I fear that Mr. Rafieh's webstore is either going to feel the HN hug...or his web hosting bill may be quite high for the month.
Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
61–70 of 84 posts
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#62It 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 think your fear is misguided.
You may never see Iran...but not because you are an American. Instead, it is because Iran is a ticking time bomb.
Once the country opens back up, and it will open back up - you have to question whether there will be anything left to see.
Civil war is a nasty thing. See: Syria.
I recommend you visit now before its too late.
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#63It 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 think your fear is misguided. You may never see Iran...but not because you are an American. Instead, it is because Iran is a ticking time bomb. Once the country opens back up, and it will open back up - you have to question whether there will be anything left to see. Civil war is a nasty thing. See: Syria. I recommend you visit now before its too late.
Why is it certain that opening up Iran would lead to Civil war?
When I read your first paragraph I assumed you were referring to these mom and pop kinda shops going out of business once the economy develops, replacing them with cookie cutter malls or online retail.
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#64It 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 want to visit too and I know why - the history and culture. Unfortunately like many middle-east countries the government is not representative of the people.
Even the US government isn't representative of the people, unless the people changed from a TV game show host who reviles career politicians to a career politician.
The Iranian government isn't as bad as the West makes it seem. And for countries that suffer international sanctions, whatever conservative practices the government may have are not high on the list of things the citizens of that country care about.
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#65It 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 think your fear is misguided. You may never see Iran...but not because you are an American. Instead, it is because Iran is a ticking time bomb. Once the country opens back up, and it will open back up - you have to question whether there will be anything left to see. Civil war is a nasty thing. See: Syria. I recommend you visit now before its too late.
> Iran is a ticking time bomb
I don't think so. Sure, its a dictatorship and flawed in many ways, but that doesn't mean the people are not happy.
Society will bear some amount of constant pressure, to a certain degree.
If that pressure progresses into a puncture, society will rupture.
So far, Iran doesn't seem to be in that situation.
Iran has been in its current state since 1979. That is 40 whole years. And we have not seen any major shifts in their society.
It looks stronger than ever, now that Iraq and Afghanistan (thanks to the trigger happy policy of America) are in the dumps, Iran is a strong and critical player.
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#66To anybody with a cynical view of Iran and its people I highly recommend watching this fairly recent documentary about a British guy riding a motorcycle through the country. The people seem like some of the most friendly in the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2LEgowbzSc
> To anybody with a cynical, narrow-minded view of Iran and its people I highly recommend ... Do you expect any reader of this comment to say to themselves "Ah, that's me!"?
>To anybody with a cynical, narrow-minded view
ABSOLUTELY
>of Iran
...maybe not
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#67Years ago, I dismissed photography as a pretentious hobby that would be rendered obsolete as smartphone cameras and digital improvements became more ubiquitous, but I have since learned to appreciate the talent behind a good photo. I only bring this up because I had a similar experience with these photos that I had locally. My Hudson Valley town is a delicate balance of many cultures (primarily white, black, and Cent…
Years ago, I dismissed photography as a pretentious hobby that would be rendered obsolete as smartphone cameras and digital improvements became more ubiquitous
You just listed a couple tools for photography though. If anything they will lower the barrier of entry for photography and more people will participate (pretty much what happened)
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think your fear is misguided. You may never see Iran...but not because you are an American. Instead, it is because Iran is a ticking time bomb. Once the country opens back up, and it will open back up - you have to question whether there will be anything left to see. Civil war is a nasty thing. See: Syria. I recommend you visit now before its too late.
Why is it certain that opening up Iran would lead to Civil war? When I read your first paragraph I assumed you were referring to these mom and pop kinda shops going out of business once the economy develops, replacing them with cookie cutter malls or online retail.
sorry i may not have expressed my thoughts correctly.
Repression tends to lead to explosive results in the shape of civil war. See arab spring, syria, etc.
I don't think it has much to business (insofar tourism is concerned), but more about tourist sites being potentially destroyed.
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#69Years ago, I dismissed photography as a pretentious hobby that would be rendered obsolete as smartphone cameras and digital improvements became more ubiquitous, but I have since learned to appreciate the talent behind a good photo. I only bring this up because I had a similar experience with these photos that I had locally. My Hudson Valley town is a delicate balance of many cultures (primarily white, black, and Cent…
>> Years ago, I dismissed photography as a pretentious hobby that would be rendered obsolete as smartphone cameras and digital improvements became more ubiquitous.
Actually, smartphone cameras make photography even much more accessible. I don't want to sound old, but perhaps you remember 3 or 4 decades ago where all people took pictures with film. It's a limited media (usually 36 frames or less on bigger formats). No instant feedback (have to send them to film lab to be developed or do it on your own darkroom). And for some, indeed photography was a relatively expensive hobby.
Now the barrier is much much lower. Smartphone camera techs are getting better. And you don't need high end PC running Lightroom/Photoshop etc for image editing. Simply use smartphone apps. These are good enough for most of us, social media oriented persons.
Sure, if you want better image quality, eventually you'll upgrade to camera with bigger image sensor (M43, APSC etc) like the pros do.
I'd say smartphone cameras render compact digital point & shoot useless, instead.
Re: Mr. Rafieh’s Tehran Pencil Shop
#70It 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 am an Iranian-American (dual citizen) and I suggest you to NOT visit Iran. You may be subjected to arbitrary arrests.
P.S. I haven't visited Iran since high school over 12 years ago and I miss my friends and family there so much.