2000th vote in IMDB
I had happened to vote the 2000th movie last night. The lucky film was Down in the Valley But I am already looking forward to watching the 2003rd movie:) Here is my whole vote history.
July 06, 2008
June 29, 2008
Sunday morning post- What have you done for your life lately?*
* That's a quote from the Wanted.
Wanted offers more than everything I want from an action movie. Two good movies in two days and I am back to life. Both Di and Hans' suggestions were super but not doable at the moment. Hence the movies for consolation. I and Özgür decided to try the movie and we had not felt any regrets. I am energized. The movie has a super soundtrack and several innovative features for an action movie. It combines several action features, car chase, shooting, fighting, high tech gadgets, secret society etc without delving into romance at all.
What else? Well I am in Otto in santralistanbul waiting for my highschool buddies. We are having a small scale reunion event. Nobody showed up yet and i suspect some are having great difficulties to find the place:) -already incoming messages, excuses for not coming. Typical turkish organization:)
if that's really the value. I will sell it immediately! :)
79,830
How much money is your blog worth?
Continue reading "Sunday morning post- What have you done for your life lately?*" »
June 27, 2008
"What's the matter with me? Why can't I be cool?
What's the matter with me? Why can't I be cool?
What's the secret?
There is no secret kid. Dames are simple.
I never saw a dame yet that didn't understand a good slap in the mouth or a slug from a .45.
But you are Bogart.... I am not
lying in the couch in front of TV on a Friday night, I am living through a quite down moment. Only this Woody Allen movie, Play It Again, Sam, refreshes me a bit.
June 03, 2008
Blake's 7, Lost, Three Monkeys...
Nobody around me ever heard of Blake's 7. But this was the most important TV series to me when I was a kid. I remember running back home in a Saturday afternoon to catch the beginning of an episode and swearing at mum as she had sent me shopping... Now I see that a remake of Blake's 7 is possible:
Blake's 7 Remake In the Works
bowman9991 writes "Remember the BBC's Blake's 7? Looks like the classic space adventure series is being reworked by Sky One. If they get it right (like the recent Battlestar Galactica revamp), this one has massive potential. 'As part of a drive to invest more in homegrown drama, Sky One has ordered scripts for two 60-minute pilot episodes. If successful, it will be expanded into a six-part series.' Created by Terry Nation, the man responsible for the Daleks in Doctor Who, Blake's 7 ran from 1978 to 1981 and had cult appeal. The effects were average, but the story and characters were compelling."
Speaking of TV series, who can beat Lost ??? What a fantastic work. I am somewhere in the 4th season and looking forward to watching the remaining episodes...
In the mean time, a happy moment for Turkish cinema. I could not see "Three monkeys" yet. I was very disappointed with his then latest movie: Iklimler (2006) [... aka Climates]
After Uzak, I had thought now this the perfection of his this style of filmmaking. He needs a change. That change did not come at İklimler and I don't know what happens in the latest movie although the plot summary implies that there is not much change. Some laments for the fact that he is that popular in Turkey. He is respected and not only in Turkey but everywhere artsy movies do not become bestsellers and with his intensely artsy movies I don't believe Mr. Ceylan expects more from the public...
May 17, 2008
"From Turkey with love: return of one of Cannes favourite sons
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan poses during a photocall for his film "Three Monkeys" at the 61st Cannes film festival. At the festival, Ceylan's film offered a breather from a slew of hard-hitting movies on social themes with a highly personal family drama.
(AFP/Anne-Christine Poujoulat)
AFP: From Turkey with love: return of one of Cannes favourite sons
CANNES, France (AFP) — One of Cannes' favourite film-makers, Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan, returned to the film festival offering a breather from hard-hitting movies on social themes with a highly personal family drama."Article | 'Three Monkeys' at present is toast of Cannes
I saw another picture today, "Three Monkeys" from the Turkish writer-director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, whose "Climates" remains one of the few masterworks I've seen in world cinema this new century. Ceylan's latest is visually extraordinary and often arresting, a simple tale of a blackmail arrangement that leads to adultery and horrific recriminations. I'm talking to Ceylan tomorrow, so more on this one later. With its exquisite sense of composition and color, to be sure, "Three Monkeys" proves that Ceylan is leading the vanguard when it comes to high-def digital video's expressive possibilities.Continue reading ""From Turkey with love: return of one of Cannes favourite sons" »
March 07, 2008
Recep İvedik: an anti-middle class agent
I am ashamed to admit that I haven't watched any films related to this year's Oscars. However, most of'em haven't been released yet. Only pirate copies can be found and i did not attempt to get any. I happen to watch Recep İvedik though. This comedy is a local blockbuster. Most of the jokes are vulgar. If I force myself to derive an intellectual statement then I would suggets that it is better to take this film a blow to recently emerged middle class vacation practices. fine teasing with the summer vacation people and their micro-world...
Continue reading "Recep İvedik: an anti-middle class agent" »
February 13, 2008
Messing with a good movie
I have recently watched Hairspray (2007). Apart from John Travolta's good performance who reminded me our Bülent Ersoy (!), I was disappointed with the fact that this remake of Hairspray (1988) loses the latter's political sophistication and a great selection of songs and dances. the latter loosens the political message and homogenizes the soundtrack. Similarly, I have also watched Hemingway adaptation of The Killers (1946) and its remake, The Killers (1964). The suspense in the very beginning of the former reminds me Haneke's Funny Games (1997). It has such a power and good acting. The latter is certainly watchable but shadowed by the former. Thus, Erkan's big resolution, there is no inevitable progress in movie making. Things can go just for worse....
January 17, 2008
party aftermath, films, overwhelming feelings....
Watched Gimme Shelter recently. Quite powerfull stuff. Triggered a sort of nostalgia for some times I wasn't even born. Skimmed thru Hells Angels and Sonny Barger's website, too. I liked the opening scene, thought about Mick Jaggers' dance moves etc.
I could not yet escape from a feeling of dizziness, melancholy and disappointment. A current of nostalgia undergoes this mixture of feelings. I just received a postcard from Katherine and Frederick who are now married and settled in San Diego. Although I am quite a new media person, these tangible cards have their affect on me. Hence comes the evening melancholy. I have been in my office since noon and can finally do some work on dissertation. All gone, and i am alone, having tons of coffee and planning to write more fragments. But these overwhelming feelings force me to write these first and think about those fragments later.
Well, no need to hide. The blog party had become a turning point in some of my relations. the event itself was enjoyable and i can certainly state that my most of closest friends showed up. Even the Malta collective who protested me for having a party instead of playing cards did show up in the end. However, some people, some circles en masse did not show up and did not even provide an excuse. That part was a big disappointment of which I could recover yet...
Anyway, speaking of films, by the way, Gregory's Girl (1981), Freaks (1932), Hotaru no haka (1988), Rendition (2007), Inventing the Abbotts (1997) are some of the notable movies I watched recently.
Continue reading "party aftermath, films, overwhelming feelings...." »
November 23, 2007
"EU and the global hollywood
EU and the global hollywood
by Hans Erik Naess
In a harsh critique of EU film policy, Hans Erik Næss claims that European funding programmes that focus on "European cultural identity and cultural heritage" are totally misguided.........
September 11, 2007
"Commissioners to plan next EU projects...
EU gives up on 'metric Britain'
The European Union is abandoning plans to force Britain to phase out the imperial measurement system.
Russian pressure 'saved Karadzic'
Russia blocked the arrest of most-wanted Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, an ex-UN aide says.
In pictures: Sheep invade Madrid; Images from the Spanish capital where farmers invade chic streets to defend ancient grazing routes.
Divergences remain despite call for EU unity on Kosovo
Member states remain split on the issue of the future status of Kosovo, following an informal meeting of European foreign ministers in Viana do Castelo on 8-9 September 2007.
Polish elections hang over EU Treaty talks
The EU is hopeful of finalising its new 'Reform Treaty' in less than six weeks, despite renewed worries over the upcoming Polish elections to be held on 21 October, foreign ministers announced after an informal meeting on 7-8 September.
Commissioners to plan next EU projects
Last election week in Greece
Ariana FERENTINOU
DOSSIER: Ang Lee wins the Golden Lion | 10/09/2007
The 64th Venice Film Festival came to an end last weekend. Winner of the Golden Lion was Taiwanese film director Ang Lee with his wartime spy thriller "Se, jie" (Lust, Caution). The newspapers criticise the festival and express their concern about its future in the face of toughening competition.
Qantara.de - Islam and Muslims in Germany - The Changing Image of Turks in Germany
British mosques under control of hardline sect An investigation by The Times has found that almost half of Britain's mosques are controlled by a hardline Islamic sect...
Continue reading ""Commissioners to plan next EU projects..." »
August 12, 2007
"Large Traffic Jumps for Social Networks Over Past Year
Large Traffic Jumps for Social Networks Over Past Year
"The chart below from a ComScore press release (via Read/WriteWeb) shows the amazing growth some of the largest social networks have achieved over the past twelve months...| | Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Networking Site | Jun-06 | Jun-07 | % Change |
| MySpace | 66,401 | 114,147 | 72 |
| 14,083 | 52,167 | 270 | |
| Hi5 | 18,098 | 28,174 | 56 |
| Friendster | 14,917 | 24,675 | 65 |
| Orkut | 14,917 | 24,120 | 78 |
| Bebo | 6,694 | 18,200 | 172 |
| Tagged | 1,506 | 13,167 | 774 |
Social Networking Sites Full of Security Holes
It's Time for Social Networks to Open Up
League table of world universities published: top three from USA
Global Education: Is the West Losing Its Lead?
How Public Is Your Public Body?
By Ewan McIntosh
Jim Sleeper Peddling half truths, mainstream media writers predict that Murdoch will protect the Wall Street Journal. Does the full truth stand a chance?
Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal: French editors react
via. @ haha.nu. via:Galvao’s illustrations
Continue reading ""Large Traffic Jumps for Social Networks Over Past Year" »
August 06, 2007
Murdoch gets WSJ and more news from journalism and cyberworld...
FP Blog: "It's a sad, sad day for journalism." That's what everyone's saying now that Rupert Murdoch has proven successful in his bid to buy the Wall Street Journal. But what if it's not? What if it's, well, just another day?
Done! Murdoch’s News Corp acquires Dow Jones and WSJ
The Rupert Murdoch Wall Street Journal
By Dan GillmorFacebook loses more ads in BNP row
More companies pulled advertising from Facebook, the social networking website, after discovering their campaigns ran next to a page for the far-right British National party.....
@ haha.nu.-Ralph Goings’ realism
- The Great Flickr Tools Collection
- Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead | CNET News.com
The future of e-mail might be found on the pages of MySpace.com and Facebook. - Media Influencer: Communications propaganda
A revealing comment can be found on Euan's blog about internal propaganda communications at the BBC that could have only been made by a communications professional (read PR) who drinks his own koolaid. Just because you can blog, doesn't mean you should
This blogging business nowadays
The blogging movement's claim to empower the "netizen" is being undermined by the commercialization and professionalization of the "blogosphere". This necessitates a rethinking of the concept of citizen journalism, writes Krystian Woznicki.....Continue reading "Murdoch gets WSJ and more news from journalism and cyberworld..." »
July 31, 2007
A Tribute to Ingmar Bergman...and now Antonioni....
Everett Collection-Bengt Ekerot, left, and Max von Sydow in the 1957 film "The Seventh Seal."
NYT Obit here.
Ingmar Bergman, Famed Director, Dies at 89
Ingmar Bergman's searing honesty
In a career spanning 60 years and over 40 films, Ingmar Bergman, who died on Monday aged 89, established himself as one of the greatest European film-makers of all time...
Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007), Swedish stage and film director, during the production of Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället) (1957).
Image: AB Svensk Filmindustri
Image: AB Svensk Filmindustri
Wikinews: Ingmar Bergman dies at age 98
The best compilation of news on Ingmar's death comes from TurcoPundit, here I copy from its post.
Ingmar Bergman, perhaps the greatest film artist of all time, has died at his home in Sweden at the age of 89 ... AP ... Time ... Telegraph ... Guardian ... Wash Post ... Bloomberg ... London Times ... AFP ... Reuters ... NY Times ... BBC ... Guardian ... CanWest ... SF Chron ... Chic Trib ... Seattle PI ... Slate ... Telegraph ... Boston Globe ... London Times ... LA Times ... Newsweek ... NYMag ... He was a giant of the stage too.
Who can forget the chess game with Death in The Seventh Seal or the dream in Wild Strawberries?
Guardian Ingmar Bergman dies at 89 Legendary Swedish director was most famous for Seventh Seal.
A life in picures: Ingmar Bergman
Obituary: Ingmar Bergman
Leader Through a glass clearly
Ingmar Bergman: With Bergman's death at the age of 89, after a career in the cinema of some 60 years, there can be no real argument either about the sustained moral achievement of his work or about his importance in the history of cinema.
Independent Leading Article: Cries and whispers
The master: Ingmar Bergman 1918 - 2007 Film director Paul Schrader: I would not have made any of my films or written scripts such as Taxi Driver had it not been for Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman: A morally flawed recluse, but a director touched by genius
FT Ingmar Bergman’s searing honesty Obituary: A great European film-maker
DOSSIER: On the death of Ingmar Bergman | 31/07/2007
Swedish film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman died aged 89 on Monday, 30 July 2007. His most famous films - which were censored in several countries - were "The Silence" (1963) and "Scenes from a Marriage (1973). The newspaper pays tribute to him as an exponent of European auteur cinema and analyst of the emotional world of the bourgeoisie....
Continue reading "A Tribute to Ingmar Bergman...and now Antonioni...." »
July 05, 2007
"With redesigns, CNN, USA Today, and AOL News hope to catch Web 2.0 wave
Editors Weblog:
Josh Catone of Read/WriteWeb recently reviewed the revamped sites for CNN, USA Today, and AOL News, all of which embraced Web 2.0 in a different way.........
Abridged Guide to Turkish Blogs-Volume 4
Top news sites for May
Here are the top news sites in the U.S. for May 2007, according to Nielsen/Netratings....
Julio Gonzalez, Tête de femme, 30 octobre-2 novembre 1936 VIA
CBC, Washington Post, Slate partner with Facebook
CBCNews.ca, washingtonpost.com and Slate have partnered with the popular social network website Facebook.com in the past two weeks for a few different projects. ...
The Great Debate: Salon vs. Slate
Read what writers and readers of PopMatters have to say....
Behind washingtonpost.com's redesign
Jim Brady, washingtonpost.com Executive Editor, explains some of the key changes to the site's home page and the thinking behind it. ...
MySpace Envious Of Facebook's Widget Success
The AP develops new methods of storytelling through multimedia convergence
The information age: George Orwell’s worst fear
A list of film techniques that Alfred Hitchcock used in making his movies
● Quick iPhone review
Essential Tools Every Blogger Should Have
Continue reading ""With redesigns, CNN, USA Today, and AOL News hope to catch Web 2.0 wave" »
June 26, 2007
Istanbul is burning and Erkan offers you trivia: "100 top movies, 10 books to define 20th century, 100 words to know etc etc
According to the Guardian:
The 10 books which the public felt best defined the 20th century, in order of publication, were:
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
as "Paranoia, propaganda and a state of perpetual war are the defining characteristics of the last century.."
(Via Kottke.org) The American Film Institute has refreshed their list of the top 100 movies...here's a listing comparing the new list with the one from 1998.
"Temporal anomalies in time travel movies, an investigation of how time travel is represented in movies like Donnie Darko, 12 Monkeys, and Back to the Future....
The difference between Marketing, PR, Advertising and Branding
The 2007 MacTech 25 "honors the most influential people in the Macintosh community".
Pirate myths uncovered: they never said "arrr", there was no plank walking, and no treasure maps. The "arrr" and the pirate accent "originated with Robert Newton, the actor who played Long John Silver in the movies and on TV through much of the 1950s"
100 Words That All High School Graduates — And Their Parents — Should Know
May 23, 2007
"All eyes on Sarkozy during first Brussels visit
EU Observer: French president Nicolas Sarkozy is to travel to Brussels today to discussFrance's vision on the future of the bloc - EU officials will be keen tohear whether he is still promoting the ideas outlined in a key speech in the EU capital last September, while Turkey will be listening to see what he says about its membership bid.
Continue reading ""All eyes on Sarkozy during first Brussels visit" »
May 20, 2007
Another disappointing movie from a favorite director....
Just spent my three hours to watch the latest work of David Fincher, Zodiac. I wasn't really impressed with his previous work, too. (Panic Room) You see I wasn't bored at all in that three hours. It is a nicely shot movie with an interesting plot. But something misses. Where is the innovativeness in his Seven and Fight Club? May 14, 2007
"Turkish secularists in new rally
At least one million Turks have rallied in the city of Izmir to protest against any government plans to undermine Turkish secularism.
Photos from May 13 Izmir Demonstration from the Turkish Torque
Merkal provides videos
In the mean time,
Danish director Lars Von Trier has described how depression has left him unable to work, and said he was unclear when he would make another film.
and a Fatih Akın interview here.
And serious stuff again (!):
May 11, 2007
Aronofsky fails to impress me!
Just after classes, I rushed to watch Darren Aronofsky's latest movie, the Fountain. He is one of my favorite directors and I was hoping to watch another masterpiece (thinking of his previous movies, Pi and Requiem for a Dream) Well, no chance for that. It is still worth watching but the plot substance is not as powerful as the previous ones. Mystical elements bore me this time and they seem to be more direct unlike the chaotic nature of Pi. I feel like there is too much reliance on computer skills but if only one has a strong plot and cinematography then computerization is ok...
April 03, 2007
" From Avignon to Leipzig: European Festivals 2007
Cafe Babel: Winter’s finally over, and 2007’s season of theatre festivals is firmly underway. Here's the pick of the bunch
Cinema: Europe up to your eyeballs
The best European film of the last 50 years, set against the backdrop of Europe's first 50 years. An essay by Fernando García Acuña
Best videos on European Union, selected by RSFBLOG on the occasion of the European Union on its 50th anniversary
'I was so intense about being a skinhead, to me it was final' ... Gavin Watson's brother Neville shares a bottle of cider with his mates. Photograph: Gavin Watson
March 29, 2007
On lonely ascetic men...
As I was watching The Lives of Others, I was thrilled with Ulrich Mühe's performance. The film deserves the Oscar it got and much can be said about it but I will focus on something else. Mr. Mühe's brillant acting made me think about those lonely ascetic men and made me immediately connect him to another filmic character in Takva. Especially in the first part of the film, Muharrem (played by Erkan Can), had a structurally similar life with the Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler. A self-subsistent, self-disciplined man who lives a life of an ascetin within a modern society. I don't know towards the end of the film, my eyes are teary. I felt great pity for Wiesler. But at the same time, I know that the character has set up a life-world in which he can live to the end.
Wiesler and Muharrem
You can pity him and he lives on the edge of being a loser but he is not exactly a loser. He is connected to the world outside of himself and he has an authority around himself to exert his existence.Why my eyes were teary towards the end of the first film I mentioned. Not only because he was exposed to an unfair treatment but because I thought I could become like him in some sense. Under normal conditions, I can imagine the old Erkan who has lots of grandsons and granddaughters around but one never knows and I know I have the potential to move towards a more ascetic life.
Anyway, it is certainly difficult to homologize but Hugh Grant in About a Boy provides a more happier sample of this manhood (I had jealously admired Will in the film). Of course, some of Nick Hornby's writings offers more for this kind of man, I believe. I can even think of Fever Pitch's narrator in this sense too...
All this triggers for a longer essay I am thinking of writing for Milli İstirahat. And I should think about Yusuf Atılgan's Aylak Adam and some of Oğuz Atay's literary characters. But the latter's writings should be handled with care. They might not conform to what I think. His characters are not good examples of autopoiesis in Luhmannian sense. I could think of Salinger. But something misses there. More thinking later...
April 07, 2005
"Erkan seems to have a journalist girlfriend:)
Sounds interesting, congrats. Just make sure she knows you are releasing details. Glad to see you are happy!
Posted by: kathrine at April 8, 2005 03:52 PMWooooo-hoooooo!
Details...details.....anxiously awaiting details....
Posted by: Ana at April 10, 2005
In the mean time,
A happy couple: Amanda and Mason
Good news from Amanda Ziemba
Mason and Amanda got engaged yesterday!
Can I publish their picture? Can someone ask Amanda about that? :)
Continue reading ""Erkan seems to have a journalist girlfriend:)" »
November 20, 2004
Third problem: studying up
November 20, 2004
Winter starts practically
November 18, 2004
'hypothesis crisis'
Our extended deadline to find an hypothesis for the term project ends tomorrow (For MED 391 class) So between 12:00 and 18:00, I was surrounded with helpless students who cannot produce acceptable hypotheses. I just felt as helpless as they are since Prof Isen rarely accepts student proposals....
Now my office is silent and i am alone and after checking my email accounts, I will start working on my weekly report for Interpress... So I will have more time tomorrow to assist student proposals...
November 15, 2004
First two days of bairam
This is the second day of Bairam. I might benefit from visiting my relatives this time. I met a guy/nephew?, Suleyman, who is a webmaster. He promised me to prepare a website related to my research and teach me how to update it... I think this will be easier than starting to learn how to design a website:)
Last night all children of the nuclear family headed by me went to see a movie: G.O.R.A. In 90 years of turkish cinema, this film is the most expensively produced one: 5 million dollars. It is a teaser movie of popular science fiction movies like Matrix, Star Wars and Fifth Element.
just to have a look [the site has english pages]:
http://www.gorafilm.com/
I am satisfied with this movie but I believe most of the humor is based on Turkish language. We had to find more than an hour to find a good seat, and while we were waiting we insisted on Hakan, my brother, to admit that he has a girl-friend. He did not admit but we are all suspicious about his constant text-messaging with a girl called Esra...
Ana, don't worry about your grammar mistakes. I feel sorry for all of you for being exposed to my English:(
November 14, 2004
Third problem: studying up
In addition to being an anthropologist and perceptions of intellectuals, I should add a third issue that makes my life difficult: �Studying-up�. I have a good past of ethnographic involvement but my current project does not look like any of my previous deeds. I am attempting to observe the �gods� of Turkish journalism in their working environment!This evening Serkan, who is my dear friend from high school, came to visit me. He has a journalism MA degree from UT Austin and now works in Milliyet�s economy department [Milliyet is another significant and one of the oldest national newspapers in Turkey. It used to be a serious center left daily but since mid 1990s, elements of yellow journalism transformed the newspaper�s content under the ownership of Dogan Media Group]. Before starting to watch the documentary �Crumb� we chatted about lots of things including my research topic. He said it is basically impossible to attend Hurriyet�s editorial meetings! And he then began to name the editors: Ertugrul Ozkok, Oktay Eksi�.these are such big names and how they will care/ allow me to observe them? Yeah, that�s a problem. I just began to feel what I had already rationally perceived. But it is all right. There is no point to be more disappointed than I already am. I will use my best sources, Prof Ugur, who is Mr. Ozkok�s close friend, Ferhat Boratav, who is CNN-Turk�s editor, to ask for access. If this does not work, I will finally give up the Hurriyet option and I will just look for other venues. I strongly believe I will be excused for giving up Hurriyet. I give two more weeks to resolve this access problem.
November 02, 2004
Gypsy boys-Truffaut movie etc
Gypsy boys-Truffaut movie etc
While I was waiting for the shuttle to go to the Dolapdere campus from the Kustepe campus, I happened [�happen to� is my favorite verb today] to eavesdrop chatting among the gypsy parking �employees�. They communicate through soccer. Soccer is a language for basic communication. Why no one studies soccer as a cultural practice in Turkey? I know there is a growing interest for soccer among intellectuals but I don�t think there is still a good ethnographic work on the role of soccer in Turkey. With my growing interest in the subject, I see that I have an expanding ability to produce immediate communication with more people from different backgrounds.. I know, I know this is a clich� topic and I do my own contribution to the clich� production.
We have screened Truffaut�s Fahrenheit 451 in the MED 101 class- first year Introduction to the Mass Media class- today. It is a disaster. Students were bored to death and I happen to face student unrest. This class is taught in 4 sections with 3 professors and 4 TAs. I am one of the TAs. While we were discussing what to screen, I objected to screen this movie but I was part of the minority. In fact, I was the only one to object. I like Truffaut and I see a joy of life in most of his films. But I find his attempts to deal with science fiction (oh the Alphaville case) helpless� We could easily find another movie which would have an easy narrative and which would not have a caricaturized TV bashing. But this is all about student-bashing. I begin to believe that most of my colleagues choose to underline their difference, to prove their intellectual superiority through making life hell for students (and then claiming how stupid they are) or through blind criticism of mass media products. I believe there is a relation between these two processes.
A columnist from Sabah, Emre Akoz castigated this attitude in a TV forum recently. I mean, how intellectuals position themselves through a constant non-constructive TV criticism. I think he was quiet successful in the polemic against 3 scholars, one of which happens to be the professor I am TAing for:)
November 01, 2004
Another dizzy day....
Another dizzy day. My only activity during the day was to go to Kadikoy, from where I had rented some movies and bought a Motorhead album. Then I watched the first season of Simpsons.
Mum invited Cetin, Veli and their wives for dinner. So instead of Fatih district, we met and played cards in Bahcelievler, where my parents live. it was a show off for my mother and thus we were stuffed with delicious food. After dinner, we hurried to find a coffeehouse and a fourth player. We called Murat, a principal in a high school and Veli's friend from graduate school. We had also an ulterior motive in inviting Murat. We tried to persuade him to marry F's elder sister, S. This is a long story indeed but let me say that we are working on a matchmaking deal. Of course, during the dinner, my mother got angry again because I wasn't looking for a marriage and I got angry because tea was not ready on time and it was served in a mug instead of the special small tea glass.
nowadays, my favourite site is www.itiraf.com. Itiraf means 'confession'. turks all over the world confess. It is a cool site. Cetin argued that confession is a western phenomenon. Easterners share secrets with the buddies or families but do not confess, especially their sins.. I was tired to argue, he has some points but in general I do not like to argue in that scale generalizations. Cetin likes to point out differences between the modern and non-modern.
A long night awaits. I want to finish my SSRC proposal prepation and send it as soon as possible.
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