Flying Oreo

As Oreo, I'm flying to Copenhagen, Denmark. See you...

10.11.2008 - 9.05 a.m.

Today is the 70st anniversary of Atatürk's death. At 9.05 a.m. each year, during the minute of silence, sirens sound all over the country and people would stop. It's very interesting to witness the traffic stop and people get out of their car to stand up; people stop walking in the streets. All the flags are half mast.




















Taksim's Republican Memorial








The Founder of the Repubic and the National Fighter supporters: Atatürk in the middle Front, Ismet Pasha, Müshir Fevzi Pasha, Voroshilov, Frunze and the Turkish People.

Metro Light

This week, while going to the post office with Emre, we saw this wagon on the Taksim Square. We decided to go inside and have a look. This is apparently the new subway, what they call here "hafif metro" and translate by "light subway" that will go from Başakşehir to Bakırköy. The reason is called light is probably because it goes on the surface and not underground. But it's just another tramway (a large one). You can see that they've put the tulip emblem on the outside. They try to put the tulip as Istanbul's emblem but it's also related to the empire ottoman and the link it shares with the actual government.
For those interested, it's made by Alstom and will soon be active (by july 2009).

Hope

Dadash Ap. 21

I took this photo as I was wandering through the streets of Cihangir near Taksim. This wheelbarrow reminded me of Noah's post about the street art he witnessed in NYC.

Top Ten Blogs by N.

If you're interested in Design and Activism you should check out Noah Scalin's Top 10 Blogs about the intersection of design and activism.

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.

Yes They Did

Electrician

The other day with Murat we went to buy some electric cable from this electrician's shop. The place is a bit surrealist. It feels like your in Z's shop's basement...












The owner, Mr Reha is really nice though. He told me I could go in the next room if I wanted to take pictures...
















...so I did.

Shoot'em Up

This was shot in Findikli by the Bosphorus. You can shoot the balloons for a reasonnable price. You can find this kind of entertainment in a lot of places here. I should start a business like that in Paris ;)

Today's Picture

Entrance of a bank in the Besiktas district.

Today's Picture

Today's Picture

Today's Picture

Happy B-Day Benoit

My 9th 15 mn of Fame

Presenting the D-SLR Sony Alpha 350 on Teknosohbet.tv

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.