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...

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...

Aksama yine bir sampiyonlar ligi maci, kalplerde yine bir heyecan. Manchester zaferinden sonra Avrupa Ligi'ne devam etmek icin Центральный Спортивный Клуб Армии Москва'yi - Sentralni Sportivniyi Klib Armi Moskva- 1-0 ya da iki farkli bir skorla yenmemiz, Wolfsburg'un da ManU'ya yenilmemesini beklememiz gerekli. Tüm Besiktas'lilarin aklinda 2004-2004 sezonunda basimiza gelen Sparta Prag kazasi var. Sparta Prag'in Lazio'yu yenmemesi halinde gruptan ciktigimiz bir günde 90+2'de Peruzzi'nin armutlamasi ile elenmistik. Star TV'nin ekranin sag ust kosesindeki kutucuktan yayinladigi agir cekim görüntü, bir kac sene önce bir Galatasaray macinda Fevzi'nin ayaklarinin altindan kacirdigi geri pas ile yedigimiz golun görüntüsü ile her Besiktaslinin kalbine aciyla yazilmisti. Dilegimiz ManU macinda yanimizda olan Tanri 'nin yine yanimizda olmasi. Futbol'da sans faktörü diyelim ve Diyarbakir macina dönelim. Mactan önceki dileklerim gerceklesti ve t...

Here are the pieces of a very gloomy picture: Besiktas played 12 away games in Champions League history. 10 defeats, 1 draws and 1 win. Of those 10 defeats I experienced the record-breaking 8-0 in Liverpool in the stadium. Our only win was 2-0 against Chelsea, which was 5 years ago. The same year I had to watch in agony in a 56K Real Player connection in Texas our qualification chances melt away with a last minute goal at the last game by Sparta Prague. Even the win has a bitter connotation to it. Our trainer Denizli participated in Champs League once with Fenerbahce, with another record. 0 points out of 6 games. We have a single win in last 6 games. We have not been able to score in the last 3 games. The goal keeper of CSKA Moscow is the Russian Casillas. And here is our answer, a Nazim Hikmet poem based chant: Believe in this kids, Believe in this kids, We will have beautiful days, We will have sunny days, We will beat CSKA in Moscow, And sing songs of glory... Believe in this kids!!...

Thinking on the current state of affairs in the international politics, I came to the conclusion that there are fundamentally two approaches one can take in making a case. First approach is to concede that the states are not bound to the ethical obligations of the individuals, and must follow their interests, how ever they are defined inside the state, no matter what the moral results are. Those who favor this view however, loose their right to criticize the actions of other states, as any action can be matched to these state interests. Furthermore, they are obliged -in my opinion- to present a model, in which this type of behavior of individual states can sustain a world in which the dignity of individuals are not hurt by the immoral relations between the states. Second approach assumes that the states by definition composed of ethical individuals, and being so subject to such obligations by definition. Of course there will be cheaters. I think the more people take the second approach...

I'm a city soul. I lived in big cities all my life, and hated my only camping adventure -though it might have had to do with the 2 drunk guys snoring in my tent. Still I feel the urge to leave it all behind go to somewhere secluded. Its not that I am having a bad time, I am lovin' it to live in a city. It's just that the idea of being alone, and feeling the utter beauty of nature, and act as if all of it were made for me is very very tempting. Just like Lou Reed, the poet of the post-modern metropolitan male, says in his song Modern Dance: So maybe I should go to Tanganyika where the rivers run, down mountains tall and steep or go to India to study chants and lose romance to a mantra's dance So if I had the chance to go right now, these would have been my choices: 1- Patagonia, Argentina 2- Shetland Islands, Scotland 3- Rural Iceland 4- Kamcahtka, Russia