Up at 08:00 for a bit to eat. Crashed again soon thereafter and up again at 10:30. Had a cold shower (still no gas in the house.) Headed out with Michael for a bit of grocery shopping when the others emerged around noon. Hiked down to the specialty bakery and got a really god loaf of seeded bread. Picked up some yogurt for fALk and headed back home. Had some toast with cucumbers and tomatoes.
Talked with Michael and fALk about our DVD project for a bit. It will probably be informed by the State of Sabotage as well as Brian Wood's Channel Zero. We also spent some time going over a website for our group and the projects we plan to undertake as a collective.
Finally headed down to the Kumquat around 15:00. No one was around, so I got right to work. Got a blog entry posted and some downloads started. fALk showed up after a bit and was followed by Willow sometime later. We had an invitation from Rashid, an Indian psychiatrist who was vacationing in Istanbul to join him for tea near the flat he was staying at in Beşiktaş. We finally got away from the Kumquat just before 18:00 and headed north. The flat Rashid was renting had very nice views of the Bosphorus. We spent just a few minutes there before heading over to a nearby municipal cafe. I had water while fALk and Willow shared tea and a pudding and Rashid had a tea and long draughts on his pipe. We were joined after a bit by Alibaba, a Turkish gentleman that Rashid had befriended the day before. They shared a common interest in pipes. Alibaba had a shoulderbag that contained at least a dozen different pipes, most of them filled and ready to go. He would only smoke one for a twenty-four hour period and then switch to another. He helped Rashid find some tobacco he liked and then got involved with trying to find Willow a metal tube to make a fire dancing stave out of. A call to his architect son got very interesting as Willow changed her mind about exactly what type of metal she was looking for. She finally settled on a 5cm thick aluminum tube. Will be interesting to see what come of the call. Finally bid the other gentleman goodbye around 19:30.
The view from Rashid's flat on the Bosphorus. Rashid in the foreground and Ali with one of his many pipes.
Hiked back along the side of the Bosphorus. Stopped and got some boiled corn from a street vendor. Watched the boats tied up along the sea wall while we ate. Continued to make our way back home in the deepening dusk. Passed through the club are and was again struck by the car advertisements. Found a really posh grocery store. Was amazed to find soy milk and Rooibos tea. They were both a little pricey, but I picked some up anyway. Got back to the Kumquat at 21:00. No one was around and the Internet connection was down so we didn't stay long. Caught the tail end of a fireworks display before we left. Went over to the restaurant nearby that had good gözleme. Willow wanted to have one with eggplant and tomato but somehow wasn't able to convey her special order and ended up with a spinach and cheese gözleme and an eggplant and tomato zeytinyağli. I had half of the zeytinyağli and a spinach gözleme. Headed home around 22:00. In bed by 23:00.
The clubs just north of Ortaköy all look like car dealerships. Clockwise from top left: Cristal sponsored by Volkswagen, New Yorker sponsored by Renault, Sapphire sponsored by Toyota and Reina sponsored by Porsche.
The obligatory fireworks shot.
Talked with Michael and fALk about our DVD project for a bit. It will probably be informed by the State of Sabotage as well as Brian Wood's Channel Zero. We also spent some time going over a website for our group and the projects we plan to undertake as a collective.
Finally headed down to the Kumquat around 15:00. No one was around, so I got right to work. Got a blog entry posted and some downloads started. fALk showed up after a bit and was followed by Willow sometime later. We had an invitation from Rashid, an Indian psychiatrist who was vacationing in Istanbul to join him for tea near the flat he was staying at in Beşiktaş. We finally got away from the Kumquat just before 18:00 and headed north. The flat Rashid was renting had very nice views of the Bosphorus. We spent just a few minutes there before heading over to a nearby municipal cafe. I had water while fALk and Willow shared tea and a pudding and Rashid had a tea and long draughts on his pipe. We were joined after a bit by Alibaba, a Turkish gentleman that Rashid had befriended the day before. They shared a common interest in pipes. Alibaba had a shoulderbag that contained at least a dozen different pipes, most of them filled and ready to go. He would only smoke one for a twenty-four hour period and then switch to another. He helped Rashid find some tobacco he liked and then got involved with trying to find Willow a metal tube to make a fire dancing stave out of. A call to his architect son got very interesting as Willow changed her mind about exactly what type of metal she was looking for. She finally settled on a 5cm thick aluminum tube. Will be interesting to see what come of the call. Finally bid the other gentleman goodbye around 19:30.
The view from Rashid's flat on the Bosphorus. Rashid in the foreground and Ali with one of his many pipes.
Hiked back along the side of the Bosphorus. Stopped and got some boiled corn from a street vendor. Watched the boats tied up along the sea wall while we ate. Continued to make our way back home in the deepening dusk. Passed through the club are and was again struck by the car advertisements. Found a really posh grocery store. Was amazed to find soy milk and Rooibos tea. They were both a little pricey, but I picked some up anyway. Got back to the Kumquat at 21:00. No one was around and the Internet connection was down so we didn't stay long. Caught the tail end of a fireworks display before we left. Went over to the restaurant nearby that had good gözleme. Willow wanted to have one with eggplant and tomato but somehow wasn't able to convey her special order and ended up with a spinach and cheese gözleme and an eggplant and tomato zeytinyağli. I had half of the zeytinyağli and a spinach gözleme. Headed home around 22:00. In bed by 23:00.
The clubs just north of Ortaköy all look like car dealerships. Clockwise from top left: Cristal sponsored by Volkswagen, New Yorker sponsored by Renault, Sapphire sponsored by Toyota and Reina sponsored by Porsche.
The obligatory fireworks shot.
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