Unguided Blog

I hardly use public transport in Istanbul. Well, that may sound snobbish but what I actually mean is I’m usually on foot or on a bike. If I have to go anywhere in the city, I take great care so that my destination is accessible by ferry, subway or light rail. If I can not reach them using the above, I avoid such places; and this you might call snobbish.

It is a great pleasure to watch the birds, the constant hikers of the trains and ferries; the living proof of Darwin’s theory of evolution. I invite anyone opposing the theory to Istanbul, to take a ride with me.

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I have first read about Japanese bloggers Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki’s arrest in Sheryadi.com. According to Greenpeace, Sato and Suzuki have been arrested for the crime of exposing the truth [greenpeace.org]. They were writing about the whale meat embezzlement in Japan.

Frankly, I am really surprised. Had this been in Turkey, I would not have been shocked, it would have been an ordinary day. After all, we have a beautiful (get used to my choice of adjectives) government, smart business people disposing of dump a spoonful at a time, and fishermen attacking the Greenpeace vessel. But you see, unlike Japan, we are poor. Even with the new calculation method of our high-IQ government, the per ca pita income can not reach usd 8,000; this being temporary, though. I have been informed that they are devising a brand new method so that the figure will effortlessly (how about this adverb?) reach usd 10,000 in no time.

But Japan? One of the richest countries in the world? No, I am not talking about the two bloggers, if you talk too much you end up in jail, right? Why does a rich country like Japan depend on whale hunting for income? We have cows (not the mad ones, ours are smart) in Turkey, they can buy some, instead.

Look at Canada! They also kill those seals but nobody is arrested for blogging about it. Does whale meat taste that good that nobody can stand criticism? Apparently I’ve got to get some and taste it before I can make an objective decision about it.

No? You don’t want to taste it? Maybe you can write to bigger-than-whale-authorities for release of the two bloggers [Greenpeace].

Choosing the right golf resort can be a daunting task when your alternatives are multiplying day by day, especially in a city like Antalya, Turkey where the tourism season lasts almost all year long. Here are some quick tips to guide you and ease your pain:

The Right Location

Antalya is a big city. Not only it has a long coast line by the Mediterranean, the city limits go far north, up to the Taurus mountains. And it can be very hot in summer. Observing temperatures of 40+ degrees Celsius in the months of July and August is not uncommon. There is a neat trick at your disposal, however: choose a place that was once a forest like Belek or Side (Sorgun). Although most of the trees like Turkish Pines (lat. Pinus Brutia) would have been butchered, some were left to provide you shade and comfort. When you want to take a break, you can enjoy a precious moment or two resting your back to a few of those pines left. Besides, the trees will enhance your panoramic view when you are sipping from your tequila sunrise.

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One thing I really like about Turkey is its warm, or should I say hot summers. It forces your whole biorhythm change, days become nights, nights become days. A new meaning, a new perception. The season of fantasies…

My favorite time in a summer day is the afternoon. The sun is at its peak, shadows are the smallest and any move, any little move makes you sweat. Sweet… It is as if its sole purpose is to teach us how beautiful lazing can be. Lazing, lying, with your eyes closed, your breathing barely audible…

Scent of the pines, salt, the dream of tequila I will have in a couple of hours, eyes closing. Time to fantasize.

Back room, with white curtains, in a bed of white sheets. An almost non-existing wind making the curtains sway gently, still, strong enough to carry the scent of the pines. A couple of birds singing in a low key, they too are afraid to move, sparing their energy.

I can hardly keep my eyes open. Yet I manage to take a last glance at her face, the sweat above her upper lip…

Sometimes it is really good to be unemployed!

As I expected, I received another e-mail in flames (not a comment in the blog as I hoped for) complaining why I was so negative to the women who walked in wedding dresses to protest Pippa’s murder. Well, I was not negative, first of all, towards them. Their actions? Maybe. Their alliances? Yes. Their political choices? Definitely. Rest of the readers (non local ones) may now hope for an explanation, but they will not get it, not the full version, anyway. Not today. Let me clarify:

First off, this blog’s sole purpose is to present the facts as I see it (this, however unfortunate, is naturally subjective). I, usually have a very good theory as to why but this theory will rarely be made public. I do not want you to prove or disprove it. There are plenty who do that and end up with wrong conclusions (another subjective point, read Days of Disinformation again, if necessary). I do not want you to understand, rather, I want you to feel it and form a theory of your own so that I can adjust and modify mine. Being always right is not statistically possible, so my theories will have to corrected before I drown in my river of Narcissism. Hence a lot of implications and points are made but they are rarely connected.

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