WHAT A BEEEAAAUUUUUUUUTIFUL WEDDING!!!!!!!!

Last night was the highly anticipated wedding between Raffi Meneshian and his lovely bride Natacha. It took place at St. Vartanantz church in Providence and the party continued near by at a hotel. There were so many of Raffi's good friends, all of whom were my counselors back in the days of Camp Haiastan when I was just a little brat. Aram Hajian flew all the way out from Armenia to be here for this, some folks from San Francisco, Fresno, Arizona, Chicago, all over people flew in.

What was amazing was the dance floor all night long. All of her family kept us on our toes with a hell of a dance-off. But we gave them some competition. They were wonderful and we all had such a good time together.

Raffi, for the millionth time, congratulations. I know you two will have a wonderful rest of your life together and thank you for including me in such a wonderful time of your life.

Otherwise, Boston was great! I had a chance to do the things you never do when you live there... shop at the Armenian stores. I hit all the good stuff... ACME for some Armenian CDs, Fastachi for some mixed nuts, Massis Bakery and Sevan Bakery. I dropped by the Hairenik and visited with someone who's a bit of a mentor to me. He's a fellow designer in his days and always kept an eye out for me while I worked there. I even made it out to Worcester (1 hour drive) to see my friend Christine and we had dinner at Shiraz Restaurant... another Armenian owned business... geez, I didn't even do this intentionally. I'm such an Armo. But I love it. There's nothing like speaking Armenian everywhere you go.

Oh man... Just went to go see "Supersize Me" (documentary about a guy who goes on a 30 day McDonalds binge) and I was disgusted, but laughed through the whole thing. I haven't been to McDonalds, Starbucks, or most of the fast food joints in at least a couple of years. Infact, I even stopped drinking heavily (not that I REALLY drank that much) a couple years ago when I decided to get healthy. If I saw this movie when I was still eating the way I used to, I would have probably thrown up in the theater.

The idea is that this very healthy guy eats Micky D's 3 times a day and can't eat anything else... not even an advil to kill the many headaches he had. If this is doesn't get people to stop eating there, I don't know what will. I like the way he presented his case. It wasn't in your face the way we know Michael Moore can be sometimes. He made his experiment, argued his case and left it to the audience to form their own opinions.

My opinion? I'm glad I already went through my McDonalds Detox Diet and got rid of all that crap. I feel healthier, happier and better than I ever did. I wish they elaborated a bit more on the school cafeteria food subject a bit more. Actually my friend said that could have been a whole other documentary, but at least the message is out there. Thanks guy from New York! (Wow, I forget his name)

Well, I think now I have some stuff to write about.

I've been busy the past few weeks with planning the Youth Corps trip, coordinating all the flights, yevayln. At the same time a group of my cousins will be in Armenia, so I'm helping them plan their trip too. Somehow I think it's sooo important that a lot of those people, whose first time it will be in Armenia, enjoy Hayasdan and come back wanting more! I know the "essence" of hayrenik will do a lot of that, but I'd like to make their trip as pleasant and smooth as possible.

Other than that, I'm being dragged to the doctor again. Haha.. not really dragged, but they're doing some testing on me to make sure i'm A-OKAY before I leave. This year, I'll be in Armenia during the fall for the first time! I'm quite excited. The only bad part is that I have to pack both summer clothes AND fall clothes! I'm thinking, if I find a job while I'm there, I just might end up staying! I'm leaving it to God to decide... :)

The past weekend we had a barahantes to celebrate May 28 Independence, and also on Sunday we had an event at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. Shushan Petrosyan sang... beautifully! My sister also sang, and she sang one of my favorite songs, "Lerner Hayreni". It was funny cause for the second year in a row, the number of people in the audience has become less and less. Was it that the weather was somewhat cloudy in the morning, then nice towards the late afternoon? Was it that there was a Laker game? Were there many other events that evening? Why wouldn't someone go to a FREE May 28 Donagadarootyoon... ? Are people just not interested? I don't know. Maybe as organizers we need to think about what this sort of event gives to the people, perhaps NOTHING!?

Next event... May 28 picnic, on Monday, May 31 at Ferrahian on Parthenia. Let's who'll show up to this free event!

TSUH! :)~

Music Awards... The short of it is that Pomegranate Music did get a win for Hover!!! A much deserved CD, congratulations to the entire Hover crew.

Now the show. None of those celebrities were there, including Serj. The show was moved to Hollywood, the Henry Fonda Theatre, which worked well with the "Golden Globe" format of the evening. I attended with Antranig Kzirian, nominated for the "History: Volume I" album. We ended up sitting next to Sako, a singer who performed that night. He was enough entertainment for the night. So there were some good performances. Arev Ensemble did a fantastic job. Gor was great on stage. Roubo the duduk player was wonderful. Shoushan Petrossyan was fantastic. But sadly, many of the performances seemed forced and lacking. My personal favorite was Andy. He sang with another woman, not Armenian, with whom he recorded a song on the "House of Sand and Fog" soundtrack in English. It was a wonderful performance and Andy is quite the entertainer as always.

Notable appearances were again Aram Saroyan (William Saroyan's song), the Armenian guy who did the special effects in Lord of the Rings, and a few other "industry" folks. I will say this, Arto Tuncboyajian's presence was missed. He is what made that show for me the last time around.

For a full list of the winners, go to narek.com, it's listed there.

Otherwise, I'm back in DC, had a nice quiet weekend. I went to a House Party on Saturday for Kerry's National House Party day... met up with some "Armenians for Kerry" folks and talked a lot about the campaign. That night was a lecture at the church given by Khajag (Editor of the Hairenik) and Robert Krikorian, professor at George Washington University. The focus was on May 28th Independence Day. I have a hard time with Armenian lectures, so I didn't follow Khajag's lecture all that well, but Robert's was fantastic. He was in Kharabagh from 1988-1991 (during the movement) and has a very interesting perspective of Armenian independence, the second time around. He's a great speaker, I highly recommend attending one of his lectures if he is in your area.

Lots going on. Tomorrow is a wake for Mr. Vartan Anoushian, a genocide survivor who passed away at the age of 110, so he also survived the Adana massacres. I fear how the next generation of Armenians will relate to the genocide if there are no survivors to tell their stories.

This weekend, I am back in Boston for Raffi Meneshian's wedding. At the same time in Prospect, PA, there will be the Annual AYF Junior Seminar, bringing in some of the best lecturers around. This is an interesting weekend that I haven't figured out. The weekend is PACKED with lectures and educational focuses, yet, it's the biggest AYF Juniors event of the year. There are well over 400 people registered to attend. Though I wont be there, I'm interested to see how it goes. I heard the lecture line up, it should be a great weekend.

That's enough for now.

Vehapar News, the fake armenians talking about...


Argentinean Community is exited, chasing the shadow of Karekin II everywhere.
There have been a lot of activities around the Armenian Spiritual father. (I must admit I am an orphan so)
But, anyway, a lot of political strikes are showing a disastrous way of act of all the Armenian leaders of Argentina. All the speeches are tending to attack the figure of the Buenos Aires' Srpazan Kissag (Kisag) Mouradian (Muradian). All the leaders are talking about reforms of the church. The youth is claiming for such things as changing the mass to ashkharapar, to change the timetable of badaraks (not only sunday mornings), etc.., etc. We know that Kissag Srpazan has lots of critic aspects but the attitude of attacking him in front of the supreme authority of the Church he belongs, its really sad. It shows how cowards are our leaders, because when the Vahapar wasn't here no of these people came to talk face to face with Srpazan Kissag...
Karekin II will return to Armenia in few days, a Madagh for 2000 armenians will take place today...

Meat fills the stomach but...Is the Armenian Church filling our souls???

The show starts in about 4 hours. I had some time to kill and thought I'd update. Glendale starts to feel like Yerevan in a twisted way after a while. Last night a group of us went to go have Sushi and met up with another group of people, some I haven't seen in years. I got a few calls from friends who happened to be right in the area, so they dropped by to chat. We got into many discussions about politics... in Armenia, in the US, in Iraq, you name it. We walked up Brand Blvd very slowly only to run into more people, some in town for the music awards, some just wondering around, some I've known for years, some I barely recognized. We sat infront of the car on Brand for about 2 hours in little clusters as if we had no where to go. That pace is one of the many things I miss about Yerevan. If only it were Yerevan.

This morning, I woke up and got ready to come into the ANC office. Alex Sardar (in town from Armenia) pick me and his cousin Armen up when he told us that an American was murdered in Armenia. I can completely understand how that shakes up people's sense of security in Armenia. I can't even imagine what the family must be thinking or feeling right now. My heart goes out to them.

There are so many violent patterns in the world and in Armenia these days. It makes it hard to enjoy the little things without the bitter taste in my mouth. The music awards seem a bit unimportant right now, but what else can you do but move on?

Still in LA. I got to see my family yesterday... my aunt and uncle, medzmom, cousins, etc., rocked my cousin in nardi, the usual. I actually went to an AYF Youth Corps 10th Anniversary program on Saturday night that was very interesting. They showed a lovely video of the work they have done in Kharabagh over the years... something anyone can relate to if they have done a similar program. Gor Mkhitarian also performed a short acoustic set that was really nice.

Today I was dragged into the ANCA Western Region office at 8:30 am and put to work. As long as I can where jeans, I'm happy. The Music Awards are tomorrow night. There's a little excitement around town, but nothing major. Most people don't even know about it. More on that later!

News from Argentina:April, The Genocide and Karekin II arriving to Argentina.



Armenians of Argentina did a lot of activities for last 24th April. The main act took place in the Law University of Buenos Aires. The same old and boring type of acts. One day before the Youth Organization of the Tashnagtsutiun organized a protest in front the Turkish Ambassador's Residence. No words. I have been invited to play with my rock band there. We had a good time but i must tell that AYF of Argentina must lear how to organize things because it was a simple disaster. Anyway...

The intelectual movement was the strongest act of this 24th Apri. Why? Well, because eight books have been presented and many of them are about the Armenian Genocide. The Fourty Days of Musa Dagh now is in Spanish (new edition), all the main bookstores of Buenos Aires are selling it. Novels like ODAR, EL CINTURÓN or the Memories of Charles Diran-Tekeyan are very useful to study this issue.

What has been, is and will be a shocking movement is the book that www.GenocidioArmenio.org presented last 26th April.
250 Pages with the newest information about the Armenian Genocide. The most important authors that study the Armenian Genocide wrote in this book. Professionals such as Richard Hovanissian, Yair Auron, Martiné Hovannesian, Ará Sarafian, Ruth Thomasian, Christina Maranci, Paul Adalian, Hélène Piralian, Claude Mutafian and Anie Kalayjian wrote richful articles, all them translated into spanish for the Latin American readers. The introduction was written by Atom Egoyan and Arsinée Khanjian, who gave a strong point of view about the present and the future about the Armenian Genocide and the action of the Diaspora.
We are delivering the book wherever we can. We want to send some of them to Armenia also. The local institutions got astonished just for one things that is particular of this book: IS FREE OF CHARGE. (something that maybe sound impossible to understand for some materialistic armenians). Armenian Teachers and high school students received it with joy. The e-mail box of www.genocidioarmenio.org is receiving e-mail everyday asking for it.
As the director of the organization I must say that nothing of this could been possible without the help of the Urartu Masonic Lodge Nª 442 of Argentina.


April was Genocide...

May is Vehapar...haahaha, yes!
Karekin II arrived to Argentina a week ago. He first visited Brazil and Uruguay and now touched the Argentinean land.
What is very weird is that is the first time that i see such a propagandistic movement behind this visit. Buenos Aires' streets are plenty of posters of Karekin II. The newspapers and radio stations are talking also about him. Its like, armenians are doing more lobby for this that for the recognition of the genocide...

I don't know how are things doing in Armenia right now, but just think that if the political chief, Mr. Robert, and the religious chief, Mr. Karekin II, are abroad meanwhile the nation is claiming changes, something is not going well...

If you are hispanophone, take a look of an abstract of the National Geographic article about Armenia.


I will try to log more often.
Bachikner to all my log-partners.

HovhanneSS

This Tuesday is the 6th Annual Armenian Music Awards in Hollywood, CA. There will be a delayed broadcast of this event a few days later on Saturday May 22, 2004. I am not sure what channel it will be broadcast in the LA area and in Armenia. While I can't make it this year due to a scheduling issue, I really support this project and forum Peter Bahlawanian has created. Is it perfect? No. But, it is very close to it for a niche market awards show. I attended the last award show in 2002 and had a great time. While we (Pomegranate) had a very modest presense there then, and will have a small there this time around, it was exciting to meet members of the community from all walks of life.

So, my shameless plug this time around is for Gor Mkhitarian (Best Alternative Folk Album) and "Godfather Tom" while Arsineh Khachikian receives a nomination for "Best Album Cover and Design" for Gor's album. Hover Chamber Choir of Armenia also received a nod in the "Best Choir/Chorus" category for their album "Six Fables". Best of luck to all of the nominees this year. Gor will also be performing at this years event.

There have been a flurry of Armenian activities here in the Boston area which I have not been able to attend. However, benefit music concerts, art shows, and lectures continue to be available to those here in the Boston area.

I am in LA. Quite a wild first day. I arrived at 9 am and my first stop was In n Out for a nice Cheesburger and fries. I thought I could wait longer than that, but apparently not. From there, straight to the ANCA office (Western Region) because work never stops just because you leave town. :) However, I only went there to meet with all the others to go to a Dodgers game. Dodgers lost, but I had a blast anyway. The rest of the day was just about catching up with people. I sat in on a meeting with representatives from the "Save the Children" project in Armenia. They do such great work, it's a shame something like this could suffer because of aid cuts to Armenia. Yeah, thanks Bush.

Today I have been at the office all day with a nice Zankou Chicken lunch. And tonight I go to my cousin's engagement pre-party... because one simple party isn't enough.

It's good to be away from DC, but the politics follows me and I already have had many discussions about what's going on in Washington, Iraq, etc. It's a nice change to hear opinions of people outside of DC on political topics.

I have yet to contact everyone I know, but there's still plenty of time... so if you haven't heard from me, sorry.

Wow, this month flew by. I guess it's time to update on April 24 events. Well, I listed the events that took place, all went well with good attendance. The one that stands out these days is the Armenian Genocide Observance on Capitol Hill. This year there were 40 Members of Congress in attendance and the room was packed with Armenians from all over the country. Throughout the day, people showed up from New Jersey, Rhode Island, California, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, New York, etc. to meet with the Congressman urging support on the genocide resolutions (senate and house).

Canadian Parliamentarian Madeleine Dalfond-Guiral, whom we have to thank for Canada passing the Genocide resolution, passed through the office, met with Members of Congress, and was awarded at the Observance. Peter Balakian also received the freedom award this year and gave a touching speech.

I've been on the organizing end of this event for the last two years and the pace at which this event grows and improves is impressive. Unfortunately, I couldn't listen to any of the speeches until the days after on video tape.

Many complain that these events each year become repetative and serve no purpose. Though I disagree, here is an event which serves a purpose and makes a huge impression. I constantly hear how Armenians have a great reputation in Washington. It's the presence of Armenians from all over the country that make that impression and that matters more than you can imagine.

Other news, I am off to LA in a few days. Though my initial reason was to attend the Armenian Music Awards, it seems that might not be possible as it's a bit of a closed event. I would have been fine with this except that I just found out that I am nominated again for Best Album Cover & Design. I think it's great that we have this show to expose Armenian Music to the rest of the world, but I'm a little disappointed at how the nominations and awards are handled. This year it seems like they are bringing many big names like Andre Agassi, Michael Moore, Gwen Stefani, Serj Tankian, and Kirk Krikorian, but why would nominees be kept out of the show?

The weather fairy finally decided to give us a little break from the 100 degree heat... and so today was a beautiful day!

The April 24 frenzy is over, and I'm not sure if I'm relieved or worried. I hope this year we'll be working year round, cause really.. as a fellow AYF member said last weekend "we're just tired of all of this... we don't want one more year to pass with our history being denied". He's right. Al ge paveh!

As for what's going on in L.A.... I've been so busy with work, I'm not quite sure what's new. My mom was out of town for a while and so she left me in charge (bad idea)... but I think things are going a bit smoother now. I'm working a lot more than before.

Next Saturday, we're doing a 10 year Anniversary kickoff celebration for our AYF Youth Corps Program. It's gonna take place at the Rococo Room in Old Town Pasadena. It's funny, cause we were trying to decide where the event should take place, and we realized that if we did it at someone's house or at an Armenian Center, no one would come! (judging on past attempts). It's a gamble doing it somewhere where we have a cost, but we're hoping to raise funds for this year's group... let's see how it goes.

That's pretty much all I'm busy with nowadays. My birthday passed, and let me tell you, so far 24 is no different than 23. So what age is it that the day after your birthday you're like.. "damnnnn I'm older!"? Hahaha... maybe never?

Looking forward to my Hayasdan trip coming up in July..... POSSIBLY the last time I go back and forth... IFFFFFFFFFF I find a job! :) I was thinking... the money that I spend going back and forth, I could live there for months at a time! What a waste!

TSUH! :)~