Happy Persian New Year's From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

The Persian Holiday of Nowruz dates back to Zoroastrian times in ancient Persia, although it's exact date of origin is unclear. The first day of Spring also marks the beginning of the new year on the Persian calendar. Apparently the holiday is celebrated any number of ways, but primarily revolves around cleaning up the household (signifying a new beginning and ridding oneself of excess baggage) ahead of a visit from friends and neighbors. Some celebrants believe that a person's mood during Nowruz celebrations will affect their outlook for the rest of that year.

Never really known for their outgoing, fun-loving nature, the Iranian regime this year announced another heavy-handed crackdown during one of the festivals leading up to Nowruz, Chaharshanbe Suri (jumping over a bonfire to purify oneself).

And what kind of holiday would it be at Not Another New England Sports Blog! would it be if I let it pass without gratuitously throwing out some ocular sweetness that's (at least tangentially) germane to the Holiday being observed? From Iran, even.....

Attractive Iranian women? you might be asking yourself. Believe me- that is no contradiction in terms. The perception seems to be the females that currently populate Iran are joyless, plain, dour bhurka-clad souls....and the backwards 'leaders' of Iran don't do much to dispel that stereotype. After the Ayatollah Khomeni seized power in 1979, thousands of Iranian families fled to the USA, Canada, Europe and the UK. The children of those families would be in their 20s and 30s by now. [I happen to know firsthand a few such women of Persian background who fit that definition to a 'T', but "That chick that works in the sales department over in the Nissan dealership" or "The pouty girl with the accent at the barbershop" are pretty obscure examples- NANESB!]. Some of these women have never even set foot in the country their parents were born and raised in though.

Sarah Shahi

Take for instance Sarah Shahi from Showtime's The L Word among other appearances. Sarah (who's given name is Aahoo Jahansouz according to wikipedia) is of Iranian ancestry, but born and raised in Texas and was even a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader for awhile.

And there's also the introverted, shy, girl-next door Roxana Saberi- a journalist, former Miss North Dakota and one-time political prisoner of the Ahmedinejahd regime. Saberi grew up in Fargo, ND the daughter of an Iranian father and Japanese mother. In 2009, she was accused of espionage by Iran's Revolutionary Guards while working as a journalist and interpreter and recieved and 8 year prison sentence. In May 2009, her sentence was overturned by an Iranian appeals court and she received a two-year suspended sentence before returning to the USA.

Or singer and model Claudia Lynx, who's family left Tehran for Norway when she was a few months old, and moved to Canada when she was five. She's also appeared in Levi's magazine ads and had a cameo as 'Miss World' on The West Wing.

That's not to say all the attractive Persian women were able to flee the Islamist regime and live freely in America or Europe. As we saw during last year's presidential elections and the subsequent protests over in Iran, there is still plenty of vintage Persian ocular sweetness to behold.However- they are required by law over there to wear a headscarf and dress 'modestly' at all times, even in the summer when the average temperature in most of the country exceeds 100 degrees. It would be one thing if they chose to dress like that, but that decision (along with many others) has made for them by a bunch of dour, faceless old men for the last 30 years. You gotta think that deep down inside, like 90% of these girls currently in Iran are just dying to put on the proverbial little black dress, go out clubbing with their girlfriends [and probably make catty remarks to their friends in little back dresses about other girls in their little black dresses- NANESB!] without the Basiij militia or 'morality police' gunning them down as they stood in a traffic jam harshing their mellow.

But for now, at least, they still have Nowruz.