title, what title?

Türkiye'de MHP'nin "pre-emptive" türban girisimiyle türban adi altinda Pandora'nin kutusu acildi. AKP'nin "türban siyasi simge olsa ne olur" cikisiyla aslinda laik bir parti olmadigini sonunda aciklamis oldu, umarim gecen secimde AKP'nin uzlasmaci ve "yeniden-dogmus laik" söylemlerine kanan secmenler, dini bir gerekliligin siyasi bir simge olarak kullanilmasini onaylayan, ve hatta destekleyen bir partinin Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin en önemli yapitasi olan Laiklik Ilkesi icin bir tehtid oldugunu görürler. Türban yasaginin yalnizca Üniversite'lerde kaldirilmasinin, Amerikan siyasi dincilerinin Akilli Dizayn safsatasini kullandiklari gibi seküler sistemi yarmak icin kullanilan bir kama olduguna inaniyorum. Kalkan bu yasagin yalnizca üniversitelerle sinirli kalacagini dusunmuyorum. Ancak özgürlükcü bir insan olarak türban yasagini hakli cikaracak güclü nedenler bulmakta zorluk cekiyorum. Tehlikeli egim yaklasimi, yani türban'i ser...

Autechre's brand new album Quaristice marks a back to the roots move for them. After experimenting with complex a-rhythmical beat patterns in their last 2 albums, it seems like the IDM gurus from Rochdale, Manchester have spent their time with synthesizing -again- very complex sounds. The resulting sounds are used in rhythmical structures that are similar and yet calmer and simpler than the structures in their previous 2 albums. The sounds themselves reminded me of Matmos. They will be on a world tour starting on Febuary 29, whose dates can be found here: http://warprecords.com/news/?offset=0&ti_id=1369 My favorite for now is dark and echoe-full rale

Besiktas'li, Carsi'li kardesimiz Cem Dizdar'dan güzel bir yazi.... Carsi'yi Seviniz Cem Dizdar Futbol izleyicisinin ‘mühim insan’ payesi verdiği ve onların da kendilerini hakikaten öyle sandığı bir dolu ‘cahillik sınırı gezgini’ sık sık dile getirir; “Beşiktaş taraftarı takıma zarar veriyor.” Böyle düşünenler, futboldan ve hayattan anlamayanlardır kanımca. Ya da, hayattan anladıkları ‘bizim’ anladığımız değildir. “Herkes ve her şey birbirine benzesin!” Farklıya, başka düşünüp başkaca eğlenene tahammülleri olmayanların temel arzusu budur. Nedeni de açıktır; iktidarlarını daim kılmak. Çünkü farklı olan farklı düşünebilir! Ama onların hoşuna gitmese de Beşiktaş tribünü böyledir ve umarım hep böyle kalır. Bilmeyenler için söyleyeyim, Beşiktaşlılar için İnönü, bir ‘varoluş’ alanıdır. Onlara, “Bunları yapmayın” demek, “Kendinizden vazgeçin” demenin utangaç ifadesidir. Yani, “Kartal gol gol gol diye bağırmayın” demek, karikatürize edersek, İrlandalıların Brezilya, Avusturyalıl...

The coolest Google Theme Logo.

53 years have passed since some two thousand fellow human beings, ironically, were saved from being killed in an industrial manner by other "human" beings, who had long lost the human part of their existence, thanks to the fact that they were so sick, that no industrial intervention was necessary. A recently found photograph of those "human" beings, who had long lost the human part of their existence, is definitely the most disgusting photograph I have seen in my entire life. These beings, seen in a country outing, were working in a factory, which specialized in human annihilation, had annihilated their humanity in the process. Looking at the face of these beings, I want to throw up in disgust... I want to commemorate the memory of those fellow human beings annihilated in Auschwitz with the photograph of another fellow human being, who in his own words " did what man does when words fail... " The fact that those "human" beings, and Willy Brandt ...

Gecen yil cok sevdigimiz arkadasimiz Arda'yi genc yasinda kaybettik. Anisini yasatmanin en iyi yolu olarak aklimiza Arda'nin adina anlamli bir bagis yapmak geldi, ve Lösemili Cocuklar Vakfi (Lösev) ile irtibata gectik. 1 aylik bir surecten sonra Arda'nin anisina bir yardim kampanyasi baslattik. Daha detayli bilgi icin sizleri http://ardaozenci.blogspot.com/ adresine davet ediyorum. --- We lost our dear friend Arda last year in his youths. We came up with the idea of making a donation to the Turkish Foundation for Children With Leukemia to honor his loving memory. Please contact me for overseas donations if you are interested.

I was in i due forni , which makes the best pizza in berlin yesterday. the discussion lead -don't ask me how, I guess I was too hungry- the 3 vegetables whose absence would make the world unbearable. I knew my answer beforehand, onion, garlic, and artichoke. What I was no sure about their order. After a quite some contemplation I have came up with the ordering in the last sentence. I want to praise this delicious vegetable which can render almost every type of food edible, with Pablo Neruda's poem "Ode to Onion"... Ode to Onion Onion, luminous flask, your beauty formed petal by petal, crystal scales expanded you and in the secrecy of the dark earth your belly grew round with dew. Under the earth the miracle happened and when your clumsy green stem appeared, and your leaves were born like swords in the garden, the earth heaped up her power showing your naked transparency, and as the remote sea in lifting the breasts of Aphrodite duplicating the magnolia, so did the ear...

I am very excited about the new Dylan Movie " I'm Not There " which shared the best movie and best female actress prize in Venice along with best actress in a supporting role in the golden globes. Sadly, I have to wait a month for the movie -I guess it has to do with the Berlinale. But thanks to Thuan I got a hold of the Soundtrack which features Dylan covers by artist such as Calexio, Yo La Tengo, Anthony and the JOhnsons, Cat Power and Eddie Vedder. However my favorite song is definetely "I'm Not There" by the mighty Sonic Youth who managed to recreate their unique sound. One has to admit that the original song -which was not released officially- had an eerie tune which suits Sonic Youth.

18 yil once kaybettigimiz efsane Besiktas kalecisi Sabri Dino'nun anisina tüm Besiktas'lilarla asagidaki resim ile siiri paylasmak istiyorum. Fena geliyor top Uç Sabri Dino Sola vurur Atla Sabri Dino Dokuz numaraya dikkat Aman Sabri Dino Kalemizde ışıl ışıl Canım Sabri Dino Gönlümüzde ışıl ışıl Atlama dur Sabri Dino Vedat Özdemiroğlu O güzelim siyah beyaz formayi sirtina geciren herkes, umarim bu sarisin cocugun gozlerindeki pariltinin kaynagi olduklarinin farkinda olup bundan gurur duyuyorlardir.

I love fruits. My favorite fruits are peaches and water melons. Until recently I had to wait until its summer to enjoy the seducing flavor and consistency of these fruits. Luckily I have found the perfect winter counterparts! Persimmon is an East Asian fruit, related to which is known as Cennet Elmasi -Heaven Apple- or Trabzon Hurmasi -Trabzon Date Fruit, a misnaming as it is not related to date fruit at all- in Turkey. If should be eaten when it is soft. It is very soft and juicy when it is ripe. If the fruit is not ripe, you can leave it in room temparature for a few days where it softens. Sharon Fruit is a special type of Persimmon which is ripened with chemicals. Persimmon is my winter peach. Nashi Pear or Asian Pear has the taste of a pear, but the consistency of watermelon. Contrary to common belief it is not a cross between apple and pear, but an East Asian fruit. Nashi Pear is my winter watermelon.

He definitely had an interesting life... Carelessness. I lost my one true love. I started drinking. The first thing I know, I'm in a card game. Then I'm in a crap game. I wake up in a pool hall. Then this big Mexican lady drags me off the table, takes me to Philadelphia. She leaves me alone in her house, and it burns down. I wind up in Phoenix. I get a job as a Chinaman. I start working in a dime store, and move in with a 13-year-old girl. Then this big Mexican lady from Philadelphia comes in and burns the house down. I go down to Dallas. I get a job as a "before" in a Charles Atlas "before and after" ad. I move in with a delivery boy who can cook fantastic chili and hot dogs. Then this 13-year-old girl from Phoenix comes and burns the house down. The delivery boy — he ain't so mild: He gives her the knife, and the next thing I know I'm in Omaha. It's so cold there, by this time I'm robbing my own bicycles and frying my own fish. I stumble on...

Literary critics cannot agree how to read Kafka after all these years. There are many different readings of his masterpiece "The Castle", ranging from Marxism to magical realism. Being a big Gabriel Garcia Marquez fan, I tend to agree with the magical realist reading. However there is a crucial point to make. If the magician in Marquez's magical realism is the sort of the magician that Gandalf is in Lord of The Rings, entertaining the young Hobits with his tricks, than the magician of Kafka is a dark one, a dark Voodo sorcerer jailing his victims to the depths of their inner fears. Still the Castle pulls me this moment from the side of my bed...

Now he thinks he is the "leader of the team." Great way to go Lewis, I am sure you have all the experience needed to lead a top Formula 1 team after your maiden year in F1, which ended disastrously when you accidentally put your car on third gear, sitting a superior car, built on stolen Ferrari information. http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_3005402,00.html

Besiktas ended the first half of the Turkish Super League in a relatively promising position, only 3 points off the leader. We have a slight fixture advantage -we play all our derbies home, though we are not very good at home derbies except against Galatasaray- and we are going to make some changes in the squad. For the first time in4 years I am looking forward to the second half. Sivasspor, an Anatolian club, has done what Lanus has done this year in Argentina, they finished the league in the leadership. Fenerbahce has built up momentum, but their Champions League occupation may slow them down. The early performers Galatasaray iare playing very bad football, and their 73 year old trainer Karl-Heinz Feldkamp was absent for the last two games and is currently in Germany. He might pull up the same trick he pulled on us and leave mid-season, which would exacerbate the troubles at Galatasaray. In the meanwhile the Turkish Basketball League has been experiencing the toughest and most intere...

I recently downloaded Bjork's recent album, Volta . After a series of emotionally loaded albums, Bjork was quoted "having fun" as the primary objective of making Volta. This is very apparent in the songs, as well as the Timbaland influence in few of them. Yes you hear right, after making Justin a world superstar, he contributed with Bjork too. Here are my two favorite songs from the album: Earth Intruders is a song Bjork wrote after visiting the Tsunami struck Indonesian province of Aceh, which has a flag very close to Turkish flag , promoting her Army of Me Remixes album, which was an beneficary for the tsunami survivors: Declare Independence is dedicate to Gronland and Faroe Islands, who are dominons of the Danish Crown. Here is a live version from Later with Joos Holland:

Otherwise an economic libertarian, I still believe in limited market disruptive interventions in the pharmaceutical industry, especially for those high risk groups. One sad example of such a high risk group is the population in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea region, who are experiencing increased rate of cancer, possibly due to the effects of Chernobyl. Recently a young member of Besiktas Supporters Group Marmarali Kartallar from the Black Sea town of Rize died of cancer. This comes after some of the cancer treatment drugs were taken out of the mandatory health insurance coverage. The government should push for some cheap version agreement for those drugs to be administered to the high risk group only. Furthermore steps should be taken on preventative medicine practices, by setting up laboratories and conducting regular cancer checks on the population. I am sure there is some money somewhere in the world for this purpose...

Gecen haftalarda Economist dergisi yukselen temel besin fiyatlari ile ilgili 6 sayfalik ozel bir rapor hazirladi -verdigim baglanti uyelik gerektirebilir, ilgilenenlere mail olarak raporu yollayabilirim. Raporda -real fiyatlarla 1974 seviyelerinin altinda kalsa da- rekor kiran temel besin fiyatlarindaki artis, uzun donemli olarak gelismekte olan -Cin, Hindistan basta olmak uzere- ulkelerin daha cok et ve benzeri daha karmasik besinler tuketmesi, kisa donemli olarak da ozellikle Amreika’daki etanol desteklerine baglaniyor. Sonuc olarak da dunya temel besin piyasasinda bir arz talep dengesizliginin bulundugu, ve eger dogru politikalar kullanilirsa bu fiyat artisinin dunya yoksullarinin cogunun yasasdigi tarim ile gecinen kesimin hayat kalitesi seviyesinin arttirilmasinda ve gelismekte olan ulkelerde derinlesen sehir kirsal gelir adaletsizliginin giderilmesinde kullanilabilecegi idda ediliyordu. Ayni gunlerde Turk basininda hedeflerin altinda kalan buyume oranlari ile ilgili haberleri ok...

We play Porto tonight. If we beat them, qualify for the second round in the champions league. It is for this exactly this hope, and the excitement that send shivers up and down my spine that I love Besiktas... And nothing can describe my feelings better than the Besiktas chant we wrote from a poem by one of the greatest Turkish poets, Nazim Hikmet . Believe in it children, believe in it! We will see beautiful days, sunny days... We will beat Porto, and sing chants of glory... Do open http://forum.forzabesiktas.com in an Internet Explorer window to hear the song based on the poem.

One of the most prominent members of the post WW2 avantgarde classical music scene, Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007) passed away on Friday . He was the composer that got me interested in the exciting world of non-traditional classical music. I would like to pay my tributes to this visionary with one of his most influential compositions, the Helicopter Stringquartet, with the hope that it will inspire others, like it inspired me. Those interested might try spotting him on one of the most well-known album covers of all time:

While Nicolas Sarkozy spends his nights with nightmares about having one day to explain the children of France that Europe is neighbor to Iraq and Syria, the scientists at the Ankara University and University of Texas have found the first Homo Erectus , an early ancestor of human species -Homo sapiens sapiens-, skull in Anatolia, strengthening the hypothesis that human species migrated from Africa to Europe through Anatolia. The skull is also remarkable, as it shows signs of Tuberculosis, which is a disease thought to have infected mankind a few thousands year old. This skull is remarkable 500 000 years old. Yes that is 500 millenniums... Here are Turkish and English reports on the findings.