title, what title?

Two of my recent passions are Dostoevsky and food. What a better way to celebrate them, by enjoying them together. That's why I bought the larger book on the left to accompany Crime and Punishment. I will try to cook the dishes mentioned in the book. The first dish that gets mentioned in the book is boiled beef with horseradish. Or as they call it in the fabulous language of  Russian Otvarnaya govyadina v khrene ( link to the recipe ). Did you know that horseradish (acirga or bostan turpu in Turkish) is the same species as Wasabi? I didn't know that. I'm eager to test the recipe...

Gecen sene kaybettigmiz Besiktas büyügü Vedat Okyar'la ilgili en guzel yaziyi ve resimi EksiBesiktas Blog'undan Jokond paylasmis ( orijinal baglanti ). Kendisinin affina siginarak burada paylasiyorum... tam soruyordum “madem ölecektin niçin bu kadar güzeldin?” peçetedeki balığı gördüm ağlıyordu niçin ağlar peçetedeki balık diye sordum bir mendil niye kanarsa ondan dedi Gürdal. Yılmaz Erdoğan

Sure, the title is an exaggeration. But the pesto I prepared by experimenting two great recipes by two great cooks comes close. As Marx said, great ideas come out when one takes other great ideas and rub them against each other. I was never a great fan of Pestos, simply because I ate them in internationalized "Italian" restaurants, where they put a lot of fat, most of which is not olive oil. Not a great option for hot weather like these... But then I came across Mark Bittman's article ( link to the article ) about the importance of ingredients rather the method when it comes to Pesto. And it is Basil season, so I thought I might give it a try. Then I remembered The Wednesday Chef's recipe for oven baked tomato sauce ( link to the article ). Then I decided to mix them, and the result was great. I don't like bragging about recipes, but I do want every reader of this blog to enjoy this taste. Since I believe that cooking should be more about experimenting and...

A very important date has slipped my mind during the World Cup.  7th of July was the 150th birthday of one of the three classical music composers that have captured my imagination the most. Gustav Mahler was born 150 years ago in a small Bohemian town - in the original meaning of the word- to Jewish parents. His incredible journey filled with personal tragedies, anti-Semitic hostilities and a constant struggle with himself about the worth of his work ended 61 years later in Vienna. He left the world 10 Symphonies, and many symphonic Songs. It was him, who brought the etiquette to the Opera experience during his stints at the Vienna and New York Opera Houses. He was perhaps the first Opera producer, in the real sense of the word, working closely with the stunning fin de siècle artists of Vienna. His music is seen by authorities as a key transition from the Romantic era to the 20th century contemporary classical music. After fierce censoring during Nazi years, his music made a comeb...

Finally a good use for the quackery that goes under the name homeopathy: Birth control! Link to the xkcd comic.

... or A proposal for South American dominance in the next world cup: Yes, it still hurts. Those four goals, that involve perfectionism in attacking football on the German side, and complete failure of the defensive skills on the Argentinian side. And God's sad sad face. So I have a proposal for the next World Cup. We all seen how good the Uruguay defensive line was. Just think about adding the dream forward line of Argentina with a 2 good defensive midfielders together.  It would be a dream team from the Rio De La Plata. After all, Uruguay has its roots in the Liga Federal, which was a federalist state aspiring to control whole Viceroyality of Rio De Plata, which includes today's Argentina, after gaining independence from Spain... If this doesn't work, they should at least bring together a team of chefs from both countries and tour the world: Montevideo: Buenos Aires:  The meat quality in Germany is comparable with the quality of Chinese toys. So I cannot eve...

I don't wanna be human . I want to see Gamma Rays . I want to hear X-Rays and I wanna smell Dark Matter . I wanna reach out with something other than these paws. And feel the solar wind of a Super Nova . So lamented Brother Cavil in Battlestar Galactica, to his creator. Now, thanks to University of Cardiff, you will at least be able to see Gamma Rays and X-Rays. In their new site ( link to the site ) you can see the result of the brand new Planck Satellite' ( link to the site ) full sky scans in different wavelengths. They are gorgeous!

God is Argentinan, and you? I know I was for the last month. Unfortunately, sometimes even the God himself has to make mistakes and suffer... Thanks for everything Diego. To dream you and Messi lifting the World Cup was almost as good as the real thing. Life is a lottery, Night and day, Life is a lottery, Just walk and walk... If I were Maradona, I'd live like him, Not a single mistake in front of the goal, But mistakes everywhere else...

It feels like the day of a Besiktas - Fenerbahce game. Three more games and than we can celebrate the Kingdom of God with his holiness and his MESSIah. There has been much said about the tactics and managerial style (or the lack thereof) of El D10S. Much of of it has got to do with the fact that his style is unorthodox. I am not sure if these two fine articles ( link to The Guardian article , link to the Süddeutsche Zeitung article ) I read today are plain contrarian or have some substance to them. Both articles underline the unorthodox human-management style of D10S, and speculate that it might be the right way to treat high class players who have already achieved a lot in their careers. Unlike European trainers, and wanna-be European trainers like Dunga, D10S gives a lot of personal freedom to the players. Carlos Tevez is allowed to stay in a single room, since he likes to walk around naked in his room. D10S replies "Free running chickens are the happiest." Both articles...

My plan for my next Dostoyevsky novel was "Crime and Punishment." Then when I was killing time in the airport by window shopping for books, I came across "The Possessed": Both are from Dostoyevsky's mature period and are equally attractive to me. Crime and Punishment appears to be more about the human nature and ones struggle with coming in terms with its nature. The Possessed on the other side is a political novel. And in my uneducated opinion Dostoyevsky is the only writer I've read so far, who can give this specific human pursuit, i.e. politics, its right place and importance in the overall human condition. I am really in a dilemma, which one to start? Orhan Pamuk is convincing me to start with The Possessed. Asked of political novels he answers( link to the interview ): " Pamuk : I wrote one (political novel), right, but I don’t think it is a great genre that produces masterpieces. It’s rather a limited genre, despite the fact that Dostoy...