paul chaderjian

* Vahe Berberian's milagros come in words, images, and emotions by Paul Chaderjian Before we enter his second-floor studio, painter, performer, writer Vahe Berberian insists on serving oranges and mandarins from the trees that line the apartment building's driveway. Vahe has been nurturing these trees for more than a decade, and you can tell he's proud of them. He likes green things, he says. Three of the units in the white apartment building - a few miles north of the San Fernando Valley's arterial Ventura Boulevard, in the flats of the Valley - are where Vahe paints, lives, and stores his works of art. Six months out of the year, however, here's not here. The tall and thin 51-year-old, with salt-and-pepper braids, spends a lot of his time taking his performance art and his monologues to Armenian communities as far away as the homeland and Australia. On this Tuesday afternoon, Vahe is in the Southland and plucking oranges off his tree with a lo...

by Paul Chaderjian gor (noun) -- pronunciation: 'gOr, 'gor 1 : grammatically incorrect verb ending in Western Armenian. 2 : innovative musician, charismatic, acoustic Armenian folk star. His name is blunt. Gor. Say it. It's okay. Gor. Say it again. You can, you know. True. Many frustrated Armenian schoolmarms and parents have scolded students to stop tacking a gor at the end of verbs. It may be grammatically incorrect, but it's also the name of the hottest music act since [fill in the name of the last artist whose music you downloaded]. Gor. Say it. Shout his name from rooftops, at church halls, and kebob stands. Text message your friends. IM them with smiley faces. Post his songs on your grandkids' myspace page. Swap music files. Blackberry - or even blueberry or raspberry if you prefer - this breaking news story. Sync up your iPod, because now, “Gor” is a more than an error in Armenian usage. It's the future, the present, a new age an...