Anthony Bourdain, a celebrity chef who was also a writer, was known to the public especially from these two TV shows: No Reservations and Parts Unknown. He is a CIA alumnus, a former hard-working chef transformed into a writer and a global gourmet tourist. At least four of his books are bestsellers, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000), Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook (2010), The Nasty Bits (2006), and A Cook's Tour … [Read more...]
Elif Shafak – The Bastard of Istanbul – An Acclaimed Book
The Bastard of Istanbul is the sixth novel and the second one written directly in English by Elif Shafak. She is loved as much as her co-national Orhan Pamuk, the famous Turkish writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. They have two more things in common: they have been accused of "insulting Turkishness" and both were pardoned with excuses from lack of incriminatory proof. The reason for her being prosecuted is this very book, The Bastard of Istanbul, published in 2006, the … [Read more...]
A Touch of Spices – Politiki Kouzina
The Greek title is Πολίτικη Κουζίνα (Politiki Kouzina) and means Cuisine of the City, Πολί being the word for city, "I Πολί", "The City" refers to Constantinople, or Istanbul to be politically correct. This is a film who depicts a multiple love story. "Gastronomos contain the word Astronomos", I have the feeling that the translation is obvious. It is about a boy who likes to cook with significant spices and "the most beautiful city in the world". Istanbul is also a character in this wonderful … [Read more...]
Turkish “Occupy”?
After months of verbal gymnastics from the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regarding the South-Eastern neighbor, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi accused him on Saturday of "terrorizing" his own people and called on him to resign. It's a ping-pong on diplomatic level. Turkey and Syria actually have territorial issues. "The demands of the Turkish people do not justify this violence, and if Erdoğan is incapable of using non-violent methods, then he should quit," state … [Read more...]
Argo
I like Argo a lot. It took awards after awards, I was sure they have a reason, and after I saw the movie, I understood why. The movie is flawless and it is a good movie. It is "based on a true story", it wasn't the true story. I read that after presenting the movie at the Toronto Film Festival, the Canadian critics were upset for glorifying the CIA instead the Canadian Ambassador who helped so much. Discussions, nothing more. The Canadians had the credits for twenty years. Khomeini is dead, … [Read more...]
Skyfall Wet Shave
It was a pleasure to see the wet shaving being promoted so nice in the last James Bond movie. I'm going to review Skyfall in the future, now I only notice that it was one of the best made in the series. More human touched at least, without humanity in the script. So James Bond, the character, uses a straight razor, a silvertip brush and all the other classic shaving accessories, the mug was visible, so it is to be presumed that a soap was on the bottom of it as well. [source] I was … [Read more...]