March 19, 2007
My most of Sunday was spent around the engagement ceremony. It was annoying and depressive at the beginning as heightened by too much exposure to relatives but gradually got better. all bros and sisters together. before the event started we...
This is Mustafa Akyol's weekend article in Turkish Daily News. He says "Today’s Turkey is divided between those who wish to see the country become a liberal democracy, and those who wish to keep it as an illiberal oligarchy..." In...
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March 16, 2007
You know for years, I have been thinking of reading Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville. And always something came up and prevented me reading it. There is no immediate reason to want to read it but i kind...
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07:26 PM
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March 14, 2007
My office computer is finally upgraded and i cannot tell how happy i am. i guess all this academic year i have been having problems with that super slow computer and i got to know many IT people in the...
March 13, 2007
Some of our students; listening the editorial discussion so intently... Last Thursday we paid a visit to Doğan Media Center and talk to the editors of Turkish Daily News and Referans. This was a field trip for MED 316...
March 11, 2007
details later....
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March 07, 2007
French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard has died aged 77 at his home in Paris following a long illness. Another intellectual giant of contemporary times passes away. I never felt I was a follower of Prof. Baudrillard but his...
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01:11 PM
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March 05, 2007
well, in the middle of the night, in the darkness of a night travel and in an uncomfortable seat, an intense loneliness did strike me but thanks God i am alive. what to do in the cold early morning of...
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12:04 PM
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March 03, 2007
Today is my first Istanbul derby in İnönü... Beşiktaş vs. Galatasaray. S*** i am still at home! France - Le Monde | Friday, March 2, 2007; Thomas Ferenczi on the European passion for football FP blog asks Why do...
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02:17 PM
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March 02, 2007
you know what happend last Friday. right now it is 9 pm, another Friday night and i am in my office at the Kuştepe campus preparing a grant application whose deadline is March 5. i don't feel like a loser...
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08:53 PM
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February 26, 2007
Our guests arrived at 5 to 8 pm. and after talking a bit on soccer, jobs, geography, traffic and weather at 8:29 the eldest brother officially declared why they were there. That took not more than 5 minutes after when...
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February 24, 2007
i have been trying hard to protect a low profile relation and it finally collapsed. it is a pity, i was really hopeful this time but it didn't work. i had to break up many relations because my lovers were...
February 21, 2007
gave up using anti-depression pills for a week and it is as if my brain is about to explode. thinking about what to do about that. maybe drinking could be a cure. hakan is leaving for nigde tomorrow and we...
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12:30 AM
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February 18, 2007
My father was about to leave town, so i rushed home to say goodbye. he won't be around for a while. I told mum today she is probably a fascist and i don't think she did mind it. she was...
well, the test says: I am Very Happy Your life is totally together, and you enjoy every day. And you don't need a quiz to tell you that! You know how to find pleasure in the little things... And even...
February 16, 2007
we have decided that this is the best of our week-long course registration period. we are told today that a student had told one of our professors that he was 20 year-old, and wondering why he still had to read...
February 14, 2007
VIA * This Valentine’s Day, say it with bitterness; Sales of cards and parties not celebrating the holiday are on the rise In fact, i do have a girlfriend though the nature of the relation is quite complicated. So...
February 13, 2007
it is a bit late notice but i would like to highlight that a new Turkish movie, Barda, deserves good reviews. Inspired by a true story, i was really moved by the movie. the script-wise and technique-wise it is...
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04:30 PM
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February 11, 2007
In otherwise not a happy day, I and twins stopped by Starbucks at Mecidiyeköy and when we found out that we could play chess on one of the tables, we started to play for a few hours. Under normal...
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02:24 PM
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February 09, 2007
thanks to gökçe, we spent the whole evening at arasta. he is a heavy drinker, but i was determined to be drunk. feeling quite helpless and thinking it is really time now to leave this "field" and never come back...
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11:49 PM
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I don't know really how it went... Ismail, the would be son-in-law was an hour late due to traffic. He was quite depressed when he arrived but we treated him well. Mum ordered me and dad not to talk nonsense,...
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05:58 PM
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February 06, 2007
In two hours, Nurcan's boyfriend, İsmail, will come home to meet dad. I am invited, too. It is a bit stressful:) I guess this is the last step; mum and all of us met the guy before and finally dad...
February 05, 2007
It is the Monday of the week we are practically free. Despite my efforts to get up earlier, I got up late, then had breakfast with twins and just came to my office. It is rainy but not annoying, my...
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02:31 PM
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January 29, 2007
i had made it to the second half of the game. the moment i entered the stadium, the rival team scored a goal but we won in the end. so Beşiktaş started the second half of the season with a...
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10:08 AM
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January 28, 2007
The workshop went super. I liked it. i was all right with my own presentation, "Istanbul as a megacity; Istanbul as Assemblage". It was a workshop on Megacities organized by TCS. What the super thing is that you sit next...
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10:16 AM
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January 26, 2007
well, i am not exactly a museum fan; i am here right in front of the BM in a Starbucks and that's the closest I will be:) I got informed that there were bookstores around so i paid a visit....
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04:42 PM
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Yesterday afternoon to evening, i virtually stopped by every book store between Leicester Square and Charing Cross on the main street. I know very well that there are always hidden treasures in sidestreets but that demanded more time and courage...
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11:35 AM
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January 25, 2007
thanks to Starbucks where I could be online and where is a familiar spot in an unfamiliar place, and thanks to Aylin, i found an hotel to stay:) let me get rid of the heavy bag and start to explore.......
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04:26 PM
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January 24, 2007
Sorry for the late notice. I am flying to London on Thursday morning- tomorrow morning and will be back on Sunday afternoon and hopefully rush to İnönü Stadium for the first game of the second round of Turkish league. In...
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08:28 PM
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January 07, 2007
As usual, I have had a sad and mildly depressive vacation time. It had real good moments but when i sum up, sadness rules. Here is a selection of better moments. Some are kept to myself, I hope you don't...
January 04, 2007
Well, some friends already know. I messed up my stomach in the new year night. A stupid competition of drinking ended up in the hospital for one and for a full day of sickness for the other moron. Since, i...
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11:23 PM
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January 01, 2007
1. I am gonna finish my dissertation thesis, 2. I will start a long term relation, 3. I might get rid of my army duty, 4. I might get my second article published.... And I am tagging Murat, Di, Nikolia...
December 31, 2006
Here is a selection of writings from this blog and my posts in Istanbul Metroblogging I would also like to thank the Blogging Journalist who has recently published a post to promote this blog; and to thank Nikolia who published...
My dear readers, a few hours ago, i have read two articles by some notable authors whom I respect and i will use them as pretexts to state my own developing ideas. In my style of writing, i can be...
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01:55 AM
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December 30, 2006
Tomorrow, i will first celebrate the Feast of Sacrifice in the morning and probably afternoon- which means required social visits and exchanges of good wishes, then will have a break in Malta, which means playing cards and maybe reading a...
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03:30 PM
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December 25, 2006
İdil is to be 25, still young:) have a super happy birthday İdil! Burcu is back in depression but i believe this is temporary. Dear Burcu you will get used to your new life and everything will be better. A...
December 24, 2006
I am sorry people, I am late in replying my email, and i am in a hurry again. Today is my elder sister's birthday, after stopping by my parents' I will see my friends whom I have been avoiding for...
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December 21, 2006
Satin Pajamas: Best New Weblog; Nominate your favorite new European blog(s) here. First post must be in 2006. Pedigree ad via. Good news for Burcu and for all of us. Burcu finally made it and has become a TA in...
December 20, 2006
Erkan's Field Diary receives the 100,000th visit today. the 50,000th visit took place on 29 August 2006 and here comes the next tour. The visit number comes from the Sitemeter you can see on the left hand and I have...
December 17, 2006
I was feeling that I have been neglecting my room-mate, Nurdan (you know by now, my sister). So we did hang out together. After a long procrastination, we have gone to do some shopping- in fact our real intention was...
December 15, 2006
I got the document that states my duty is postponed. Everything is fine. The officials in the military office were very polite. Here comes the end of a month of anxiety... Houtlust: If Moses would live now he won't split...
December 14, 2006
My dear readers, some of you already learnt. But let me tell you all: I did not attend the Dec 1-3 appointments in the military office. I was sick, i got a doctor's paper and i will deliver it to...
December 12, 2006
After a police operation against allegedly DHKP connected NGOs, Gazi and some other neighbourhoods in Istanbul witnessed fierce street demonstrations last week. Here are more pictures and a partisan report of the events. According to the latest news report...
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12:33 AM
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December 11, 2006
Yann has put up the 4th Four Stone Hearth Anthropology Blog Carnival! as Kambiz notifies. Kambiz liked Mel Gibson's Apocalypto and provides a review here. In another blog, AP piece is quoted: Mayans excited, but unsure on 'Apocalypto' It hasn't...
December 08, 2006
A notable news from the EU Observer. "Twenty years after the EU launched its student exchange programme Erasmus, the poorest students still find it difficult to take part in it. Meanwhile, participants from the new member states benefit much more...
December 04, 2006
Last week, I was interviewed by Chris Vallance on the papal visit for his radio program called pods&blogs. In this week's session: * Email turns 35 and the exploding dead whale's earlier appearance on Up All Night * Microsoft...
December 03, 2006
Apart from the more productive stuff i am involved with, I have attended my first away game. ankaraspor vs. beşiktaş. We lost two more points, it was so cold and uncomfortable that I could not focus on the game much....
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December 01, 2006
At the moment, i am in the MED 205 course (New Technologies in News Media); Prof. Tunc, lecturing on Google Earth and related programs. I just found the building I was living in my last year in Houston. In Rice...
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10:37 AM
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November 30, 2006
When Club Brugge scored a goal after our goal keeper's incredibly stupid but not any more unfamiliar mistake (14th minunte), i was so pissed of that I stopped watching the game, sit down and began to read a piece from...
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01:19 PM
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November 29, 2006
I am a bit down today. Some days of tiredness stopped my usual activities. I could not get up early enougth to go to a newspaper I was planning to pay a visit. I could not go to the campus...
November 22, 2006
Mark Beunderman: In a move to curry favour with the EU, Turkey has said it will quickly change a notorious article of its penal code curbing free speech - but at the same time, Ankara has put its ties with...
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02:52 AM
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November 21, 2006
I don't like a student who doesn't know a thing about what an American university is but asks in hostility: "So Bilgi University becomes an American university?" An American company, Laureate signed a protocol with Bilgi University and it...
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01:09 PM
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November 20, 2006
The game exhausted me but Beşiktaş did not lose as most of us expected ! It could even win the game but our forward line is so incapable in finishing....So 0-0... I am so exhausted, I cannot even do news...
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02:46 AM
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November 19, 2006
Just finished up some coursework stuff and leaving home soon for the game. It is an away game for Beşiktaş, that will play against Fenerbahçe... Statistically, FB can win easily, but statistics in football does not help for derbies, that's...
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November 17, 2006
My former advisor Nükhet Sirman has become the Editor for Europe and the Middle East for Cultural Dynamics journal.... Here is all the editors: Priyamvada Gopal, Editor for Europe and South Asia. [email: pg268@cam.ac.uk] Nukhet Sirman, Editor for Europe and...
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11:39 AM
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November 16, 2006
The rector will write a letter to the Mİnistry of Defense for a year long postponement. I don't have many days and nothing is certain about the outcome. If i have to go, there will be a blackout in my...
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05:02 PM
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November 15, 2006
We have decided to cancel my part in the Brussels trip between 5-8 December, as my military service situation is not certain. Even if it is postponed due to the Rector's intervention, we figured out it might be too late...
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November 13, 2006
Our beloved professor Galip Isen started his blog after intensive insistence by me and Burcu! His blog is called spooky sense by garfucius and described as "hedonism a la garfield and a dose of confucius - wormy sides but a...
I told you about the crucial meeting with a lawyer that is connected to the university. I was advised to meet him to get legal advise about the situation. I am sorry for the expression but when retrospectively thinking about...
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09:23 PM
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This is from "The breast cancer awareness ad is from Eta Ascon, a Dubai based investment group who is working all over the Middle-East and Asia...." Though some say the baby on the right looks like Erkan who is...
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03:58 AM
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November 10, 2006
I met the lawyer. He just gave me more bad news. Now I am told that I cannot work as a TA after this month. So under normal conditions I have only 20 more days as a TA. For which...
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November 09, 2006
I finally made it to Bahcelievler Military Office in Yenibosna. The last time I was there a year ago for the same reason. It was painless last year. But this year the story takes a new turn. The official was...
The European Commission has given Turkey until mid-December to open its ports to Cypriot ships, or face unspecified consequences. As Istanbul Tory says Turkey breathes a sign of relief...for now. Still not feeling well and quite drunk right now. I...
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November 04, 2006
Nooo, it is not that bad. This photo is from Jan, 2006 by hakann But the winter is certainly back now, one tends to stay in doors and follow the guideline for worse situations: What to do in a...
November 03, 2006
Well, I got a blow with the fact that I cannot postpone my mandatory military service... After talking to the Turkish consulate in LA, which is in charge for Turkish male students at Rice, I learnt that Glorious Turkish state...
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02:24 AM
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October 30, 2006
I nearly made a scene today. My one week-long depression came to a halt with that cathartic moment at the end of the Besiktas game. We lost two more precious points. The Turkish version of the game notes are here....
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02:22 AM
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October 27, 2006
Interior ministers from Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Poland, who attended a two-day UK meeting on 25-26 October 2006, were told by UK Home Secretary and MI5 chief John Reid that terrorism is the "biggest threat to all European nations"....
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October 25, 2006
My dear readers, a server change caused a break in blogging but things seem to be working smooth now. So it is not because of the FM 2007 - even Hakan could not install, so i cannot play:(- but because...
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October 23, 2006
It is the first day of Ramadan today as I managed to get up early this time to make it to the family breakfast at my parents'. Last year it was a disaster as I could only make it...
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09:01 AM
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October 20, 2006
Here is my most personal take with Orhan Pamuk. I had always a particular taste for his literary talents- I know this will annoy some of my loyal readers though:(- and here is an experiment of writing inspired by Nick...
October 19, 2006
"Besiktas will host Tottenham in Inonu Stadium at 20.00. Bobo is ready; but Gokhan Zan is sick says Sabah. If that's really the case, I am not sure we can rock the cradle. We already miss Koray, and if Gokhan...
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03:49 PM
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October 15, 2006
The Chief of Staff, Mr. Buyukanit, talked back yesterday against what Agar said a few days ago. Mr. Agar had said if they were the government, the army could not make those speeches, implying Buyukanit's speech indeed. The leader...
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03:30 PM
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I am curious about our fans' political stance towards the developments concerning Turkey. "Creative fans of Besiktas" might produce a political stance today but we have a sophisticated situation: That is, our beloved fan leader, Alen, is a Turkish Armenian...
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October 14, 2006
I guess intense political agenda exhausted me (!) and most of my daily functions halted on Friday afternoon. I am back in business now:) On Thursday this blog had a new record in visit numbers. That was over 560... On...
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October 13, 2006
Turkey has condemned a French parliamentary vote which would make it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered "genocide" at the hands of the Turks. Brussels also condemns the French law...a thin turnout of French legislators approved a bill, but...
October 06, 2006
I loved the lecture today. MED 205 is a newly opened course entitled as "New Technologies in News Media". It is a three hour elective course that takes place in a computer lab. While Prof. Asli Tunc lectures (we use...
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04:40 PM
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October 03, 2006
Two major media shaped the mass media programming in Turkey and live coverage personnel had to