I think this might be the first time I’ve ever reprinted a post from elsewhere, but I heard something about this story on the news the other day, and now I see our blogging community here in Turkey is taking up the cause, so I thought I’d join in. As a musician myself, I know firsthand how difficult it is to make a name for yourself and to eke out even a moderate living. I can’t imagine how stressful it must be if on top of everything your money troubles make you fear for your life. These guys are working hard, but unfortunately they have everything else working against them, so I want to do my part to see that they get some help.

I’ll be keeping up with this story and I’ll let you know how everything turns out— with any luck this will have a happy ending.

I’m going to go check out that documentary now. Please feel free to repost this in your own blogs or link to this post from your twitters.

From Villa Luna, via Carpetblogger:

Help save our heavy metal friends from an uncertain fate in Baghdad

In November 2007, the Iraqi metal band Acrassicauda was able to get to Turkey through the help of friends who donated money for them to leave Syria. Their visas in Syria were expiring and the government of Syria was threatening to force all Iraqis to return to Iraq.

Now they are in Turkey and their money and options are running out. Life in Turkey is very expensive and very difficult for people waiting to find out if they can officially be resettled by the UNHCR in another country (Turkey does not accept refugees from anywhere other than the West). As it stands now, they may have to return to Baghdad, simply because they can’t afford to stay in Turkey much longer. It’s impossible to stress just how dangerous this will be for them. It could very likely be a death sentence, and the time in which we can help them is quickly running out.

You can help by making a donation to assist Acrassicauda in surviving while they are stuck waiting in Istanbul. The band has no bank accounts, and PayPal doesn’t function in Turkey, so the makers of the documentary about them (Heavy Metal In Baghdad) set up a PayPal account on their behalf. No donation is too small. By giving as little as ten dollars, you can be a part of keeping the heavy metal dreams of four young Iraqi men alive.

Donate Here

Born out of a basement rehearsal space in Baghdad, Acrassicauda (Latin for “black scorpion”) is Iraq’s only heavy metal band. Inspired by western bands like Metallica, Slayer, and Slipknot, they began writing and playing metal in 2001. Their dream of performing live in Iraq soon became the struggle of their lives.

Due to increased security precautions throughout Iraq, it became difficult to practice —much less get through a show— without literally risking their lives. As the situation worsened in Baghdad they began receiving death threats from insurgents and religious fundamentalists accusing them of Satanism.

The war has now all but destroyed their dream of living in peace, growing their hair long, banging their heads, and shredding as loud as they want. The members of Acrassicauda are currently seeking asylum in Istanbul, Turkey. All of their visa applications to foreign countries have been denied.

Donate Here

Yesterday Emirhan surprised me with tickets to see the season-opening concert of the Antalya Symphony Orchestra. I’m a little embarrassed that we’d never gone before— I’d avoided even researching the possibility because I thought tickets would be really expensive, and not worth the paper they were printed on (I have extensive experience working with orchestras in areas where orchestral music isn’t really a priority, and have been underwhelmed to say the least).

Well, was I wrong. Antalya’s orchestra is a fine ensemble, tight and professional, and under the direction of İbrahim Yazıcı they were positively wonderful. It was a well-rounded evening ranging from Bernstein to Rimsky-Korsakov, from Mozart to Milhaud, and at a price of 6 lira (3 for concessions), I couldn’t believe the amazing value.

Joining the orchestra in the first half was world-renowned pianist Özgür Aydın, a man who plays refreshingly impeccable Mozart, and who came back for two encores during which he delighted the audience with both Chopin and Rachmaninoff. He plays without the irritating arrogance that ruins so many young confident pianists, and I’m definitely hoping he comes back for the Antalya Piano Festival in the winter. My only gripe about the evening was that venues and ensembles worldwide seem insistent on using Steinway pianos, which I find come across a bit… grandmotherly, especially when having to cut through an orchestra, but that is hardly Özgür Aydın’s fault. I’d love to see what he could do on a piano with a more robust character.

I’m a little bit sad now that I missed that Antalya Piano Festival two years in a row simply because I assumed tickets would be expensive. What an idiot not to find out what the prices were! I’ll definitely be checking it out this year, and as well we plan on attending as many concerts of the Antalya Symphony Orchestra as possible this season. Wiki

The most popular creditcard in use is, the americanexpress card. You can get different facilities if you use capital one card. The citi visa card gives the facility of low ongoing APR and no annual fee. Most of the credit cards have credit card security code, which normally consists of three digits at the back of the card.

Okay, so there’s a new statue in Kemer (my old stomping ground, about 40km from here), and it’s got some people’s panties in a knot. Here are a couple of different views of the statue, have a look:

The mayor of Kemer has formed an alliance with some local women’s rights groups, and together they’re complaining loudly that the statue is pornographic, that it’s degrading to women, and that it will tarnish the reputation of Kemer as a respectable town.

This made me laugh so hard I nearly passed out. If the mayor is really that deluded that he thinks the statue is what’s tarnishing Kemer’s reputation, then I have to wonder which rock he just crawled out from under. Speaking as a former Kemer resident, anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes in Kemer can tell you that the sculptor has captured the mood and spirit of Kemer perfectly. Kemer is little more than one continuous porn and prostitution pit from April to November— it’s a hotspot for certain nearby nations who send their young girls down by the truckload and pimp them out on the beach, in the nightclubs, and throughout the local hotels and restaurants. You literally cannot spend one afternoon on the beach without seeing money (and not large amounts, I can assure you) openly exchanged for sex acts performed right there on the beach, only hidden from view by the cover of a blanket. On any day of the week you can walk into any nightclub or bar in Kemer and find girls from certain countries wearing almost nothing (some even strip down right there in the club in order to show what’s on offer), hooking up with older men and doing their business either in the nightclub toilets, or back at the man’s hotel. When you walk down the streets of Kemer at night you can actually hear the sounds of sex coming from hotel windows.

And the mayor is worried about a statue ruining Kemer’s reputation? He seriously needs to pull his head out of his ass if he thinks it’s the sculpture that’s degrading to women. The women were doing a fine job of degrading themselves long before the statue ever appeared on the scene.

Me personally, I think the sculptor did a great job— the only thing that would make the statue more accurate would be a five-dollar bill tucked between the girl’s breasts. That’s the true spirit of Kemer right there.

One question, though— if the leader of the town government is so opposed to the sculpture, how did the sculptor manage to get construction approval from the council in the first place? Certainly he would have gone through an application process, no? So I’m not really buying all the shock and horror melodrama from the mayor’s office. Aside from the fact that anyone living anywhere near Kemer would have long ago become immune to the surprise of seeing people having sex in public, I refuse to believe that this statue got built in its entirety without anyone noticing what was going on. Unless of course everyone is so desensitised that at first they just thought the statue was two Kemer inhabitants going about their normal business, and paid it no special attention. Now that I might believe. But the “oh my, I can’t believe the people in the statue are doing something sexual” sentiment is just laughable. Please, like you don’t see that sort of thing ten times a day in Kemer anyway. Sheesh, that’s what Kemer’s all about! Love it or leave it.

Last night we watched the best Turkish film I’ve ever seen. It’s called Korkuyorum Anne, and although it’s billed as a comedy and it is intensely funny, it also has a sweet story and is very heartwarming. It’s kind of like a Turkish version of Monsoon Wedding, I guess. Funnier, though.

It makes a nice change from all the Turkish art films I’ve been watching lately, which are either really badly made, extremely depressing in a “this is your Turkish life, the only way to escape it is to kill yourself” kind of way, or both. This film actually portrayed some of the good things about living in Turkey, which I thought was a refreshing change. Don’t get me wrong, Uzak was also a fine film, a beautiful film, but its sole message seemed to be that life in Turkey is difficult, impossible at times, and you can never, ever hope for anything better except maybe death. The worst part was watching the protagonist go through the motions of his life and seeing so much of our own lives in that. My friend Gary, ever the pessimist, once told me that people think moving across the world all the time is exciting, but really you’re just trading wasting away in one place for wasting away in a different place. Uzak was about wasting away in Turkey. The protagonist kept going down to the sea and then stopping at the shore and just gazing across the water, this sort of symbolic trying the prison gate and then settling for staring out between the bars, knowing you will never see the light of day. Korkuyorum, on the other hand, was about families who stick together and love each other and laugh sometimes and make lemonade. I need to see more films like that.

After months of being asked to find an easier way to distribute bazaar shirts, and weeks of hard work getting it all ready, the TurklishTees.com store is finally open for business! Now if you want to buy shirts and other items featured on the weekly bazaar, you no longer have to deal with the nightmare of the Turkish postal service or the inconvenience of international money transfers. You can get your Turklish fix direct from the online store and save all the hassle. Easy!

What you see in the store right now is only the beginning— as the weeks go by there will be new designs, weekly specials and limited edition designs, and even contests where you can win free stuff. There’s also the opportunity to have your favourite bazaar shirt made into a custom one-of-a-kind design— just contact me for details.

The store ships worldwide, so everyone should be able to get any item they want easily. As soon as possible I would like to open up additional regional branches, especially for those in Australasia and Europe, just to make shipping even more straightforward— if anyone in those areas is aware of a good local distributor please let me know.

Thanks for your patience while I got the store ready— I wanted it to be everything you asked for and I hope I’ve hit the mark. Happy shopping!

I was so pleased to read in the Turkish Daily News that once again there will be an exhibition of sand sculptures over the summer in Antalya. We went to the one last year (which I believe may have been the first one ever in Turkey— sources seem to vary on this point), and it was absolutely breathtaking. Some of the sculptures were several metres high and tremendously intricate, and obviously took weeks in the making.

One thing I remember distinctly from last year was that I was shocked at the lack of barriers around the sculptures, given that sand is not exactly the most robust medium and people (especially children) aren’t really good at keeping their hands to themselves. There was surprisingly little vandalism, though, probably due to the excellent security staff on site. But I remember holding my breath every time a breeze picked up, because the bottom line is that these things are delicate. If there had been a rainstorm I don’t know what they would have done, as trying to cover the sculptures would have been impractical to say the least. Luckily for the artists, we don’t often have rain in the middle of the summer, but as I said before, this year has been a little bit freaky in terms of climate. In fact, it drizzled here even this morning, and this evening resembles a night in March more than a typical night in June. So we’ll see how it goes. In any case, I’m armed with a camera now, so expect a full photo report of the sand sculpture exhibition when the time comes… weather permitting, of course.

Yoko Ono currently has a nine-installation interactive exhibition in Istanbul’s Sabancı University Kasa Gallery. I love interactive installations and have always been curious about Ono’s visual and multimedia work (I don’t particularly care either way about the drama and controversy of her life as John Lennon’s wife— I’m happy to separate an artist’s work from the media’s perception of her worth as a person). As it turns out Emirhan and I will be in Istanbul briefly this week, but as it’s only for a day and we have other things we need to take care of, I don’t think I’ll be able to find the time to sneak away to the Kasa Gallery. If you’re in Istanbul, though, and have either seen these installations or are planning to, drop me a line. I’d love to hear what your reactions are (and if you have photos, even better). Link

I just became enlightened to the photographic work of Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Ceylan is famous in Turkey for his filmmaking, but his Turkey Cinemascope photograph series features absolutely breathtaking panoramic views . It makes me yearn to see so much more of Turkey than I’ve already seen. I love how these photos have a surreal colourised quality to them (I’m sure one of you will explain to me how that’s done). As a cold-weather kind of person, I particularly like the snowy scenes, especially since it lays to rest the common misbelief that Turkey is a perpetually hot place. Link

The Turkish Daily News warns its female readership to “get ready… a charming chevalier will sweep you off your feet.” Tonight in Istanbul, world-renowned baritone Suat Arıkan is celebrating 25 years in the opera business with a concert at the Hagia Irene Museum.

I’m an opera singer myself, and I’m glad to finally start discovering the existence of a European classical music tradition in Turkey. I do also love Eastern classical music, musique orientale if you will, but there’s something about a Verdi aria coming from a big booming baritone that just does it for me like nothing else, and Arıkan fits the bill. I wish I could be there tonight. Anyone got an extra ticket and a private jet?

After reading the TDN article on the event, I’m surprised at the mention and implication of so many other Turkish classical musicians. I mean, there’s a conservatory here in Antalya, I know that, and I’ve seen the signs for an alleged local opera house and theatre, but I think classical music in general is still very much a fringe thing here, at least in the south of Turkey (perhaps those in Istanbul are luckier). In my classical career I can certainly say I never encountered a Turkish singer, but of course that doesn’t mean they weren’t around. So now it’s my job to make an effort to learn more about this and perhaps see if I can work my way back into a classical music scene that I thought I left behind forever when I left Europe. I’ll see what I can dig up. Does anyone have any recordings of Turkish opera singers they’d care to share with the class? I’m curious to hear what sort of standard we’re talking about. If it’s anything like the other traditional Turkish musicians I’ve heard, then I’m sure we’re in for a treat.

Our old friend Özgür Alaz in Istanbul has prepared a sample résumé in Google Earth. Both the concept and implementation of this are just so creative and fresh… I wish I’d thought of it myself. Fantastic stuff. I assume this would work especially well if you live somewhere with a great coastline or some other type of interesting topography. Link