Last weekend, I went to my dad's high school reunion. Some of the people I met hadn't seen my dad since high school, and when they saw each other, you could read both the happiness and the nostalgia from their faces.
The first question they asked each other was "What did you do?" . Some followed their dreams; the girl who sat at the back of the class and drew pictures in middle school became an artist and some chose wealth or job security over happiness; the guy who couldn't decide between the cinematic arts and mathematics became a mathematician. And some, stayed just the same; the guy in high school from which my dad and his friends hid all their notebooks from because he would tear paper out of them to make paper airplanes to throw out of the window of the classroom at the highest floor, has an airplane model collection now.
In thirty years, I am going to see my friends in a reunion of some kind and they will have their children and wives or husbands with them. In thirty years, the couple of people with who I currently spend all my day with, who I see more than my parents somedays and who I share all my life with, may be strangers to me. When I recognized this, tears filled up my eyes and even the thought of not seeing my friend who I've known for 13 years now, became unthinkable.
But, let's be realistic: in thirty years, almost all of my classmates, my friends, the people I love spending time with, sit next to in class, have lockers next to, will be memories and photographs from old yearbook pages.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Supernatural
My new favorite TV series is Supernatural, produced by Eric Kripke and starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, as two brothers who hunt monsters in the real world, taking on the family business. I know, I know, it sound very cheesy and if we're being honest, I thought it was cheesy and lame when I watched the first five or six episodes.In every episode of Supernatural, the Winchester brothers hunt a new monster. But don't be fooled by the word "monster", they are creatures we know and love from our fairy tale books and lores. They hunt everything from vampires to Skinchangers, creatures which can take the form of anything they want to, and from angry spirts (they have to "salt and burn" the bones to get rid of the angry spirits) to raged Pagan gods because they have been ignored for a long time, looking for sacrifice.
What makes the series cool and enjoyable to watch is the fact that everything they hunt there, has a corresponding lore or tale here. Also, I really like the music they use and the references they make to popular culture.
In one of my favorite episodes of Supernatural, the Winchester brothers visit a town in which there is a "Mystery Spot", in which time travels differently - under normal circumstances, nothing more than a tourist trap. And, they are caught in a time warp. They keep on living the same Tuesday over and over again, yes, like Groundhog Day, and Sam (Jared Padalecki), the little brother, has to watch his big brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) die everyday in every possible way. We later learn that this is the job of a Trickster, a creature which tricks people and has fun with the misfortune of others, trying to teach the Winchester brothers a lesson.
In another episode, the brothers stumble upon a Rabbit's Foot, the one that actually brings unbelievable good luck to whom possesses it, but dooms the person to bad luck, eventually killing them, when they lose the rabbit's foot. Sam gets kidnapped by rival hunters, and Dean comes to save him...with the rabbit's foot, here's what happens.
The cleverly written script, the constant change, the jokes, and the excellent acting are only a few of the reasons I love Supernatural. <3 So, have I convinced you to watch at least an episode of Supernatural?
Riding Camels Since...
Skyfall. It was in cinemas until a couple of weeks ago. Most critics liked it, it scored 8.1 in IMDB, I really liked it. The theater we saw Skyfall in was full, even though it was its third week. I'll bet most of the people in that theater went to Skyfall because they thought that it took place in Istanbul; this was one of the reasons we went to see it as well. What did we find? Five minutes of chasing scenes in narrow streets filled with street vendors, with the sound of Ezan, the Muslim call of prayer, in the back the whole time. Disappointed.
Taken 2. Was in cinemas until a month ago or so. A sequel to the movie Taken, taking part mostly in Istanbul, unlike Skyfall. However, I don't know how they achieved this, but the producers of Taken 2 had managed to portray Istanbul more "stereotyped" than the producers of Skyfall, even though they had two hours to do something with it. Again, we went to the movie because we found out that it took place in Istanbul, and we had time to kill. What did we find? Chasing scenes in narrow streets with women in chadors, street vendors, the same mosque shown over and over again, and again, "a man singing" (in Liam Neeson's words); Ezan, in the background the whole time. Again, disappointed.
I mean, it would take a lot of effort to show so little of Istanbul and its beauties in two hours when the whole movie takes place there. The Bosphorus was shown once, for literally two seconds. None of the historical artifacts where shown, even the chase scene inside the Grand Bazaar was crowded and showed very little of the beautiful place.
This orientalist view Hollywood producers have about Muslim countries unfortunately is transferred to the whole world through movies like Taken 2 and Skyfall. Skyfall was the better of the two, at least one chase scene took place on a highway. Anyway, if I was a person in living America, Brazil or Singapore who has never been to Turkey and I had watched both of these movies, going to Istanbul wouldn't seem so alluring to me.
It is this stereotyping that not only Hollywood producers have, but that other people also have, of Muslim countries or the countries of the Middle East that creates a misinformed, prejudiced public; it is this stereotyping that created children who ask their Turkish friend they met in MUN whether they ride camels in Turkey.
Taken 2. Was in cinemas until a month ago or so. A sequel to the movie Taken, taking part mostly in Istanbul, unlike Skyfall. However, I don't know how they achieved this, but the producers of Taken 2 had managed to portray Istanbul more "stereotyped" than the producers of Skyfall, even though they had two hours to do something with it. Again, we went to the movie because we found out that it took place in Istanbul, and we had time to kill. What did we find? Chasing scenes in narrow streets with women in chadors, street vendors, the same mosque shown over and over again, and again, "a man singing" (in Liam Neeson's words); Ezan, in the background the whole time. Again, disappointed.
I mean, it would take a lot of effort to show so little of Istanbul and its beauties in two hours when the whole movie takes place there. The Bosphorus was shown once, for literally two seconds. None of the historical artifacts where shown, even the chase scene inside the Grand Bazaar was crowded and showed very little of the beautiful place.
This orientalist view Hollywood producers have about Muslim countries unfortunately is transferred to the whole world through movies like Taken 2 and Skyfall. Skyfall was the better of the two, at least one chase scene took place on a highway. Anyway, if I was a person in living America, Brazil or Singapore who has never been to Turkey and I had watched both of these movies, going to Istanbul wouldn't seem so alluring to me.
It is this stereotyping that not only Hollywood producers have, but that other people also have, of Muslim countries or the countries of the Middle East that creates a misinformed, prejudiced public; it is this stereotyping that created children who ask their Turkish friend they met in MUN whether they ride camels in Turkey.
Case and point. The setting for a scene in Skyfall.
Success
Yesterday, one of our teachers asked us what we think success means. Some said power,some said satisfaction, and one person said happiness. Happiness, I believe, is the building block of success. Sure, some successful people may not be happy with what they do, but I wouldn't call what they do "living". They may look successful from the outside, but I assure you they surely don't feel that way on the inside.
A week ago, we had a concert at our school. Performers from the Ankara State Opera and Ballet visited us and performed. I don't know if its because they were performing to families and children, or that they weren't singing the libretto of an opera to 500 people in Italian, they were very happy and were clearly enjoying what they were doing. Their enthusiasm also made the concert more enjoyable for everyone. I believe that the people who were successful in that auditorium last Friday were the performers, because I believe that if you don't enjoy what you're doing, you cannot succeed in it; and if, somehow, you manage to, it will be terribly hard...
Until IB, we were forced to take all of the courses. We had to take chemistry, biology, and Turkish literature among many other subjects. I detested studying biology: it seemed far too boring to me, and I didn't see the meaning behind memorizing names and definitions and passing a test; but I still did it, and got very high grades in biology. You may say that I was "successful" in biology in the past two years, but if you ask me, I'd trade the many hours of biology classes to physics or economics everyday. Even in the IB, the biology students get very high grades in their tests. I'm only taking physics, and I can honestly say that it is NOT an easy course. Anyway, I know that if I switch to biology, I will definitely get higher grades, but I prefer the hard work and challenge of physics, because enjoying what I do is far more important than the grades I get.
In life after college, this situation comes up again; only, grades are then your income, and your classes is your job. After going to that concert and seeing how much those people enjoyed themselves when they were on stage, I realized that I wouldn't be happy at all if I went and studied mechanical engineering and stopped working with music. Right then, I knew that in the race between mechanical or electrical engineering and music in my head, music just took the lead. Even though I know that I may not earn as much as an electrical engineer, I know that I will be much, much happier if I studied music; and with happiness, comes success.
A week ago, we had a concert at our school. Performers from the Ankara State Opera and Ballet visited us and performed. I don't know if its because they were performing to families and children, or that they weren't singing the libretto of an opera to 500 people in Italian, they were very happy and were clearly enjoying what they were doing. Their enthusiasm also made the concert more enjoyable for everyone. I believe that the people who were successful in that auditorium last Friday were the performers, because I believe that if you don't enjoy what you're doing, you cannot succeed in it; and if, somehow, you manage to, it will be terribly hard...
Until IB, we were forced to take all of the courses. We had to take chemistry, biology, and Turkish literature among many other subjects. I detested studying biology: it seemed far too boring to me, and I didn't see the meaning behind memorizing names and definitions and passing a test; but I still did it, and got very high grades in biology. You may say that I was "successful" in biology in the past two years, but if you ask me, I'd trade the many hours of biology classes to physics or economics everyday. Even in the IB, the biology students get very high grades in their tests. I'm only taking physics, and I can honestly say that it is NOT an easy course. Anyway, I know that if I switch to biology, I will definitely get higher grades, but I prefer the hard work and challenge of physics, because enjoying what I do is far more important than the grades I get.
In life after college, this situation comes up again; only, grades are then your income, and your classes is your job. After going to that concert and seeing how much those people enjoyed themselves when they were on stage, I realized that I wouldn't be happy at all if I went and studied mechanical engineering and stopped working with music. Right then, I knew that in the race between mechanical or electrical engineering and music in my head, music just took the lead. Even though I know that I may not earn as much as an electrical engineer, I know that I will be much, much happier if I studied music; and with happiness, comes success.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Cell
I've recently been reading Stephen King's novel, Cell. In Cell, some kind of pulse gets transmitted from all of the cellphones at the same time, and this pulse turns everyone who picks up their cellphone into a brainless zombie-carnivorous and wild, resurfacing the id- and as they later find out, not brainless at all. Don't worry, I haven't finished the book yet, so no spoilers!
This pulse is caused by a chain reaction. One person gets a phone call, turns into Mr. Zombie, stumbles onto the street, some other normal person sees this and reaches for his/her cellphone to call for help, and the cycle begins once again.
Later on in the novel, when the protagonist and his friends (still not transformed), try to get out of the city, they realise how important cellphones have become in their lives; and the novel was written in 2006.
Now, imagine. With all the smartphones and the tablet pc's that literally grew on people, if something like The Pulse really happenned now, what would happen? Probably, Stephen King would have trouble finding any protagonists.
I'm not going to go off in tangents about the harms of radioactivity and cell towers, but with our current addiction to technology, our future doesn't seem very bright. All we can do is to hope that nobody's, especially no terrorist's, mind works like Stephen King's...
This pulse is caused by a chain reaction. One person gets a phone call, turns into Mr. Zombie, stumbles onto the street, some other normal person sees this and reaches for his/her cellphone to call for help, and the cycle begins once again.
Later on in the novel, when the protagonist and his friends (still not transformed), try to get out of the city, they realise how important cellphones have become in their lives; and the novel was written in 2006.
Now, imagine. With all the smartphones and the tablet pc's that literally grew on people, if something like The Pulse really happenned now, what would happen? Probably, Stephen King would have trouble finding any protagonists.
I'm not going to go off in tangents about the harms of radioactivity and cell towers, but with our current addiction to technology, our future doesn't seem very bright. All we can do is to hope that nobody's, especially no terrorist's, mind works like Stephen King's...
Classical Music
What comes to your mind when someone says 'classical music'? Most people think of posh, elite people who sit around in their million dollar homes, sipping their expensive scotch, reading Yacht Monthly, with what they call 'classical music' playing in the background. What they do not realize is that, classical music, whether they recognise it or not, makes up a big part of our lives.
The music we hear playing in the background everytime Sylvester chases Tweety, or Tom chases Jerry, is The Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky Korsakov.
The main theme of Stanley Kubrick's famous movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, Also Sprach Zarasthura ( the one with the timpany playing), is actually a composition by Richard Strauss.
The universal funeral march, is actually a piece composed by Frederic Chopin.
You know the melody of the alphabet? And of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? That was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
So, contrary to common belief, not only conservatory students or posh people listen to classical music. I doubt that without Binchois, Bach, Mozart or Chopin, there would any music today.
By the way, people who listen to and love classical music can also listen to other types of music, like hard rock or metal (experience speaking). Don't be prejudiced. ;)
The music we hear playing in the background everytime Sylvester chases Tweety, or Tom chases Jerry, is The Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky Korsakov.
The main theme of Stanley Kubrick's famous movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, Also Sprach Zarasthura ( the one with the timpany playing), is actually a composition by Richard Strauss.
The universal funeral march, is actually a piece composed by Frederic Chopin.
You know the melody of the alphabet? And of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? That was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
So, contrary to common belief, not only conservatory students or posh people listen to classical music. I doubt that without Binchois, Bach, Mozart or Chopin, there would any music today.
By the way, people who listen to and love classical music can also listen to other types of music, like hard rock or metal (experience speaking). Don't be prejudiced. ;)
Monday, November 5, 2012
Remember, Remember...
Remember, remember,
The fifth of November.
The Gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason,
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Today is the fifth of November. Approximately 400 years ago, the House of Lords in England were tried to be blown up by men who didn't support the king back then, King James I. Guy Fawkes, responsible for planting the gunpowder beneath the House of Lords, just before the opening night of the Parliament, was caught, and his accomplices, hearing of his capture, ran away, so the Gunpowder Plot was never carried out.
Not that I have much interest in the event itself, but what really makes this day interesting for me is the way it was portrayed in the movie V for Vendetta, starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman. One of my most favorite movies that I've watched over and over again, V for Vendetta takes place in a parallel future, in an England ruled by totalitarianism, and in which all of the arts are banned. V, aims to finish what Guy Fawkes started, and soon, Evey, a girl she rescues from the Fingermen, becomes involved in his plot as well.
One of the reasons I love the movie is how music is embedded in it. At the beginning of the movie, V claims to hear music, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, when he is blowing up a church. The music also plays through the streets of London.
My favorite quote from the movie is; when Creedy (the "bad guy") and his men shoot V, and he is still standing, Creedy asks him why he still hasn't died. V's response to this question is: "Beneath this mask, Mr. Creedy, there is an idea. And ideas are bulletproof."
The fifth of November.
The Gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason,
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Today is the fifth of November. Approximately 400 years ago, the House of Lords in England were tried to be blown up by men who didn't support the king back then, King James I. Guy Fawkes, responsible for planting the gunpowder beneath the House of Lords, just before the opening night of the Parliament, was caught, and his accomplices, hearing of his capture, ran away, so the Gunpowder Plot was never carried out.
Not that I have much interest in the event itself, but what really makes this day interesting for me is the way it was portrayed in the movie V for Vendetta, starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman. One of my most favorite movies that I've watched over and over again, V for Vendetta takes place in a parallel future, in an England ruled by totalitarianism, and in which all of the arts are banned. V, aims to finish what Guy Fawkes started, and soon, Evey, a girl she rescues from the Fingermen, becomes involved in his plot as well.
One of the reasons I love the movie is how music is embedded in it. At the beginning of the movie, V claims to hear music, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, when he is blowing up a church. The music also plays through the streets of London.
My favorite quote from the movie is; when Creedy (the "bad guy") and his men shoot V, and he is still standing, Creedy asks him why he still hasn't died. V's response to this question is: "Beneath this mask, Mr. Creedy, there is an idea. And ideas are bulletproof."
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