Weeeeee.New ACTION Film Out

Well yesterday I learned that a new action film based on Karabakh War came out in Armenia and Artzakh. Well I KNEW that this film is going to come out, in fact I was waiting for this film to come out for 2 years already. Finally it is here, and it seems that the audiances are loving it.

I am sure you heard about the Armenian "action hero" Gor Vardanyan, the guy who made 3 action flicks mostly using his karate school's trainees as actors and as stuntsmen. This fourth film has the highest budget yet at 3.6 million US Dollars. It also has a deeper story that explores one of the most important episodes of Armenian history, The Karabakh Conflict. While I like Gor's last two films for their true depiction of today's Armenia, I was hoping that this one will truly out perform the others; and it seems that it only did that partially.

As of yet I did not see the film myself just read reviews here and there, but it seems that two of the biggest problems in the Gor's movie's are still present; his acting and the use of prosumer tape equipment instead of a goof old film camera (or at least a good HD pro cam). His acting REALLY needs to improve and they REALLY have to try to shoot their movies on film (I know I know it is more expensive and harder to edit bla bla bla...etc).

Other than this I am dying to see this film myself. I hear people applauded the film when it was shown in Yerevan, and that gives me hopes. In you my dear readers should watch it ALSO. More updates to come when I ACTUALLY SEE THE FILM.

Armenians together

This is my first blog in DC, I arrived yesterday and got to know everybody. Quite a diverse group of armenians, a few from Los, a good group from michigan, and some hayastanzees. Being that there were Armenians who spoke western, eastern, turkish, or not at all, it was very interesting seeing everything merge into one good group. That being said, I feel quite torn.. growing up speaking western I'm accustomed to speaking as soon as I see an Armenian.. but now I found myself being happy to speak Eastern as soon as I saw a couple of hayastanzees. I have to admit my time in Armenia and me living in LA really has made an impact on me. I introduced some of the midwesterners to Armenchik, Hayasa, and Hay Tgek and they loved it. Yes I am emphasizing the differences between Armenians, but there is a silver lining here.. here's a group of very diverse Armenians coming together and sharing what makes them Armenian. For me, it's living in LA after coming staying in Armenia, even though I am western by origin. I've come to realize a long time ago that there the differences between western and eastern and meaningless, and my experiences so far have reinforced this.. I just hope that nothing will come in the way of us being united as there has so many times in the past.

Boycott Turkey...And More

I would like to start with saying that Levon is kind of right about me being at fault for not posting for a long time. I have a good excuse though; nothing major took place in the “Armenian”* world that I had thoughts on. Levon did cover the Krekorian election, so I was happy. But now I see that this whole Boycott Turkey campaign is getting interesting and I have a few thoughts on it.

From the get go I have to say that Tania is right…sorry Levon. When we say boycott Turkey we should also try to help the potential consumer choose the alternative product. And the AYF pamphlet did a pretty good job of presenting the substitutes to the given Turkish product. If such a product/service is not produced by Armenia, it is surely produced by some other NON TURKIC country. The stores that Levon mentioned carry clothing made in Ukraine, Greece, US, and other countries. For tourism we can give Armenia as substitute or if the person rather wants to have access to sea Greece or Italy are the places to be.

I personally try to distance myself from everything Turkish (although I would like to learn Turkish, always good to know the enemies’ language), be it a Turkish TV channel or Turkish chewing gum. But I was not like this all the time, especially in Armenia during the HELL years. WHY? Well it is simple, goods in Armenia were either made in Turkey, Russia, or Iran. The ones from Turkey were illegal imports, but no body cared if it is illegal or not or if it is from Turkey or not, PEOPLE HAD TO SURVIVE. Today it is much easier to have a Boycott Turkey campaign in REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA, since the situation with goods has improved and we can find other cheap substitutes from other countries or MAKE OUR OWN (and I see this taking place in Armenia now). I believe that this is something that even Kocharian’s useless government can do, and if the campaign gains some momentum in the Diaspora it will spill over to Armenia and even in to other Armenian Diasporas around the world.

*There was a major victory for Armenian’s all around the world when the Armenian Olympic Chess Team took home the gold medals. Yup we beat China, which came in second. Just Imagine this people, a country with 2 million population beats a country with a population of 1250 million. This is beyond amazing. Congrats and more future victories to our champions. I was also happy to see so many people attending the concert dedicated to the champions, shows that people still have some spirit in them.

Levon the lobbyist?

Ok so this blog hasn't been too active so I'll fix that with an update. Naturally, it is ALL Arman's fault for not blogging... that being said let's continue..

I leave for DC on Sunday, I will intern for the Armenian Embassy. Wasn't thrilled to find out that I'll work there but it's ok as long as I make the most of it and have a good time in general.. beats being in a congressman's office that's for sure. Now being in the political capital of the world will present an ideal opportunity for some lobbying of my own... yes you heard me. I have been working with a couple of brothers from my Armenian fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Omega, on a boycott turkey project (Shameless plug-in coming in 3..2...1) OH! btw, here's the website :)

www.boycott-turkey.com

So broswe around, register for the forums, and find out how to identify turkish goods :). Now what does this have to do with me lobbying? Well, if you followed my directions hopefully you found an online petition (this may not be up yet so don't be too hard on yourselves if you don't find it). I'll be carrying this little petition around and soliciting such esteemed people such as the Armenian ambassador to the United States for signatures (oh I have no shame....). I will also be posting Boycott Turkey refrigerator magnets (be sure to get them while they're hot! available in both Armenian and English, plz donate) Ok enough with the plug ins and solicitations for now...

So please check out the campaign; as always, comments and criticisms are VERY welcome :).

World Cup and Paul Krekorian

Ok so I haven't been blogging and Arman has been bugging me to post something so I'll give you all a brief catch up with my life.

I'm almost done with finals, and I will be leaving for DC on the 18 via redeye flight (yippie). I eagerly await the arrival of the World Cup, I'll be rooting for Argentina, Brazil, and any other nation in the Americas (except USA, go Iran!) and African region, screw Europe. I figure, the rest of the world always gets nothing in politics, so at least let them have their glory in international sports. Arman will be rooting for Italy, I'm surprised he is actually cheering for a country that isn't Armenia. I'd expect him to at least root for Czech Republic since he lived there, what's the deal Arman? Now if only Belarus was competing...

I finally saw the Xmen movie, crap.. I'll save you the lengthy review. Other than that, I have a week to do nothing, but tomorow I'll be volunteering for Paul Krekorian. Ironically, I was at my history department's banquet last saturday and overheard two professors talking about the Krekorian/Quintero race. Now I doubt they live in the district, and for that reason it is quite interesting to see that this campaign has been making some noise. A lot of dirty playing going around so I am not surprised... politics... Anyways, I encourage the readers of this blog to check out his website and if you are qualified to vote for him (live in Glendale, North Hollywood, and Burbank) I encourage you to do so.

http://www.paulkrekorian.com/

Good luck to Paul :)