Alaska, USA.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Dutch, however, cannot take responsibility for inventing the fry.
Neither can the French. That honor goes to the Belgians, where fries are cherished even more than they are in Holland.
The fry culture in Belgium is similar to that of Holland—fries are everywhere, the thick slabs of potatoes are freshly fried and served in paper cones, and they are offered with a variety of toppings, the most popular being mayonnaise—but the Belgians have also developed a wide variety of specialized fries shops, called, in Belgium "frietkots" or "fritures". These range from small stands, to sheds, busses and caravans, to shacks or quaint chalets.
It is only in the United States that the nomenclature of fried potatoes insinuates a French connection. In England they are called "chips," in France "pommes frites" (which means, literally, "fried apples"), and in Belgium and Holland "patat" (not the word for potato, which is "aardappel").
The French fry has little to do with France other than the fact that it's popularity spread to that country as quickly as it did to others. In fact, the French, like most of Europe, eyed the potato with suspicion until the last century or two.
While living in the USA, I have been known to go out of my way to obtain fries similar to my beloved Dutch "patat," and have found in the past a few places in America where they are served.
In Santa Monica, on the Third Street Promenade, there is a fast food joint called "Benita's Frites" where geniuine Belgian fries are served, along with all the appropriate toppings.
Also, I once travelled to the outskirts of Boston just to sample the promised Belgian fries with sate sauce at a small restaurant, but was deeply disappointed when the fries I was served were clearly of the frozen variety, and the peanut sauce was nothing like what I was used to.
As luck would have it, just as I was in the middle of researching this article, I noticed a new shop being redone in New York City which promises to serve nothing but Belgian fries. Called "Pomme Frites," the shop is opening on Second Avenue, between 7th Street and St. Mark's Place.
If it is all that it promises to be, I will no longer have to travel to the Pacific coast when I want to spend some time in the USA, or cross the Atlantic, to get a taste of my favorite greasy snack.
Soon, a Dutch snackbar will be open its doors here in Istanbul.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Acupuncture
After I left the Netherlands definitely behind me as 'home country' some 9 years ago, there was one thing I really missed. And that was not Dutch beer, Dutch cheese, or cozy life in Amsterdam, the vivid art and or the international business circles. Neither I missed the tolerance where people could have discussion all night long, nor the multi- national and multi cultural atmosphere of Amsterdam (172 different nationalities on a population of 800.000, Turks are one of the 172, he, only one). I also didn't missed the interesting and divers business culture. No, I missed my acupuncturist! While in Czech in the USA I travelled more to Amsterdam than since living in Turkey. So, I could visit him at least several times a year.
I am fond about my acupuncturist since I consider acupuncture and auriculo therapy as one of the best medical treatments available. And it prevents!
Although I found an acupuncturist in Turkey in 2003, I didn't go there that often. I relied on my many business trips (often unpredictable and very irregular) to visit my Dutch acupuncturist. But last weekend, after a terrible week of being sick, up, sick etc., I decided to go back to him. And yes, now the connection was made.
The relation between a doctor and a patient/client is vital. As I am being treated in several Turkish hospitasl like an ATM machine, I found my docter who also can direct me to the right people for other issues.
Not with doctors and who are more in love with my kind of credit card than my health. And yes, that's what I miss in Turkey; a social health care system. Its all about the head scarf, still.
And yes!! I miss Dutch Haring, Kroketten, Hutspot, Pindakaas, Kaas...
But not enough to migrate back..!!
I am fond about my acupuncturist since I consider acupuncture and auriculo therapy as one of the best medical treatments available. And it prevents!
Although I found an acupuncturist in Turkey in 2003, I didn't go there that often. I relied on my many business trips (often unpredictable and very irregular) to visit my Dutch acupuncturist. But last weekend, after a terrible week of being sick, up, sick etc., I decided to go back to him. And yes, now the connection was made.
The relation between a doctor and a patient/client is vital. As I am being treated in several Turkish hospitasl like an ATM machine, I found my docter who also can direct me to the right people for other issues.
Not with doctors and who are more in love with my kind of credit card than my health. And yes, that's what I miss in Turkey; a social health care system. Its all about the head scarf, still.
And yes!! I miss Dutch Haring, Kroketten, Hutspot, Pindakaas, Kaas...
But not enough to migrate back..!!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Some news of the last week
Fruit stall owner, Giuseppe Scirrocco, stopped paying taxes two years ago because he couldn't afford them. Officials in Milan, Italy recently landed him with a 5-billion Euro (app. US$7 million) tax bill.
Anton Wladich's snoring has become so loud since breaking his nose, that most of his street's residents in Warsaw, Poland, have moved house to escape the noise.
Furious girls in Lodz, Poland, are demanding a refund after paying US$800 to join a dating agency which had 300 women - but just seven men.
Trucker Boris Kalusch drowned after trying to drink from the beer tanker he was driving. Police in Siberia found his legs sticking from the inspection cover.
Six people taken to hospital from a reception in Moscow were injured by flying champagne corks.
A man dubbed by police in Athens, Greece as The Cigarette Saboteur has taken to attacking people he sees smoking and forcing them to eat their remaining cigarettes. The oddball has claimed seven victims in six months.
A pervert who exposed himself on the Paris Metro [subway] in France fled in horror when his victim - a transvestite - flashed back.
A zookeeper was pinned to the ground and had his trousers torn off - by a lovesick lady orangutan! Ken Alrand had cared for Anna ever since her natural mother rejected her in infancy. But he never realized that she had developed a crush on him. As Alrand was cleaning Anna's enclosure in Aalborg, Denmark, she pounced on him and ripped his pants off. "She's obviously fallen in love with me," says Alrand. "So I'll keep my distance from now on."
While motorcycling through the Hungarian countryside, Cristo Falatti came up to a railway line just as the crossing gates were coming down. While he sat idling, a farmer with a goat, which the farmer tethered to the crossing gate, joined him. A few moments later a horse and cart drew up behind Falatti, followed in short order by a man in a sports car. When the train roared through the crossing, the horse startled and bit Falatti on the arm. Not a man to be trifled with, Falatti responded by punching the horse in the head. In consequence the horse's owner jumped down from his cart and began scuffling with the motorcyclist. The horse, which was not up to this sort of excitement, backed away briskly, smashing the cart into the sports car. At this, the sports-car driver leaped out of his car and joined the fray. The farmer came forward to try to pacify the three flailing men. As he did so, the crossing gates rose and his goat was strangled. At last report the insurance companies were still trying to sort out the claims.
Anton Wladich's snoring has become so loud since breaking his nose, that most of his street's residents in Warsaw, Poland, have moved house to escape the noise.
Furious girls in Lodz, Poland, are demanding a refund after paying US$800 to join a dating agency which had 300 women - but just seven men.
Trucker Boris Kalusch drowned after trying to drink from the beer tanker he was driving. Police in Siberia found his legs sticking from the inspection cover.
Six people taken to hospital from a reception in Moscow were injured by flying champagne corks.
A man dubbed by police in Athens, Greece as The Cigarette Saboteur has taken to attacking people he sees smoking and forcing them to eat their remaining cigarettes. The oddball has claimed seven victims in six months.
A pervert who exposed himself on the Paris Metro [subway] in France fled in horror when his victim - a transvestite - flashed back.
A zookeeper was pinned to the ground and had his trousers torn off - by a lovesick lady orangutan! Ken Alrand had cared for Anna ever since her natural mother rejected her in infancy. But he never realized that she had developed a crush on him. As Alrand was cleaning Anna's enclosure in Aalborg, Denmark, she pounced on him and ripped his pants off. "She's obviously fallen in love with me," says Alrand. "So I'll keep my distance from now on."
While motorcycling through the Hungarian countryside, Cristo Falatti came up to a railway line just as the crossing gates were coming down. While he sat idling, a farmer with a goat, which the farmer tethered to the crossing gate, joined him. A few moments later a horse and cart drew up behind Falatti, followed in short order by a man in a sports car. When the train roared through the crossing, the horse startled and bit Falatti on the arm. Not a man to be trifled with, Falatti responded by punching the horse in the head. In consequence the horse's owner jumped down from his cart and began scuffling with the motorcyclist. The horse, which was not up to this sort of excitement, backed away briskly, smashing the cart into the sports car. At this, the sports-car driver leaped out of his car and joined the fray. The farmer came forward to try to pacify the three flailing men. As he did so, the crossing gates rose and his goat was strangled. At last report the insurance companies were still trying to sort out the claims.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Turkish Muslim plays Anne Frank in Germany
A Muslim former beauty queen is playing Anne Frank in a new stage production in Germany.
Asli Bayram, a daughter of Turkish immigrants who won Germany's national beauty pageant in 2005, has since turned to acting and plays Anne Frank in a one-woman show that opened this week in Frankfurt.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot, the tale of the Jewish teenager who documented her family's doomed efforts to hide from the Nazis during World War II holds special resonance for Bayram: Her father was shot dead by a German right-wing extremist when she was 14, an attack that she witnessed and which left her seriously wounded.
"By means of my work I want to prevent such terrible things, and to act against extremist ideology," Yediot quoted Bayram, now 26 and also a law-school graduate, as saying.
"People must always be reminded that they have to keep an eye on what goes on around them, to prevent such phenomena," she added.
Bayram's portrayal of Anne Frank has been received warmly by Germany's Jewish community as well as professional drama critics, Yediot reported. source: JWT news
Asli Bayram
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
My Istanbul
Last September I posted an entry about a book, called: 'My Istanbul'. Which is published in Dutch only.Several days ago, Bernard Bouwman, the author of this book messaged me that this book is in translation and will be in Turkish in the Turkish bookstore's next month (read: February 2008).
The sweet and soft ironical tone, the diversity of subjects, and his love but also his critical attitude towards Turkey, make this book worth reading. I am pretty sure that it will be a bestseller. A book about Istanbul/Turkey through the eyes of a Dutchman, who is living in Turkey for 8 years, and who speaks fluent Turkish.
Bernard his book is made up about 50 chapters. All are short stories, interviews with famous Turkish people: politicians, intellectuals, artists. It also painted the fragile social infrastructure of Turkey. In the end, he doesn't make political statements.
The Turkish media will let you when it will be available. I recommend this book to everyone who lives in Istanbul and who are interested in Istanbul. Its fun to read.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Day Opening - January 17
The first pictures taken by the Messenger probe as it passed Mercury on Monday have started to arrive at Earth.
They include images that show parts of the surface missed by the Mariner 10 spacecraft when it flew by the planet in the 1970s.
Like the previously mapped portions of Mercury, the new sections appear heavily cratered.
They include images that show parts of the surface missed by the Mariner 10 spacecraft when it flew by the planet in the 1970s.
Like the previously mapped portions of Mercury, the new sections appear heavily cratered.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Day Opening - January 16
Villa Monticello was built by the counts of Orsolini at Avenza, Tuscany, Italy, in 1766 as a small country retreat. In the late 19th century, it was acquired by French Dervillé family, who did some renovating by adding grand flights of steps at the front and back, as well as loggias (balconies or entrance porches) on three sides of the villa.
Today, Villa Monticello is owned by Marzia Vanelli Dazzi, who lives there with her husband and children.
images: Taschen
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Truthiness
European politics, with the exception of the British, are in my opinion boring. For that reason I like a person as Sarkozy; ever witnessed a president who gives a 2 hour press conference for 500 journalist where he or she answered all the questions?
Turkish politics are different. Politicians are always insulted but at the same time they are offensive against everyone who criticize them. And with a press which don't know the difference between facts and fiction and between private and public information, you get a colorful mess.
How different are the USA politics. In this election year everything turns around 'truthiness': doesn't matter if something is true, as long as it looks like that it's true.
But can you prosecute people under this word?..))
Turkish politics are different. Politicians are always insulted but at the same time they are offensive against everyone who criticize them. And with a press which don't know the difference between facts and fiction and between private and public information, you get a colorful mess.
How different are the USA politics. In this election year everything turns around 'truthiness': doesn't matter if something is true, as long as it looks like that it's true.
But can you prosecute people under this word?..))
Day Opening - January 15
The 250-year old Taj Lake Palace, in Udaipur, India, a marble palace that appears as if it's floating on the waters of Lake Pichola.Built in 1746 by Maharana Jagat Singh II, 62nd successor to the royal dynasty of Mewar, Taj Lake Palace was originally built as a summer palace. It has recently been transformed to its former glory and is now possibly one of the most romantic hotels in the world.
Guests, of course, arrive by boat.
Monday, January 14, 2008
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