[HN Gopher] Mr. Rafieh's Tehran Pencil Shop
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Mr. Rafieh's Tehran Pencil Shop
Author : NaOH
Score : 145 points
Date : 2021-07-14 05:28 UTC (17 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.ana.press)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.ana.press)
| sparrish wrote:
| It's a colorful stall, that's for sure.
|
| Does he make the pencils there?
|
| I can't read the writing in the photos but it looks like there
| are no prices (I don't see any numbers). Can someone who is able
| to read this chime in?
| taken_username wrote:
| I don't think he made the pencils, but he has a huge collection
| apparently from the basic ones to some ancient ones.
|
| I searched a bit online and I couldn't find any online shop or
| price samples for the store.
|
| This is their instagram page, but not sure if it adds any more
| information:
|
| https://instagram.com/medad_rafi
| ginko wrote:
| >Does he make the pencils there?
|
| The pencils in this photo[1] say 'Germany', so my guess is no.
|
| [1]
| https://www.ana.press/photo/548339/%D8%AF%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%A7%...
| eternalban wrote:
| https://media.ana.press/old/1399/09/24/637435502248341625_lg...
|
| [R to L]: White Pencil. Tailor's White Pencil. White Oil
| Pencil.
|
| One the side it says "single colored pencils 250 Tomans". The
| front matter appears to be a verse from Qur'an and below it in
| Farsi he declares he has 'entrusted all matters to God, the
| same God that is the protector of its creation'.
| kapitalx wrote:
| There is a 0 missing in the picture. In another photo[1] it
| says "2500 Toman" which is about $0.10 USD
|
| [1] https://media.ana.press/old/1399/09/24/637435501254726240
| _lg...
| eternalban wrote:
| Was wondering about the exchange rate these days. Good
| catch.
| vidanay wrote:
| God (of your choice), I wish I was multi-lingual.
| eternalban wrote:
| khwstn twnstn st
|
| [[R to L]: Khaastan (To desire/wish) Tavaanestan (to have
| ability) Ast (is)]
|
| That's a popular Iranian saying. It means "To desire/To
| will is to achieve." (Where there is a will, there is a
| way.)
| rvense wrote:
| Also: Zabaan daani, jahaan daari.
|
| (If you know languages, you posses the world.)
| Phenomenit wrote:
| Do you mean more than two or one?
| vidanay wrote:
| More than one.
| oz_zyn wrote:
| I put a translation in another comment. I don't think he makes
| them, or at least there's nothing that suggests that in the
| text. He's more of a collector.
| udev wrote:
| A mightily photogenic place, so much colour!
| AlbertCory wrote:
| I love this.
|
| I'm wondering how well he knows his inventory. Like, can you ask
| for one particular pencil that's stuck in the middle of one of
| those shelves, and he goes and pulls it right out?
| freshdonut wrote:
| Kind of like Ollivader from Harry Potter haha.
| [deleted]
| drmeister wrote:
| Came for this.
|
| "Curious how these things happen. The [pencil] chooses the
| [writer], remember..."
| a1371 wrote:
| My guess would be that the pencils of the same property are on
| each shelf, and the older stuff are buried under newer ones.
|
| For example, one of the labels says "oily pencils".
|
| So perhaps when you go to him and ask for a purple pencil he
| pulls out a number of purple ones from the bunch that's
| relevant to you. Then he explains which one is better for you.
| ramesh31 wrote:
| It fills me with a deep sorrow knowing that I will never be able
| to visit Iran as an American. I don't know if it's just the
| "forbidden fruit" aspect of it or not, but it's my number one
| bucket list destination.
| werber wrote:
| I'm not sure what your situation is but I know Americans that
| have gone through an intermediate country
| ramesh31 wrote:
| >I'm not sure what your situation is but I know Americans
| that have gone through an intermediate country
|
| It's _possible_ , sure. But the risk of arbitrary detention
| would make it impossible to enjoy. The state department
| currently lists Iran as "Level 4: Do not travel", and
| suggests you have a will in order if you do [0]. There was a
| brief moment towards the end of the Obama era where it seemed
| things may have been thawing, but with the Soleimani
| assassination I don't have much hope for the future in that
| regard.
|
| [0] https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisori
| es/...
| brudgers wrote:
| You should have a will even if you stay home. And a living
| will in case you are vegetating and the plug needs to be
| pulled.
|
| Most people in Iran know there are a bunch of assholes
| running things there just like there are here. Daily life
| for most people there consists mostly of mundane things
| like colored pencils.
|
| Travel requires treating irrational fears as irrational. If
| you want to go, you can find a way. Your life will be
| different afterwards because that's what any travel does.
|
| The ways in which people change from travel is why
| Americans have been banned from Cuba for sixty years and
| Iran for forty.
| notsureaboutpg wrote:
| We call it arbitrary detention, but the reason they detain
| US citizens is frankly because the US is constantly
| assassinating Iranians (remember the scientist who was
| killed by a drone recently?) and they have no way of
| knowing who is a legit tourist and who has been sent by the
| US to spy on them and kill another of their citizens.
| siva7 wrote:
| iran - and many other countries in the world - could take you
| happily as a hostage if your government is considered an
| enemy.
| parhamn wrote:
| Statistically speaking insanely improbable. ~5m people and
| thousands of Americans visit Iran every year. Unless you're
| a anti-govt journalist or intelligence related you have
| nothing to worry about.
|
| N.B. the argument that Iran will falsely label you a 'spy'
| feels weak to me given the order of magnitude of such
| detentions in recent history is in the tens. It would be
| equally improbably that most of these detentions were false
| positives as plenty of foreign intelligence operations
| happen in any country. Especially given the amount of
| foreign-intelligence related sabotage in recent Iranian
| history.
| siva7 wrote:
| of those visitors there will hardly be many at which your
| country is basically at war which is the case for
| americans. i can freely travel to iran but i wouldn't
| recommend it to an american.
| rmason wrote:
| I feel the same way about Cuba. My Uncle worked there as a
| banker and almost my entire family visited him there at one
| time or another.
|
| I asked him once when it opened up again why he hadn't gone
| back. He said the trips are forced tours and that he wouldn't
| be free to get a car and revisit the haunts of his youth.
|
| I made up my mind that I wouldn't visit Cuba until the
| communists were gone. I was pretty confident after Castro the
| government would fall. Now I am not so sure.
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| Direct flights to Cuba have been available since 2016. You
| can go whenever you want minus any pending revolution.
| hellbannedguy wrote:
| I wouldn't be suprised if the military rebelled within a few
| days.
| enriquto wrote:
| don't say never. Until forty years ago you could have visited
| the country without problem. Maybe in a few years you will be
| able to, again. International politics is cruel, unpredictable
| and complex, but also fast paced. You can also acquire a
| different nationality and travel under your new passport.
| jacquesm wrote:
| So much for freedom, right? After all, the US has a _very_ loud
| voice on all things freedom related but when it comes to the
| rights of its own citizens to do as they please the degree of
| freedom appears to be lower than that of many states that have
| lesser profile in the freedom department. Countries should not
| limit their citizens freedoms on the basis of politics, that 's
| no different than the various dictatorships that want to keep
| their people in (and the foreigners out), it's just a matter of
| degree.
|
| Whether it is safe - or wise - to do so is another matter.
| whatshisface wrote:
| US citizens are allowed to go to Iran. The state department
| has issued a travel advisory, but it was issued on the basis
| of kidnappings and arbitrary arrests of U.S. citizens.
|
| https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/.
| ..
| notsureaboutpg wrote:
| US Citizens are allowed to go, but Iran will not grant
| visas to US Citizens easily because the US and its greatest
| ally Israel have been participating in assassinations of
| Iranian non-combatant citizens and lots of espionage in
| that country for decades for a reason most Americans could
| not even tell you.
|
| I'm just saying, the US has restricted its own people's
| ability to visit that part of the world because of the
| actions it has engaged in.
| 2dvisio wrote:
| Lots of people from USA are visiting Iran. We travel to Shiraz
| regularly and even during the previous presidency we have
| witnessed planes full of Americans travelling there. It was
| quite hopeful for all as it demonstrated USA is not a narrow
| minded bunch... quite the opposite!
| anonAndOn wrote:
| >planes full of Americans travelling there
|
| Unlike the rest of the world, Americans can only visit with
| organized tours.[0]
|
| [0]Unless you've got some Persian relatives you're visiting.
| efazati wrote:
| Wow Tehran is full of beautiful things that even someone from
| Iran like me doesn't know
| jacquesm wrote:
| I've spent half a day looking through pictures of Iran from
| before the revolution, it was - and in many ways probably still
| is - an absolutely amazing country. Sooner or later the mullahs
| will be given their walking papers and hopefully the country
| can then recover some of its former splendor.
| anticodon wrote:
| Yeah, I imagine it:
|
| - It would be bombed and looted by foreign army ("In the name
| of democracy!")
|
| - Hundreds of thousands of people will die from bombs, same
| amount from hunger and civil unrest caused by destruction of
| the infrastructure and government system (police, hospitals,
| etc.)
|
| - Foreign companies will take control of Iran's oil (the main
| reason why Iran is considered "hostile country" now is that
| it controls its natural resources), so that profits from
| selling the oil flow to other countries (exactly the same
| happened recently in Libya and Syria)
|
| It would become unsafe to visit, and most cities would be in
| ruins. Crime rates would go through the roof.
| brudgers wrote:
| Europeans have been anti-Persian since before Socrates was a
| hoplite.
|
| It would be better if fifteen hundred years of Islamophobia
| was disinfected from Europe. It's a double standard where
| nobody sees a problem with England even though there's a
| state religion and the religious head and government head are
| the same person...and unlike Iran, those roles are
| hereditary.
|
| Iran today looks like what throwing off the yoke of foreign
| influence looks like. So far it has only been going on half
| as long as the Guerra de los Ochenta Anos took to free the
| Netherlands from Spanish Influence.
|
| Never mind the bloody legacy of Calvinism though. The
| traditional head of the European church launched the crusades
| and backed the long slog in the Iberian Peninsula.
|
| So long as the first reaction is to frame Iran in religious
| terms, the Mullahs are logically correct in their claims
| about the enemy without.
| eynsham wrote:
| I agree that Islamophobia contributes to unhelpfully
| negative attitudes towards Iran.
|
| > It's a double standard where nobody sees a problem with
| England even though there's a state religion and the
| religious head and government head are the same
| person...and unlike Iran, those roles are hereditary.
|
| I don't think that anyone familiar with both countries
| would consider that the role of the two is remotely
| comparable. The Queen's influence, except when acting on
| the advice of the PM (i.e., doing precisely what the PM
| says), on the vast majority of policymaking is negligible.
| The Supreme Leader's influence is much broader. The Supreme
| Leader chooses all sorts of important ministers (e.g., the
| interior and defence ministers). The IRGC directly reports
| to Khamanei and he does not direct it on the advice of the
| President.
|
| As for the established church, it has barely any effect: at
| most, a few votes in the Lords (which under the Parliament
| Acts 1911 and 1949 can be overriden by the Commons.)
| Government policy and the wishes of the C of E are pretty
| clearly in tension, which is why e.g. Thatcher spent rather
| a lot of time criticising bishops for effectively calling
| her heartless. Meanwhile in Iran, all sorts of policies are
| dictated by the religious establishment, e.g., Qisas.
|
| > Iran today looks like what throwing off the yoke of
| foreign influence looks like.
|
| There are many ways to 'throw off the yoke of foreign
| influence' (and hopefully replace it with a healthy
| attitude towards foreign ideas.) I don't think it's
| incorrect to suggest that there are pretty substantial
| deficiencies in the seem not particularly to like the
| present path taken by the regime. See e.g. Ahmadinejad
| (presumably irked by being sidelined) on MEMRI (I know, I
| know),1 or the election of Khatami and Rouhani (whose
| ambitions have often been thwarted by those you seem to be
| defending here.)
|
| > Never mind the bloody legacy of Calvinism though. The
| traditional head of the European church launched the
| crusades and backed the long slog in the Iberian Peninsula.
|
| This seems to be logically fallacious whataboutism--where
| do you get the idea that OP wants a return to Roman
| Catholic theocracy?
|
| > So long as the first reaction is to frame Iran in
| religious terms, the Mullahs are logically correct in their
| claims about the enemy without.
|
| Simply criticising the religious establishment as done
| above is common even amongst Iranians, so this seems to
| miss the point. Now, it may be that actually this is cover
| for some raving about Muslims generally or Iran qua an
| Islamic Republic as opposed to one say even less democratic
| than e.g. Pakistan or Bangladesh. But this comment seems to
| be a sort of reflexive defence against a certain sort of
| Islamophobic criticism which wasn't actually made.
|
| 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUW_XwvHQNw,
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bOfDBoQ7yA
| brudgers wrote:
| The English Parliament is allowed to pass legislation to
| which the head of state consents.
|
| Among such legislation is the English church's military
| arm engaging in the ongoing Irish religious war. A
| conflict that goes back to the time Henry VIII made his
| own church to sanction his divorce...so he could marry
| the first woman he is known to have killed.
|
| More recently the English head of state created a new
| legal structure to harden the already armed religious
| border on Ireland.
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| Khruangbin has a music video featuring female pop artists
| from before the revolution. They get systematically erased
| toward the end.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hlGqj3ImQI
| foobarian wrote:
| I'd be his regular customer if I lived there. The curation he
| provides is very valuable; I found this out over the past few
| years as we went through different brands of colored pencils.
| Even brands I remember from growing up as my favorite ones turn
| out to be so bad compared to the best I managed to find. The main
| two properties I found useful to look at is the color saturation
| and resistance to cracking of the lead, especially under
| sharpening.
|
| Some noname sets found randomly in clearance bins are so bad some
| of the colors could not be sharpened even once. Maybe I need a
| different kind of sharpener.
| thinker403 wrote:
| To anybody with a cynical view of Iran and its people I highly
| recommend watching this fairly recent documentary about a British
| guy riding a motorcycle through the country. The people seem like
| some of the most friendly in the world.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2LEgowbzSc
| BeetleB wrote:
| > To anybody with a cynical, narrow-minded view of Iran and its
| people I highly recommend ...
|
| Do you expect any reader of this comment to say to themselves
| "Ah, that's me!"?
| thinker403 wrote:
| I did not. But I see what you're saying and I edited it to
| make it more chill.
| oz_zyn wrote:
| Here's a rough translation for anyone interested in the text in
| the article:
|
| The world of Colored pencils
|
| Going through the narrow alleys of the stationary bazaar, there's
| a name that's familiar to all and an address that's hacked on all
| the tradespeople's minds. If you're looking for colored pencils,
| everyone'll point you to Mr. Rafieh's shop. "It's been thirty
| years that I get my energy from setting up kids with their
| colored pencil box. At the moment I have one of the biggest
| collections of colored pencils.", he says. Beginner and
| professional painters alike come to him for recommendations on
| colored pencils. The rare old models from the west or the ones
| produced in the country, he has them all. Mr. Rafieh's colorful
| stall has been drawing the attention of passerby for many years
| now.
| dougSF70 wrote:
| The humble pencil is truly an amazing invention. The Gutenberg
| press of writing instruments.
| schnevets wrote:
| Years ago, I dismissed photography as a pretentious hobby that
| would be rendered obsolete as smartphone cameras and digital
| improvements became more ubiquitous, but I have since learned to
| appreciate the talent behind a good photo.
|
| I only bring this up because I had a similar experience with
| these photos that I had locally. My Hudson Valley town is a
| delicate balance of many cultures (primarily white, black, and
| Central American) and our downtown reflects that blend. Most
| folks would be quick to dismiss one small storefront with a messy
| front window of leather goods, sculptures, and various Latin
| American flags, but inside is an expert leather craftsman from
| Ecuador who makes most of his products by hand.
|
| I never would have bothered entering the store until a local
| photographer (once recognized as the "town's photo laureate")
| featured the store in a few social media posts. Some combination
| of sharing the craftsman's story and recognizing the beauty
| throughout the store struck the interest of the rest of the town.
| Suddenly the eccentric storefront became a destination for
| everyone (kind of like this colored pencil man's stall)
| lakecresva wrote:
| He was interviewed for a TV segment in 2018, seems like a cool
| guy.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJHIByLnGVo
| thomas wrote:
| Wonderful gallery! Interesting sharpening technique in image 7
| with a blunt writing tip. Typically you'd seen a more angled cone
| [0] and a sharper end, but I guess this means no color is wasted
| when doing the initial sharpening?
|
| Anyone note a list of his brands? I think I see some Faber-
| Castell but can't ID anything else.
|
| [0] https://unsharpen.com/the-parts-of-wooden-pencil/
| JoeDaDude wrote:
| Image 6 just looks like he is holding 2 pencils. Is he actually
| sharpening them?
|
| However he does it, I don't think he is using a razor based
| sharpener, just look at the rough points in image 15.
| thomas wrote:
| Ah yes, good call, thanks for the keen eyes!
| apocalypstyx wrote:
| There was a BBC documentary called _The Secret History of
| Writing_ , where a Turkish calligrapher talks about how they save
| all their pencil shavings and after the person dies the pencil
| and paper scraps of their lifetime are used to heat the water
| that will clean their body as part of the burial process.
|
| https://youtu.be/TyfIS9b77A8?t=7854
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(page generated 2021-07-14 23:00 UTC)