Optimus Maximus

Hey! Look! A Keyboard... A Keyboard for 1564 USD!!!

Every key of the Optimus Maximus keyboard is a stand-alone display showing the function it is currently associated with.

- Click to see some photos of the product.
- If you're interested, this is a 3 key version: Optimus Mini Three
- Optimus Upralvator
- And this is just a mug...

These are all designs by Arthemy Lebedev

The All Harp Tribute to Metallica: Harptallica

After Apocalyptica, Fade To Bluegrass and Rodrigo y Gabriela; here is a brand new tribute... The All Harp Tribute to Metallica: Harptallica

Harptallica began in early 2006 when Ashley Toman, a grad student at the Eastman School of Music, decided to arrange one Metallica song, "Fade to Black," for two harps. Somehow this turned into 10 Metallica Songs and a CD which they recorded in November, 2006. The CD, titled "Harptallica," will contain songs from "Ride the Lightning," "Master of Puppets," "...And Justice for All," and "Metallica."

Ikea Hacker: ikea hacks and mods, fabs and flops

I found this website today: Ikea Hacker

"i like tinkering with ikea stuff and i know many other people who do too. whatever they may be - a funked up karlanda sofa, an ingenious idea for your pax wardrobe, a creative twist on your kitchen countertop, or even advice on how to finally stop flimsy forby stools from wobbling..."

Check it out; there are some neat ideas... ;)

Ballet Ruffles Some Feathers

You almost expect controversy in the political arena, heated rivalries in sports, and dismay when a public figure falls from grace. But there are certain things that you can always count on, things that make you feel comfortable. Take the arts, for instance.

Ballet appeals to a certain type of audience. However, in Bismarck, the Northern Plains Ballet has moved out of its comfort zone in an effort to attract a new audience. Yet it`s that bold change that`s making some people feel a bit uncomfortable.

The upcoming ballet Mozart to Metallica will showcase several choreographers using dancers from the Northern Plains Ballet, but the poster to promote the show is raising some eyebrows.

- Read the whole article by Sarah Williams
- Here is the poster

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Forget every other acoustic guitar duo you've ever heard. Mexico's Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero up the ante with an album that owes as much to Metallica as it does to Paco De Lucia and Al Di Meola. It's a hard-driving, high decibel, rutting and strutting cathartic melange of metal, jazz, Mexican, Spanish and Gypsy musics. It's also gloriously melodic, and it makes you feel mighty chipper.

Sanchez and Quintero are survivors of Mexico City's early-1990s metal scene, where they combined studies at the music conservatoire with playing in bands inspired by Megadeth and Metallica. Together with the fuck-you attitude to rules and regimes which shines through Rodrigo y Gabriela, this got them thrown out of the college, and towards the end of the decade they decided to take time out on the European busking circuit.

The excerpt above is from Chris May of All About Jazz Thanks to him I just discoverd Rodrigo y Gabriela. They are a great couple and their self titled album rocks.

Stairway To Heaven is excellent, but it's bettered by the other cover here, a seven-and-a-half minute version of Metallica's Orion, a masterpiece of majestic, posturing swagger. The originals are packed with riffs and ostinatos too, alternating with intricate, single-note, counterpoint passages—but hard-rock dynamics rule pretty much throughout. Produced by John Leckie (Baaba Maal but also The Verve, Stone Roses, Muse and Radiohead), the disc has the raw, unmediated feel of a live set.

- Their official web site

(And don't foget to search YouTube for Rodrigo y Gabriela ;)

Entrepreneurship & Ortakoy

I found this blog recently it's abou entrepreneurship; the last post is about Ortakoy, a district of Istanbul... I liked the post:

On this globally warmed sunday, I was in Ortakoy with two friends and we went to the HouseCafe. It was so crowded and full of bodies and personalities, albeit in the new fasionable street smart clothes, that i could not stay. We went to the traditional tea gardens by the dock instead to enjoy the beautiful weather more casually. We asked the patron if they served menemen and receiving a positive answer, we sat down at a table three rows behind the street. So far so good. Then came the waiter.

How To Make a Manual Westy Tent

This was an old question amongst Vw Camper Bus owners... Here is a DIY manual about how to do it... :)
Thanks to Insel...

Manual Westy Tent (pdf)

(And by the way check this beauty at eBay... If I was in US I'd buy this one without even thinking)

Metallica Featured On 'We All Love Ennio Morricone'

I had mentioned that Metallica will be on 'We All Love Ennio Morricone' Album... Since 1983 Metallica starts their gigs with Morricone's "Ecstacy of Gold" (from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) This time Metallica really covered Ecstacy of Gold.

- Read the whole article in here...
- Here is the album cover...
- And you can listen the Ecstacy cover here...

Metallica's Master of Puppets named most influential metal album

Metallica's classic 1986 record Master of Puppets has been selected as the most influential heavy metal album of all time by pop culture web site IGN Music. The editors explained their choice by saying that the band's third effort "built upon and perfected everything they had experimented with prior. It's the album where all the pieces come together in glorious cohesion and it's the album that finally woke the general public up to the power and the glory that Metallica was born to spread." Two other Metallica discs also made the Top 10, more than any other act.

You can read it all...

Kidman car crash footage

Nicole Kidman was yesterday taken to hospital after her car crashed into a pole at about 75km/h while shooting her latest film.

Doctors said her seatbelt probably saved her from serious injury when the Jaguar she was driving in a scene for the science fiction thriller The Invasion went out of control.

Go read the story and watch the video...

Top 100 Fonts

Here is the top 10:

1-Helvetica
2-Garamond
3-Frutiger
4-Bodoni
5-Futura
6-Times
7-Akzidenz Grotesk
8-Officina
9-Gill Sans
10-Univers

Here is the whole link...

2007 Oscar preview: honorary academy award for Ennio Morricone

Forget about this year's actual nominees for best film score: Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel; Thomas Newman for The Good German; Philip Glass for Notes On A Scandal; Javier Navarrete for Pan's Labyrinth; and Alexandre Desplat for The Queen.

These are all worthy composers, but like I said, forget about 'em. Because this set of pikers can't hold a baton-shaped candle to the guy receiving this year's honorary Oscar.

Read it all: A fistful of statue By John P. Meyer

And breaking news: Sony Classical announced the release of a tribute recording called We All Love Ennio Morricone, to feature selections orchestrated by Morricone himself, along with interpretations of his work by such artists as Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Andrea Bocelli, Metallica, Roger Waters and Yo-Yo Ma.

Trivium — call 'em retro; call 'em heavy metallica

If you loved '80s-era Metallica, you'll love these guys.

Led by a talented 21-year-old songwriter, evolving thrash rockers Trivium is promoting an acclaimed new 13-song album, "The Crusade."

Some hail it as metal's salvation.

The Sun (London) calls the disc "a near flawless collection of songs."

The Village Voice called them "ferociously talented players," but damned them for the Metallica obsession: "Trivium wanna be Metallica so bad you're almost embarrassed for them, like you've walked in on frontman Matt Heafy air-guitaring to 'Ride the Lightning' in his bedroom. At the same time, you have to wonder why they've set the bar so low for themselves."

Heafy doesn't buy it, but maintains a "what, me worry?" attitude about it.

Read it all at MySA.com, by Hector Saldaña

Voivod Bassist, Jason Newsted Injured

As they gear up for the November 21st release of their highly anticipated debut and the New Year’s Eve launch of their much-buzzed-about national tour, Rock Star Supernova have suffered a major setback with the loss of all-star bassist Jason Newsted.

The current Voivod, former Metallica member is scheduled for immediate surgery to repair a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and bicep tear in the right. Newsted suffered the injuries while trying to catch a 90-lb bass head that had fallen from atop his amp. The surgery will be followed by a lengthy rehab assignment that could leave him sidelined for up to nine months.

Read it all...

Photos From Golden Orange Film Festival

This week I am in Antalya to watch 43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival & 2nd Eurasia Film Festival. The official web site of the festival is: English, Turkish...

Although I am posting some of the photos I took in fikirbaz.com, I uploaded more to a Flickr Set that you can view from this link... Enjoy, more will be added soon ;)

Learn How To Make Beard With Photoshop

If you haven't already, you will at some point in your design career be forced to composite hair or fur into a project. The specific reason isn't important. But how are you going to do it? Use a plugin? Not any of the ones I've seen. Copy and paste hair from another image? Too much of a pain, what with the complex masking and color matching. So what will you do, paint the hair follicle by follicle? Absolutely. But it isn't anywhere near as time-consuming as it sounds. With the tools available in the Photoshop 7 Paint Engine, you can generate hair and fur with as much detail as you like in almost no time at all.

Click to read the whole article...

1st Turkish Juggling Convention

I am planning to go to Sundance - Tekirova, Antalya Turkey in October. Between 5-8th of October there will be 1st Turkish Juggling Convention in Sundance / Antalya. Although I got nothing to do with juggling I am planning to take photos, swim & camp. Yep, we will be going there with my Type 2. ;)

- Turkish Juggling Convention
- Sundance Camp

Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)

I was looking for some info on Multi-Level Marketing this afternoon. (I saw the term on a "about us" page in a networking site; they were saying, "no multi-level marketing, no spam blah blah blah...) Anyway, there are lots of sources about MLM; here are some descriptions and articles...

Once upon a time, multi-level marketing was a legitimate business which provided a way for small companies to get their unique products to consumers in small towns and rural areas which had no access to these products. At this time, the products sold themselves, and the multi-level aspect was a way of giving a small reward to those who had worked hard to build the organization. But the focus was always on the product.
Click to read it all

And this is from Wikipedia:
In a typical multi-level marketing or network marketing arrangement, individuals associate with a parent company as an independent contractor and are compensated based on their sales of products or service, as well as the sales achieved by those they bring into the business.

In a legitimate MLM company, commissions are earned only on sales of the company's products. No money may be earned from recruiting alone ("sign-up fees"). Some less legitimate companies produce revenues primarily by attracting new participants or selling them marketing services, as opposed to selling actual products. One must analyze the compensation plan to determine whether participants are paid from actual sales to customers and not from new-recruit bonuses or business support sales.
Click to read it all

Metallica songs turned into lullabies

The song "Enter Sandman" will take on a whole new meaning on August 29th when Lullaby Renditions of Metallica hits the streets. The CD features "dreamy" renditions of Metallica staples such as "Battery" and "Master of Puppets," complete with glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron, harps, bells and more instruments you're not likely to hear on an actual Metallica album. A press release promised that "the music that set the standard for aggressive, concussion-inducing rock will soon be lulling infants to sleep,"...

You should click here to read the whole story...

The Popularity Dialer

Have you ever been in a situation where you wished your cell phone would ring? Maybe you wanted to look extra important or popular on that hot date. Or maybe you just needed an excuse to escape from an unpleasant meeting.

With "The Popularity Dialer", you can plan ahead. Via a web interface, you can choose to have your phone called at a particular time (or several times). At the elected time, your phone will be dialed and you will hear a prerecorded message that's one half of a conversation. Thus, you will be prompted to have a fake conversation and will easily fool those around you.

Metallica Among Biggest Wusses Says Blender

METALLICA has made Blender magazine's list of the "The 25 Biggest Wusses … Ever!" The list, which was published in the magazine's July 200 issue, "salutes the most awesomely wimpy musicians of all time." In the short write-up explaining METALLICA's inclusion on the list, the Blender editors state, "The haircuts were lame and the anti-Napster crusade lamer, but neither prepared fans for the soppy bitchfest that was 'Some Kind of Monster': The once-throttling metalheads dropped $40K a month on a touchy-feely life coach in a Cosby sweater who played master to METALLICA's puppets. Lars and James bicker and weep throughout, but neither has the decency to just go ahead and slug the other. Wussiest moment: Lars's ego is crushed by his gnomish father who, upon hearing a new song, sagely advises, 'I would delete that.'"

Source: MetalUnderground.Com

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence

I am not a football fan, i didn't watch any of yhe world cup 2006 games... Anyway, of course I watch the news... I think how you view the whole thing depends largely on your national perspective... Check out these links ;)

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence:
Part 1
Part 2

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence

I am not a football fan, i didn't watch any of yhe world cup 2006 games... Anyway, of course I watch the news... I think how you view the whole thing depends largely on your national perspective... Check out these links ;)

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence:
Part 1
Part 2

10 things to do on the last day of your career

(This article's from BBC News Magazine, by Sean Coughlan, and there are reader suggestions as well, highly recommended ;)

France's football hero Zinedine Zidane ended his glorious career in spectacular style - getting a red card for headbutting an opponent in the World Cup final. How are you meant to leave the office in a way that won't be forgotten? Here are some ideas...

1. Use your leaving speech to deliver a verbal Zidane-style headbutt. Affairs, expenses scams, inflated bonuses, wigs, how the place has gone to the dogs. Feel the room get colder than an eskimo's beer fridge as you give them your wit and wisdom.

2. Leave a challenge for your successor. When President Bush's staff took over the White House they complained that the Ws were missing from the computer keyboards (as in George W Bush) and that an office had been renamed Office of Strategerie.

3. If David Beckham can cry when he's leaving his job (as England captain) then so can I. Don't. Bad move. Nothing is going to fill an office with more horror than the prospect of Jeff from accounts showing emotion. It's not what open plan is about.

4. Leaving speech II. Talk at interminable length about your own glittering career - that time you really showed them who was boss over the faulty photocopier - and deliver rambling anecdotes about characters who left years ago. Just keep talking, it's your last day. What are they going to do? Sack you? You've listened to them for long enough. Look, I can just keep going...

5. Hand your identity dog tag to the craziest frother in the shopping centre and tell them where they can get free coffee and meet lots of new and hospitable friends.

Read the all 10 suggestions and more...

Detox clinic set for video game addicts

An addiction center is opening Europe's first detox clinic for video game addicts, offering in-house treatment for people who can't leave their joysticks alone.

Video games may look innocent, but they can be as addictive as gambling or drugs - and just as hard to kick, says Keith Bakker, director of Amsterdam-based Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants.

Bakker already has treated 20 video game addicts, aged 13 to 30, since January. Some show withdrawal symptoms, such as shaking and sweating, when they look at a computer console.

His detox program begins in July. It will run four to eight weeks, and will include therapy sessions, wilderness excursions, healthy lifestyle workshops and possibly medication.

To read to whole article you click to go to AP

Metallica Debut New Song In Germany

Metallica debuted a new song on June 6, 2006 in Germany, as part of their “Escape From The Studio ’06” tour. The untitled song, dubbed “The New Song” by front man James Hetfield, has been posted online at three known locations... You can visit blogcritic.com to learn these locations. (Recommended, as I could download the whole show, whole etlist)

Metallica are also playing the whole Master of Puppets album in the right order in this tour as it's the 20th Anniversary of the abum.

Cell phone saves immigrants lost in Arizona

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A group of stranded illegal immigrants facing death in the parched Arizona desert saved themselves by using a cell phone to call rescue services, the U.S. Border Patrol said.

The group of eight Mexicans got lost in the desert southeast of Tacna, Arizona, and called for help early on Wednesday after their guides abandoned them during a two-day trek across the border from Mexico.

Disoriented and without food or water, they used a cell phone to dial 911. Rescuers dispatched helicopters and located the group shortly before dawn, the Yuma Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement.

President George W. Bush visited Yuma on Tuesday as part of a tour to drum up support for an immigration overhaul that seeks to give millions of illegal immigrants a pathway to U.S. citizenship and tighten security on the Mexico border.

Arizona is the principal route for mostly Mexican migrants seeking a new life in the United States. Last year more than 260 died trekking north over the desert, where summer temperatures reach highs of around 120 degrees F (49 C).

This year, the Border Patrol has stepped up flights over the scorching, cactus-strewn wastes in a bid to save more lives. So far agents have rescued 309 migrants in the Yuma area since October 1, up from 203 in the same period a year earlier.

"This summer we are not going to be caught off guard ... we are definitely better prepared," said Richard Hays, the Border Patrol's spokesman in Yuma.

The number of recorded migrant deaths in the desert state has dropped to 107 in the eight months since October from 124 in the same period a year earlier, Border Patrol figures show.

The Review

Yep... You're right, it's been a while again. I had promised to write a review about Queen Its Kinda Magic... I was really busy... Anyway...

The show was really great. It was more than I expected. The venue was not appropiate enough for a rock show (with comfortable seats) But the frontman Craig Pesco invited everybody to stand up (in recent learned Australlian accented Turkish) and the response was quick... There was lots of middle aged fans in audience but the enthusiasm was worth seeing. After a while as some people was tired of cheering, clapping and singing they intended to sit but after second they realized that they would never be able to see anything sitting down... So... Both the show and the audience was great.

The band was cool. Frontman Craig "Freddie Mercury Pesco is a real showman and a great singer. Although he had put on some weight his performance was great. Sometimes when you closed your eyes you really could hear Freddie Mercury singing.

The band performed lots of Queen classics (but Show Must Go On) That can be said that they covered all the songs perfectly but I think we should say they "played" the songs perfectly as they didn't cover them but played them as the way Queen used to play.

Anyway, it was a great night, great show, great music, great Freddie, great Queen, great tribute... (Don't miss it if they play somewhere around you...)

Be Careful With What You Drink

Hungary workers get shock at bottom of rum barrel

I read the articele at Reuters web site: Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine website reported.

The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.

For More Oddly Enough Articles

Turkish Director Atif Yilmaz Dies At 80

One of the biggest Turkish movie directors, Atif Yilmaz Batibeki died at his house tonight. He had directed more than 110 films. You can find a detailed filmoraphy in IMDB. As far as I know he was suffering of cancer for the last days of his life.

- More info about him at IMDB
- Sinema.com
- Atif Yilmaz @ Klaket.com
- Atif Yilmaz @ Vikipedi

Philips Shaves You Everywhere

This is one of the funniest product websites I've ever seen. Introducing the Philips Norelco Bodygroom, you can find answers to some really importand questions in life:
- Women prefer well-groomed man, right?
- Does body hair lead to body odor?
- What do you think of using scissors, tweezers or wax to remove your body hour?

Go watch & interact with Shave Everywhere...

Optics To Help You See Thru Clothes

Kaya Special Optics, Inc., having specialized in manufacturing special optical devices for the past 30 years, would like to take this opportunity to introduce a newly developed product called the "Infrared See-Through Filter PF". The PF is a special optical device that helps to visually penetrate an object's surface in order to view whatever lies below. The PF makes it possible for you to see images that are normally invisible to the human eye. It sounds like science-fiction but it isn't; this fantastic new product has been developed using the most highly advanced optical technologies available. From here on in, we would like to show you the amazing results of the PF. Armed with sufficient knowledge, you will be able to experience the real power of the PF for yourself.

- You can read more about it at Kaya Optics
- How "See-Through" Works?
- Some experiments (it seems like it works)

Film critics getting left in the dark

Advance movie screenings for critics take place in darkened rooms several times a week. Their locations are generally closed to the public - it's probably easier to infiltrate a Freemason initiation ceremony. And reviews are embargoed by film studios until opening day.

The prescreenings are part of a symbiotic relationship between writers and studios that has lasted for almost a century. By showing its latest fare to reviewers, the industry stands to benefit from publicity, especially if critics offer the sort of kudos that can be blurbed for TV and print ads. For critics, the previews are essential if their critiques are to coincide with a film's opening.

Lately, though, that relationship has been fraying. This year, more and more films have been withheld from the press prior to opening day...

You can read the whole article by Stephen Humphries in Christian Science Monitor.

Magician David Copperfield robbed after show...

...According to the police report, this is what happened next: The Malibu pulled up behind the group, and two of the four young men in the car came out holding handguns. One ordered Daly to "give me what you have." Daly handed over $400 from her pockets. Riley, meanwhile, allegedly stuck a gun in Volmut's face and asked for her purse, and she, too, gave it up. In it were 200 euros, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a Razr cellphone.

Copperfield told Page Two he pulled out all of his pockets for Riley to see he had nothing, even though he had a cellphone, passport and wallet stuffed in them....
"Call it reverse pickpocketing," Copperfield said.

You can read it all at PalmBeachPost.com...

On An Island

by David Gilmour

Remember that night
White steps in the moonlight
They walked here too
Through empty playground, this ghosts' town
Children again, on rusting swings getting higher
Sharing a dream, on an island, it felt right

We lay side by side
'tween the moon and the tide
Mapping the stars for awhile

Let the night surround you
We're halfway to the stars
Ebb and flow
Let it go
Feel her warmth beside you

Remember that night
The warmth and the laughter
Candles burned
Though the church was deserted
At dawn we went down through empty streets to the harbour
Dreamers may leave, but they're here ever after

Let the night surround you
We're halfway to the stars
Ebb and Flow
Let it go
Feel her warmth beside you

On An Island - David Gilmour

On An Island was released in march 2006. For some time now I liste to nothing else but On An Island. And I am happy to recommend ypu the whole album.

Although I lile Pink Floyd a lot it can't be said that I am a particular David Gilmour fan... Till now. The album; "On An Island" sounds & feels like Pink Floyd a lot. And yep; great music. It's been a while since I liked an album this much.

Pink Floyd keyboardist, Richard Wright, is on there, as is Guy Pratt (who has played bass with Pink Floyd on two world tours, as well as contributing much in the studio). The amazing Jools Holland lends a hand (or two) on piano. David Crosby and Graham Nash show up on the title track and Robert Wyatt makes a contribution as well. Orchestrations are provided by the renowned Polish composer, Zbigniew Preisner. The album is produced by David Gilmour, Chris Thomas and Phil Manzanera (who have worked with David and Pink Floyd extensively since Dark Side Of The Moon).

- Check David Gilmour's Official Web Site, I liked it a lot
- On An Island @ Amazon
- On An Island @ Ideefixe (tr)

What Does DHL Mean?

Last night I wondered what DHL stands for; and here is the answer: The company was founded in 1969 by Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom, and Robert Lynn; the initials of the founders' last names form the company name.

If you'd like more info about DHL, you can check wikipedia... I just learned some numbers about DHL:

Number of Employees: around 285,000
Number of Offices: around 6,500
Number of Hubs, Warehouses & Terminals: more than 450
Number of Gateways: 240
Number of Aircraft: 420
Number of Vehicles: 76,200
Number of Countries & Territories: more than 220
Shipments per Year: more than 1.5 billion
Destinations Covered: 120,000+

Dominoes

I have a brand new set of dominoes. But the problem is I don't know how to play them. So, I googled about it and found lots of sites, lots of different type og games, dominoe sets, etc.

Here is a brief history:

Dominoes are the descendants of dice sticks and dice. Although possibly used as a method of divination, fortune telling and certainly for gambling there is no doubt that dominoes have developed and evolved as a popular form of entertainment in which all players, regardless of literacy skills, can enjoy exciting games of chance and skill. Believed to originate from early Chinese tile games in 12th and 13th centuries, dominoes their more identifiable form of the game as we know now it was first recorded in 14th century China. The game appears to have reached western civilization when it first became popular in the courts of Mediterranean Europe trading nations in the 1700’s. Its popularity then spread though the rest of Europe in the 18th century and the game became known by the French word referring to a black and white hood often worn by catholic priests in cold weather, “Domino”.

- Rules for Dominoes
- DominoRules.com (great domino source)
- Lots of different domino games
- Domino Links
- Domino-Games.com
- Game Cabinet: Dominoes

Google's New Interface

It is not officially released but Google made some minimal changes to its search results interface... (I guess this isthe beginning of 3 column at google) Now the have sarch categories at the left hand column and the sponsored links on the right.

Anyway; to learn more about the changes or enable your browser to reflect changes please visit: Arstechnica.com

Rock world pays tribute to Metallica for special CD

EIGHT OF rock's hottest bands have contributed to a special re-recording of Metallica's 'Master Of Puppets' in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the classic album's release.

'Remastered', which features exclusive recordings by Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium, Fightstar, Machine Head, Funeral For A Friend, Chimaira, Mastodon and Mendeed - will be given away free with Kerrang! issue 1102, which goes on sale April 5!

Click Here To Order Your Copy (I Just did)
To read more about the tribute album and the bands...

Kerrang!'s 'Remastered' features the following tracklisting:

Machine Head - 'Battery'
Trivium- 'Master Of Puppets'
Mendeed - 'The Thing That Should Not Be'
Bullet For My Valentine - 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)'
Chimaira - 'Disposable Heroes'
Fightstar - 'Leper Messiah'
Mastodon - 'Orion'
Funeral For A Friend - 'Damage, Inc.'.

Interested in Steve Jobs' Outfit?

After a busy February, here is March. I hope to post much more in March. So, afterall it is spring time (I hope)

Now, anybody can dress exectly the same as Steve Jobs... All you have to do is clicking to Steve’s Outfit, The Definitive Wardrobe Source, but we warn you; it'll cost 458 USDs.

Funny idea, funny site... :) Stevesoutfit.com

Surf Guitar from Fender & Intel

Fed up posing in front of the mirror strumming a tennis racket? Still searching in vain for the lost chord? Help is on hand for all aspiring rock gods thanks to Fender and Intel, who’ve teamed up to create a concept guitar that explores the possibilities and redefines the term ‘music on the move’ – an internet-enabled super guitar. Beginning with the iconic FENDER Telecaster - made famous by legends from Bruce Springsteen to Franz Ferdinand – the ‘surf guitar’ is the world’s first to allow you to download and playback your favourite riffs from the internet without touching the strings, so you can sound like Bo Diddley while doing diddly-squat. Yes folks, if this concept ever makes production, you’ll be able to play, record, email and surf the web from the comfort of your six-string

You can read the whole article or see other photos of Surf Guitar... Don't hesitate to click... :)

Starbucks may fill coffee cups, iPods

Customers at Starbucks may soon be able to say "I'll take a Double Mocha Latte and fill up my iPod."
The ubiquitous coffee chain already sells music CDs with its coffees but soon may offer on-the-fly MP3 downloads.

"A lot of our customers are asking for device fill-up, and going forward we'll do that," said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, at the Midem music industry conference in Cannes.

The chain hasn't yet set a date for moving into music player downloads and is still talking to various companies about the technology, Lombard said.

(I read this at NYDailyNews...)

Beer Pouring Robots

Aside from stocking and cooling up to six cans of beer and two mugs, upon the press of a button, the machine will open up a can, and pour in into the mug with a perfect head every time.

I do think that six cans won't be enough but isn't it handy? :)) Thanks to OhGizmo!

(If you live in Japan however, you should know that Asahi is running a promotion where they’ll be giving away 5,000 fully stocked refrigerator robots.)

Pluck

Pluck's award-winning free RSS Reader for Internet Explorer, Firefox or the web delivers your favorite news and blog postings all in one place.

Tag, comment and rate web pages on Shadows. Share links and participate in discussions on your favorite topics.

I used to read web sites by browsing them in their unique design. That's not because I don't like RSS or feeds but I just like to see theb design and all that stuff. But these days -may be as of I am so busy- I started to prefer reading feeds, in fact scan reading feeds) I tried some applications, soma web sites but at the very moment Pluck is the one I liked most. That's it.

Dunk Mugs

In fact the picture tells it all. Dunk mugs are double purpose coffe mugs that can store some cookies as well. With a mug of hot coffee you can also have warm cookies.

Don't be afraid to drop the cookes. Dunk Mugs are for both right handed and left handed people. Just choose which one you want. Designed by Dominic Skinner, available colors are: White, black. mint, sky blue and lilac. You can get one from the MochaHome, it is aprox. 25 USDs.

Google Cache Ruled Fair Use

A district court in Nevada has ruled that the Google Cache is a fair use.

Blake Field, an author and attorney, brought the copyright infringement lawsuit against Google after the search engine automatically copied and cached a story he posted on his website. The district court found that Mr. Field “attempted to manufacture a claim for copyright infringement against Google in hopes of making money from Google’s standard [caching] practice.” Google responded that its Google Cache feature, which allows Google users to link to an archival copy of websites indexed by Google, does not violate copyright law.

Read it all...

Absolut gets into spirit of name play with new ads

After 25 years and 1,500 versions of print ads built around the shape of its bottle, Absolut vodka is shelving the campaign that made it famous.

Absolut will spend $20 million on a new effort that starts today and includes its first TV ads as the brand battles slower growth and tougher competition for vodkas.

"We're introducing the brand to a new generation of vodka drinkers," says Tim Murphy, brand director. "Those in their late-20s have come of age in a noisy, chaotic, cluttered vodka category."

- To read the whole article in USA Today
- A small photogallery of Absolut ads

The World's 12 Best New Buildings

1. Best Civic Building:
Scottish Parliament Building (Holyrood)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Architect: Enric Miralles (EMBT/RMJM)

2. Best Museums:
de Young Museum, San Francisco
and Walker Arts Center Expansion, Minneapolis
Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

3. Best Tower:
Agbar Tower
Barcelona
Architect: Jean Nouvel

4. Best Factory:
BMW Central Plant
Leipzig, Germany
Architect: Zaha Hadid

5. Best Government Offices:
Caltrans District 7 Headquarters
Los Anegeles
Architect: Thom Mayne / Morphosis

6. Best Expansion:
High Museum of Art
Atlanta
Architect: Renzo Piano

7. Best Multi-Purpose Arts Building:
Shaw Center for the Arts
Baton Rouge, La.
Architect: Schwartz/Silver Architects

8. Best Memorial:
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Berlin
Architect: Peter Eisenman

9. Best Housing:
Sanchinarro Mirador
Madrid
Architect: MVRDV

10. Best House:
Art Collectors' Residence
Toronto
Architect: Hariri Pontarini Architects

11. Best Hospital:
General Hospital of Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real, Spain
Architect: Ángel Fernández Alba

12. Best Convention Center:
Milan Trade Fair
Milan, Italy
Architect: Massimiliano Fuksas

Read the whole article with details...

CryptoExpert 2006 Lite

On the fly encryption system for use at home

CryptoExpert creates encrypted virtual disks and these disks are visible as usual disks with drive letters (for example, G:, H:, Z:, i.e. with any drive letter that is not used by other system devices). The data stored on a CryptoExpert disk is stored in the container file. A container is a file, so it is possible to backup a container, move or copy it to other disk (CD-ROM or network, for instance) and continue to access your encrypted data using CryptoExpert. Any free drive letter (or choosen letter) in the system may be used to mount and to open an encrypted file-container for access. When the virtual disk is opened, you can read and write data as if it were a conventional removable disk. You can do anything with a CryptoExpert virtual drive that you can do with a normal hard drive; only that with CryptoExpert, the encrypted volumes require password authentication before the files become accessible.

Go get more info...

Family feud threatens to sink Cousteau’s legacy

IN an obscure corner of the old trawler harbour of La Rochelle, hidden from view by the building-site that was once the city’s fish-market and forgotten by all but a devoted few, lie the rotting remains of one of the most famous ships of the 20th century.
Heavy-duty rubber straps have been bound round the stern to stop it breaking apart and the front is covered by a white tarpaulin. A large sign warns the curious against coming aboard. Understandably, because the handrails are splitting and the metal floors have rusted through to a thin veneer.

For the intrepid visitor who ignores the advice there is more desolation to come. Inside, where once rang out the cries of hardy crewmen and a thousand instruments whirred, there are now blackened timbers, gaping emptiness and the drip of discoloured rainwater.

This is the pitiful carcass of the legendary Calypso, the former Royal Navy minesweeper that for nearly half a century plied the oceans with the French undersea adventurer Jacques Cousteau, taking a starring role in his celebrated films and television programmes.

Nine years after the commander’s death, the ship has fallen victim to a bitter family feud and its chances of a new life as a museum or research centre – let alone taking to the sea again – appear to be receding into the depths.

Click to read it all.

Hey Joe

Today at around 07.00 am I started the with Hey Joe in my car. It felt great. Strictly recommended; right now ;)

Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix
Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Alright. I'm goin down to shoot my old lady,
you know I caught her messin' 'round with another man.
Yeah,! I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady,
you know I caught her messin' 'round with another man.
Huh! And that ain't too cool.

Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down,
you shot her down.
Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot you old lady down,
you shot her down to the ground. Yeah!

Yes, I did, I shot her,
you know I caught her messin' 'round,
messin' 'round town.
Uh, yes I did, I shot her
you know I caught my old lady messin' 'round town.
And I gave her the gun and I shot her!

Alright
(Ah! Hey Joe)
Shoot her one more time again, baby!
(Oo)
Yeah.
(Hey Joe!)
Ah, dig it!
(Hey)
Ah! Ah!
(Joe where you gonna go?)
Oh, alright.

[3rd verse]
Hey Joe, said now,
(Hey)
uh, where you gonna run to now, where you gonna run to?
Yeah.
(where you gonna go?)
Hey Joe, I said,
(Hey)
where you goin' to run
to now, where you, where you gonna go?
(Joe!)
Well, dig it!
I'm goin' way down south, way down south,
(Hey)
way down south to Mexico way! Alright!
(Joe)
I'm goin' way down south,
(Hey, Joe)
way down where I can be free!
(where you gonna...)
Ain't no one gonna find me babe!
(...go?)
Ain't no hangman gonna,
(Hey, Joe)
he ain't gonna put a rope around me!
(Joe where you gonna..)
You better belive it right now!
(...go?)
I gotta go now!
Hey, hey, hey Joe,
(Hey Joe)
you better run on down!
(where you gonna...)
Goodbye everybody. Ow!
(...go?)
Hey, hey Joe, what'd I say,
(Hey.......................Joe)
run on down.
(where you gonna go?)

Gmail Has RSS Feeds Now...

View your favorite RSS feeds right in Gmail as “Clips” along the top of your Gmail screen. Display clips from blogs, news sites and other online sources. Pick from the latest headlines, random popular feeds, or add any RSS/Atom feed you want.

Also, Gmail just started automatically detecting addresses and tracking numbers, and displays useful information for them alongside your messages. With a single click, you can get directions to that address your friend sent you, or find out when the new book you ordered will arrive. Pretty handy!

Enjoy!

Fresh Mirror Projects

It's been a long time since I last submitted new photos to Mirror Project. Last week I submited two pieces at last... Here are they:

- A Scared Look To The Pot Smoker
- Birthday Cake

To see all my mirror projects: Click Here!

A comment to an entry

You know that I closed comments because of spam. Comments sent via e-mail is of course welcome but in fact noone sends any comments with e-mail. Noone but one... :)
So here it is:

"over my dead body" or "when hell freezes over" is what steve jobs used
to say about windows. but lately, he's "changing his tune" pitching
itunes to windows users and even incorporating bad "intel" (i m
referring to 'intelligence')...

this is to comment on your latest post "tingo, nakkele and other
wonders"
(by Metin in California - TalkTurkey)

Tingo, nakkele and other wonders

(By Georgina Pattinson, BBC News)

English is a rich and innovative language. But you can't help feeling we're missing out.

Of course, the English language has borrowed words for centuries. Khaki and croissant are cases in point.

After this article BBC compiled some of the unusual word that readers submitted; you cand finde them all in here: 20 of your unusual words. Here are some of my favourites...

9. "My favourite is the Spanish for handcuffs...'esposas'...mi esposa means 'my wife'. So 'mi esposa, mis esposas' means 'my wife, my handcuffs'."
Ben, Bristol, UK

11. "There are a few more interesting German words such as 'handschuhschneeballwerfer', which means somebody, who wears gloves to throw snow balls. It is used in general for all cowards."
Bernie, Duesseldorf

14. "The Fuegians (from Tierra del Fuego) have a succinct word - 'mamihlapinatapai' and it means 'two people looking at each other each hoping the other will do what both desire but neither is willing to do'."
Zephyrus, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Movable Type Turned 4

As some of you had noticed, I am using Movable Type as Fikirbaz.com's blogging / content management tool for more than two years. (Although I uprgaede it one or twice, it's been a while... I guess I am too lazy to upgrade my MT in a regular basis...) Anyway, I do love to update my sites using Movable Type, and tho lots of new tools are online since the blogging became enormously popular for the last 2 years, I strongly recommend Movable Type.

Happy Birthday Movable Type!

First Portable Computer

Released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation, the Osborne 1 is considered to be the first true portable computer - it closes-up for protection, and has a carrying handle. It even has an optional battery pack, so it doesn't have to plugged into the 110VAC outlet for power.

While quite revolutionary, the Osborne does have its limitations. For example, the screen is only 5" (diagonal) in size, and can't display more than 52 characters per line of text. To compensate, you can actually scroll the screen display back and forth with the cursor keys to show lines of text up to 128 characters wide... You can learn more about Osborne 1...

On the other hand people at IBM ara working on a portable storage device containing the software stack. Is is called SoulPad and the three-layer SoulPad software stack enables a paradigm of mobile computing where a user can suspend his computing environment on one PC and resume it on another PC that he may have never seen before. The PC boots an auto-configuring operating system from the SoulPad, starts a virtual machine monitor, and resumes a suspended virtual machine that has the user's entire personal computing environment, which includes the user's files, user's operating system, installed applications, desktop configuration as well as all running applications and open windows.

Attila İlhan

Attila İlhan’ı kaybettikÜnlü şair ve yazar Atilla İlhan gece saatlerinde evinde hayatını kaybetti. Atilla İlhan’ın yarın İstanbul’da toprağa verilmesi planlanıyor.(Tamamını okumak için: ntvmsnbc.com )

- Attila İlhan @ WikiPedia

- Attila İlhan (15.6.1925 - 10.10.2005) in English: Istanbul Gate of Felicity from `Suite in the Ottoman Mode'

agaclar sonbahara hazirlaniyor
bu sehir o eski Istanbul mudur
karanlikta bulutlar parcalaniyor
sokak lambalari birden yaniyor
kaldirimlarda yagmur kokusu
ben sana mecburum sen yoksun
Ben Sana Mecburum'dan...

Third Stone From The Sun

Oh strange beautiful grass of green
with your majestic silken scenes
Your mysterious mountains
I wish to see closer
May I land my kinky machine

Although your world wonders me
with your majestic superior cackling hen
Your people I do not understand
So to you I wish to put an end
And you'll never hear surf music again

(From the Jimi Hendrix album: Are You Experienced - 1967

A Not-To-Do List

(This is an anonymous e-mail that I got today; I am sure this list might be your inner voice sometimes)

Today is the day you start your project. Wake up. Make your coffee. Sit down. Get to work. Now, it should be that simple. Wake up and get to work. But there are many distractions. Mental and otherwise.

So this is NOT a to-do list. This is a not-to-do list. You don't need to check anything off, because these are things YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO.

Do not check your email.
Do not go to nytimes.com.
Do not decide to organize your cd rack.
Do not turn on the television.
Do not clip your nails.
Do not stare at your bald spot in the mirror and begin to calculate how
much time your hair has left.
Do not start catching up on the DVDs that have arrived from Netflix.
Do not update your Netflix queue.
Do not Google all your Exes.
Do not Google yourself.
Do not dust the house.
Do not sweep the floors.
Do not take out the trash.
Do not get sucked into the argument when your significant other starts screaming about the fact that you drank the last of the milk and even though you said you would get more you didn't. Just apologize, apologize, and then apologize again.
(But don't be tempted to apologize "for being such a horrible person" – that is a sign that you are getting drawn into a bigger dust-up. Stay on target with your apology, explain that you have serious work to do, and get back to your project.)

Do not decide to make yourself an elaborate lunch.
Do not take a nap.
Do not change the cat litter.
Do not decide to figure out the calorie count of your recent meals.
Do not pay your bills.
Do not balance your checkbook.
Do not freak out that you have no money.
Do not go into the bathroom and give your Academy Award acceptance speech.
Do not put on Prince and party like it's 1999. (Well, okay, maybe ONCE, just to get you fired up about your project.) Do not start going through your closet.
Do not decide to floss.
Do not organize your spice rack.
Do not update your address book.
Do not make a list of things to do.
Do not watch Oprah.
Do not listen to NPR.
Do not start to think you don't have what it takes to actually do your project.
Do not read any further on this post – caught you! Stop reading now and get to work on your project.
Do not check what time the movie is playing later.
Do not decide to send an angry email to that annoying friend who recently pissed you off.
Do not play with the cats.
Do not clip your nose hairs.
Do not start trying to organize a dinner party.
Do not start wondering if that mole that seems a little bigger than the last time you checked it might be skin cancer.
Do not start going through all the papers on your desk.
Do not make a list of all the things you have to get done at work.
Do not start thinking you are never going to finish.
Do not make a quick run to the grocery store.
Do not search for gray hairs.
Do not start fantasizing about sex.
Do not decide to make a call to your significant other to tell him or her that you don't think you've been getting any, and that you better damn well get some tonight (you know, because that one works every time).
Do not go to IMDB to see who that actor was in that movie you saw the other night. Or what that girl from that show from way back when is doing now.
Do not start perusing your own bookshelves.
Do not organize your computer files.
Do not clean out your inbox.
Do not click into the online gossip sites.
Do not pick your nose.
Do not start reading old letters from old flames.
Do not crack open a beer.
Do not pluck your eyebrows.
Do not to give yourself a facial.
Do not start going through your photos.
Do not return your phone calls.
Do not start reading your old journal entries.
Do not start thinking about how your project is lame.
Do not scrub the tub.
Do not clean the toilet.
Do not open a bottle of wine.
Do not start wading through all the magazines you subscribe to but never read.
Do not decide to start a screenplay (unless, of course, that is your project).
Do not post to your blog.
Do not pull the ATM receipts out of your wallet and start entering withdrawals into your checkbook.
Do not get up and keep getting yourself a glass of water.
Do not refill the ice trays.
Do not do the dishes.
Do not start picking off the wax on your candle holders.
Do not start worrying about all the time you've already wasted.

There are a million more things that could be on this list, but remember, it's not a to-do list, so it doesn't matter if something is missing -- you are NOT supposed to be doing these things. Just get to work on your project.

Weather in Istanbul Today

I woke up around 5 am. today; it was lightly raining with a lot of lightning. Around 6.30 while I was driving work it was heavy shower. At the very monet (07.59) the rain has stopped...

Anyway; this is not the main subject, this was just the entrance. I downloaded Konfabulator a couple of weeks ago; at first I was just testing cos' I believe that this kind of desktop applications really slown doen the PC bur I still didn't uninstall it... I think I kinda like it... The screenshot on the left hand is forum Konfabulator; there are lots of different widgets to download. (Even some Turkish ones) Anyway, enjoy!

James J. Braddock - Cinderella Man

It's been a while since I last wrote anything about movies in here. (And well yes I couldn't update my "watched" list on the right hand... Anyway, I keep on watching anyway. Last night I watched Ron Howard's Cinderella man with great performances of Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti.

Then when I searched I found James J. Braddock's official web site, surprisingly I found the web site satisfactory with the story of the man and lots of original photos of Braddock and his family. (So check out his gallery to see if Crowe and Zelweger are right choices for the cast ;)

In the middle of the Great Depression, when an America in the grips of a devastating economic downturn was nearly brought to its knees, there came along a most unlikely hero who had crowds cheering on their feet-as he proved just how hard a man would fight to win a second chance for his family and himself.

Here are some related links:
- Of course RottenTomatoes (with 83/100)
- Official Web Site of the Movie
- Official Web Site of James J. Braddock

Google Blog Search

Find blogs on your favorite topics

Google does that again! (And again and again and again...) So, here is Blog Search, here is Google... Go try it; enjoy ;)

Kokomo

(by Beach Boys)

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go
Jamaica

Off the Florida Keys
There's a place called Kokomo
That's where you wanna go to get away from it all

Bodies in the sand
Tropical drink melting in your hand
We'll be falling in love
To the rhythm of a steel drum band
Down in Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go

Ooo I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We'll get there fast
And then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go
Way down to Kokomo

To Martinique, that Monserrat mystique

We'll put out to sea
And we'll perfect our chemistry
By and by we'll defy a little bit of gravity

Afternoon delight
Cocktails and moonlit nights
That dreamy look in your eye
Give me a tropical contact high
Way down in Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go

Ooo I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We'll get there fast
And then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go
Way down to Kokomo

Port Au Prince I wanna catch a glimpse

Everybody knows
A little place like Kokomo
Now if you wanna go
And get away from it all
Go down to Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go

Ooo I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We'll get there fast
And then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go
Way down to Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go

Ooo I wanna take you down to Kokomo

Ajax - What is it?

"Google Suggest and Google Maps are two examples of a new approach to web applications that we at Adaptive Path have been calling Ajax. The name is shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript + XML, and it represents a fundamental shift in what’s possible on the Web."

Recently I hear alot about Ajax; so when I searched about it I found a couple of articles and a detailed wikipedia entry about it. Both Jesse James Garrett's article and ajax entry at wikipedia is quite satisfying about the topic. They both also have lots of links to related articles; examples, applications and all that stuff... I guess Ajax will be very popular in a short period of time... (Be aware ;)

- Ajax: A new approach to web applications
- Ajax at Wikipedia

Close Relationships

Yesterday I made a search about "Close Relationships". As a matter of fact, it is a lesson in psychology... I found some articles, some papers and books about the topic:

- Here is some resource fron University of Iowa; Psychology 140/143/190/208: Close Relationships
- A pdf about "minding"
- Close Relationships Research: A Resource for Couples and Family Therapists from the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.
- Understanding Close Relationships
- Attachment Theory and Close Relationships
- Your Personality: Learn more about your personality, relationships, attachment style, and abilities.

F1 Istanbul Grand Prix

At the weekend there was first Grand Prix in Istanbul. With a grand opening of Istanbul Park; 14th race of the 2005 F1 championship was held in Istanbul. Raikkönnen, Alonso and Montoya were on the podium to get the first evet winner cups of Istanbul Grand Prix. [Well, and the important thing is; the Istanbul Grand Prix Cup was designed by my "little" brother... :)] (Here is an article about it in a national newspaper - yes of course in Turkish)

Google Talk

Talk and IM with your friends for free

They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free–anytime, anywhere in the world. Google Talk offers you:

Choice, Qualtiy and Convenience! Enjoy!

Discovery Landed Safely

8:12 a.m. - Touchdown! Discovery is rolling out on runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base!

I watched the landing on CNN International... She landed safely and the 14 day (risky) trip is over.

Live Landing Coverage

NASA's Mission Control in Houston has given the crew of Discovery the "go" to begin the deorbit burn and land at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. During the burn, a backward-flying Discovery fires its engines to slow the ship. The loss of energy causes the vehicle to fall below the speed needed to orbit and starts the descent.

Here you can follow the Landing minute by minute. (Don't forget to refresh the page every few minutes.

Note: It is 14.26 here in Turkey at the moment; that means it is 7.26 at California... ;)

7:20 a.m. (EDT) - Part of Discovery's reaction control system, the rear steering jets control the orbiter during the early part of descent. As the orbiter transitions from spacecraft to aircraft, those jets are phased out as air pressure builds, and the orbiter's aerosurfaces become active.

7:12 a.m. - Over the next 30 minutes, Discovery will free-fall until it reaches Entry Interface, about 75 miles over the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Current altitude is 220 statute miles. Post burn procedures are in work. Touchdown is one hour away.

Obituary: Ibrahim Ferrer

Despite a career spanning decades, Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer rose to world fame late in life, as part of the Buena Vista Social Club project.
A master of the traditional son and bolero styles, Ferrer began singing professionally at the age of 14 and was a member of several well-known groups.

But it was joining Buena Vista in the 1990s that took him from a retirement shining shoes to international renown.

He died, aged 78, after returning ill from a month-long tour of Europe.

Ferrer was born in 1927 in the south-eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, an area known for its musical tradition.

- To read it all at BBC News, please click...
- If you'd prefer CNN; don't hesitate to click...
- Ibrahim Ferrer at Wikipedia

Go, Customize Google

You can make a Google homepage that has news feeds; blog feeds, weather; top stories; daily quotes etc. And you can customize this very page by drag&drop. Just cool. All you need is a Google id. You can even add your bookmarks on your customized homepage. (If I work enough I believed that I can read all my popular blogs through my Google homepage. ;)

(And by the way; http://www.fikirbaz.com/index.rss is where you can have fikirbaz.com default rss feed. Enjoy ;)

You can also browse Google Labs for new google applications...

Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Claire Deschanel was born on January 17, 1980 in Los Angeles, California to Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel. As a bright blue-eyed-brunette, Zooey had an older sister named Emily (also a fellow actress) and spent much of her time on film sets and on location watching her father work and even settling on whatever exotic location. Ever since she was very young, Zooey was inspired to be an actress even to her parent's concern about what she wanted to do. Knowing that her parents did not want her to become an actress at an early age, she lived a pretty normal life, but still thrives to be an actress when she grows up and also spends some of her time at film sets wishing that she can be an actress soon.

Like most of the people I remember her from Cameron Crowe's Oscar-winning film, Almost Famous, which she fills the screen with those bright eyes of hers and tells her on-screen younger brother, "Someday, you'll be cool." Last night I watched her at The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Trillian and after a little search I also figured out that she also acted in Good Girl; an independent film that Jennifer Aniston was the leading actress. Anyway; I have piled a buch of links about Zooey Deschanel; enjoy...

- Zooey Deschanel @ IMDB
- Absolutely Zooey Deschanel
- Zooey in a blog called AntiPopper mentioned with Mel C
- An autograph o a cool photo
- "Zooey Keeps Life Reel" by Kevin Williamson @Calgary Sun
- Nature of Zooey Deschanel (cool photos)

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews of the movies mentioned ;)
- Almost Famous
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Good Girl

Fade To Black

Life it seems, will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free

Things are not what they used to be
Missing one inside of me
Deathly lost, this can’t be real
Cannot stand this hell I feel
Emptiness is filling me
To the point of agony
Growing darkness taking dawn
I was me, but now he’s gone

No one but me can save myself, but it’s too late
Now I can’t think, think why I should even try

Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death greets me warm, now I will just say good-bye

Over 100 Quick and Easy Healthy Foods

"Sometimes cooking takes a lot of time in our life, but we got some good news for you. The World’s Healthiest Foods has an excellent list of healthy foods which need less than 30 minutes of preparation and cooking times. There are categories of receipts like Breakfast, Salad Entrees, Soups, Fish, Chicken and Turkey, Lean Meat, Vegetarian Entrees, Side Salad/Dressings, Side Vegetables, and Desserts. You don’t even need to think what to cook tonight!"

Over 100 Quick and Easy Healthy Foods

iPOD Flea

This is funny... For iPod owners/iPod lovers it may be even funnier. Highly recommended... Great parody!

Click to watch...

40 Things That Only Happen In Movies

11. Any police officer about to retire from the force will more often than not die on their last day (especially if their family have planned a party). (Caveat: Detectives can only solve a case after they have been suspended from duty).

17. If you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts, your opponents will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around you in a threatening manner until you have defeated their predecessor.

26. Prostitutes always look like Julia Roberts or Jamie Lee Curtis. They have expensive clothes and nice apartments but no pimps. They are friendly with the shopkeepers in their neighbourhood who don't mind at all what the girl does for a living.

27. A single match is usually sufficient to light up a room the size of a football stadium.

29. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at once (it's called Stallone's Law).

To read them all...

Eloisa to Abelard

(by Alexander Pope)

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"

(Please click here to read the whole poem by Alexander Pope)

Black Horse & The Cherry Tree

(by K.T. Tunstall)

My heart knows me better than I know myself
So I'm gonna let it do all the talking
I came across a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree

I felt a little fear upon my back
I said don't look back just keep on walking
But the big black horse said look this way
he said 'hey lady will you marry me?'

But I said no....no,....no.....no no no
I said no....no you're not the one for me
But I said no....no....no.....no no no
I said no....no You're not the one for me

My heart hit a problem in the early hours
So I stopped it dead for a beat or two
But I cut some cord and I shouldn't have done it
And it won't forgive me after all these years

So I sent to a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree
But it won't come back coz it's oh so happy
And now I've got a hole for the world to see

It said no no
You're not the one for me
But I said no no
You're not the one for me

Big black horse and the cherry tree
I can't quite get there coz my heart forsaken me

(Click here for chords and guitar tabs...)

Are Computers Female or Male?

A language instructor was explaining to her class that French nouns,
unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as
masculine or feminine.

Things like 'chalk' or 'pencil,' she described, would have a gender
association although in English these words were neutral. Puzzled,
one student raised his hand and asked, "What gender is a computer?"

The teacher wasn't certain which it was,and so divided the class into
two groups and asked them to decide if a computer should be masculine
or feminine. One group was comprised of the women in the class, and
the other, of men. Both groups were asked to give four reasons for
their recommendation.

The group of women concluded that computers should be referred to in
masculine gender because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve your problems, but half the
time they ARE the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited
a little longer, you could have had a better model.

The men, on the other hand, decided that computers should definitely
be referred to in the feminine gender because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers
is incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for
later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
spending half your paycheck on accessories.

Tv TurnOff Week ( Adbusters )

TV Turnoff Week is no ordinary social ritual. The goal is simple: to shake up routines and get people questioning the role of TV in their lives.

Sure, it’s a statement against dead-end couch culture. But it's also about cleaning up the mental environment. Like our oceans and air, our shared mindscape is littered with pollutants -- distorted news, manipulative ads, violence and top-down culture.

Go, check Adbusters.org !

Weinstein Brothers are leaving Miramax

Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein have agreed to step down as co-chief executives of the Disney-owned film production unit after 25 years.

The brothers - behind hits such as Chicago - will leave in September, but will continue to make films for Disney through new company
The Weinstein Co.

If you wanna read the whole article...

They might have named company Weinstein Bros. :)) The odd thing about their future plans is; they are leaving Miramax because they can't get on well with Disney; but with their new company, they will go on working with Disney... (I guess they will be more powerfull against Disney if they own the company...)

An Ever-Shorter Leap From Theater to DVD

(By Jen Chaney, Special to The Washington Post, Sunday, March 13, 2005)

"I'll wait for the DVD."

It's the discriminating moviegoer's mantra, one repeated every time we can't muster the motivation to catch the latest Hollywood offering in theaters. But in many cases that waiting game has changed, as movies make the leap from silver screen to small screen faster than ever before.

These days the turnaround time from cineplex to DVD is 4 1/2 months, on average, with movies becoming available for rental and sale on the same day. A few recent films made the trip in fewer than 90 days. (Five years ago, the typical Hollywood flick didn't show up on home video for at least six months.) It's no secret that movie studios, which generally earn more money from home video than box office returns, are eager to capitalize on DVD dollars as soon as they can.

Judith McCourt, director of market research for the trade publication Home Media Retailing, says even blockbusters now arrive on home video more quickly, noting that the release-date window for $100 million-plus earners has shrunk by 12 percent compared with 2004.

Studios benefit from the quick turnaround, notes a recent article in Home Media Retailing, because consumers still have those movies on their minds and the marketing and advertising for home video releases can ride the coattails of the theatrical campaigns.

That's why "The Incredibles," which debuted in theaters Nov. 5, lands on DVD this Tuesday (and not long after winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature). And why another Oscar winner, "Ray," sang its way onto DVD on Feb. 1, a little more than three months after its Oct. 29 theatrical opening.

Box office flops often turn around even faster. Jennifer Garner's comic book adventure "Elektra," which has earned a paltry $24.2 million in theaters since its Jan. 15 opening, hopes to rebound with a quick April 5 DVD release. And "Fat Albert," which had its theatrical release Christmas Day, will be available to rent or buy March 22, just five days before Easter.

Sometimes the stepped-up timing has to do with outside factors.

"Not only do we compete with new releases for DVD street dates, we're competing with big-event TV programming like 'Seinfeld' and big reissues like 'Star Wars,' " says Ben Feingold, president of Sony Home Entertainment, which last year released more films on DVD more quickly than any other studio, according to Home Media Retailing. Movies also don't stay in theaters as long as they used to, say, even a decade ago, which means they are more likely to show up sooner at a Blockbuster or Best Buy, Feingold adds. "If films are no longer in theaters, then it's probably not a bad idea to have them available for people to buy while they're still relatively fresh in people's minds," he says. "Then again, it's really about the best date."

That's why "Ray" arrived on DVD in time to take advantage of awards-season hype even though the Ray Charles biopic was still showing in hundreds of theaters nationwide. Similarly, a flood of "Ray's" fellow nominees will saturate the market in coming weeks -- among them "Being Julia" (March 22); "Closer" and "Vera Drake" (March 29); "Sideways" (April 5); and "Hotel Rwanda" (April 12) -- in an attempt to capitalize on the final echoes of Academy Awards buzz.

"Anything that puts and keeps the film in the public consciousness is a business factor," confirms Steve Feldstein, senior vice president of Fox Home Entertainment, the studio behind "Sideways," "Elektra" and "Fat Albert."

Universal's "Friday Night Lights" showed up on DVD Jan. 18, a little more than three months after its theatrical debut, which just happened to coincide with the run-up to the Super Bowl. And "Surviving Christmas" -- a lump of comedic coal starring Ben Affleck -- distinguished itself as 2004's fastest DVD debut, appearing Dec. 21, just 60 days after bombing in theaters, to take advantage of holiday cheer-goggling consumers. So does this mean we can expect to see "Spider-Man 3" on DVD the day after it opens? Probably not. Feingold says the industry is unlikely to churn out releases much faster than it already does.

In other words, the wait isn't over just yet.

Fikirbaz Having A Massage

Well; click here to see fikirbaz having a massage... (Bad bad joke!)

But I wish I could... Anyone knows a good one to recommend?

Bunny Suicides

Think you are a bunny and you wanna kill yourself. How many different ways can you imagine? 1? 2? 3? 50?

Here you can find bunny suicides...More than 80 i guess... So, start looking at them when you have some spare time... And if you're boss is around don't. Because they are really funny and you sure will start laughing aout loud... Enjoy!

Wanna play a part in South Park?

With South Park Studio V.2, you can create your own South Park characters. You can easily modify characters and create whatever you have in your mind. There is only one big problem; it is really fun and as it may easily turn into a bad habit. You might start work on you characters in the morning and work on your new generation cartmans till midnight. You will start making funny characters of your colleagues, family, friends, celebrities and here you are: You can not stop.

Anyway; here is the link; enjoy. (I will soon post some of the characters I made ;)

Gmail as an Hard Drive

Wanna use your Gmail account as an hard drive? Wouldn't that be really convenient if you're a guy who forgets his memory stick at home or at work or at anywhere?

With a little application (called Gmail Drive) you can make your gmail account appear in "my computer" as an hard drive. So you can drag & drop any files... Cool..

You can find this and lots more at GmailTools.com... Enjoy!

How Many Names Hath God?

No matter when we say the word God, whether in church or in vain, couldn’t we all use a couple synonyms for the all-mighty one? Michael Rottman examines the many possibilities, e.g., Abraham, or Clapton.

You can read it in The Morning News

Purple Rain

(by Prince)

I never meant 2 cause u any sorrow
I never meant 2 cause u any pain
I only wanted 2 one time see u laughing
I only wanted 2 see u laughing in the purple rain

Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain

I only wanted 2 see u bathing in the purple rain

I never wanted 2 be your weekend lover
I only wanted 2 be some kind of friend
Baby I could never steal u from another
It's such a shame our friendship had 2 end

Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain

I only wanted 2 see u underneath the purple rain

Honey I know, I know, I know times are changing
It's time we all reach out 4 something new
That means u 2
U say u want a leader
But u can't seem 2 make up your mind
I think u better close it
And let me guide u 2 the purple rain

Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain

If you know what I'm singing about up here
C'mon raise your hand

Purple rain Purple rain

I only want 2 see u, only want 2 see u
In the purple rain

Some Kind Of Monster

With voyeuristic intensity, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster explores the intricate connections that are created, nurtured, and challenged between members of a long-lasting band. That this intimate odyssey of group therapy and self-discovery involves Metallica--the most successful heavy metal group of all time--is just one reason this film is so uniquely fascinating. Having proven their documentary skills with Brother's Keeper and Paradise Lost (which included Metallica in its soundtrack), filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky spent two years with Metallica as the band survived the defection of long-time bassist Jason Newsted, struggled to record St. Anger, and recruited $40,000-per-month "performance enhancement coach" Phil Towle to counsel members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett as they confronted alcoholism, creative obstacles, and themselves in an effort to determine the viability of Metallica's future. With sincere hope, honest discussion, and the hiring of new bassist Robert Trujillo, Metallica battle their personal and professional demons, showing the vulnerable side of a business that thrives on raging testosterone. The effort pays off for everyone involved, especially the fans: Like the ultimate backstage pass, Some Kind of Monster is a healing journey into the hard-beating heart of rock & roll. --Jeff Shannon / Amazon.com --

Here are some articles about the film:
- Dailynews.com: In therapy with the members of Metallica
- SeattlePi: Metallica doc strips down monsters of rock to egomaniacal pussycats
- WaffleMovies.com: This documentary tears open Metallica for everyone to see the dirty laundry, and it works because there is something oddly compelling about watching legendary heavy metal, hard rock tough guys go to therapy and talk about their feelings.
- Orlando Weekly: METAL FATIGUE By Steve Schneider
- RollingStone: Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
- WashingtonPost: Heavy and Human
- USA Today: Softer side of rockers emerges in 'Metallica'

And of course RottenTomatoes ( They gave 85/100 )
(Please let me remind you that OrionTurk is the Official Turkish Local Chapter of Official Metallica Fan Club - MetClub. )

Email productivity tips

These tips might really be helpful. If you complain that you can not focus on your job during daytime/office hours and if you have a slight suspicion of that might be because of e-mails, then you must read this article... Here are the headers of the 5 tips:

1- Shut off auto-check
2- Pick off easy ones
3- Write less
4- Cheat
5- Be honest

Here is the whole article...

Anil to bloggers: "you're just like the media you hate"

..."But this is the direction that we're headed. A blogger can't be held responsible by his employer for his words that he incontrovertibly published on his own site, but a journalist can be held responsible for his alleged words taken out of context. Maybe this will all resolve itself when more bloggers are considered journalists and they're forced to start digging up dirt on themselves. I doubt it."

To understand what is it all about; you have to go and read it all. (Please)

Portable Audio for Snobs

How to make your iPod an audiophile's dream.

I was surprised to find, though, that the hardware didn't have much of an effect on sound quality. The file format you use to encode your music and your choice of headphones both make a much bigger difference.

PodBrix

I love this kinda ideas; I love creative guys...

PodBrix sells modified minifigs inspired by the popular ad campaign for portable music players. In the future we may branch out to other related minifigs.

Runaway Train (by Soul Asylum)

Call you up in the middle of the night
Like a firefly without a light
You were there like a slow torch burning
I was a key that could use a little turning

So tired that I couldn't even sleep
So many secrets I couldn't keep
Promised myself I wouldn't weep
One more promise I couldn't keep

It seems no one can help me now
I'm in too deep
There's no way out
This time I have really led myself astray

CHORUS
Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here no there

Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded
Life's mystery seems so faded

I can go where no one else can go
I know what no one else knows
Here I am just drownin' in the rain
With a ticket for a runaway train

Everything is cut and dry
Day and night, earth and sky
Somehow I just don't believe it

CHORUS

Bought a ticket for a runaway train
Like a madman laughin' at the rain
Little out of touch, little insane
Just easier than dealing with the pain

Runaway train never comin' back
Runaway train tearin' up the track
Runaway train burnin' in my veins
Runaway but it always seems the same

Is This Real?

This small video clip was sent to my inbox yesterday. If it is real that's a great job. Today I found it on the web thanks to Kottke. Click here to watch it. (It is aprox. 500K, so give it some time to download) And here is Boreme.com to find similar viral e-mail content. Enjoy!

Orange Girl / Appelsinpiken / Portakal Kız

Today I am reading "The Orange Girl", latest book of Jostein Gaarder, who is generally known as the author of Sophie's World and The Solitarie Mystery.

At fifteen, Georg comes upon a letter written to him by his dying father, to be read when he is old enough. Their two voices make a fascinating dialogue as Georg gets to know the father he can barely remember and is challenged by him to answer some profound questions. The central mystery of the book is the story of the Orange Girl, the elusive young woman for whom Georg's father searches in Orso and Seville (By the way the book description in Amazon.com (and some other sites) tells who the strange woman is, so if you don't wanna learn it before you read the book; don't read the reviews in Amazon.com. - Damn!)

In the book you'll get lots of usefull information as well as great quotes. ( Hubble for instance) Garrder's story is a modern fairy tale. Gaarder takes the most ordinary happenings and writes about them in a magical way, creating a truly refreshing tale.

- Bn.com
- Amazon.com
- Bhny.com

[Aralarında şimdiye kadar dört konuşma geçmiştir:
Genç kadın: "Seni sersem!" Genç kadın: "Ben de bir portakal alabilir miyim?" Genç adam: "Özür dilerim, özür dilerim!" Ve genç adam: "Sen bir sincapsın."]

["Hayatı seçen ölümü de seçer." Georg, ölümünden 11 yıl sonra babasının kendisine yazmış olduğu uzun bir mektupta zor bir soruyla karşı karşıya kalır. "Eğer sana seçme şansı verselerdi, kısacık hayatın ardından öleceğini bile bile yaşamayı kabul eder miydin?" ]

- Ideefixe.com
- Pandora

Mentor

These days I like the word Mentor. I made a search about Mentor and here is what I got:

Main Entry: men·tor
Etymology: Latin, from Greek MentOr
1 capitalized : a friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus' son Telemachus
2 a : a trusted counselor or guide b : TUTOR, COACH
- men·tor·ship /-"ship/ noun (this explanation is from webster)

The word "mentor" is exactly the same in Turkish; and here is a firm that is named Mentor. This Mentor is specialized in Project Management Certification Programs and that sort of business related education programs. [Mentor Proje Yönetimi Eğitim ve Danışmanlık]

Mentor has also started web based project management courses called "proje-learning". Anyway, I will mention more about international project management related sites later on...

Elevator control panels

Here is an interesting piece of work about elevators by John J. BARTHOLDI, III. Designers of user interfaces: The elevator industry needs you! Behold the evidence.

As an untrained user of elevators, it seems to me that you want three basic things from an elevator control panel:

- Tell me what my choices are.
- Allow me to signal my choice.
- Confirm my choice by some feedback so I will not fret.
Is that so hard?

Click and enjoy the elevator control panels... ;)

Tsunami moves North Pole, shortens daytime

Daytime is now 2.68 microseconds shorter because of last month's tsunami.

The massive force unleashed by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia altered the shape of Earth in a number of minute yet significant ways, NASA scientists have determined.

Read the whole article of Michael Kanellos, Cnet

Related: Web photos capture tsunami's impact

New Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-P150

Just after my beloved Nikon Coolpix 4300 camera left this world; I started flirting with a new camera... After a weekend of comparisons, calculations, reading reviews; scanning forums, I bought a Sony Cybershot P150 with a 512MB Memory Stick Pro; I am very happy with the speed of my new toy as my old Nikon Coolpix 4300 was very slow with 128 MB CF card. Now I can take photos much much more faster... Soon I'll start to post some new photos here... ;)

iPod Shuffle

Time to mix things up. Meet iPod shuffle, the unpredictable new iPod. What will it play next? Can it read your mind? Can it read your moods? Load it up. Put it on. See where it takes you. Choose from pocket-size 512MB or 1G models starting at $99 and surprise yourself.

At last Apple created a cheaper and smaller mp3 player. (Of course, compared to 40gb iPod, the new iPodShuffle is like a baby with 512mb or 1gb memory) The new little device sure will make other brands bother... It has some cool accessoires as well... Anf if you're interested, here are the technical specs.

The think I really liked about the new iPodShuffle is, they had to put a sentence at the footer of the website: "Do not eat iPod shuffle. " Go find why? :)

UN Secretary General asks donors to fulfill pledges

NEW YORK, 6 January 2005 – UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said today that tsunami-devastated regions in Asia urgently need a billion dollars to provide water, food and shelter over the next six months.

He met with the leaders of 26 nations in Jakarta, Indonesia today to discuss how to manage the most serious natural disaster in recent history. More than three billion dollars in aid has been promised to the stricken region and Annan asked that those promises be turned into cash.

The excerpt above is taken from UNICEF.ORG

DONATE NOW

1-Click Donation for South Asia

Amazon.com is offering customers the ability to make donations directly to the American Red Cross to aid the evacuation of survivors and the dispersal of first aid. One hundred percent of the donation will go to the Red Cross.

I just donated some money; 30 minutes ago the total amount was aroun 1 million usd. All you have to do is to write the amount and click...

Delphi - Ancient Greek City

When you search about delphi most of the results you get are about the programming language. But in fact Delphi is an ancient greek city.

Delphi, renowned for its oracle of Apollo, was a city in the ancient Greek city-state of Phocis. Delphi was located on the southern slope of Mt. Parnassus.

Here is a map about ancient civilizations. It shows both Greece and Turkey and the Aegean cost. Can you find where Delphi is. (Locating Troy is much more easier)

Apart from clicking on the links above, here you can find some more info about ancient greece...

SonyEricsson K700i - Tips & Tricks

While searching around I found some forums about mobile phones. There are not to many tips or tricks if you do read manuals carefully but you may find one or two things that you couldn't manage yourself...

- Zedge.no - SonyEricsson K700i Tips & Tricks.
- Mobile9.com - Sony Ericsson K700 Tips and Tricks
- Esato.com - Comparisons

What To Do In A Fire

Stay Low
If you can see smoke in the house, as you make your way to the exit, stay low to the ground. In a fire, smoke and poisonous air hurt more people than the actual flames do. You'll breathe less smoke if you stay close to the ground. Smoke naturally rises, so if there is smoke while you're using your escape route, staying low means you can crawl under most of it. You can drop to the floor and crawl on your hands and knees below the smoke.

To read the whole article (tho it's for kids but in fact all the things written must be known by all adults) click here.

- Related: What is smoke?

Fired for Porn? We'll Hire You!

Source: SteamyMobile.com
by: Company Press Release

SteamyMobile, the world's most advanced mobile porn site, is offering a job to Mike Soden, former CEO of the Bank of Ireland. Mr. Soden was forced to resign from his position late last week when it was discovered that he had looked at porn on his work computer, ending his banking career.

If Mr. Soden had been using SteamyMobile's mobile porn service, he would not have been caught and he would still be the top banker in Ireland.

SteamyMobile would love to have Mr. Soden as our CFO. As CFO of SteamyMobile, Mr. Soden will have an opportunity to apply his considerable financial skills in a new industry, and will be fired if he DOESN'T look at porn on his work computer.

In an effort to contact Mr. Soden, we have started a Google adwords campaign on the words "Mike Soden". We hope he will take us up on the offer. We are also offering him a year of free service.

SteamyMobile.com

- Here you can find an article about this job losing story.

A letter to my favourite fairytale character

The UPU's international letter-writing competition for young people dates back to 1969 when the Tokyo Congress voted to introduce a competition aimed at promoting letter writing among young people. The first competition was launched in 1971 and since then, millions of youngsters all over the world have participated in the competition at national and international level.

Each year, the UPU International Bureau chooses a theme, taking into consideration proposals received from Posts and individuals, as well as international commemorations and special events supported by the United Nations. The theme is communicated by circular letter to all postal administrations of the 190 UPU member countries.

- The UPU and Post Danmark invite youth to write a letter to a fairy tale character. (pdf)
- A Turkish news article about the topic
- UPU's page that you can get more info about the prizes, deadlines and previous winners...

So What! : The Good, The Mad, and The Ugly

As a Metclub Member and a dedicated fan of Metallica (I also am the founder of Metclub's Official Turkish Chapter, Orionturk) I highly recommend this first official book. In fact it is mostly a compilation of the Metclub Magazine, So What but it alsı has hundreads of great photos which had never seen daylight before.

Now Available! The first ever official Metallica book is a chronologically-edited history of So What, the fan club magazine, re-edited and re-designed into a superb 288 blazing color hardback book which no-one will want to be without. The guys offer handwritten comments on some of the material featured, there are Sponsor Section collections and oodles of Whiplashes to pore over...plus around 1000 photos )...yes, you'll have seen a lot of this stuff before, but trust us, there are a fair few photos intended for SW! which never made it before, plus it all looks fresh and wonderful and brand spanking new.

- Click here to go to Amazon.com page... (It arrived to me aprox. 3,5 weeks)
- Or you can buy it from Metallica.com
- May be you'd like to read some reviews...
- Oh well... And you might like to buy a Metallica book in Turkish? ;)

Majikat (Earth Tour 1976)

DVD Stores just might be a nightmare, especially the music section. I really do like concert DVD's. Last week I happened to step in a store that has a big range of music dvd's (More than any other store in Istanbul I guess)(And also I think most expensive in Istanbul too) (Megavizyon, yes!)

Anyway, I bought two music DVD's: Jethro Tull - A New Day Yesterday: The 25th Anniversary Collection, 1969-1994 (2003) and Cat Stevens - Majikat (Earth Tour 1976). They are both great but I will just mention Majikat here.

Recorded just past his commercial zenith and about a year and a half before he quit the music business for good, this concert recording from Cat Stevens's mid-'70s Majikat tour (filmed in Williamsburg, Virginia) lay unused in the vaults for the better part of three decades, and its 2004 release is a reminder of just how successful and talented he was.

Apart from a great concert with high quality sound you can also watch 3 part interview with Yusuf Islam. With a great english he tells all about his childhood, stardom, escape from the fame and his present life.

Here you can find the relesase announcement in yusufislam.org.uk and here is the official advert.

So... CatStevens.com is a great source about the artist with up-to-date information and news and personal statements as well. Or you can go check yusufislam.org.uk

And also here is a very recent interview:
'Terrorist? They wanted my autograph'
Yusuf Islam – the former Cat Stevens – talks to Christa D'Souza about his bemusement at being refused entry to the United States. Click to read it all...

Star of 'Superman' dies at 52

Christopher Reeve, the star of the Superman movies whose near-fatal riding accident nine years ago turned him into a worldwide advocate for spinal cord research, died Sunday of heart failure, his publicist said. He was 52.

Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his New York home, his publicist, Wesley Combs, told The Associated Press by phone from Washington, D.C., on Sunday night.

To read it all in Star-Telegram...
In Bloomberg.com the article is much more detailed...

Mickey's Good Deed

Mickey's Good Deed is a 1932 made cartoon. One of the classics. Mickey is playing Christmas carols on a standup bass for change. Alas, all he gets is screws, rocks, and other useless stuff. He plays outside a rich man's window, and the spoiled brat kid inside decides he wants Pluto. Mickey isn't selling, but when his bass gets destroyed by a passing sleigh and he sees a house full of orphans with no presents, he changes his mind.

I have the poster of the cartoon as a jigsaw puzzle and last week (at last) we managed the complete it and I got it framed. (Click on the image to see it in full size ;) Oh, I also found Good Deed Necklace ties...

Park at your peril -- the tow trucks are lurking

Last week my car was towed away from the place I always park at the day time. (In fact I don't generally drive to work as I prefer te ferry but when I came to work really early in the morning -around 7.15 am- I always park in the same place)

As I was searching about the towing trucks -I was interested in them because the place I parked was really narrow and hard to tow anything away and the towed my car without any scratches- I found this article about towing guys & Starbucks in Seattle Post Intelligencer:

Park at your peril -- the tow trucks are lurking
Private lots earn them a bonanza, but is it legal?

The signs posted at private parking lots across Washington might read, "For customers only," but they could just as well say, "Park if you dare."

That's the conclusion Will Snipes reached the night his truck was towed from a Capitol Hill Starbucks that had just closed for the night.

After Starbucks closes, tow trucks have been moving in on this East Olive Way parking lot. Now Starbucks has asked them not to come unless called.
"I came out of the Starbucks and the lot was cleared," Snipes recalled of that Friday night last month. "I thought I remembered parking in the lot, but I walked up and down the street clicking my key chain, looking for my truck, thinking maybe I didn't."

Then a couple on the sidewalk told him his truck had been towed -- along with every other vehicle outside the Starbucks on East Olive Way -- in a massive sweep unlike anything they had ever seen.

It's happened on other nights as well. Unbeknownst to Starbucks executives, who contract with TBT Towing, trucks were lined up, their drivers waiting for the stroke of midnight when the cafe locked its doors, making all the vehicles parked there technically "unauthorized."

If the Starbucks is closed, the people who arrived in those vehicles are no longer customers. And the towing company stands to make thousands of dollars in towing and impound fees from that lot and others that TBT contracts with, two of the company's tow truck drivers told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Local government regulators consider this practice, called "patrol towing," illegal. But TBT says it operates within the law because the company had permission from Starbucks to take specific vehicles off the lot.

"We would've been shut down years ago if we hadn't been doing everything by the book," said Larry Porter, driver supervisor with TBT Towing, adding that businesses always give his drivers permission.

Starbucks representatives said they didn't call the tow company to clear the lot, but that employees signed permission forms that authorized the towing. Starbucks subsequently asked the company not to show up unless called.

But watch out. What happened to Snipes could start happening more often. State laws banning these kinds of patrol towing sweeps may be invalid under an act of Congress that was designed to deregulate the trucking industry 10 years ago. State and local governments have had their own rules against patrol towing since before the deregulation law, but they're not strictly enforced.

Patrol towing, also called "roam towing" in some areas, is how impound companies control private parking lots. The truck drivers, under blanket permission from the property owner, will drive by a lot to make sure no one is parked there who isn't supposed to be. Unauthorized vehicles are towed immediately.

Under Washington law, tow truck operators can't take a car unless authorized by a property owner or law enforcement officer to tow a specific vehicle. Washington began banning patrol towing with legislation in 1985, nine years before the congressional action.

Companies across the country have been challenging local towing laws since the federal deregulation of the motor-carrier industry in 1994. For the past 10 years, the nation's tow truck industry has been waging a war against local regulation, winning limited court battles in New York, Florida and Tennessee, among other districts.

The Independent Towers of Washington, an industry group, had lost a lawsuit in U.S. District Court of Western Washington challenging the state's towing laws.

But a year ago, a San Diego firm, West Coast Towing, won a federal case against that city, earning the right to patrol for unauthorized vehicles there. The city of San Diego has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit for a review of the case, the results of which would carry weight in Washington.

"We're talking about the rights of the property owners versus the rights of the customers," said John Tillison, who owns West Coast Towing. "If it's private property, you don't have a right to park there. The business might allow you to park there, but that's not your right."

Tillison filed a federal lawsuit in Tacoma last fall against Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire for continuing to enforce Washington's towing laws, which he believes the San Diego case has proved invalid.

But even under Washington state's laws, there is not much a vehicle owner can do besides taking a tow company to District Court for a post-impound hearing. No single agency keeps track of contested tows, so it's uncertain how prevalent the practice is in Washington.

The city has little authority over private parking lots, said Mel McDonald, Seattle's director of revenue and consumer affairs. Drivers have more consumer protection parking at government-run meters and legal street spaces.

"If the businesses are letting their tow truck operators run roughshod over their customers, that's not good, but you don't want government to regulate everything," McDonald said. "It's up to the businesses to treat their customers fairly."

Towing companies contract with property owners or companies leasing property for exclusive towing from a lot. According to local posting laws, signs in the lot must display the contracted towing company's name, address and telephone number. Signs usually read that cars could be towed 24 hours a day.

Starbucks on East Olive Way has towing signs posted in the parking lot, as well as a sign that reads "no overnight parking." But what that means is unclear, and can depend on factors such as when a business opens and closes.

"Starbucks has had a lot of problems with that lot," Porter said. "People litter. People park there in the middle of the night, their cars get damaged, and then they go blame Starbucks. So we go in there and we tow whoever shouldn't be there."

But Starbucks doesn't want to be towing its customers, said company spokeswoman Lara Wyss. Cafe managers only care that they have enough parking for customers when the shop is open.

"We had no idea this was happening," Wyss said.

Snipes, who got to the impound lot 10 minutes after his truck did, was charged $280 to get his vehicle back. Because he didn't have that much money with him, he spent the next hour calling friends, going back and forth to his apartment and finding a credit card to get his truck out of hock.

"It's pretty much between the impound company and the lot owner," McDonald said. But "trucks still can't go trolling for cars."

Tillison, who opened up a shop in Kent last year, patrols residential parking lots in Kent and Renton. With a "general authorization" contract, he tows a lot of apartment visitors who are parked in the wrong spaces.

He said he's been summoned to a lot of impound hearings, too.

Kent police and the Washington State Patrol say that West Coast Towing is acting illegally. But Tillison says he will continue to defy Washington's law as long as the federal courts hold that states may not regulate his business.

"I run my business professionally. I take care of my clients," he said.

Independent Towers of Washington President Jerry Goddard, who owns a tow company in Olympia, said towers who don't treat their customers' customers well and don't follow local laws give the industry a bad reputation.

And while patrol towing remains illegal in Washington, "if they're caught, they should be fined and lose their licenses, in my opinion," he said. "There are just some people who don't want to play by the regulations."

READ THE SIGNS

Private parking lots that contract with a towing company must have signs that list the name of the towing company, its address and telephone number. Signs also must indicate what time of day vehicles can be towed.

Be aware that parking in front of or near a business may not be owned by that business. The same goes for parking near condos and apartments.

If your vehicle is towed, be sure to request an impound hearing with the municipal court in the jurisdiction where the vehicle was towed as soon as possible. People have 10 days to file a request before the court considers the right to an impound hearing waived.

Music of The 80's

These days I mostly post about music and new albums. I think I am listening more new albums than ever this week. So, just to balance everything let me tell you, I am listening 80's music for the last couple of days and I realized that I really missed 80's stuff. All the songs remind me of some memories. These songs were the ones I started listening music with... Here is a 80's playlist for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

:: Self Control - Laura Branigan
:: Comanchero - Moon Ray
:: Life is Life - Opus
:: Big in Japan - Alphaville
:: Chery Chery Lady - Modern Talking
:: Brother Loui - Modern Talking (Again; they were one of my favourites)
:: One way ticket - Eruption
:: Rasputin - Boney M.
:: Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
:: Wild Boys - Duran Duran
:: Boys Boys - Sabrina
:: In The Army Now - Status Quo
:: I will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
:: Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
:: Walk Like an Egyptian - Bangles
:: Faith - George Michael
:: Unchain My Heart - Joe Cocker
:: Felicita - Albano & Romina Power
:: La Luna - Belinde Carlisle
:: La is La Bonita - Madonna
:: We are the world - lots of guys together
:: Part Time Lover - Stevie Wonder
:: Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics
:: Tainted Love - Soft Cell
:: Telephone Mama - Gazebo
:: Jeopardy - Gregkihn Band

Human Billboards & Sandwich Men

As I was searching for human billboards and sandwich men, I at last found some cool links, cool sites & some cool photos.

Urban75 e-zine is one of the most popular UK based e-zines on the web with bulletin boards, games, photos, protest, rave, drugs & more. This site is strictly non-profit - no banners, no tie-ins, no ads. Mike Slocombe is the man behind the stage, the e-zine is online since 1995.

Human billboards on the streets of London is a photo gallery with captions, I found this in Urban75.com. Check it out... Being a sandwich man isn't that easy...

Also in the same site I found an article (with sketches) about London Street Advertising: London placard carriers and 'sandwich men', 1820 -1840

Here is a sandwich man advertising for Dance Shoes. And another one here Advertising Washington Street Studio about 1930.

Kings of Convenience

Bergen, Norway-based indie-pop duo Kings of Convenience teamed singer/guitarist Erik Glambek Bøe and guitarist Erlend Øye. After first earning notice thanks to a series of acclaimed European festival appearances during the summer of 1999, the twosome signed to American label Kindercore to issue their lovely eponymous debut the following spring. Quiet Is the New Loud was issued in early 2001on Astralwerks. The album used many of the same tracks from the Kindercore release but re-ordered them and replaced a few with newer songs. The remix album Versus followed later in the year and featured remixes by artists as diverse as Ladytron, avid Whitaker and Four Tet. After a three year layoff during which Øye recorded a solo album, 2003's Unrest, and gained some reknown as an electronica DJ while øe worked on finishing up his Psychology degree, the pair teamed up agian for the recording and release of 2004's excellent Riot on an Empty Street ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

iPronto

iPronto, complete control anywhere in your home.

Looking for benefits without hassle? Fun without fuss? It’s now within your reach! With iPronto!

iPronto is an advanced universal remote control panel providing a single, easy-to-manage platform for controlling the technology in your home. The combination of a color touchscreen remote control, wireless Internet browser and electronic program guide, provides you with a versatile solution to control home theatre as well as home automation products.

(Believe me, this electronic toy is really expensive. Instead of using this thing as a remote controller tou can hire someone as a remote controller)

Why do people have red eyes in flash photographs?

We've all see photographs where the people in the picture have spooky red eyes. These are photos taken at night with a flash. Where do the red eyes come from?
The red color comes from light that reflects off of the retinas in our eyes. In many animals, including dogs, cats and deer, the retina has a special reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum that acts almost like a mirror at the backs of their eyes. If you shine a flashlight or headlights into their eyes at night, their eyes shine back with bright, white light. Here is what Encyclopedia Britannica has to say about the tapetum lucidum:

Among many nocturnal vertebrates the white compound guanine is found in the epithelium or retina of the eye. This provides a mirrorlike surface, the tapetum lucidum, which reflects light outward and thereby allows a second chance for its absorption by visual pigments at very low light intensities. Tapeta lucida produce the familiar eyeshine of nocturnal animals.

Another way to reduce or eliminate "red eye" in pictures is to move the flash away from the lens. On most small cameras, the flash is only an inch or two away from the lens, so the reflection comes right back into the lens and shows up on the film. If you can detach the flash and hold it several feet away from the lens, that helps a lot. You can also try bouncing the flash off the ceiling if that is an option.

I got the detailed eplanation above from Howstuffworks.com

I also found a red eye remover software. (But I didn't try it ;)

A Cold Bottle of Coke

One of the hottest days of August... You've seen a bottle of ice cold coke on the pavement. Someone must have dropped it recently... Would you like to have some coke?

Some Turkish Blogs

I was wandering around this morning lookin' at some Turkish Blogs, following the links, surfin' around. I found some new sites, new blogs, some old ones with new designs, new content... And I also searched google to learn who had linked to fikirbaz.com and find some interesting foreign sites that had links to fikirbaz.com and started to click on the links the have and find more sites and this wen t on and on and on... Now I have tens of open ie windows on my desktop that I decided to put links here but I couldn't spare any time to post in here.... Now I have to post them because so many windows on my desktop really interferes with my daily work...

Anyway, here are some Turkish blogs and sites:
- Nahnu.org
- Scheker Weblog
- Günce
- Turkish Torque
- Dipnot
- GamzeOnStage
- JupiterCrash
- Baddua
- Nikita
- Berenis

Fragile (by Sting)

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime's argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
How fragile we are how fragile we are

Fighting with spam comments

Some people and sites do keep on writing comments that include web site urls. Generally fikirbaz.com receives aprox. 5 - 20 spam comments daily and it is not a big thing to delete them manually and rebuilding the related pages again.

Last weekend more than 150 spam comments were submited. Yesterday I wasted a lot of time to delete them all as I am too lazy to find out a better solution. But this morning I found more than 600 new spam comments and decided to work out a better solution and searched for it.

The first place I checked was Movable Type. From there I was linked to MT support forums page. I was expecting to find lots of bloggers with the same problem and bingo. In the commenting system headline I found my topic: Getting tired from the comment spams.

And here is the solution: MT-Blacklist

On the most basic level, MT-Blacklist is a general content filter. It can be used to enforce an obscenity policy or even for keeping an ex-girlfriend's name from ever appearing in the comments (these two things may in fact be considered synonymous), however when applied to the scourge of comment spam, it becomes a magnificent multi-layer line of defense.

The plugin's Search and De-spam feature also makes MT-Blacklist a powerful comment/trackback manager. It takes only two clicks of a button to wipe a massive spam attack completely off of your site and to bolster your defenses against future attacks.

And let me credit the guy behind MT-Blacklist: Jay Allen! Thanks a lot! :) (And also congratulations for winning the first prize in Six Apart's Developer's Contest with MT-Blacklist 2.0 )

Fresh Mirror Projects

It's been rellay long since I took some mirror photos. On monday I took two... Here are they online at mirrorproject.com.

First One
Second One ;)

Introducing iPod Mini & AirPort Express

Enjoy your iTunes music library in virtually any room of your house. Share a single broadband Internet connection and USB printer without inconvenient and obtrusive cables. Create an instant wireless network on the go. Extend the range of your current wireless network. How many devices do you need to do all this? Just one. AirPort Express

Everything you love about iPod just got tinier. iPod mini lets you bring along enough music for a three-day weekend getaway in a package so small you’ll forget you’re carrying it. Until people ask you about it, that is. Available on Mac and Windows.

Pharmaton® - Keep your vital energy in balance!

Discover the benefits of Pharmaton® - a special supplement to increase your mental and physical well-being. Pharmaton® contain a carefully blended mixture of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and the standardized G115® ginseng extract.

Pharmaton® is designed to improve your physical capabilities and helps the body cope with exhaustion and fatigue caused by stress. G115® influences the energy utilisation - thus reducing the fatigue - mainly as a consequence of the increased oxygen uptake capacity. The extract also acts on the central nervous system and helps minimise stress, physical and mental tension. Furthermore, ginseng G115® positively affects the immune system.

From: Pharmaton-Capsules.com

Is there anyone using this product? If so please let me now if it works... :)

Ray Charles 1930 - 2004

Ray Charles, the innovative singer and pianist whose combinations of blues and gospel pioneered soul music and earned him the nickname "the Genius," has died. He was 73. ( Cnn )

Music legend Ray Charles dies at 73. Grammy-winning R&B star sang hits such as 'Georgia on My Mind'. Despite being blind since age 7, Ray Charles was a gifted pianist and saxophonist and dabbled in country, jazz, big band and blues.
( Msnbc )

- Raycharles.com
- Biography of Ray Charles
- American masters: Ray Charles

Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra

Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra was in Istanbul this weekend and I was there to watch. Because it wasn't just music but the show was great as well... I just searched the net and found some limited stuff about them...

Here is their official web site but I'm afraid it hasn't been updated recently.

Their music is in fact Rock N Roll with a Balkan taste. The band is full of great soloists... On the drums, sits Emir Kusturica's son, he is one of the founders of the band as far as I know. They made the musics for the Kusturica film Black Cat White Cat.

Created in 1980 in Sarajevo by Dr. Nelle Karadjic, the gypsy technorock band Zabranjeno Pusenje causes polemic and censorship of Yugoslav authorities. Needless to say that the texts are rather virulent. Emir Kusturica joins the group in 1986 as a bass player. In 1994, during the conflicts, the group is reconstituted in Belgrade with Stribor Kusturica (Emir's son) at the drums, keeps its leader Dr. Nelle Karajilic, and takes the name of No Smoking Orchestra (English translation of Zabranjeno Pusenje, without the ambiguity on the nature of the smoked product...), while part of the members of the group keep the name of the original band, and continue a parallel career.

And here is what Emir Kusturica says about the band:

The NO SMOKING band is something more than a rock and roll band. They are a real phenomenon, a genuine attraction that in the late '80s changed the musical scene in Sarajevo and the whole of Yugoslavia for ever. Instead of the clever little compilations of stereotyped Western rock played by groups of male models dressed up as musicians clutching perfectly tuned instruments - a favourite of Tito's Yugoslavia, they were living proof that the social climate in that country was quite different from the staid atmosphere prevailing in neighbouring communist countries, such as Bulgaria - the NO SMOKING band brought on stage a mix of rationality and emotion - two key components that art can't do without - plus a lively street jargon and a taste for parody. They were real heroes in a real social drama. (Click to read all)

Take a look at "The unza unza music"...

Swiss Memory USB

The Swiss Memory USB is the perfect marriage of technology, practicality, materials, and quality design. It perfectly pulls together four important tools that no geek should ever be without (USB flash drive, LED light, Swiss Army knife, ballpoint pen). These functions have been skillfully integrated into this single super tool. Along with all these great features you also get the legendary construction quality and materials that Swiss Army knives have become famous for throughout the world. There is also a Travel Version that is suitable for carrying through airport security (it has only the USB memory, LED and ballpoint pen).

For more details and features: Thinkgeek.com

DVD to Pocket PC

From PocketGear.com; This software (DVD to Pocket PC 1.2.2) allows you to convert a DVD to your Pocket PC and watch it in great quality, with stereo sound and in full screen landscape mode. A memorycard as small as 128 Mb is sufficient to store a full length feature film (up to a hundred minutes). Take your DVD's on the plane, train or automobile, watch them on vacation, at work or at school. With only two clicks, this PC software automatically converts the content of your DVD to a super small movie file, which will play on any Windows Mobile 2003 device, such as HP iPaq, on a postage stamp size memory card.

To read more about this software...

Viridian Room

One of the most searched entries in fikirbaz.com was Crimson Room... When I looked at the activity log of fikirbaz.com I noticed that Viridian Room is a common search these days... So here is the Viridian Room by Takagi...

If you are interested in games like these, I had posted about Mystery Of Time and Space...

DVD Handycam® Camcorder

Experience the ultimate in videotaping convenience with Sony’s DCR-DVD201 DVD Handycam® Camcorder.

I have a miniDV camcorder ( Sony Trv10E ) I bought it around 5 years ago. These days editing videos are really easy as you use computer (and windows) based editing suites... But when you use tapes you have to transfer whole video to the computer and it takes a long time if you shot too long... But if you have a DVD Camcorder you need nothing but a couple of seconds...

Experience the ultimate in videotaping convenience with the DCR-DVD201 DVD Handycam® Camcorder from Sony. Now you can record directly onto 3-inch DVD-R and DVD-RW at resolutions comparable to MiniDV. Best of all, the DVD media can easily be viewed on most current DVD players and PCs, making playback a snap. You can even capture still JPEG images up to a maximum resolution of 1152 x 864 thanks to its 1-megapixel CCD imager. It’s like having both a camcorder and digital camera in one.

For more info and specs: Sonystyle.com

For a detailde pdf brochure... Step on this link...

Stairway To Heaven

(Led Zeppelin)

There’s a lady who’s sure
All that glitters is gold
And she’s buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she’s buying a stairway to heaven.

There’s a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
’cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook
There’s a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

There’s a feeling I get
When I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it’s whispered that soon
If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow
Don’t be alarmed now,
It’s just a spring clean for the may queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won’t go
In case you don’t know,
The piper’s calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How ev’rything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And she’s buying a stairway to heaven.

Low-Calorie Diet May Lengthen Life

Regimen Reduces Risk of Diseases Associated With Aging
By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, April 20, 2004; Page A03

A small group of people who are drastically restricting how much they eat in the hope of slowing the aging process have produced the strongest support yet for the tantalizing theory that very low-calorie diets can extend the human lifespan.

The first study of people who voluntarily imposed draconian diets on themselves found that their cholesterol levels, blood pressure and other major risk factors for heart disease -- the biggest killer -- plummeted, along with risk factors for diabetes and possibly other leading causes of death such as cancer and Alzheimer's.

"These people are definitely protected against the major killers," said John O. Holloszy of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who led the study, released online yesterday. "It should definitely increase longevity."

To read it all please click here...

What's New?

Wave Industries Delivers First Bluetooth-enabled 2.4 GHz Expandable Cordless Data Phone System for the Home.

Keep your data secure wherever you go! This portable drive uses the latest fingerprint recognition technology to ensure that only authorized users can access the drive! ClipDrive Bio™

At CeBIT 2004, KiSS Technology will introduce KiSS Coolview 22 - a flat-screen TV with a 22" TFT screen and built-in TV tuner, DVD player and WLAN. Coolview 30 with 30" screen will follow later, complementing KiSS Technology's HD Plasma TV.

Warning: Blogs Can Be Infectious

"The most-read webloggers aren't necessarily the ones with the most original ideas, say researchers at Hewlett-Packard Labs.

Using newly developed techniques for graphing the flow of information between blogs, the researchers have discovered that authors of popular blog sites regularly borrow topics from lesser-known bloggers -- and they often do so without attribution. "

LOL - TRhe Funny thing is I didn't got this bit of article form the original place but saw it in a blog of a friend... :)

Anyway, if you're interested in the topic you can read the whole article in Wired.com...

You might also like to read:
- Bloggers Gain Libel Protection
- Search Results Clogged by Blogs

Brand New Notebook: Toshiba Satellite A30-714 (or 754)

At last I have a new notebook. It's been for a while since I started looking for one and I made my mind up and got a Toshiba... In Turkey it is called Satellite A30-754 but in Europe i guess it is Satellite A30-714 (All the features & specs are same as far as I compared)

Anyway I recommend it strongly if you think of buying a new notebook. It has a DVD burner as well and only missing thing is connection via infrared or bluetooth but I solved the issue by buying a small usb bluetooth adapter. But the notebook and the bluetooth adaper are for reasonable prices...

Well, I celaned my hard discs, cab copy cd's or dvd's easily these days, have a great performance while using lots of windows and after using Windows 2000 Nt for years that feels interesting to drive a Windows Xp... So I might post lots of stuff these days ;)

Ifistanbul

IfIstanbul - Istanbul Independent Film Festival ended a couple of weeks ago, I happended to watch 4 films and I liked them all... They were:

- Old, New, Borrowed and Blue (4)
- Rules Of Attraction (3)
- The Green Butchers (1)
- The Triplets of Belleville (2)

I liked The Green Butchers most, I do like Jensen a lot, he still works with Zentropa and Lars Von Trier as far as I know. If you have chance to watch don't miss The Green Butchers...

(Independent Films Rule...)

Alpine Launches World’s First Car Audio Head Units to Allow True Integration with iPod

Mobile multimedia specialist Alpine has developed a system that enables consumers to connect and control their Apple iPod portable music player from their in-vehicle sound system. Alpine's iPod Ready strategy is part of the company's overarching mission to create innovative in-vehicle electronics that are easier to use and provide great sound in the mobile environment.

To learn more about the system and read the whole article...

Dali - Galatea of the Spheres, 1952

This is the last jigsaw puzzle I finished. These days I enjoy making jigsaw puzzles. This was rather an easy one as it was only 500 pieces. This is a painting of Salvador Dali, oil on canvas painted in 1952. I think because of 1952 is the year that my mother was born this painting reminds me of my mum... If you wanna see a bigger version of Galatea of the Spheres all you have to do is click here....
The previous year, Dalн had written his Mystical Manifesto, where he pronounced a new component of his universe, This double image of Gala combines the stimuli of spirituality and science, two recurrent obsessions in Dalн's works dated after the Second World War.

To learn more about Dali:
- SalvadorDaliMuseum.org - The Official Website of the Salvador Dali
- Salvador Dali Art Gallery- Dali Foundation
- The Salvador Dali Gallery
- Dali.com

And here is the daily quote of Dali: "Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad."

The New Opel Corsa

You can find some information about The New opel Corsa in Opel's worldwide web site or some specific information and some charts about the features and specifications in Turkish Opel site...

Here you can find a Turkish pdf about Corsa... (Recommended: Corsa 1.4 Twinport - Cosmo ;)

And also; don't forget that this is just a car; nothing can replace a classic vw bettle or a type 2 bus...

Two Turkish Blog / Türkçe İki Blog

Biliyorum, var meraklıları Türkçe Blog'ların da... Teknolojiden (ve hatta internetten de uzak) bir blog isterseniz, her gün yayınlanan hikayeler, mısralar, kalemden kağıda değil de bir blog'a akan satırları okumak isterseniz, tavsiye ederim: Berenis [uyumlu faniler bana uyumsuz derler delirttiniz beni ey ehven-i şerler uzlaşırsam namerdim ateşe verseler garanti muhabbetlere yılışamadım]

Hazır konusu açılmışken sitesahibi.com'dan bildiğimiz, sitesahibi.com'un bir reklam network'üne (banner exchange olayı) dönüşmesinin ardından ortadan yok olan site sahibi de geri döndü... Site sahibinin maruzatları da tam burada: SiteSahibi

Positive Illusions

This is one of the new terms I learned recently. I really liked it... "Positive Illusion" :) Anyway; a friend of mine gave me some academic articles & papers about the topic but as they are really academic generally it is hard to understand them... But, in one of the articles I found this:

Love to faults is always blind,
Always is to joy inclined,
Lawless, winged, and unconfined,
And breaks all chains from every mind.
(William Blake, 1791)

Onion Odour & Tears

I just searched the net for onion odour and what to do in order not to cry while slicing onions, and now I have some interesting answers that I still haven't tried any of them... But sure I will try some of these soon...

Eliminate Onion Odour: Oh the tears that onions can cause, well have a go at this next time you tackle the smelly little bulbs. Eliminate the onion odour by rubbing your fingers with vinegar before and after slicing. You can also eliminate tears when peeling or slicing onions if you first place the onions in the freezer for four or five minutes

And I also found a Kitchen Tips page that there are lots of useful tips besides the ones about onion...

"The Onion" is also the name of a humorous News Source: America's Finest News Source... Enjoy!

Astronomy

by Blue Oyster Cult

The clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst
Out at you from their hiding place
Like acid and oil on a madman's face
His reason tends to fly away

Like lesser birds on the four winds
Like silver scrapes in May
Now the sands become a crust
And most of you have gone away

Come Susy dear, let's take a walk
Just out there upon the beach
I know you'll soon be married
And you want to know where the winds come from

Well it's never said at all
On the map that Carrie reads
Behind the clock back there you know
At the four winds bar

Hey, hey, hey, hey
Four winds at the four winds bar
Two doors locked and windows barred
One door let to take you in
The other one just mirrors it
Hey, hey, hey, hey

In hellish glare and inference
The other one's a duplicate
The queenly flux, eternal light
Or the light that never warms (repeat twice)

The clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst
Out at you from their hiding place
Miss Carrie nurse and Suzy dear
Would find themselves at the four winds bar

It's the nexus of the crisis
The origin of storms
Just the place to hopelessly
Encounter time and then came me
Hey, hey, hey, hey

Call me Desdenova, eternal light
These gravely digs of mine
Will surely prove a sight
And don't forget my dog, fixed and consequent

Astronomy...a star (repeat indefinitely)

Good Bye Lenin

Last night I watched Good Bye Lenin! and I liked the film. Bundled with a lot of message & irony and some laughs it is a film that I can easily recommend.

October, 1989 was a bad time to fall into a coma if you lived in East Germany – and this is precisely what happens to Alex’s proudly socialist mother. Alex has a big problem on his hands when she suddenly awakens eight months later. Her heart is so weak that any shock might kill her. And what could be more shocking than the fall of the Berlin Wall and the triumph of capitalism in her beloved East Germany? To save his mother, Alex transforms the family apartment into an island of the past, a kind of socialist-era museum where his mother is lovingly duped into believing that nothing has changed. What begins as a little white lie turns into a major scam as Alex’s sister and selected neighbors are recruited to maintain the elaborate ruse – and keep her believing that Lenin really did win after all!

To read more about the film & comments from the director Wolfgang Becker all you have to do is to click here...

Here is the IMDB link for the film... .

Marketing Without Wires

Marketing Without Wires: Targeting Promotions and Advertising to Mobile Device Users

Practical advice and guidance for anyone who wants to serve the mobile consumer market
Written by Kim Bayne, formerly the host of the popular public radio program "The Cyber Media Show with Kim Bayne," this book uses cutting-edge case studies of early adopters who are setting the trends for mobile advertising to explain the major differences and similarities between wired and wireless marketing tools and how to leverage them for optimum advantage. Readers learn how to choose and implement the best options and services for their needs, and how to link offline and online programs to create a comprehensive integrated marketing presence. The book also shows how to develop strategies for delivering wireless content that mobile customers want and need, how to create a sure-fire wireless marketing program, and much more.
Companion Web site features helpful resources and articles on new developments in wireless marketing.

Please click here to buy the book...

Sweet Child O' Mine

(Do you know where Guns N Roses is?)

She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that
special place
And if I stared too long
I'd probably break down and cry

Sweet child o' mine
Sweet love of mine

She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain
Her hair reminds me
of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hide
And pray for the thunder
And the rain
To quietly pass me by

Sweet child o' mine
Sweet love of mine

Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Sweet child o' mine

Bye Bye Love

Lyrics: Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
Sung by: Simon and Garfunkel

Well I do love this song, tho the lyrics seems pretty pessimistic at the very beginning it is a cheerful song. I guess that's a geat attitude for this kinda things. Anyway at the end, the lyrics tell you why the song is so cheerful... I love Simon, and I love Garfunkel! Listen the song and enjoy your love...

Here is the official Simon and Garfunkel web site; please go check what the years have made to their faces... For Simon and Garfunke Guitar tabs & chords please click here...

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I’m gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love, goodbye

There goes my baby
With someone new
She sure looks happy
I sure am blue
She was my baby
Till he stepped in
Goodbye to romance
That might have been

Chorus

I’m through with romance
I’m through with love
I’m through with counting
The stars above
And here’s the reason
That I’m so free
My loving baby
Is through with me

Chorus

Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me)

(by Nancy Sinatra )

Bang bang you shot me down
Bang bang I hit the ground
Bang bang that awful sound
Bang bang my baby shot me down

I was five and you were six
We rose on horses made of sticks
I wore black you wore white
You would always win the fight

Bang bang you shot me down
Bang bang I hit the ground
Bang bang that awful sound
Bang bang my baby shot me down

Seasons came and changed the time
I grew up I called you mine
You would always laugh and say
Remember when we used to play

Bang bang you shot me down
Bang bang I hit the ground
Bang bang that awful sound
Bang bang my baby shot me down

Music played and people sang
Just for me the church bells rang
After echoes from a gun
We both vowed that we'd be one
Now he's gone I don't know why
Sometimes I cry
You didn't say good bye
You didn't take the time to lie

Bang bang you shot me down
Bang bang I hit the ground
Bang bang that awful sound
Bang bang my baby shot me down

iPod

Just a couple of days ago I bought a usb memory & mp3 player. I was thinking of buying one for quite a long time; at last I saw a 256mb one I decided not to thing too much. As it is small enought to carry on the go I got it and as soon as uploading some of my favourite songs I started to carry it with me.

Friday afternoon a FedEx delivery guy came to my office with a huge box, made me sign the papers and left it... (I was so sure that I was not expecting anything fron anywhere) I opened the box and there was 3 - 4 pieces of gift wrapped in red papers... And it was an iPOD... (Big big surprise) Not only a 20GB iPod with a dock, universal adapters kit, headphones, wired remote and a JBL Creature Speakers... Exciting...

It took me a while to install iTunes and all the stuff and at the very moment I am in the office listening Lenny Kravitz - American Woman with a great subwoofer effect.. ;) I guess I will be telling more about my iPod experience really soon...

- Apple's iPod site
- Cool iPod Accesorries
- Turkish iPod site
- JBL Creature

Nutella

I always thougt that Nutella was german... In fact it is italian!

In 1949, Ferrero made a "supercrema gianduja" which was spreadable as well as inexpensive. This product became so popular that Italian food stores started a service called "The Smearing". Children could go to their local food store with a slice of bread for a "smear" of "supercrema gianduja". In 1964 supercrema gianduja was renamed "Nutella" (its origin being the word "nut"), and began to be marketed outside Italy!

The original Nutella site is in italian but here is the english one...

Fresh Mirror Projects

It's been a long time sinc I last posted some mirror projects... Here is three of them...
This is one of my two guitars: My Electric Guitar;
This is my aftershave... (It is time for advertisement ;)
And this is is just an ordinary mirror in an ordinary hotel room...
Enjoy...

It is going to be a cold cold winter...

I dont usually post jokes in here... But today I read a really funny one and as it is getting really cold in Istanbul these days I decided to post it... An hour or so ago I talked about the weather with a friend and said that winters are awful in Istanbul; cold, wet, dark... Anyway... Here is the story about an Indian chief:

It was autumn, and the Indians on the remote reservation asked their new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild.

Since he was an Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets and, when he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, He replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to
be prepared.

But also, being a practical leader, he decided to seek advice from experts.

He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"

"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed," the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared.

A week later he called the National Weather Service again. "Is it still going to be a cold winter?" he asked.

"Yes," the man at the National Weather Service again replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter.

The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.

Two weeks later he called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that this winter is going to be very cold?" he asked for a third time.

"Absolutely," the weatherman replied. "In fact, it's going to be one of the coldest winters ever!"

"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.

The weatherman replied, "The Indians are gathering wood like crazy .....

You Are My Sunshine

A friend of mine reminded me of You Are My Sunshine today... I learned this song when I was 11 - 12; as I was learning english... Our teacher had teached this song in the lesson... Since then I remember some words... Today I learned more... Tho it is an easy song with an easy music & lyrics it is obvious that thisis not a school song... Anyway, for me this song will always be my school song... :)

Written by former Louisiana State Governor Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell; Copyright 1940 and 1977 by Peer International Corporation. This song is one of two official songs for the State of Louisiana.

The other nite, dear,
As I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms.
When I awoke, dear,
I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried.

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

I'll always love you
And make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me
To love another
You'll regret it all some day;

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

You told me once, dear
You really loved me
And no one else could come between
But now you've left me
And love another
You have shattered all my dreams;

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

Louisiana my Louisiana
the place where I was borne.
White fields of cotton
-- green fields clover,
the best fishing
and long tall corn;

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
Crawfish gumbo and jambalaya
the biggest shrimp and sugar cane,
the finest oysters
and sweet strawberries
from Toledo Bend to New Orleans;

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

Phone bloggers get multimedia upgrade

Graeme Wearden, ZDNet UK; November 27, 2003

Foneblog v2 brings more features to mobile bloggers, and more revenue to operators' pockets

Ireland-based NewBay Software has updated its software, which lets people update Web logs by mobile phone, adding community messaging features, better statistics and support for the latest multimedia phones, in a bid to help increase revenues for operators.

With FoneBlog v2, bloggers can be notified by text message, multimedia message (MMS), WAP or email whenever anyone posts a comment to their blog, while visitors can now ask to be notified of any updates to their favourite FoneBlog site. It's also easier for a reader to forward pictures from a FoneBlog.

NewBay believes this will help to create user-driven communities of phone bloggers and their readers. The company said FoneBlog v2 has also been optimised for the latest multimedia phones. An animation option will now let bloggers 'broadcast' a series of pictures over MMS, or even SMS.

The original FoneBlog was launched in early 2003. So far it has only been deployed by O2 Ireland, but NewBay hopes to get more mobile operators onboard and recently teamed up with Verio to develop its product.

It appears that the motivation behind many of FoneBlog v2's upgrades, in particular the text and MMS updates, is to increase the amount of revenue generated by the mobile operator from customers.

"FoneBlog v2 gives mobile operators a better, easier to use, more addictive product that generates increased messaging traffic," said Paddy Holahan, chief executive of NewBay Software, in a statement.

"FoneBlog [will]… convert operators' technological capability into real revenue."

Freedom - Paul McCartney

As I was sitting on bed im my hote room I have an eye on Tv, there is a music program in a foreign channel (I think it is Hungarian) Paul McCartney is singing a song called freedom playing acoustic guitar... Here is the lyrics...

Freedom

This is my right
A right given by God
To live a free life
To live in freedom

Talkin' about freedom
I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
I will fight
For the right
To live in freedom

Anyone tries to take it away
They'll have to answer
'Cause this is my right

I'm talkin' about freedom
Talkin' 'bout freedom
I will fight
For the right
To live in freedom

I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
I will fight
For the right
To live in freedom

Everybody talkin' 'bout freedom
We're talkin' 'bout freedom
We will fight
For the right
To live in freedom

I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
Talkin' 'bout freedom
I will fight
For the right
To live in freedom

I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
I'm talkin' 'bout freedom
We will fight
For the right
To live in freedom

Michael Kamen Dies At 55

Michael Kamen was a great composer combining classical music with hard rock. He had also composed music for lots of Hollywood productions such as Leathal Weapon, Die Hard, Robin Hood... Lots of young hard rock fans know him from Metallica's S&M (Symphony & Metallica) album, he was the guy arranged all the songs for classical music and that also lead to a Grammy award...

Michael Kamen, the Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated composer who fused hard-rock riffs with classical styling in albums for Pink Floyd and provided music for the "Lethal Weapon" and "Die Hard" movies," has died at age 55.

Kamen collapsed in his London home Tuesday from an apparent heart attack, according to his Los Angeles-based publicist, Jeff Sanderson.

Kamen collaborated with a wide range of artists, from the London Philharmonic to Aerosmith , Metallica and jazz saxophonist David Sanborn.

Although Kamen was classically trained and studied oboe at New York's Julliard School, the composer's distinctive long, curly hair and beard made him look more like a heavy-metal guitarist than a classical conductor.

He was known for combining those two sensibilities. Among his most famous collaborations was on the orchestral arrangements in Pink Floyd's 1979 album "The Wall." He also worked with the band on the albums "The Final Cut" and "The Division Bell."

Kamen's most recent Grammy win came in 2001, when he shared the award for best rock instrumental performance with Metallica for conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in the metal-rock band's song "The Call of Ktulu." [Quote from Launch]

Michael Kamen in MSN Entertainment...

Queen Live At Wembley Stadium

This is the last DVD I bought: Queen - The DVD Collection: Live At Wembley Stadium. I just had a quick look and yes... It is great, I look forward to get home to watch it... I love Queen, I grew up listening Queen and I do think that Freddie Mercury is rock icon.

A Kind of Magic Tour was a great tour and in this concert they played all of their highlights & some new songs. It is from 1986, around the time Queen was at the very top. The DVD has two discs including "Wembley Unseen" some new interviews with Roger Taylor and Brian May (I also like Brian May a lot, he is a great guitar player and composer) some rehersal footage, multi angle songs and backstage documentary.

QueenOnline.com is the official web site of Queen... If you wanna buy the DVD I recommend Blackstar.co.uk if you're in Europe; I bought it from a Turkish site, (so if you're from Turkey try here.)

Wembley Stadium is agreat venue for this kinda big scale concerts, I really would like to watch some of my favourite bands in Wembley. (And I wished I could watch The Freddie Mercury Tribute for AIDS Awareness in Wembley...)

There is a beetle hanging on the ceiling...

I found this photo in Garbomania.com, I do think that someone has done a great job. The site is not in English and I could not get any info about the artist or tha "art" itself but I keep on searching. If anyone knows anything, you're welcome. (I think in Magyar "garbo" means "vw beetle" or as we call it in Turkish: "vosvos", but I am not sure... :) [You can click on the photo on the left to see it bigger]

November Rain

Novembers remember me of "November Rain", this song makes me wanna play piano (makes me wanna learn how to play the piano first ;) Anyway, here is the whole song... (I guess I love novembers... May be because I am a november child)(And yes, I am a scorpio in this case... :)

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same

'Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain

We've been through this auch a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain

But lovers always come and lovers always go
An no one's really sure who's lettin' go today
Walking away

If we could take the time
to lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine
So if you want to love me
then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain

Do you need some time...on your own
Do you need some time...all alone
Everybody needs some time...
on their own
Don't you know you need some time...all alone

I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you

Sometimes I need some time...on my
own
Sometimes I need some time...all alone
Everybody needs some time...
on their own
Don't you know you need some time...all alone

And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

Don't ya think that you need somebody
Don't ya think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

--
"November Rain" Copyright Guns N' Roses 1991
From the album "Use Your Illusion I" Released September 17th 1991

Nemo Has Been Found

Finding Nemo still has not opened in Turkey and I guess we will have to wait till February till it hits big screen... Anyway, I waz lucky enough to watch it, and now I am waiting for its DVD to be released... And I guess someone had already find Nemo before he arrived in Istanbul... Click on the image above to find out who had found him...

Mini Coopers Old or New

At the weekend I watched Italian Job, as a classic cars fan (tho I am in fact a vw bettles fan) I also like Mini Coopers and as Mini Coopers steal the show in 'The Italian Job', I liked the cars and I liked the action. (There was nothing too new but the cars) Anyway; then I got into a bet with a friend that there were 4 Mini Cooppers in the movie and three of them were new, but one was old. (She says all of them were new) Anyway, the cars that they used in the theft were all new, and the original car that Stella (Charlize Theron) (And yes she is beautiful) was driving at the beginning of the film was old.

Well, if anyone has watched, please comment. Even if you dont; let me show you two photos. In this picture the car at the background is old... And the cars in this picture are new... You decide...

As I was searching the net I also found movie mistakes... There are some interesting things about the new mini cooopers thet used in the film.. Check these out... (You might also like to see a play station game ;)

The Moral Of The Story

A mother and a baby camel were lazing around, and suddenly the baby camel asked ...
Baby: Mother, mother, may I ask you some questions?
Mother: Sure! Why son, is there something bothering you?
Baby: Why do camels have humps?
Mother: Well son, we are desert animals, we need the humps to store water and we are known to survive without water.
Baby: Okay, then why are our legs long and our feet rounded?
Mother: Son, obviously they are meant for walking in the desert. You know with these legs I can move around the desert better than anyone does! Said the mother proudly.
Baby: Okay, then why are our eyelashes long? Sometimes it bothers my sight. Mother: My son, those long thick eyelashes are your protective cover. They help to protect your eyes from the desert sand and wind. Said mother camel with eyes rimming with pride....
Baby: I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for walking through the desert and these eye lashes protects my eyes from the desert......
Then what the hell are we doing here in the Zzzoooooo !!!!!!???

MORAL OF THE STORY IS:
Skills, knowledge, abilities and experiences are only useful if you are at the right place.

Wanna Buy Me A Gift?

"Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?" is a book by Alfredo Marcantonio, John O'Driscoll, David Abbott; about all the great Vw advertsinh through years.

In 1959, Doyle Dane Bernbach, the New York advertising agency, was appointed to handle the Volkswagen account in the USA. The advertisements they produced throughout the sixties and early seventies changed the face of advertising, not just in America, but across the world.

This book is a story of the car and its advertising. In a unique way the two were indistinguishable – the charming, honest advertising became part of the charm and honesty of the car. If you ever owned a Beetle, if you’ve ever chuckled at a Volkswagen advertisement, or if you simply appreciate wit and style, you will enjoy this book. It’s the tale of an ugly duckling that became an office pin-up.

Office boys read them aloud by the water cooler. College kids recited them at campus parties. They were the marketing conversation piece of the sixties.

To let the Beetle and its advertising pass on without a permanent record seemed a crying shame. For surely, no car was ever more loved, no advertising more admired. In a way the two became indivisible. The charming honest advertising became part of the charm and honesty of the car.

If you've ever owned a Beetle, if you've ever chuckled at a Volkswagen advertisement, or if you simply appreciate wit and style, you'll enjoy this book. It's the tale of an ugly duckling that became an office pin up.

The Rhytym Of Love

At the weekend at last I found Scorpions Acoustica on DVD. Tho I am not a Scorpions fan I really liked the DVD and acoustic versions of the songs. I keep on listening/watching the dvd. I even started looking for lyrics and also tabs. I took my guitar after a looong looong time and tried Rhytym Of Love.... Below is the lyrics & here are the tabs...

(Music :Rudolf Schenker, Lyrics:Klaus Meine)

Let's spend the night together
I know you want it too
The magic of the moment
Is what I've got for you
The heartbeat of this night
Is made to lose control
And there is something in your eyes
That's longing for some more
Let us find together
The beat we're looking for

The rhythm of love
Keeps me dancing on the road
The rhythm of love
Got the groove that hits the bone
The rhythm of love
Is the game I'm looking for
The rhythm of love
Is the heartbeat of my soul

Let's reach the top together
One night will never do
An exploding shot of pleasure
Is what I've got for you
Why don't you close your eyes
And let your feeling grow
I make you feel the taste of life
Until your love will flow
Let us find together
The beat we're longing for

The rhythm of love
Keeps me dancing on the road
The rhythm of love
Got the groove that hits the bone
The ryhthm of love
Is the game I'm looking for
The rhythm of love
Is the heartbeat of my soul

Let us find together
The beat we're looking for

Countdown To Extinction

Endangered species, caged in fright
Shot in cold blood, no chance to fight
The stage is set, now pay the price
An ego boost, don't think twice
Technology, the battle's unfair
You pull the hammer without a care
Squeeze the trigger that makes you Man
Pseudo-safari, the hunt is canned...
The hunt is canned

All are gone, all but one
No contest, nowhere to run
No more left, only one
This is it, this is the Countdown to Extinction

Tell the truth, you wouldn't dare
The skin and trophy, oh so rare
Silence speaks louder than words
Ignore the guilt, and take your turn
Liars anagram is "lairs"
Man you were never even there
Killed a few feet from the cages
Point blank, you're so courageous...
So courageous

One hour from now,
another species of life form
will disappear off the face of the planet
forever...and the rate is accelerating

(Mustaine/Menza/Ellefson/Friedman)

Pablo Neruda...

I happen to be tired of being a man
I happen to enter tailor shops and movie houses
withered, impenetrable, like a felt swan
navigating in a water of sources and ashes.
(from 'Walking Around')

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), whose real name is Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, was born on 12 July, 1904, in the town of Parral in Chile. His father was a railway employee and his mother, who died shortly after his birth, a teacher. Some years later his father, who had then moved to the town of Temuco, remarried doña Trinidad Candia Malverde. The poet spent his childhood and youth in Temuco, where he also got to know Gabriela Mistral, head of the girls' secondary school, who took a liking to him. At the early age of thirteen he began to contribute some articles to the daily "La Mañana", among them, Entusiasmo y Perseverancia - his first publication - and his first poem. In 1920, he became a contributor to the literary journal "Selva Austral" under the pen name of Pablo Neruda, which he adopted in memory of the Czechoslovak poet Jan Neruda (1834-1891). Some of the poems Neruda wrote at that time are to be found in his first published book: Crepusculario (1923). The following year saw the publication of Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada, one of his best-known and most translated works. Alongside his literary activities, Neruda studied French and pedagogy at the University of Chile in Santiago.

Novelty Chess Sets

When I was looking for Tikal the boardgame on the net, I found Peanuts Chess Set. I liked it. It is a great way of making a child play chess and also it is a great collector's item. Then I remembered the chess sets I saw in a shop in London they were novelty chess sets; Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Simpsons and some others, when I searched for them, I found them altogether: Novelty Chess Sets. (A great gift idea if you have chesslover collector friends :) And you can find all chess related things in Chessexpress.com... Enjoy!

Rseacrh

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny ipmroetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.

Graduation Photos Are Always Great

Well... Graduations are always great. It is a door to a new life... And photos makes you remember lots of funny memories with lots of people... I guess this photo is from India and it seems it's been a great graduation day. But I'd love to see the photos taken just after this shot. [And please click on the photo above to see whole photo.]

Catching The Moment

I just found some studio photos about glasses thanks to limk.com (tr).

Check out Splutphoto.com. There are some great photos in their site. Their great links in their "links" section. I also found a Turkish photographer Nejat E. in their links.

Weblog or Web Log

It's been a while since I hadn't quoted form Jason Kottke. Recently he made a statement about weblog or web log and he really clarified the topic:

When dealing with words generated by the Internet, where people stick bits of different words together with reckless abandon, I can understand the need for high-quality newspapers and magazines to use the proper grammatical approach in dealing with compound words, hyphens, etc. At first blush, "weblog" appears to be a shortened version of "web log" which is in turn a shortened version of "World Wide Web log", in which case the usage the media has adopted would be more or less correct ("Web log" would probably be more correct). But the evidence doesn't support this

Mirrorred Again...

If there was not a limitation in mirror project I think i'd have tons of photographs submitted. But because one can only post three pictures a week I do have to wait week by week to submit my goodies... :P The worst thing is, just after submitting three pieces I do have chance to take more. Yesterday some new mirror photographs of mine are published and just after that I took about 6-7 great mirror photos. So, now I have to wait for another week...

Anyway here are the three recent photos I submitted: 1, 2, 3... Enjoy... (And please don't tell me that I am getting fat... (I know...)

(For all my 13 mirror project photographs you can visit this link...)

The Small Hours

(Originally written by: Holocaust; but mostly known by Metallica ;)

Look out at the darkness, and you will see.
Just call my name and I'll be there.
You cannot touch me, you would not dare.
I am the chill that's in the air.

And I try to get through to you, in my own special way,
As the barriers crumble at the end of the day.

Dark rivers are flowing back into the past.
You are the fish for which I cast.
And what of the future, what is to be.
As the rivers flow into the sea.

And I try to get through to you, in my own special way,
As the barriers crumble at the end of the day.

Do not take for granted, powers out there.
Don't step into the demon's lair.
Time is an illusion, rising from time.
Steep is the mountain which we climb.

And I try to get through to you, in my own special way,
As the barriers crumble at the end of the day.

Fresh Mirror Projects

I have submitted some new reflection photos to the mirror project last week. As I was going to work one morning I found myself in front of a mirror shop and luckly only thing I was carrying was my Nikon. So here this one and that one is all about the mirror shop.

The third photo is a vintage refrigerator. It has just arrived prom painting and all that stuff, I still do not know whether it works or not but I think I will be using it without switching on. I liked the color; what 'bout you?

And I also put a link on the main navigation to the mirror project. With the link you can directly go to my photos in mirror project.

Smilies

smile (n): a change of facial expression involving a brightening of the eyes and an upward curving of the corners of the mouth that may express amusement, pleasure, affection, irony, or derision ...

A long time ago I had decided to use smilies in fikirbaz:com but I could'nt spare time to find & download any. Anyway, today at last, I found some and uploaded. There are lots of resources for smilies and here are the ones I came across first.
Mysmilies.com
PlanetSmilies.com
And, here you can find lots of smiley expressions you can type with keyboard... Here is an example:
C=}>;*{O) (Mega-Smiley - A drunk, devilish chef with a toupee in an updraft, a mustache, and a double chin)

Dust In The Wind - Kansas

I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind.
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind

[Now] Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy.

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind.

Tv Tuning Cards & Test Signals

Before televisions started 24 hour broadcasting we used to see a tuning card and a test signal when we open the Tv. As those were the years we were kids (in fact I still do believe that I am a little kid) those test signals mean a lot to me... (Tho I used to hate them, today I love them, they are pretty retro and cool in my opinion) And when I start building web pages I love to use them instead of "under construction" notes...

Anyway; I love tuning cards; and here are some links you can find them and let yourself swim in the sea of nostalgia... ;)

The test card gallery: Lots of test cards and there also is an f.a.q section.
Art > Television > History > Testcards : Google has some links in its web directory...
And, sub-tv has some ancient test cards here...

Tasmanian Devils

Most of us know tasmanian devils thanks to Bugs Bunny cartoons. (At least me... Ok?) Today, I decided to ask for more and I found some links & photos of the real guy...

In Bugs Bunny cartoons, the Tasmanian Devil was a savage, ill-tempered beast that walked on two legs. In reality, the animal, which is a marsupial, isn't much of a hunter at all. Tasmanian devils are mainly scavengers that feed on dead wallabies and sheep. They also eat the larvae of some beetles and have been known to attack poultry.

The Tasmanian Devil is a common marsupial found only in Tasmania. It is nocturnal and was named by early European settlers because of its eerie growl, which starts as a kind of whistle and ends in a bark.
Devils have a body length of approximately 2 feet (60cm), and are known for their ferocity and foul tempers. They generally eat other small mammals and reptiles, as well as scavenging on dead animals of all kinds.

Anyway, there are lots of links that you can get further information... And I found a cute slide show faq about Tasmanian devils...
The interactive tour of Tasmania: The Tasmanian Devil
Clicking here you can even hear a tasmanian devil...
Tasmanian-Devils.org
Here is a bigphoto of a devil... Tasmanian devil... (frightening shot it is)
And well, youngsters are always cute aren't they?
And finally here id tasgreetings.com...

The Mommy Test

I just read this joke; I really liked it and decided to put it here... This is dedicated to all the mothers (and potential mothers as well ;)
* * *
I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I asked her not to that.
"Why?"
"Because its been laying outside and is dirty and probably has germs."
At this point, she looked at me with total admiration and asked,"Wow!How do you know this stuff?"
"Uh,"(I was thinking quickly, everyone knows this stuff) "Um, it's on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mommy.
"Oh"
We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information.
"I get it!" she beamed. "Then if you flunk, you have to be the Daddy!"

Nights in White Satin

Last night when I got home Moody Blues was playing Nights in White Satin on tv. It was live and I liked to listen the song before I felt asleep. (Actually I listened 3 songs... )

Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues
(words and music by Justin Hayward)

Nights in white satin never reaching the end
Letters I've written never meaning to send
Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before
Just what the truth is I can't say any more
Cause I love you
Yes I love you
Oh how I love you

Gazing at people some hand in hand
Just what I'm going through they can't understand
Some try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend
Just what you want to be you'll be in the end
And I love you
Yes I love you
Oh how I love you, oh

-Here are Moody Blues links...

Murphy's Laws

At last we finished moving on to a new office, it was rather smooth but of course Murphy's Laws made us remember themselves every now and then... So at the end of monday sitting in the new office I searched for Murphy's Laws...

Murphy's Law: prov. The correct, original Murphy's Law reads: "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it." This is a principle of defensive design, cited here because it is usually given in mutant forms less descriptive of the challenges of design for lusers. For example, you don't make a two-pin plug symmetrical and then label it `THIS WAY UP'; if it matters which way it is plugged in, then you make the design asymmetrical.

And finally here is murphys-laws.com

Temmuzda - Im Juli - In July

Today as lazing on a sunday afternoon I watched 3 movies. First one was Spider-Man (that i don't need to mention here :) But the second one should be mentioned. It was one of the best films I watched lately. "Im Juli" is its original name. It is a German film. (The director Fatih Akin is Turkish living in Germany; there are germans and turkish actors/actresses in the cast.

Moritz Bleibtreu can be remembered with his role in Run Lola Run; he is great in "Im Juli". And Christiane Paul acts as "Juli" and she is really (really) pretty. Though Im Juli released in 2001 (and is a film of a Turkish director) it coul released in Turkey this week... So, if you're in Germany you might have already watched it. If not; by any chance you come across; watch it!

"In July" won lots of prizes in international film festivals and is a story of a guy (Moritz Bleibtreu) travelling from Hamburg-Germany to Istanbul-Turkey in order to meet the girl he liked.

Here is the official web site (in Turkish) and you can find lots of reviews here in Rottentomatoes.com.

Daniel's wild odyssey is shared by Juli (the stunning Christiane Paul), a young woman hungry for life who predicts Daniel will soon find his one true love. But until then, the two must conquer Europe, by truck, car, bus, boat and foot and find out on the way that the laws of physics don't always apply. -- © 2001 Film Philos

Posted by Fikirbaz at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

T-Six-ten

After my cell phones tragic drowning, now I have a new toy. T-Six-ten. It is one of the newest phones of Sony Ericsson; it has a built-in camera and in their web site they have montly competitions that you submit your photos and they publish. (I dunno how they know tjat a particular photo is shot by a T610) Anyway I am so far satisfied with my new phone. As a guy working in Mobile Communications sector and someone using mobile applications in everyday life T610 is cool... You can check its web site or read some reviews...

Vw in Mirror Project

I submitted two photos to the mirror project while I was on holiday. Both of them are vw bettle related and here they are:

First one is the back of a foglight (of a vw) This bettle is called Vecihi and owned by a friend of mine.

Second one is a hubcap of a vw tyre. This bettle is called Helga...

E-mail Subjects

After a long long time I cleared my hotmail inbox. My hotmail account is 7-8 years old or so and as an "old account" it gets a lot of spam, junk mail, advertisements etc... I generally just look at "from" field and delete all the mail... Today I checked the subjects and decided to write som of the here... "Creative" ones... (That try to hunt you... :) Here are some of the subjects that made me smile:

Chloe said you
I know all about you
Hi !
I have the cure.
You sure will want it
Look what i have found
Wanna hear a joke?
Don't be silly
You blocked my ICQ
Lets work this out
Dont tell her please
Why don’t you like me?
Did I offend you?
I can’t believe you forgot

Micsosoft Releases Msn Messenger 6.0 Beta

Compared to Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger was really uncolorful and unfunny; (tho, when you need a simple messenger with simple messaging interface msn messenger is a great choice) Now, if you have lots of time at the office you can play and customize messenger 6.0; more emoticons, your own emoticons, backgrounds all that stuff... The best improvement 6.0 is I think webcam communication and the games that two can play at the same time. Check it out: MSN Messenger 6.0 Beta... (and I guess you know how to contact me via msn messenger... Name and surname together at hotmail dot com ;)

Friday the 13th

When I sat on my westy's driver's seat this morning there was no ignition. At the very moment I realized that today is Friday 13th... I had to find some guys to push the westy till it ignited and motor started to run; I had to spend 2,5 hour in an electrician to fix the things up... Anyway; after a search about the Friday 13th:

Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky?
Origins of Friday the 13th...
Friday 13th virus...
Friday 13th Films
Fiday 13th Hash
and a mini quiz can be found here about fridays & especially Friday 13th... Enjoy!

Dolphin's Cry

(by Live) (Live in Allmusic.com, tabs of Dolphin's Cry, Friends of Live)

The way you're bathed in light
Reminds me of that night
God laid me down into your rose garden of trust
And I was swept away
With nothin' left to say
Some helpless fool
Yeah I was lost in a swoon of peace
You're all I need to find
So when the time is right
Come to me sweetly, come to me
Come to me

Love will lead us, alright
Love will lead us, she will lead us
Can you hear the dolphin's cry?
See the road rise up to meet us
It's in the air we breathe tonight
Love will lead us, she will lead us

Oh yeah, we meet again
It's like we never left
Time in between was just a dream
Did we leave this place?
This crazy fog surrounds me
You wrap your legs around me
All I can do to try and breathe
Let me breathe so that I
So we can go together!

Love will lead us, alright
Love will lead us, she will lead us
Can you hear the dolphin's cry?
See the road rise up to meet us
It's in the air we breathe tonight
Love will lead us, she will lead us

Life is like a shooting star
It don't matter who you are
If you only run for cover, it's just a waste of time
We are lost 'til we are found
This phoenix rises up from the ground
And all these wars are over

10th Internationa Istanbul Jazz Festival

It's time; 10th Internationa Istanbul Jazz Festival will start in July and there will be great concerts. I bought my tickets today. For now I bought tickets for three concerts:

Buena Vista Social Club presents Ibrahim Ferrer "Buenos Hermanos" Tour,Marcus Miller with Marcus Miller Big Band and Malia

I will be telling you more about the artists soon...

Looking for a present (for me) ?

So... Tho my birthday isn't even near here is a cool t-shirt from O'reilly... I like the stuff in Thinkgeek. To go and purchase this tee simply click on this link... :)

Wanna get notified?

The last thing I added to the column right is a notification list... If you wanna get an e-mail about new posts all you need to do is leave me your e-mail (we'll call later :P ) Gettinh added to the notification list doen't mean that you'll be notified of all the new posts. (That'd be boring) When I think that people should be notified; you'll be notified... That's the deal... And please don't hesitate about privacy... I promise not to sell your e-mail adresses unless they offer something good ;)

Three Buddies

As far as I could remember this was a big campaign and there should be more ads with the same concept; I'll try to find the other posters or outdoor visuals soon, (as soon as I have my connection back) Till then smile with these... Don't forget to click on the image ;)

Man On The Moon

(by R.E.M - Man On The Moon / Soundtrack)

Mott the Hoople and the game of Life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Monopoly, Twenty one, checkers, and chess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Let's play Twister, let's play Risk. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
See you heaven if you make the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby. Are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon.
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool.

Moses went walking with the staff of wood. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Newton got beaned by the apple good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey, Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby. Are you having fun?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon.
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool.

Here's a little agit for the never-believer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Here's a little ghost for the offering. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Here's a truck stop instead of Saint Peter's. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mister Andy Kaufman's gone wrestling [wrestling bears]. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah.

Hey Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy are you goofing on Elvis, hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon.
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool.

Major Connection Problems

Due to the damage on fiberoptic cables in Mediteranian Sea Turkey's internet connection really suffers these days and the damage wouldn't have been fixed till June 6th...

Some of the ISP's started using Balkans Connection but it is insufficient as well... With my usual connection I can not even see my own site as it is not hosted in Turkey. ( I guess foreign visitors don't have any problems seeing the site)

Anyway, I started using a dial-up account to update fikirbaz:com... So I will go on updating even I can not see your comments timely and properly... (C'mon, not really; of course I can download my e-mails thru dial up ;)

Two Days, Two Winners

I guess this weekend was a lucky weekend for Turkey. Eurovision Song Contest is somehow one of the biggest events that everybody cross their fingers for but till this year Turkey hasn't success... This year the winner is Turkey! In fact it is not surprising as the song and the performance were tailor made "to win" Turkish music, oriantal sound, english lyrcs, a successfull singer with beautiful adncers etc. Anyway, Turkey is the winner and everybody araound seems to enjoy... So let's enjoy ;) (Here is the official eurovision site... )

And todays (in fact Sunday's) best thing (and in my opinion it is much much more importand) a Turkish feature film succeded in Cannes Film Festival. Even the nomination was very importand as as Turkey had never had a nomination but "UZAK" won two prizes. "Grand Juri Prize" is the first, and "The Best Actor" is the second prize. Two actors won the prize: Muzaffer Ozdemir and Mehmet Emin Toprak, Mehmet Emin Toprak had passed away several months ago in a traffic accident; this was hs first film and he even wasn't a professional actor.

"UZAK" is directed (and written) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan... (I think the world will hear about this guy a lot...)

The big surprise is that Lars Von Trier's Dogville didn't get any prizes tho it was one of the biggest favourtes. In spite, Gus Van Sant's (Good Will Hunting, Psycho) "Elephant" won the Palme D'or... Here is list of winners...

White Room by Clapton

I just listened to White Room from Eric Clapton. I loce E.C., I believe that he is a guitar legend. I just watched White Room live and it was amazing. Try to find and download it... Here is the lyrics: (and slowhand.net has lots of e.c. links ;)

In the white room with black curtains near the station.
Blackroof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings.
Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes.
Dawnlight smiles on you leaving, my contentment.

I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves.

You said no strings could secure you at the station.
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows.
I walked into such a sad time at the station.
As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning.

I'll wait in the queue when the trains come back;
Lie with you where the shadows run from themselves.

At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd.
Consolation for the old wound now forgotten.
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes.
She's just dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings.

I'll sleep in this place with the lonely crowd;
Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves.

A man, a bike and a goat...

There were problems to solve, i.e. you have a boat, a wolf, a lamb and some grass, you have to carry all these across the river but you can only have two of them on the boat at the same time... If you have a bike, a man and a goat, what'd you do? :) [And, for an answer, don't forget to click on the imahe above:-]

Rat Race

A couple of nights ago I watched Rat Race; it is a film by Jerry Zucker (Airplane, Top Secret, Ghost) and tho it wasn't as funny as ZAZ films Airplane or Top Secret, especially the second half really made me laugh out loud. The cast is really great with Whoopi Goldberg; Cuba Gooding Jr, Kathy Bates, Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, Seth Green and lots of other guys... So; if you come across, watch it...

3rd, 4th, 5th in The Mirror Project

When you carry your digital camera with you all the time and you have something like the mirror project in your mind you start to look for reflective surfaces around you. (All the time) And If you find yourself in a five star hotel... Bingo... Mirrors everywhere... Yes, people stare at you as if you're an idiot as you take photos but who cares...

So; here is my 3rd piece in the mirror project: Where is the restroom?

4th one might be describing myself... Food & Booze... I love this couple...:) Food & Beverage Manager

And this is the last one, and we have a guest in this one... A curious guest: Coats Please...

Bad Habit

I have a "Bad Habit" t-shirt on me today, Bad Habit is a song by The Offspring and it is all about a guy who really changes when he starts to drive a car. (There are lots of guys in Istanbul that really needs an exorcist while diriving :)

Well; on the backside of the tee a little part of the lyrics is written: "stupid dumbshit goddam motherfucker" (well, I don't drive my car that way... but i love the song & i love my t-shirt... :)

Hey man you know I'm really okay
The gun in my hand will tell you the same
But when I'm in my car
Don't give me no crap
Cause the slightest thing and I just might snap

When I go driving I stay in my lane
But getting cut off makes me insane
I open the glove box
Reach inside
I'm gonna wreck this fucker's ride

I guess I got a bad habit...

...I guess I got a bad habit
And it ain't goin' away Yeah
Well they say the road's a dangerous place
If you flip me off I'm the danger you'll face
You drive on my ass
You're foot's on the gas
And your next breath is your last
Drivers are rude
Such attitudes
But when I show my piece
Complaints cease
Something's odd
I feel like I'm God
You stupid dumbshit goddam motherfucker

I open the glove box
Reach inside
I'm gonna wreck this fucker's ride

Hello Mosquito...

Here is something like a game; if you're really bored, here you can kill some mosquitos... It doesn't have levels and it neither has an end; I got bored around 250... If you wait long enough mosquitos grow really big... That's more fun to hit them when they're grown up...

Charlie Chaplin - Summer 1959

When asked by Jean Cocteau why he looked sad, Charles Chaplin replied: "Because I've become rich by making films about poor people."

The Man With No "Fear" (!)

On the weekend I had a Daredevil t-shirt on me, in the front it was written 'the man with no fear' In no time it reminded me of Dune and The Bene Gesserit Littainy against Fear:

Dune is a classic science fiction book written by Frank Herbert. It has been made into a film, but unlike most such film adaptations the film is a serious artistic work in it's own right and it's worth seeing the film or read the book. The book is an epic (or the start of an epic if you count the series of books which it began) but still has some very interesting and novel concepts.
One very famous line from the book which is widely quoted is "It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion".

The Bene Gesserit Littainy against Fear:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

... here you can find much more Bene Gesserit sayings...

To Live Is To Die

When a man lies he murders some part of the world
These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives
All this I cannot bear to witness any longer
Cannot the kingdom of salvation take me home...

Cliff Burton

Coffee Recipes

In fact I am not a coffee addict but I love to taste different coffees... (And honesty I need more coffee than usual to stay awake) So, here are a bunch of "coffee recipe" sites/pages for your caffeine pleasure ;) Do you have any favourite coffee recipes; send them to me...

Wired Java Fanatic has lots of recipes but the page hasn't been updated since early 2002.
Some coffee and some cake in Jamaican Coffee.
A Coffee Cup dotcom has 40 recipes for you... (This one has "turkish coffee" as well :)
About.com has a special category page for Coffee Recipes.
Go, check freerecipes.org for some coffee recipes.
Dreamship - Coffees, Teas & Treasures: Coffee Recipe Collection

International Dance Day

In 1982 the International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), created International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on the 29th April.

The date commemorates the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727 - 1810), the creator of modern ballet.

Every year a message from a well-known dance personality is circulated throughout the world. The intention of International Dance Day and the Message is to bring all Dance together on this occasion, to celebrate this art form and revel in its universality, to cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers and bring people together in peace and friendship with a common language - DANCE.

Here is this years message by Choreographer Mats Ek :

What is dance? If you answer that, you are not trustworthy. But let me try, anyway: dance is thinking with your body.
Is it necessary to think with your body? Not for survival, perhaps, but for living. There are so many thoughts that only the body can think. Other things, like peace, might be more important than dance. But then we will need dance to celebrate peace. And to exorcise the demons of war, like Nijinsky did. Emma Goldman, the anarchist, maybe said it best : a revolution that does not allow me to dance, is not worth fighting for.

The god Shiva created the universe with his dance. But dance is the opposite of all divine pretentions. Dance is an everlasting attempt, like writing in water. Dance is not life, but it keeps alive all the little things that the big thing is made of.

You can have this message in different languages if you wanna spread it...

Faces For Peace

FacesForPeace.org is a peace-activism site that people cen upload their photos and antiwar statements. It is an "online peace rally" Here is an excerpt from the site:

My eyes were once closed, now they are opened wide ; since the truth has been set in my minds eye, I can see that this government and the history of it they told me is nothing but lies!---"When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic." -Dresden James

Second photo in the Mirror project

Here is my second photo in the Mirror project. It was taken on the ship as I was going to work yesterday morning... I liked this thing... More will be coming soon... ;)

New Album Cover & New Logo Design

Metallica had announced that their first new album in five years would be titled "St.Anger" and It would be released July 10th. Yesterday they also published the new albums cover artwork and groups new logo in their website.

Groups all-time favourite illustrator Pushead (aka Brian Schroeder) is responsible for all the artwork. (I will soon be putting some more details & links about him somewhere around here ;) Cover of "St.Anger" will be printed in different colors for a limited offer. You can get more information here...

First piece in The Mirror Project

So, with the encouragement of Morgaine I submitted my very first photo to The Mirror Project. It is no:14986 (With only 16 photos i lost the chance to be the 15.000th photo :))

Yes, The Mirror Project has 15.000 photos at the very moment...

You can find my photo here... (There is a mistake on the text and I guess Jezebel will correct it soon :)

City of God

One of the best films I watched recently. City of God. Youth gangs took over the slums of Rio de Janiero during the 1960s and didn't relinquish their stronghold until the mid-1980s. Only a sucker wouldn't have turned to crime and this is exactly how naive teen Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) views himself. His attempts in illegal activity fail as he finds potential victims too friendly. Equally unsuccessful in love, he regularly fails to lose his virginity. Blood spills throughout the streets of the Ciudad de Deus as gang leader Li'l Ze (Douglas Silva) is challenged by local druglords and a gang of pre-teens known as the Runts. Rocket shoots all of this action with his weapon of choice, a camera.

You can find lots of useful reviews in Rottentomatoes... And tho get more details from the perspective of movies.com...

Based on a true story, City of God is about a photograper wannabe teenagers life in Rio de Janerio. The other side of the medalion, the city which you dont see in postcards. You cn check the official site...

International Istanbul Film Festival

22nd International Istanbul Film Festival is starting today. Cinema maniacs (like me) waits the festival all year... It was great when I was a student but when you work all day (and miss lots of screenings) you can only watch films at night or at the weekends. Festival lasts 2 weeks and there are aprox. 200 films shown at 5 big movie theatres. Anyway I have 23 tickets this year and honestly by the last days of the festival you get really exhausted and start to hate big screen. (not really) But it is a fact that you need to watch some Hollywood films to balance... :)

Anyway I will be mentioning the films I watch in the Festival. Today I will start with "Vylet" (Some Secrets) directed by Allice Nellis. It is a Czech & Slovakian co-production: "A dark and absurd road-movie comedy in which Grandmother fulfills her dream, Mother stops treating her daughters like kids, the daughters stop treating their husbands like idiots and Father's ashes get spread all over the country.

To have much much more about The International Istanbul Filn Festival you can check the official web site (in english)

Black-Blum Design London

As I was in London I found a place called OXO design tower. There were offices (and shops) of some designers and the one I liked most was Black-Blum.

[We are an Anglo-Swiss Partnership who joined forces in 1998 and based ourselves in London, the European heart of design.]

Their philosopy is: "We want to show that 'designed' products can be made affordable without compromising their quality. The aim is to create innovative products that will charm and entertain."

I took the photo on the left. (These days I come across lots of "mirror projects" in weblogs, so here is the first piece of my mirror project :) The product in the photo is a coat hook called "Boo!" It was a finalist in Classic Design Awards... Anyway, take a look at all the products, almost all are really great...

Cloud Watching (above the skies ;)

For more than a fortnight i have this topic in my mind. A friend of eme told me about cloud watching (i mean the recreational side, the cloud watching communities and all that stuff) Then I started searching and here are some links about the whole thing:

There are lots of "cloud galleries" in Clouds of Consciousness... In Cloudman.com you can find lots of things about clouds (and of course cloud galleries) Go check this one as well: Cool Clouds for "Kids" of All Ages

And here are a couple of cloud watching photos i took as i was on a plane "above the clouds" ;) Enjoy...

And please check this great t-shirt about cloud watching... I really liked the picture on it and it is in my wishlist now... ;)

Fool's Garden - Lemon Tree

As it is the April Fool's day we need a song to celebrate it... So here's Fool's Garden and their song: Lemon Tree (tatatataataaaaaa...)

I'm sitting here in the boring room
It's just another rainy Sunday (tuesday) afternoon
I'm wasting my time
I got nothing to do
I'm hanging around
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder

I'm driving around in my car
I'm driving too fast
I'm driving too far
I'd like to change my point of view
I feel so lonely
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder

I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree

I'm sitting here
I miss the power
I'd like to go out taking a shower
But there's a heavy cloud inside my head
I feel so tired
Put myself into bed
While nothing ever happens and I wonder

Isolation is not good for me
Isolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-tree

I'm steppin' around in the desert of joy
Baby anyhow I'll get another toy
And everything will happen and you wonder

I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
And I wonder, wonder

I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see, and all that I can see, and all that I can see
Is just a yellow lemon-tree

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you find some error in the lyrics,
would you please submit your corrections to me?
Thanks to Jenny for submitting the lyrics.

And the Oscar Goes Toooo...

I woke up really early to learn the winners live via internet, last category was best picture and as soon as it was announced i decided to update fikirbaz.com. There are some surprises i guess... Gangs Of New York got nothing, Adaptation could get just a supporting actor and The Pianist won more than expected... Anyway, here are some, and there are all...

Best Picture: Chicago
Directing: The Pianist - Roman Polanski
Actor in a Leading Role: The Pianist - Adrien Brody
Actress in a Leading Role: The Hours - Nicole Kidman
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Pianist - Ronald Harwood
Writing (Original Screenlay): Talk To Her - Pedro Almodovar
Actress in a Supporting Role: Chicago - Catherine Zeta-Jones
Actor in A supporting Role: Adaptation - Chris Cooper
Documentary Feature: Bowling for Columbine
Animated Feature Film: Sprited Away

Here is the acceptance speech of Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine): Whoa. On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan from Canada, I'd like to thank the Academy for this. I have invited my fellow documentary nominees on the stage with us, and we would like to — they're here in solidarity with me because we like nonfiction. We like nonfiction and we live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you. And any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up. Thank you very much.

Complete winners list...

Blogs From Iraq...

Today morning I read Jason Kottke's opinions about the war, you can find them at kottke.org. As I read his opinions and all that stuff I decided to take some links from his site...

Kevin Sites is a "sojo" - a solo broadcast journalist - he is a CNN correspondent, often working as a one man unit, using portable, digital technology to report, write, edit and transmit his stories from conflict areas around the world. He has reported from war zones in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. He is in Iraq at the moment and he has a weblog/photolog: Kevinsites.net

"Where is Raed ?" is another weblog of an Iraqi guy and as we all just read some people's opinions and thoughts of Iraq from a very outsider point of view I think it is important (and different) to read it from a guy who is living in there... Go and check ;)

What else can be said?

Careful what you wish

I wish I may
I wish I might
Have this wish I wish tonight
I want that star
I want it now
I want it all and I don't care how

Careful what you wish
Careful what you say
Careful what you wish
You may regret it
Careful what you wish
You just might get it

Great song, great lyrics; to read it all all you have to do is...

Tom C. Reilly

Last two nights I watched 2 good films. They were "Gangs Of New York" and "Chicago" I would go and watch "The Hours" today but I couldn't. So tomorrow I will be watching "The Hours"... Anyway, these 3 movies has the same great actor in a supporting role: Tom C. Reilly...




By the year 2000, John C Reilly was well on his way to realizing his dream of becoming the Michael Caine or Gene Hackman of his generation. While playing sympathetic and villainous roles with equal aplomb, he has created a rapport with audiences using his Everyman or even "lunkhead" quality, something that made him one of the most sought-after character actors of the late 1990s and early 21st century.

The year 2002 was a significant one for Reilly, as the actor turned in four formidable performances: first, as Jennifer Aniston's unsuspecting lunkhead of a husband in "The Good Girl"; next as a more sinister variation playing Julianne Moore's spouse in 1950s Los Angeles in a segment of "The Hours"; then as Renee Zellweger's hapless husband Amos Hart, performer of the famed "Mr. Cellophane" song-and-dance number, in the film adaptation of the hit musical "Chicago"; and finally as Happy Jack in director Martin Scosese's bloody epic "The Gangs of New York." The actor's "Chicago" performance was recognized as a stand-out, and he received his first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor.

Here is an interview with the guy, Tom C. Reilly

Candied chestnuts

...Kafkas A.S. has been established by Ali.Şakir Tatveren in Bursa in the year 1930. Ali.Şakir Tatveren,who has learned the candy and pastry business from his father in Yugoslavia, has demonstrated his proficiency on the proficiency of marron glace firstly to the people of Bursa. After the death of Ali.Şakir Tatveren on the year 1957, his wife Nedret Tatverenand their children named Alpaslan, Yüksel and Atilla Tatveren brothers have managed to introduce the taste of marron glace not only to Bursa, but also to the other regions of our country.

Kafkas Company, which increases its production capacity and product variety from years to years and realizes its production facility at its modern installations, also exports its products to the U.S.A, Europian Union Countries, Near and Far East Countries. Kafkas Company presents its products to the customers within domestic markets by means of its sales-shop established firstly in Bursa and also in Central Provinces such as Istanbul,.Izmir and Ankara.

Candied chestnuts are individually wrappedin aluminium foil by automatic machinesand packed in boxes of 400 g. and 750 g.

Turn The Page - Bob Seger (1973)

On a long and lonesome highway, East of Omaha,
You can listen to the engine moaning out its one lone song
You can think about the woman, or the girl you knew the night before,
But your thoughts were soon be wandering, the way they always do,
When you're riding sixteen hours and there's nothing else to do,
And you don't feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through,

Say, here I am, on the road again. There I am, up on the stage,
Here I go, playing star again.
There I go, turn the page.

Well, you walk into a restaurant, strung out from the road,
You can feel the eyes upon you as you're shaking off the cold,
You pretend it doesn't bother you, but you just want to explode.
Most times you can't hear 'em talk, other times you can.
Oh the same old cliches, is that a woman or a man?
You always see my number, you don't dare make a stand.

Here I am, on the road again. There I am, up on the stage,
Here I go, playing star again.
There I go, turn the page.

Once out there in the spotlight, you're a million miles away,
Every ounce of energy, you try and give away,
As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play.
Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed,
With the echo from the amplifiers ringing in your head,
You smoke the day's last cigarette, remembering what she said.

Now here I am, on the road again. There I am, up on the stage,
Here I go, playing star again,
There I go, turn the page.

Here I am, on the road again. There I am, up on the stage,
There I go, playing star again,
There I go, there I go.

Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity

This picture came to me from a friend and in fact there is nothing i can say. The title is the original quote... ;) Yes... Thats's right; "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity" You can click on the image for a bigger photo... (Special thanks to bamburuk)

Bye bye love

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love, goodbye

There goes my baby
With someone new
She sure looks happy
I sure am blue
She was my baby
Till he stepped in
Goodbye to romance
That might have been

CHORUS

I'm through with romance
I'm through with love
I'm through with counting
The stars above
And here's the reason
That I'm so free
My loving baby
Is through with me

CHORUS

Nazim Hikmet

Nazim Hikmet, popularly known and critically acclaimed in Turkey as the first and foremost modern Turkish poet, is known around the world as one of the greatest international poets of the twentieth century, and his poetry has been translated into more than fifty languages. Born in 1902 in Salonika, where his father was in the foreign service, Hikmet grew up in Istanbul. You can read his whole life here.

A fervent nationalist patriot, a socialist whose humanistic views tran- scended barriers of race and country, Nazim Hikmet is considered one of Turkey's very foremost modern poets . . . and yet for many years his works were banned in his native country and he himself suffered long exile. (Comtemporary Turkish Writers - A Critical Bio-Bibliography Louis Mitler - Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, 1988. p. 178-179. )

One of the most important figures in the 20th century Turkish literature and one of the first Turkish poets to use more or less free verse. Hikmet became during his life time the best-known Turkish poet in the West, and his works were translated into several languages. However, in his home country Hikmet was condemned for his commitment to Marxism and he remained decades after his death a controversial figure. His writings were filled social criticism and he was the only major writer to speak out against the Armenian massacres in 1915 and 1922. (To read it all, please click...;)

Here are some links (in english) about Nazim Hikmet:
His Life, His Work, Comments
Poems of Nazim Hikmet Revised and Expanded
The Most Strange of Creatures
Nazim Hikmet at Poets.org
A sad State of Freedom
Hymn To Life

Dream On (by Aerosmith)

Everytime that I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face gettin' clearer
The past is gone
It went by like dust to dawn
Isn't that the way
Everybody's got their dues in life to pay
I know what nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it's everybody's sin
You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life is in books' written pages
Live and learn from fools and from sages
You know it's true
All the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

Dream On, Dream On
Dream yourself a dream come true
Dream On, Dream On
Dream until your dream come true
Dream On, Dream On, Dream On..

Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter and sing for the tears
Sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away

7 Sins

Yesterday i tried to remember all 7 sins. (After remembering all i checked which ones i have, which i dont have and the ones i cant admit that i have :) Pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth. No, I wont be telling here the ones I already got... Today as i was wandering around i found some sites about seven sins. You can also find the virtues here but who takes care ;)

Also as I was searching around I found The Seven Sins of Deadly Meetings They are true:

1-People don't take meetings seriously. They arrive late, leave early, and spend most of their time doodling.
2-Meetings are too long. They should accomplish twice as much in half the time.
3-People wander off the topic. Participants spend more time digressing than discussing.
4-Nothing happens once the meeting ends. People don't convert decisions into action.
5-People don't tell the truth. There's plenty of conversation, but not much candor.
6-Meetings are always missing important information, so they postpone critical decisions.
7-Meetings never get better. People make the same mistakes.
Here you can find the whole article and the salvations...

Aaaand, Seven Deadly Web Site Sins (And Why You Must Avoid Them at All Costs)
1-Inconsistent navigation
2-Broken links
3-Browser-specific sites
4-No contact information.
5-Frames
6-Sites that open new browsers
7-"Under Construction" signs

NO WAR FOR OIL - Feb 4 Protests

Today is February 4th. February 4 is an international day of action to say oil is not worth war!

For Today, hundreds of peaceful protests are planned at gas stations around the world. How much is the Bush administration’s push for war with Iraq motivated by its desire to gain control of Iraq’s oil fields? As one Bush adviser who chose to remain anonymous put it: "If you were trying to talk about Iraq and if you were not encumbered by the fear that your actions would be linked to ExxonMobil or the oil industry, you'd be talking about oil issues."

For protest locations, leaflets to distribute, and background materials, go to the Target Oil website.

Shuttle Columbia Lost

Sad news... The space shuttle Columbia broke up as it descended over Texas Saturday toward a planned landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, showering debris across southeastern Texas and into Louisiana.

To learn more about Columbia; construction milestones etc... Here'a Columbia page... Also, nasa.gov has a statement about the shuttle.

Ailurus fulgens (Red panda)

Yakari

A friend of me reminded me of Yakari today... Especially the theme music of the cartoon is still in my mind tho i used to watch the series years ago. I couldn't find too much about Yakari on the web (I mean in English) Yakari is a swiss cartoon and i think it was borned in the beginning of 70's. In Turkish there ara lets of entries about Yakari in eksi sozluk... You can find covers, pictures and some poor links in here...

Madonna - Die Another Day

I'm gonna wake up, yes and no
I'm gonna kiss some part of
I'm gonna keep this secret
I'm gonna close my body now

I guess, die another day

I guess, die another day
I guess, die another day
I guess, die another day

I guess I'll die another day
(Another day)
I guess I'll die another day
(Another day)
I guess I'll die another day
(Another day)
I guess I'll die another day

Sigmund Freud
Analyze this
Analyze this
Analyze this

I'm gonna break the cycle
I'm gonna shake up the system
I'm gonna destroy my ego
I'm gonna close my body now

Uh, uh

I think I'll find another way
There's so much more to know
I guess I'll die another day
It's not my time to go

For every sin, I'll have to pay
I've come to work, I've come to play
I think I'll find another way
It's not my time to go

I'm gonna avoid the cliche
I'm gonna suspend my senses
I'm gonna delay my pleasure
I'm gonna close my body now

I guess, die another day
I guess I'll die another day
I guess, die another day
I guess I'll die another day

I think I'll find another way
There's so much more to know
I guess I'll die another day
It's not my time to go

Uh, uh

[laugh]

I guess, die another day
I guess I'll die another day
I guess, die another day
I guess I'll die another day

Another day [6x]

Smelly Cat Medley - Phoebe Buffay

Three, four...

Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
What are they feeding you?
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat
It's not your fault

They won't take you to the vet
You're obviously not their favorite pet
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
It's not your fault

You may not be a bed of roses
You're not friend to those with noses
I'll miss you before we're done
Or the world will smell as one

Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
What are they feeding you?
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat
It's not your fault

(Phoebe) Oh are we done?

One, two, what's that smell?

Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
What are they feeding you?
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat
You're getting fat

I think that I'm gonna be sick
It's your ears, and nose and pick
Part of it, tempt me

One, two, what's that smell?

All the dogs in the neighborhood
Are saying this for your own good
What, you're fat, so you can't run
No fun, I bet, No fun

Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
Porno makes you eat like that
I saw you in the shopping mall

Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
It's not your fault,
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
It's not your fault
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
It's not your fault

We know what was in your food
They say it might affect your mood
You smell like something dead (3x)

One, two, what's that smell?

(Phoebe)Yeah, that's not the song

One more cup of coffee (Valley Below)

Your breath is sweet
Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.
Your back is straight, your hair is smooth
On the pillow where you lie.
But I don't sense affection
No gratitude or love
Your loyalty is not to me
But to the stars above.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.

Your daddy he's an outlaw
And a wanderer by trade
He'll teach you how to pick and choose
And how to throw the blade.
He oversees his kingdom
So no stranger does intrude
His voice it trembles as he calls out
For another plate of food.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.

Your sister sees the future
Like your mama and yourself.
You've never learned to read or write
There's no books upon your shelf.
And your pleasure knows no limits
Your voice is like a meadowlark
But your heart is like an ocean
Mysterious and dark.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.


Copyright © 1975 Ram's Horn Music

I listened this song while i was on my way work. For more details about the song and Bob Dylan you can just click here...

Mostly Done

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