doberman pizza. a baha'i (bahai, bahá'í) blog.

the work of a regional institute coordinator is pretty hard…

what began as an Ottawa in-joke is growing into an international meme thanks to the power of the Internet. imagine my surprise at the uproar caused by an innocent photo of me and Hooman posted to flickr following a local celebration of the ninth day of Ridván (the same one where Eric Farr performed). Not only have people around the world discovered the hilarity of heyvooning, they’re doing it themselves—and posting the photos to flickr, where a new heyvoon group collects the fallout. Check it out, and be sure to contribute samples of your own neighbourhood heyvoonery.

first of all, my apologies to those of you who didn’t grow up in Canada in the 80’s. I did, and when I was a little boy there was a kid’s show called Harriet’s Magic Hats, about Aunt Harriet and her magic chest of hats. Aunt Harriet’s nieces would always go to the attic to try on the hats, and every time they did, they would be transported away to a place related to the hat they chose. For example, putting on a chef’s hat might transport one to a professional kitchen, putting on a firefighter’s hat would bring one to a firehall, etc. Personally, I credit this show with giving me an odd obsession with hats; as an homage to the show’s lasting effect on my psyche, one of the character attributes in the notorious what’s your pokéname? (yes, I made it) is a “magic chest of hats”. Now friends, thanks to the magic of YouTube, let us relive the glory of those golden days.

You saw it here first: Here’s the unofficial Cultivating The Roots commemorative video. Tell your friends!

Update: Check it out - a podcast of the talks at the conference!

Betcha didn’t even know Bruce Lee was a Baha’i. Or that he spoke with a Spanish accent. lol. Thanks to NaimFT on YouTube.

Disclaimer: No, Bruce Lee wasn’t actually a Baha’i ;)

Happy Ridván to you wonderful people. We had a glorious celebration here in Ottawa, including performances from the Ottawa Regional Bahá’í Choir, and a solo on The Garden of Ridván from yours truly. Afterwards, a crowd of many people made their way over to Pej Central for a celebratory barbecue. I took the opportunity to ask Sam to explain to us the significance of Ridván:

If you really want to know, look up a lengthier explanation of Ridván (check Wikipedia’s article too).

Update! Ridván photos are up now (mostly from the barbecue so far)!

Related News:
Baha’is celebrate ‘King of Festivals’ (BWNS)
Les bahá’ís fêtent Ridván (bahai.fr)

Here’s how to ROFL. Thanks to Shin~Shin (via Youtube).

my mom tells me they got a phone call recently from a woman who told her that she and my dad had won a cruise to the Bahamas. oh, jolly good! telephone spam. now, she knows better than to trust such people—she’s streetwise enough to know that prize pitches like that are utter bunkum. when she was told she had to supply her credit card number in order to “confirm” the prize, she flipped out and started ranting (ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration) at the scammer, chiding her for trying to fleece unsuspecting citizens—but no matter, the dubious caller continued on with a prewritten sales pitch without letting up. Finally, my mom had enough and hung up on her. Unbeknownst to them both, my dad was on the other house line, listening quietly. Since the line hadn’t gone dead, the scammer continued on with her spiel, for at least a few minutes. When she stopped talking, she paused to hear nothing but dead air. The following brief exchange ensued:

Scammer: (to herself) Oh… I think she’s gone.

Dad: I think she hung up.

Scammer: Yeah, I guess— (realizing that someone else was on the line) hey wait, who are you?!

Dad: I’m the Lord.

(dead silence)

*click*

I’m proud of my dad. :)

Read up on phone scams on Wikipedia, or check out PhoneBusters to see how you can protect yourself.

OK OK ok so I owe explanations to lots of people.

I was up late last night leaving mysterious notes saying that I had had “very good news” that night and that there were more clues on Facebook. Those who were Facebook-enabled saw this:

A stream of bemused congratulations trickled in throughout the morning and afternoon from unsuspecting friends—most of whom had no idea I was even in a relationship. As I spoke with them, of course, the truth was gradually revealed. For some, it was the name of my would-be fiancée (”April Foules”) that gave the joke away. Other conversations lasted longer, going into wedding details (wedding in Kenora next week, anyone?) and into varying levels of cruelty. One friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, earned my lifelong respect (and a place in my real wedding) for being ready to drop all of his (or her) exams and show up with a gigantic pink elephant in order to speak at the wedding.

So, to be exceedingly clear: I am not engaged, and if you think I am, then you got punk’d. April Fools!

I just hope nobody pwns me for sizdah-bedar.

Happy Naw-Rúz everybody! As announced earlier, We had a real great celebration here in Ottawa: lots of people showed up to break the Fast at Boofs, more showed up at Persian Cuisine Express downtown (or so I heard) and the St. Elias Centre was filled to the gills with people. Check out my Naw-Ruz 164 photos and see what it was like! altogether, it was a really awesome evening and a fitting end to the Fast. I hope your celebrations, wherever you are, were just as joyful and fun.

Joyeux Naw-rúz tout le monde! Tel qu’annoncé auparavant, nous avons eu une excellente célébration ici, à Ottawa: beaucoup de gens se sont joint à nous chez Boofs (et davantage encore chez Persian Cuisine Express au centre-ville, entendis-je) et le Centre St. Élie était noir de monde. Regardez mes photos de Naw-ruz 164 pour voir comment c’était! En gros, c’était une soirée impressionante et une fin digne au jeûne. J’espère que vos célébrations, où que vous soyez, ont été tout aussi joyeux et amusants.

To close off, here’s an awesome Naw-Ruz video (part of a series) put together by Olinga Walker and Charlie Changizi, both friends of mine from Montréal. Enjoy! / Pour terminer, voici un vidéo super sympa sur Naw-ruz (un parmi une séquence) mis ensemble par Olinga Walker et Charlie Changizi, deux amis de Montréal. Amusez-vous!

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the adventures of Super Baha’i Girl. It’s a video put together by Junior Youth from (somewhere in the British Isles?), and it’s fantastically hilarious. Super Baha’i Girl invites her fellow super-heroes to a study circle, but the evil doings of Peer Pressure Girl disrupt the occasion. Can Super Baha’i Girl help establish unity and restore order to society?? Watch it now!

Spotted something on Barnabas Quotidianus that I just had to share with you all - about some very awesome people in Australia giving out free hugs.

Reminds me of this quote:
Love is, indeed, a most potent elixir that can transform the vilest and meanest of people into heavenly souls. (From a letter written of behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, December 6, 1935)

Have a very happy Wednesday!

note: looks like the video was taken down due to copyright problems. sad :(