Carol and I spent last week in Istanbul. It was really an incredible city and we had a wonderful time. The history was almost overwhelming. The people were genuinely warm and friendly. Since our Turkish language skills consisted of a few mispronounced words, we were grateful that almost everyone we met spoke English. The food was different, but delicious. We lived like millionaires (the exchange rate was $1.00 for 1.4 Million Turkish Lira). Of course, one night our dinner (including wine and dessert) cost us just over 100 million TL. We did all right though. Great shopping. Took a couple of tours, and walked around on our own a lot (only got lost once, but we found a cab and after Carol corrected my pronunciation we successfully got a ride back to familiar turf.
Not many Americans there, but we met a couple. The shopkeepers say that Americans stopped coming after 9/11 which is really a shame. The city has much to offer and we enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who wants to see some really unique places. Just soaking up the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman cultural influences is worth the trip. It was definitely the most unique place in the world I have had the pleasure to experience.
We encountered lots of Spanish tourists, some Italians. The locals mistook us for German until they heard us speak. One night we were at a club and the MC sang “New York, New York”, which was kinda funny with the Turkish accent and all. Then he asked people in the audience what country they were from. He would then sing a popular national song, and the folks from that country would sing along. We were the only Americans, and the song he sang was “This land is your land”. It was kind of embarrassing because after the first few lines, Carol and I could not remember the lyrics. So we faked it. Carol heartily joined in with the Spanish song, but I’m not sure she had the right lyrics, unless “aye yi yi yi, I am the Frito bandito” is really their song….
Anyway, the photos follow this post…..
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A lot of talented actors still have to pay their bills.
I had been approached by a couple of people as far as making movies because of my success in music, but it was always to play the white rapper in Sister Act 2, or something that would just kind of put the final nail into my coffin of my career.
I had had a troubled past, but like most rappers they go out and talk about it to kind of help their career.
I have a lot of real life experience with hustling and doing stupid stuff.
I just realized that the whole point of doing interviews was to promote this movie, so see it three times.
I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.
But it just so happens that when you re in the public eye, everything gets reported.
I used to dress up and impersonate our next-door neighbor, Miss Cox. She wore rubber boots, a wool hat, and her nose always dripped.
I like the idea of making big budget films with a heart. I like graphic novels more than comic books.
I think music is what takes the experience off the screen into your soul, into your head.
But I think that the most important thing was to really stop drinking.
An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.
I only drink to make other people seem more interesting.
Love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few.
Patriotism is a arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.
A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never ceased to be amused.
Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.
The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.
A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal.
A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
I have survived by representing these sufferings of mine in the form of the novel.
I too am living as a writer with this polarisation imprinted on me like a deep scar.
After the many rumours that we had heard about Hitler and the published criticisms we had read about him, we were pleasantly impressed.
I have always been interested in politics. I was in the student union before, very active.
As long as karma exists, the world changes. There will always be karma to be taken care of.
Do some selfless service for people who are in need. Consider the whole picture, not just our little selves.
I think it was that we were really seasoned musicians. We had serious roots that spanned different cultures, obviously the blues.
For a long time I just did theater and after many years I was ready to make a change.
A lot of poets carry a wee notebook in their pockets to jot down ideas and lines and even a verse or two. I never do that.
I was drunk for the second time in my life on junior high and that was a bad one!
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