I’m not sure if this is quite as ridiculous as DisinfecCon, but nonetheless I thought the ridiculousness of the Wheat and Flour Fortification Congress deserved a mention. No disrespect meant to the attendees, but seriously, who thinks these things up? Does the world’s food supply depend upon these people getting together once a year or something? Or is it a social networking thing? I didn’t actually go in there (to be honest I was a little afraid), so I can’t say what was going on, but I’m sure it was spellbinding. Who knows, maybe they had strippers and tequila.

Today I was surprised to discover that there’s a Turkish festival in Boston, of all places, and that 2007 will be its 12th year. The Boston Turkish Festival appears to be quite extensive— it’s a month’s worth of Turkish-themed celebrations, shows, and other displays of Turkish culture. There’s even a short film competition, and workshops detailing traditional Turkish arts and crafts. The festival runs throughout November; I only mention it now because I know that those of you who would consider attending (including me) would like enough warning so that it might actually be possible for you to work a trip to Boston into your schedules. I understand the Northeast is gorgeous that time of year, as well, so it would probably make for a excellent vacation all around. Link

I was digging around on the internet for strange and artsy Turkish stuff (as I often do), and ran across this outdoor installation assembled by Colombian sculptor Doris Salcedo in Istanbul for the 8th International Biennial. Created in 2003, this piece was a little before my time (I didn’t come to Turkey until 2004), but it’s good to see this kind of quirky art being made in Turkey. I’m forever complaining, though, that Istanbul gets all the good stuff and here in Antalya we get stuck with the leftovers… but more and more I’m seeing things taking hold down here, and I’m hoping that soon Antalya will really earn its supposed title of “City of Art.”

More of Doris Salcedo’s work here.

See? I told you I’d be back. Things are busy around here right now, but I’ve always got time to bring you the latest finds from the Thursday bazaar.

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Aye, I said happy Caribbean Sea, and and long as I’m the one holding the gun it’s going to stay that way.

These are the pants that go with that shirt, if you’d like to purchase the set.

Amusement My.

Hmm, Immigration Northern says he departed Nort from Nort Airport… must be Santa Claus.

Different? Well, I guess we won’t really know until he takes them off, actually.

Lightning, Me Queen— guess we haven’t quite gotten the pirate talk out of our systems yet.

It’s like Tyler Durden, but… not.

This is a baby pillow— I like how they thought they had to put backwards letters in to make it look more like nonsense.

I guess yesterday’s amount of love me & tender wasn’t enough. And what’s with the excerpt from the alarm clock instruction manual? The flowers are a nice touch. I really like this one.

The three stages of active wear: play hard, fun and funky, and finally acceptance.

For those of you just joining us, there are many more bazaar offerings here.

Thanks again for all your letters and comments while I was gone… I’ve got a nice backlog of stuff to share now, so you’ll see me again tomorrow.

Hello folks, sorry for the extended downtime (including the first ever lack of a Thursday bazaar post!), but our internet tubes were broken. It took three days to sort the problem out, but it all appears to be working now, so… hooray.

I have a little bit of catching up to do, and I know a lot of you have sent me e-mails and comments, but I assure you I’ll be sifting through the backlog over the next couple of days and getting everything here back on track. Hope everyone’s had a great weekend.

For a couple of years now I have been asking around and asking around: where is all the good Turkish music? Don’t get me wrong, I like Turkish pop as much as the next person, but for me pop in any language all starts to sound the same after a while. I’ve inquired as to where one might find a Turkish version of Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails, but I’ve been met with blank stares. It’s frustrating, because I know these sorts of Turkish bands must be out there, but how do you find them if you don’t know where to look or whom you’re looking for?

Well, I have discovered something wonderful— Insomnia Radio Turkey. It’s the first region of Insomnia Radio to feature music not in English, and as far as I’m aware, it’s the first Turkish music podcast anywhere. Podcasting of this sort still hasn’t really caught on in Turkey, so we’re very lucky that Turker Keskinpala and his wife Hande have taken this task on. So far there have been three episodes, which you can subscribe to in a number of ways (including via iTunes), and here’s the best part: they do two versions of the podcast— one in Turkish, and one in English! So if you love Turkish music but don’t speak Turkish, no problem. Because of this podcast being so young, you can expect the usual teething problems, but the premise is solid, and as Turker and Hande get more used to being behind the microphone I’m sure things will start to run more smoothly. Even in these early stages, it’s an extremely enjoyable listen— I’ve been turned on to so much new Turkish music, and none of it has been pop.

I’m always the last one to know about the good podcasts, so I feel a bit smug that I discovered this one so early on. You heard about it here first! I’m still waiting for them to show me my dream Turkish band (i.e. whoever is the Turkish version of Zero7— I know Turk trip-hop must be out there!), but I’m definitely going to enjoy every other song along the way. Link

What was shaping up to be the storm of the century threatened us for most of the day today— black skies, low temperatures, wind, thunder, lightning. But then, nothing. Not a drop. I enjoyed being out in the cool breeze though, because judging from the steeply rising temperatures of the past week, today might be the last cool day we see until about October. Such is life on the Med. I can feel your pity. Let’s get on with the show.

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Yeah yeah, another sexy kids’ shirt, nothing to see here, keep moving…

This, on the other hand, you would expect to be for a child, but no. They’re adult sweat pants. Hmm.

Ah yes, I remember the 3th Montana storm, it was much stronger than either the 1rd or the 2st.

No Turklish here, I just thought this guy looked way too happy about his socks.

Guly, Muly, and Zuly are clearly delirious from their time in the desert. Let me know if you have any luck making sense of this one.

Methinks the cat holds a grudge, talking about bunny that way. And anyway, check who’s got the carrots— he’s the thief.

You’ll have to click to view the large version of this one, so to speak.

Yeah, I’m glad I switched to single fill ducks… those refillable ducks were getting a bit messy.

Especially if you are holed on the job.

And if your job is working at a funeral home, even easier.

I’ll leave you with that thought. See you guys tomorrow.

Yesterday I was walking past one of the larger hotels in Antalya, and noticed a banner welcoming the “Fifth National Sterilization and Disinfection Convention.” Oh dear. How wild and crazy would that be? You’d almost welcome the Trekkies after that, just to bring the place back to life again. I wonder what sort of cosplay one can expect at DisinfecCon… a giant handcuffed bacterium being dominated by a woman dressed as a toilet brush? Maybe I should stop there. I had a look inside the hotel, but there didn’t appear to be any free stuff. I thought they might be giving away those antibacterial baby wipes or something like that. But seriously, I agree with the sign, and extend a warm welcome to Antalya for all the convention members.

My boyfriend Emirhan brought this home the other day, and it’s the tiniest little bottle of cola I’ve ever seen. It’s called “Le’Cola” [sic], and though the label claims it’s a product of Turkey, as far as I can tell there’s no company name on it anywhere, which I thought was a little weird. Does anyone know anything about Le’Cola? Emirhan drank the bottle, and he says it tasted “like Coke, but so French.” Ha. According to Emirhan’s friend Emrah, the store where they bought Le’Cola also had such delicacies as “Le’Fanta.” Amazing.

I bought this today and just had to share… yes, it’s Owi fabric softener. I know your brains are working overtime with marketing slogans, so let’s have a few in the comments.

I mean, what were they thinking?