Batman vs Batman

First of all you need to know that there is a city in Turkey called Batman.

Yesterday, in the newspaper, I read an article (thanks Sebastien) saying that Batman city's mayor (Hüseyin Kalkan) was planning on suing director Christopher Nolan for using the name "Batman" without their consent. That's one of the many ridiculous things I've ever heard in my life. The guy just sensed a way to make money I guess. Does he even know that batman means what it actually means in English ?

Here is another article found in the Hürriyet newspaper written by Yilmaz Özdil (here). If don't speak Turkish let me try translating it for you, non Turkish speakers.
--------------------------
They've asked Obama... Who's your hero ?
"Batman" he says
They've asked Mc Cain... Who's your hero ?
"Batman" he says
*
One is black, one is white.
One is Republican, one is a Democrat
One is young, one is old
They have totally opposite ideas

They only agree on one topic : "Batman"
*
You know, the guy who gets out at night, with his mask and cape, with the incredible car...
[...]
I asked my fellow delegate at the Batman Journalist Association and representative of the Dogan Press Agency Arif Arslan : "What do you think about this ?"
meaning, is there a movie theater in Batman, was the movie shown there, what are you doing, sort of.

Arif said :
"Batman's mayor Hüseyin Kalkan is planning on suing the movie "Batman"!
?
?
?
?
I stood aghast for 8-10 seconds...

"How do you mean ?" I said

Arif told me : "According to the mayor of Batman city, there is only on Batman in the world... Open the maps, search through encyclopedias, he says, we're the original one, the brand is ours too... By using our name, they made money and think we're fools and don't get anything. That is why they're gonna sue the producer of the movie Batman and ask for a compensation."
[...]
--------------------------
Bonus : There was (I believe in 2000 but I can be wrong) a comic book called (I think) "JLA Annual #4". The story takes place in Turkey. I don't really know the details but here are 3 frames of the story :



































This post is dedicated to N's friend.

Maksim Gazinosu

This post is actually in "response" to M. Serdar K.'s post on the Maksim Gazino. Serdar and I park our car in the same parking lot, which is in the heart of Taksim behind the Marmara hotel, in the Beyoglu district, inside the building falling apart.

This "old" building or what's left of it used to be the Maksim Gazino, the last surviving large gazino, owned by the “king of gazinos” Fahrettin Aslan. One of the trendiest place of Istanbul (if not the trendiest), the Turkish "Olympia" for the connoisseurs. All the big Turkish stars performed or/and were discovered there.
If you read/speak Turkish I would advise you to read Serdar's post to learn more about it.

Since I didn't grow up in turkey, gazino is a strange concept for me. I never really understood what it was or what it meant. I just thought it was the Turkish way to say "Casino", but it's not. It's a kind of night club/music hall.

Anyway, I'm always out taking photos and I realized (Serdar made me) that I never cared (or dared) having a look inside that "building". So I went and took a few pictures.
All the gazinos in Turkey were forbidden* a few years ago (probably because of the unauthorized gambling going on - anyone knows ?) so they all shut down and ended like this one, waiting to be turned into a hotel or a mall.

*I've just been told that they weren't forbidden but they had to close because of the lack of interests after the advent of private TV. It was reopened back in the mid 1990's with great performers like Ibrahim Tatlıses, Bülent Ersoy, Sibel Can, Emel Sayın and many more only to struggle and finally close forever.

To learn more about gazino, go here.




























The ropes holding the lusters are still there.












I even dared going inside the pitch black staircase to see what was inside. The bad smell and the dirt kept me fro, going further.




























The old fake ceiling is still in place.

Mustafa

As we celebrate today the 85 years anniversary of the creation of the Turkish Republic, a new movie called "Mustafa" came out in the theaters today. This movie is about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of the Republic of Turkey. An actually real good movie/documentary and kind of objective for a Turkish production. The Director is Journalist/Writer Can Dündar. Music is by Goran Bregovic.

Flags

Today is the day of the Republic. 85 years ago the Republic of Turkey was instaured.
For this occasion everybody hangs a flag on its window or building or car or wherever.

Turkey vs. Croatia

Tonight we watch the quarter final game of the euro2008 soccer cup.
Exciting match actually, at the 119th minutes (one minute before the end of the match), Croatia scored a goal, but one minute later Turkey equalized 1-1. They went to the penalties and Turkey won 4-2.
The reason we are crouching is because some boneheads started to shoot with shotguns in the air. And it's not rare that somebody looking from the window gets hit by a bullet. How nice isn't it ?

Nutella

Man, Did you know the nuts variety used for the production of Nutella is mainly coming from Turkey ? The needed quantities are so huge that approximately 80% of the turkish production is bought by the manufacturer : Ferrero.
The volumes bought are so big that Ferrero can select the best nuts leaving its competitors the smallest calibers and lower quality nuts. This could explain why no other product quite match the specific taste of Nutella.
Another incredible fact : The Nutella found in the U.S.A. does not include E and B12 vitamins as it does in Europe.

I need to ask someone living in the States if this is all true.
The american Nutella is enriched in iron but impoverished in phosphor.
There is more peanut butter (mono-saturated fat), which is of a lower nutritional quality than vegetal oil (richer in Polyunsaturated fat acids) usually used.
It has more sugar and the peanut butter is preferred instead of cocoa butter.
It is sold in disposable plastic can and not in recyclable glas.
They say that the american Nutella would taste more like chocolaty peanut butter with a less smooth texture and less homogeneous making it less easier to spread.

Although I have some doubts about most those facts about the american Nutella. Those are probably old data.

Anyway, Nutella Rules everywhere.

- And if you ever go to Paris, France you'll be able to eat the best Nutella flavored Italian ice cream.
This is the only place in Paris where they really use Nutella to make their ice cream. The other flavors are also delicious; made from real fresh fruits.
The name of the place ? : Amorino.
Where to find it ? : Click here to see the 7 shops on google map.
There is one in Strasbourg at 11 rue Mercière.
And even 3 in Shanghai.