Welcome to the websites of Babak Fakhamzadeh. Here, on the homepage, you can find the latest from the categories Travelogues, Reading, Assignments, Own stuff, Photography and the blog 30YearProject.com. For the latest from other categories, check the menu on the left.
Mark Kurlansky - Salt: A World History
new 
22 August 2008 | Reading | 150 views, 1 comments
Somewhere along the line, I lost this book before I could finish it. I liked the book, and here are some of the notes I made.
In essence, the book is a compendium of salt-related trivia against a backdrop of world history.
This is not as weird as it sounds, as salt is an essential commodity (if you don't eat enough of it, you die) and has often been under strict state control, from China to ancient Rome.
A few interesting bits:
+ The ancient Romans sometimes payed their soldiers in salt, the source of the word 'salary'.
+ The Frenchified version of 'salary', 'solde', is the source for the word 'soldier'.
+ 'Hal' is a word for 'salt'. Presumably Germanic or Keltic, but the author does not disclose that ... more »
To court
new 22 August 2008 
| 30yp.com (blog) | Flickr stream | 81 views, 0 comments
Having been to prison earlier in the week, today I went to court. I attended a hearing related to 'The San Francisco 8'. The Wikipedia entry is rather short on the subject and the related website is a bit chaotic, but what seems to be the case is that in January 2007, eight individuals, many of them Black Panthers, were arrested for a series of offenses, including the killing of a police officer, more than 35 years ago. Apparently, some of the 'proof' was extracted under torture. And we know that American law enforcers know how to deploy torture. Ehm, coercion.
The hearing was surprisingly short: a simple postponement to September 8. I e... more »
Art and laughs
new 21 August 2008 | 30yp.com (blog) | Flickr stream | 50 views, 0 comments
More cycling, checking out the Golden Gate park. Covered in fog, fresh and moist, I stopped by the Japanese Tea Garden, a tourist trap on days you have to pay for getting in, which are four of the seven days a week. The AIDS memorial grove was interesting, as was the Dutch windmill. I didn't see the bison roaming the grounds.
From Fisherman's Wharf, where I had rented the bike, I walked to the Rincon center, where a series of large and reasonably pretty murals dominate the hall of the old post office.
Inside, the 'Rain Column', a fountain like a small continuous rain cloud, was surrounded by a series of small restaurants where employees were enjoying their lunches. Here's a few things, food related, which I've noticed over the ... more »
Jim Shepard - Like you'd understand anyway
new 20 August 2008 | Reading | 1269 views, 1 comments
Nice collection of short stories, all with something of a streak of fatalism. In each story, Shepard tells the narrative from a historical character's viewpoint, several with some claim to fame. Examples are the first (Russian) woman in space, the executioner of Marie Antoinette and a nuclear scientist responsible for the Chernobyl breakdown.
Shepard writes well and his stories are engaging, but the major feature of the collection is also its downside: the stories are simply too short.
Where's the love?
new 20 August 2008 | 30yp.com (blog) | Flickr stream | 50 views, 4 comments
Back in 1999 I traveled all over Russia. Then, a few years later, I visited New York. I remember how similar Moscow and New York struck me. Not so long ago, I mentioned this to someone, but then I realised I didn't remember anymore why they struck me as similar.
The obvious similarity is architectural. Both cities have a lot of neogothic buildings. However, now being in San Francisco for a few days, I realised what at least one other similarity must have been: the displays of abject poverty and the obvious disparity between rich and poor.
Just off the center of town, here, in the area called The Tenderloin, so many people sleep on the streets, so many people beg, practically on the doorsteps of hotels charging hundreds o... more »
Asking the specialists
new 19 August 2008 | 30yp.com (blog) | Flickr stream | 55 views, 0 comments
After missing breakfast, I headed out to Berkeley, where the University of California has more Nobel prize winners than you can shake a science curriculum at.
In Berkeley, just across the bay from San Francisco, you can also find the Cafe Mediteraneum, which claims to be the place where the cafe latte was invented in the 1950s. Whether that's true or not, their sandwiches are very decent.
And there's also a Revolution bookstore, where I had an interesting chat with David ("Daveed") on the future of communism and the benefits (or not) of a communist revolution, though his and his colleague's fascination for Stalin where a bit unhealthy.
Indeed, this chain of bookstores are, in a ... more »
Do stuff and make money
new 18 August 2008 | 30yp.com (blog) | Flickr stream | 41 views, 0 comments
I started my day by grossly underestimating the duration of the walk from my hostel to pier 33, from where the tours leave for Alcatraz. Tickets to Alcatraz are hard to come by, typically, during summer, being sold out about a week in advance, but I had managed to get the last ticket for the first departure today.
Halfway through my walk, I started running, ending up being the very last person to board the boat.
Alcatraz, as an island, isn't too impressive. However, the included personal audio tour is very good, with narrations by both ex-wardens and ex-inmates.
After Alcatraz, I hobbled over to the tourist trap which is Fisherman's Wharf, where, in the Musee Mecanique, old arcades go to die. Followed by a quick... more »
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