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Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

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Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#31

Post by whatshisface »

jacquesm wrote: post #27
ramesh31 wrote: post #23

It fills me with a deep sorrow knowing that I will never be able to visit Iran as an American. I don't know if it's just the "forbidden fruit" aspect of it or not, but it's my number one bucket list destination.

So much for freedom, right? After all, the US has a very loud voice on all things freedom related but when it comes to the rights of its own citizens to do as they please the degree of freedom appears to be lower than that of many states that have lesser profile in the freedom department. Countries should not limit their citizens freedoms on the basis of politics, that's no different than the various dictatorships th…

US citizens are allowed to go to Iran. The state department has issued a travel advisory, but it was issued on the basis of kidnappings and arbitrary arrests of U.S. citizens.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/...

Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#33

Post by siva7 »

parhamn wrote: post #29
siva7 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iran - and many other countries in the world - could take you happily as a hostage if your government is considered an enemy.

Statistically speaking insanely improbable. ~5m people and thousands of Americans visit Iran every year. Unless you're a anti-govt journalist or intelligence related you have nothing to worry about. N.B. the argument that Iran will falsely label you a 'spy' feels weak to me given the order of magnitude of such detentions in recent history is in the tens. It would be equally improbably that most of these detentions we…

of those visitors there will hardly be many at which your country is basically at war which is the case for americans. i can freely travel to iran but i wouldn't recommend it to an american.

Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#34

Post by anticodon »

jacquesm wrote: post #28
efazati wrote: post #16

Wow Tehran is full of beautiful things that even someone from Iran like me doesn't know

I've spent half a day looking through pictures of Iran from before the revolution, it was - and in many ways probably still is - an absolutely amazing country. Sooner or later the mullahs will be given their walking papers and hopefully the country can then recover some of its former splendor.

Yeah, I imagine it:

- It would be bombed and looted by foreign army ("In the name of democracy!")

- Hundreds of thousands of people will die from bombs, same amount from hunger and civil unrest caused by destruction of the infrastructure and government system (police, hospitals, etc.)

- Foreign companies will take control of Iran's oil (the main reason why Iran is considered "hostile country" now is that it controls its natural resources), so that profits from selling the oil flow to other countries (exactly the same happened recently in Libya and Syria)

It would become unsafe to visit, and most cities would be in ruins. Crime rates would go through the roof.

Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#35

Post by brudgers »

ramesh31 wrote: post #25
werber wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what your situation is but I know Americans that have gone through an intermediate country

>I'm not sure what your situation is but I know Americans that have gone through an intermediate country It's possible , sure. But the risk of arbitrary detention would make it impossible to enjoy. The state department currently lists Iran as "Level 4: Do not travel", and suggests you have a will in order if you do [0]. There was a brief moment towards the end of the Obama era where it seemed things may have been tha…

You should have a will even if you stay home. And a living will in case you are vegetating and the plug needs to be pulled.

Most people in Iran know there are a bunch of assholes running things there just like there are here. Daily life for most people there consists mostly of mundane things like colored pencils.

Travel requires treating irrational fears as irrational. If you want to go, you can find a way. Your life will be different afterwards because that's what any travel does.

The ways in which people change from travel is why Americans have been banned from Cuba for sixty years and Iran for forty.

Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#36

Post by JoeDaDude »

thomas wrote: post #11

Wonderful gallery! Interesting sharpening technique in image 7 with a blunt writing tip. Typically you'd seen a more angled cone [0] and a sharper end, but I guess this means no color is wasted when doing the initial sharpening? Anyone note a list of his brands? I think I see some Faber-Castell but can't ID anything else. [0] https://unsharpen.com/the-parts-of-wooden-pencil/

Image 6 just looks like he is holding 2 pencils. Is he actually sharpening them?

However he does it, I don't think he is using a razor based sharpener, just look at the rough points in image 15.

Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#37

Post by enriquto »

ramesh31 wrote: post #23

It fills me with a deep sorrow knowing that I will never be able to visit Iran as an American. I don't know if it's just the "forbidden fruit" aspect of it or not, but it's my number one bucket list destination.

don't say never. Until forty years ago you could have visited the country without problem. Maybe in a few years you will be able to, again. International politics is cruel, unpredictable and complex, but also fast paced. You can also acquire a different nationality and travel under your new passport.

Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#38

Post by brudgers »

jacquesm wrote: post #28
efazati wrote: post #16

Wow Tehran is full of beautiful things that even someone from Iran like me doesn't know

I've spent half a day looking through pictures of Iran from before the revolution, it was - and in many ways probably still is - an absolutely amazing country. Sooner or later the mullahs will be given their walking papers and hopefully the country can then recover some of its former splendor.

Europeans have been anti-Persian since before Socrates was a hoplite.

It would be better if fifteen hundred years of Islamophobia was disinfected from Europe. It's a double standard where nobody sees a problem with England even though there's a state religion and the religious head and government head are the same person...and unlike Iran, those roles are hereditary.

Iran today looks like what throwing off the yoke of foreign influence looks like. So far it has only been going on half as long as the Guerra de los Ochenta Años took to free the Netherlands from Spanish Influence.

Never mind the bloody legacy of Calvinism though. The traditional head of the European church launched the crusades and backed the long slog in the Iberian Peninsula.

So long as the first reaction is to frame Iran in religious terms, the Mullahs are logically correct in their claims about the enemy without.

Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#39

Post by rmason »

ramesh31 wrote: post #23

It fills me with a deep sorrow knowing that I will never be able to visit Iran as an American. I don't know if it's just the "forbidden fruit" aspect of it or not, but it's my number one bucket list destination.

I feel the same way about Cuba. My Uncle worked there as a banker and almost my entire family visited him there at one time or another.

I asked him once when it opened up again why he hadn't gone back. He said the trips are forced tours and that he wouldn't be free to get a car and revisit the haunts of his youth.

I made up my mind that I wouldn't visit Cuba until the communists were gone. I was pretty confident after Castro the government would fall. Now I am not so sure.

Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop

#40

Post by hellbannedguy »

rmason wrote: post #39
ramesh31 wrote: post #23

It fills me with a deep sorrow knowing that I will never be able to visit Iran as an American. I don't know if it's just the "forbidden fruit" aspect of it or not, but it's my number one bucket list destination.

I feel the same way about Cuba. My Uncle worked there as a banker and almost my entire family visited him there at one time or another. I asked him once when it opened up again why he hadn't gone back. He said the trips are forced tours and that he wouldn't be free to get a car and revisit the haunts of his youth. I made up my mind that I wouldn't visit Cuba until the communists were gone. I was pretty confident afte…

I wouldn't be suprised if the military rebelled within a few days.
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