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Two years ago I wrote a blog post about Mr. Cohen's importance to me during pivotal moments of my life ( http://actoker.blogspot.com.tr/2014/09/deciding-to-grow-up-with-leonard-cohen.html ). I read it twice over to thank the great poet, musician, Zen Buddhist priest, father, writer on the day of his death. As someone of his creed, I believe he returned to the emptiness where he came from, with the gladness of knowing having touched the lives of many lives in their troubled times. Let us hope we can share a similar faith... I recommend once again to watch the beautiful documentary "I'm Your Man" to remember the man. Here is my favorite from the documentary: If you can stand the poor sound quality, this interview about his time in the Buddhist temple and his view on depression and relations is a gem: Here are my previous post about Cohen: http://actoker.blogspot.com.tr/search/label/leonard%20cohen

Today Leonard Cohen celebrates his 80. birthday. I have to thank my sister for introducing him to me and the man himself for making me an adult. I can remember clearly that rainy September evening in my Berlin apartment where I was aimlessly playing God of War on Playstation and listening to "The Songs of Love and Hate" on the side. A struck of luck meant I had the mental energy to concentrate on the lyrics of "Dress Rehearsal Rag" during one of those loading screens. It is a violent attack on the vanity of a young man (or a woman). There I was, wasting my time on a silly game, and the life outside was flowing continuously, not caring about me. I had to do something. After a trip to Amsterdam, I took the decision to give a thrust to my PhD. But this rush also had its toll on me, I was very very anxious about where to start and how to go ahead. Fortunately, Cohen came to my help again. In the 2006 Berlinale I had the luck to attend the premiere of "I...

I got a hold of Philip Glass' fairly recent song cycle based on Leonard Cohen's latest poetry book the "Book of longing." I don't like the symphonic songs particularly, yet I found the album very satisfactory. I will need more time to enjoy the songs thoroughly, yet somehow I have got the feeling that Philip Glass' style of building complexity out of simple patterns matches very well with Cohen's meticulous way of re-writing of his poems, until he finds the perfect line. The website devoted for the book opens with the following lines: "I can hold in a great deal; I don’t speak until the waters overflow their banks and break through the dam. Thus I was able to delay this book well beyond the end of the 20th century. " I am very glad that the dams broke, and the waters reached Philip Glass' home in New York City. The opening song reminded me the creeping opening song "The Dead Flag Blues" from Godspeed You Black Emperor's album ...

"We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it." Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna "Forget your perfect offering, There is a crack, a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in. " Leonard Cohen - The Anthem "And nothing's forever not even five minutes When you're headed for the finish line" Lou Reed - Finish Line "Savaslar birbirine benzer, Kazanan olmaz, Kazandigini sanma, Kaybettiklerine bak biraz" "All wars are alike, There is no victor, Don't think you've won, On your losses should you ponder. " Bülent Ortacgil - Biraz Umut Ver "Ölümle yasami ayiran o cizgi, Siyahla beyazi ayiramaz ki" "That line separating death and life, Cannot separate black and white." Besiktas Supporters - Football Chant

I am feeling extremely disillusioned about democracy in the shadow of the incomprehensible suffering in the Gazza Strip. Though neither of the sides can be called democratic, -Israel is not secular, and Hamas has only won an election, which is just one tiny component of democracy to make it a democratic government- the workings of democracy play an important role in the escalation. There are elections in Israel, which promotes populist, yet short sighted and cruel display of military power. On the other side a religious terrorist organization who fires rockets at will, won the elections riding on the resentment towards the peace-seeking, yet corrupt government. On the other side of the Atlantic, the country whose political system is the most democratic on the world is staying silent. Yesterday in the subway, I found an answer to my disillusion, in the words of Leonard Cohen. I shouldn't have assumed that Democracy had already arrived in any part of the world. Not even USA: Democrac...

(*) Godspeed You! Black Emperor has a song named Static. It contains an eerie recording of an Evangelical priest talking on long wave radio. He talks about the fate of those who have seen the real face of "God". Some end up in mental institution, and some, like the preacher himself and his followers, reach salvation by becoming "Godmen, Godwomen, and Godchildren." I don't buy any of this, but the song helps me to put the three prophets of the religion Dylano-Coheno-Reedianism in context. It is as if the prophets have seen the reality -what the preacher refers as the face of God- from somewhere we have not been able to - perhaps from the Tower of Song- and reacted differently. Bob Dylan saw it in an early age, and shouted it out loud, never loosing his youthful anger, and self esteem. Lou Reed on the other hand, was probably high when he saw it, and chose not to tell what he saw, but make jokes about it, hoping we get it somehow. Leonard Cohen on the other hand, ...

My favorite Leonard Cohen album is Death of a Ladies' Man. The position of the apostrophe is key to the title, and makes all the difference. Cohen was never a ladies man, but a man of his ladies. In the 2006 documentary "I'm Your Man" he was asked about his fame as a ladies man. He said: "Calling me a ladies man is an insult to the thousands of nights I spent alone in my bed." Everyone should watch this great documentary to gain insight on this great poet of our time. He turned 74 two days ago. I am so excited, and feel privileged that I will watch this legend live in two weeks. Here is my favorite Cohen song, "Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye" I'm even more happy now, that this song makes sense to me finally thanks to that someone special.

Last year I was fortunate to watch Dylan live in London. This year Leonard Cohen goes on tour after 15 years. On 30th of August, I will watch him with my sister in Berlin. His tour includes 2 nights in Istanbul too. To all who are thinking about going to the concerts, I recommend they see the great documentary/performance/interview movie Leonard Cohen: I Am Your Man . A collage of intimate interviews with the man himself, and performances by names like Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Rufus Wainwright, and Anthony of the Anthony and the Johnsons, this movie lets the audience put the songs of Cohen in the context of his Weltanschauung. Here is my favorite part of the movie, Anthony covering If It Be Your Will , which coincides with his time in LA Zen Buddhist monastery.

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..."

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...