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This is the view looking outside my office window. It is the end of July, 15 degrees raining and windy. Before coming to Berlin my friend Steph warned me about the weather, and I told her over and over how much I loved the bad weather. I still do, but not in summer. I seriously gotta escape for a week for something like this: Thank God, I am flying on Friday for a week of good food, good weather, family and friends...

My dear friend Ozan was here for the weekend. Among other " finer things " we have talked about Battlestar Galactica, and it's cute star Kara Thrace. I'd like to dedicate the following song to Kara, who visits me in my dreams, until the new Battlestar Galactice Direct-to-DVD Movie Razor comes to the screens.

Secimler hakkindaki dusuncelerimi Ozan ile paylastigim politika blogumda bulabilirsiniz: http://turkiyeninsorunlari.blogspot.com/2007/07/secimler-ardindan.html

I am summarizing my thoughts about the results of this historical election in Turkey and will post them on my Turkish political blog, with a summary on here. Until then I find this song by Leonard Cohen, the great thinker-poet-songwriter, very relevant. As if there is one thing that the elections showed is that "knowing means nothing, without thinking and doing..."

Che or Feyyaz by Zeki Demirkubuz source: http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2&haberno=5807 translation: Ahmet C. Toker It was years ago. One night I visited my parents, whom I had not seen for a long time. We shared the room with my brother, who was about 12 years old at that time. Feeling out of place, I woke up with the morning prayer. Not to wake the household I did not get up and stayed in my bed, waiting silently... Out of boredom, I started examining my brothers room, which once belonged to me, and thinking about the years, my memories and my youth which I spent here in this very room. Nothing much had changed after me. An old table on the corner, two portable beds facing each other, an Isparta carpet as old as me on the floor, and teenage photos of mine and Che's on the wall, with the paint scrapping off... The only difference were the half sitting half standing Besiktas footballers in their striped black and white jerseys, gazing at me out of a seemingly large p

I hate odd years. There is no football during summer. Even though national football is by no ways a replacement for my insatiable love -Besiktas not, football- it keeps my mind busy. And on odd years like this one my longing for that beautiful black and white jerseys peaks around August. I start reading articles about Besiktas, watch videos of old games and Pascal Nouma in an attempt to sooth the pain of longing in my hearth. I will post an article about Che Guevarra and Feyyaz Ucar by Zeki Demirkubuz , the internationally acclaimed director of Innocence , in Turkish. If I find the time I will translate it into English over the weekend. Che does not need any introduction. Feyyaz was the part of the legendary Metin-Ali-Feyyaz forward trio of the legendary Besiktas squad of my childhood who won 3 league championships in a streak, one without a single defeat. He was the playboy of the three... So let this text commemorate those days when the playboy football players were decent blokes li

I am not a vegetable fan. As a matter of fact the number of vegetables I eat is shorter then 10 items. They are either too soft, or too thick, or too tasteless or too grassy. Artichoke however stands out in my mind as one of the most elegant and delicious things that mother earth has given the mankind. Its as if it's firmness, consistency, juiciness, flavor and texture has been optimized both independently and jointly. My favorite way of eating it is the Turkish "Zeytinyagli Enginar" which can be translated dully as "Artichoke with Olive Oil": The quality and the taste of olive oil is a very important factor. So for an artichoke lover cooking it with another type of oil would be a serious insult. And some artichoke lovers can take it to extreme ends. Caravaggio, or Michalengelo Merissi da Carravagio, who is considered to be by some the father of modern painting, -and also my favorite painter, for rescuing the world of painting from the disturbing and artificia

I suggest Clash on Broadway to everyone. It is a 3 disk collection, filled with all the best songs of The Clash, worth buying. Up to now I was attracted to punk for its * Simplicity - Especially Ramones * Wit - Ramones and Sex Pistol * naiveness - Undertones * Raw Power - Stooges * I-don't-give-a-fuck-attitude - Sex Pistols but not its political tone. Clash has showed me punk can be great while being dead serious about politics, and being more complex than riffs and beats. The Carribean beats spilling out of the bass line is living proof how immigration made London a great town... The song that is an example of this Jamaican flair is The Guns of Brixton that also has very sharp lyrics: "When they kick out your front door How you gonna come? With your hands on your head Or on the trigger of your gun When the law break in How you gonna go? Shot down on the pavement Or waiting in death row" I will post not the original Clash version, because I really want people to buy this

I've been reading into libertarianism and related philosophies like objectivism and anarcho-capitalism . More I read into them, more justified get my feelings against the idea of a "state". As a matter of fact this clause in the ISIL webpage explanation for libertarianism summarizes my feelings about the role of the state, the individual and the laws exactly: " The genius of America was that our government was created as a protector of our fundamental human rights. America's founders well understood that government's immense power can be used to destroy as well as to protect; that when government uses force against its own peaceful citizens, it becomes just another criminal gang. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights were designed to protect us from government . " To those interested in this topic, I would suggest them watching this brief animation about philosophy of liberty . For an advanced coverage I can refer those interested to the article in St

Even though some critics look down upon the term "intertextuality" as some tend to use it, quoting: "simply use it as a stylish way of talking about allusion and influence” [1] I love the notion that ones understanding of texts, music, paintings or any other form of beauty and brilliance being transformed by other forms of beauty and brilliance. I watched Goodfellas yesterday and was overwhelmed with joy when I spotted two great allusions to my favorite film of all time, Taxi Driver . I will not mention those references explicitly here and leave the pleasure to those who love Scorsese and/or De Niro. Instead I will post two of the most beautiful parts from these great movies... First one is from Taxi Driver, and in my humble opinion is one of the greatest depictions of adoration of beauty in movie history. I might be biased, as Cybill Shepherd was my childhood idol in Moonlightning . The second one is the climax of Goodfellas, for those who didn't watch it I'd s