.

here are some more sneak polaroid peeks from our trip:

more photos of my whole israel-boston-chicago-road trip soon.

how's your summer been? hopefully as cool as mine so far. heh. heh.

xoxo.

some strange + hilarious photographs:

dude. the world is a strange place. but its even more hilarious than it is strange. check out these images i found or have taken. some i have chosen for their comedic value, some for there utter peculiarity. you decide which one i chose for which. tell me below! (how well do you two readers know me? huh???)

Tim Hansen - Photographer:

Samimi-Extremie - Photographer:

(oops!! tee hee! how'd that silly face get in there?? heehee) ^

A really stupid family -- Photographer Unknown (and stupid):

Last and definitely not least: Sinbad. If I have to say more, I feel sorry for you:

note: i wanted to share with you one of my new favorite phographers: eleanor hardwick. but this photographer wont let me borrow images for my blog entry. but i really strongly suggest you go there and see her amazingly creative, peculiar images.

EVERYONE loves sex + the city...

...except me. i dont get it. everyone else seems to. 

but i did get this:

Married to the Sea can be so darn hilarious sometimes.

(okay. so i've honestly only every watched like 1/2 an episode. so i cant really say. BUT sarah jessica parker makes me want to get in my car, put it in drive, accelerate at 50 mph into a cement wall, then reverse and repeat.)

my favorite simple brilliant lyricist.

the man i love:



MASON JENNINGS.

i just got back from a long long trip. i will tell you two readers all about it in the next blog entry. but for now, i want to introduce or share with you Mason Jennings, whom i have been a devoted listener to for years. the reason i share him with you now, is b/c i should have a damn long time ago.

M. Ward and Mason Jennings have been my two musicians that i have consistently listened to since 2001. while Mason has simple, at times seemingly "cheesy" lyrics (to some not to mention underground hip-hop heads...), his songwriting is so pure, honest and true that it always has a way to connect with me no matter my mood or time in my life. he sings alot about God and Jesus and Buddha which is really rad too. i dont find much music i like that is about God and the spiritual realm. But Mason has a way of writing, singing, questioning and praising God and the spirituality of life in a way that is really amazing and not cheesy at all. just real.

I got this snippet of info from some dude on youtube. i am sure i am supposed to be telling you from what source, but seriously, who gives. the reason i selected to use it was precisely for the last sentence which i have convienently made bold and italic for you two lovely readers (love me). I am in awe that the human who wrote that sentence actually exists. (love him)

"In this simple, one-take footage, the Hawaiian-born, Minnesota-based singer-songwriter and the Shins' frontman do a pretty duet on "Something About Your Love" from Jennings's sixth full-length In The Ever.

"Please note the awesomely chill bearded guy, who is not Will Oldham, but who is sitting by the side, letting this tall glass of mellow wash over him like a warm breeze":



this song goes on pretty long and probably doesn't need to, but it is good for you to see the "awesomely chill bearded guy" for yourself. its truly classic.

so i have seen Mason live i think five times and i really have been dying to share with you this photo of Mason and I, shown below:

well, ok. i'll be real with you folks. it is actually mason's hand and my legs. you WONT BELIEVE what happened. i was standing in line to meet him after a show he played. i was convinced he needed to hear about the Baha'i Faith (my religion) if he hadn't already. his song-writing really reminds me of person who either is a Baha'i or is searching for it. refer back above to the whole piece on mason + spirituality. doi. ok. so i was there to meet him to just let him know about the Faith, tell him he reminds me of my own spiritual quest, yadayada.

BUT there was this chick (sorry for you angry women who hate the term "chick", i in fact DIG IT), who was with me standing in line. a girl from minnesota (where he's from--OMG!!!) and she was really sweet. but equally as nervous to meet Mason. i was like, oh well, people get weird with famous people as if they aren't in actuality just people, humans like the rest of us. doi again. ANYWAY. i didnt think it was big deal that she was nervous. UNTIL. we got up to him and i asked to have a picture taken with him and i asked the nervous girl to take the photo. she was all, "okayyyyyyyyyyyyyy....eeeeehhhhhhhhheheehhhhhhh......" like, really nervous and shaky. so we're standing there posing --mason and i-- and she CANT TAKE THE PICTURE BECAUSE SHE IS SHAKING TOO HARD. it was amazing. i am NOT exaggerating when i say that the photo you are seeing now is the most still photo graph taken. Mason and i didnt know what to do or what to say, so she just kept trying to take a photo that wasnt compeletly blurred. and i thought maybe she was going to have a seizure--NO JOKE-- so i thanked her for her efforts and said goodbye to Mason so pissed at the girl, but really humans in general, that i left without even telling Mason what i had planned to. and i only had this photo to prove it.

what do those really awesome tee shirts that cheesy grandparents wear say? something like: "i went to meet Mason Jennings and all i got was this lousy photograph". yes, that's it.

Mason's website: www.masonjennings.com

Mason's myspace

Mason's latest album: In the Ever -- AWESOME album