Radio Dreams

When you buy a one-way ticket, you probably are certain why you're going.

And what you will be doing there.

But when the aeroplane flies towards the West

It's not only the seconds that turn back

You also turn back.

You turn so far back that all the old uncertainties return

Where am I going?

Why am I going?

Words were my way of making a living. Am I going there to become a mute?

How much English do I even know?

Yes, we'll hold on to them.

Keep your instruments with you in the car.

Yes. -You came from Kabul?

Is there a direct flight from Kabul to Oakland?

No, we went from Kabul to Dubai, then to Frankfurt.

We were in LA for a few days and then came here. And from Frankfurt to LA.

Yes -You came here from LA?

Well that's not far, is it?

So this is San Francisco.

He's in the shower. -Where's Raby?

- They said in an hour or two. - When are they coming to pick us up?

OK. -It's warm.

No. -Are you nervous?

- There's nothing to be nervous about. - I'm a little nervous.

- We'll think of something. - What are we going to say to Metallica?

I'll tell him. -Tell Raby to hurry up.

He always takes so long. What does he do in there?

Hurry up! What are you doing in there?

Leave me alone! I can't have a moment to myself!

Go!

Cut! Cut!

Where's the background track?

It was programmed in there, I don't know why it didn't play.

Where's Morad?

Morad!

Morad!

Is he singing in Russian?

You said he'd be singing an Iranian folk song.

This is a beautiful song and Jamshid is performing it fantastically.

Noone's going to understand -You'd get it if he was singing an Iranian folk song?

At least it'd be Iranian. This is an Iranian radio station.

Morad, check what's wrong with his keyboard.

My aim is to introduce the music of Iran's neighbors.

Unfortunately Russia is no longer Iran's neighbor.

OK, turn it off for now. Morad, get out of there.

Are you ready? Let's take it from the top.

Go!

Well done! Well done!

It needs a bit more practice. I'll practice with him later.

With your permission Mr. Afshar, I'm going to go to my office to do some work.

Young man, do you know how to wrestle?

No.

How long have you been working here?

Two years.

Two years? -Yes.

You're built for wrestling! I realized when I saw you behind the keyboard.

What a shame we wasted these two years.

What a shame.

Reza, are you ready?

I'm memorizing.

You're not going to read from the notes are you?

No, I'm just taking the notes as back-up.

Sherbet, can you turn that off for a second?

I thought I'd take the notes into the recording room just in case.

Read exactly what I wrote for you to read.

- Don't even move one word. - I've memorized it.

Good morning, dear listeners.

I'm Reza Gerami.

Thank you for choosing to listen to The Great Dead, here on PARS Radio.

Today, I want to talk to you about Roque Dalton, the great Salvadoran poet.

Roque Dalton Garcia was born on the 14th of May 1939 in the city of San Salvador.

He is considered one of LatinAmerica's most well-known poets

He wrote emotionally charged, sometimes sarcastic and vivid works

Which dealt with life, death, love and politics.

As far as tragic poets' stories go...

- Are you listening to this? - Yes, it's very good!

Very good? Dad, he's talking about a dead Salvadoran poet!

We specifically told Mr. Royani that today was going to be different from other days.

Many are tuning in today because of Metallica.

What do you want me to do?

Do you realize how many commercials I arranged for today?

If we don't broadcast these commercials, we won't have a radio station anymore.

We can still broadcast the commercials.

Is anybody going to listen to this program long enough to get to the commercials?

And do you think 'Baba Jaan Pizza' could care less about who Roque Dalton was?

Roque Dalton said that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.

I'll leave you with one of his most brutally

heartfelt poems, "The Small Hours of the Night."

When you know I have died, don't say my name.

It would only delay death and repose. Your voice,

the lookout of the senses will be a fragile lighthouse searching for my mist.

When you know that I have died, utter strange syllables and say:

Flower, bee, tear, bread and storm.

Don't let your lips discover my eleven letters.

I'm sleepy, I've loved, I have earned the silence.

Don't say my name, when you know that I have died

From the dark world I will come for your voice.

Don't say my name. Don't say my name.

When you know that I have died, Don't utter my name...

Italian and American pizza is one thing, but Baba Jaan Pizza is something else!

Baba Jaan Pizza is managed by Roger Rafaati with

a menu that's entirely designed to your taste!

Fenugreek and cheese pizza, Barbari cheese and onion pizza

Mixed shaami kebab pizza, carnation and kookoo sabzi pizza

And dozens of other unique and specific Baba Jaan pizzas!

Sohrab, do you think this is right?

Did you hear how he was reading that Roque Dalton poem with such emotion?

Do you think it's correct that it was interrupted by that awful commercial?

Hamid, we need these commercials.

Why can't you keep the commercials for when after the news is read?

Or after all that crap pre-selected music is played?

Fantastic! That was fantastic!

Everyone is going to buy that pizza now!

I requested one thing from you and you said you'd respect it.

I had one request for you as well!

Why do we need so many commercials? Everybody

already knows Metallica will be coming.

And that's exactly why our sponsors have agreed to advertise so much.

Sohrab, I can't concentrate on any of my programs

I spend a lot of time preparing with these kids.

They spend a week preparing for each program.

I'm Siddique.

I'm Sulyman.

I'm Raby.

And together you're Kabul Dreams,

the very first rock band in Afghanistan.

Today you're in San Francisco

and you're going to meet the famous rock band Metallica

at a local Afghani radio station, right?

Or is it... what sort of station?

I think I understood it's PARS-FM,

is that correct? - It's Iranian, Iranian.

It's Iranian?

- The station, yeah. - Okay, good.

So, how did this all come about?

It's a long way from Afghanistan.

Yeah. Mr. Royani, who is producing shows in that program

and managing the radio station,

he invited us, actually,

and he's been planning this for a while now.

And he made it possible for us and for Metallica

to kind of be in the radio program

and then also jam together.

It's something that's amazing because, you know, Metallica

is the band we kind of grew up looking up to them

and to their music, I think not only us,

but everyone who is into rock and roll in the world

looks up to them.

They're a legendary band.

And now we're to the point where we're able to meet with them in

person and also jam with them,

and that is an honor for us, of course,

and also a big opportunity.

It's a dream come true, basically.

Yeah, this is a big day for you.

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Chest, back, stomach, ankles, arms, thighs, fingers, toes

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From now on, you can join the rank and file of those with self-confidence.

Dr. Jim Rakhshandeh is located in the heart of West End Hill Shopping Mall.

The contact telephone number is 510 990 5130.

Here's to the day when no Iranian woman will

ever have a problem with excess hair again!

We have Dr. Jim Rakhshandeh with us here in the PARS Radio studios.

Dr. Rakhshandeh, welcome.

Thank you very much. It's my great pleasure to be here.

The pleasure's ours.

You're a dermatologist with a practice right here in San Francisco.

Yes, my patients come to see me from all around the Bay Area.

They come from Oakland, Berkeley, Palo Alto and from beautiful San Francisco.

Can you tell me what your patients mainly come to see you for?

I treat all skin conditions. But I'm especially

interested in the removal of unwanted body hair.

Unwanted body hair.

Many of your female listeners will understand what I'm saying here.

Hair on your body always works completely the opposite of the hair on your head.

People sit and pray that the hair on their

head remains where it is and doesn't fall out.

But not you Mr. Royani. You are blessed with magnificent hair!

But body hair, well you spend so much time, money and energy trying to get rid of it.

Nobody wants body hair! Unless they are primitive of course!

Just out of curiosity Doctor, Are you fully Iranian?

Yes.

50 percent Azerbaijani, 50 percent Persian. 100 percent Iranian.

How come your name is Jim?

Well my name is Jahanbakhsh. As you can

imagine, it's quite a mouthful for non-Iranians.

So I chose Jim as my professional name.

I see.

Well that went fairly smoothly in spite of your best efforts to ridicule him.

Yes.

He's a charlatan.

Do you know how much money he has given us today?

No I don't. I'm going to go get some work done.

What time is it in Gorgan right now?

- Quarter to twelve. - Well then this clock is incorrect.

Yes, it's incorrect.

Why does a radio station need eight different