Crazy how it fell last night...

What do Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave and Dave Matthews Band have in common? You may say many, starting with "music", then adding "good" to it, or you may not... anyway, for last night, they had one guitarist in common: Tom Morello. First as an opening act, performing his first solo album (very far from what he previously did with his friends...), then he joined Dave and his breathtaking band for two songs: "#41 " and "Satellite". No one can say the opposite: he was damn good! And the rest of the three hours concert had been dream-like. I had to look at my beloved to make sure it was real! Either him nor I couldn't believe we were finally seeing and listening to Carter, Doyd, Leroi, Stefan and Dave live. From "Don't drink the water" to "Two Step", going through "Crash into me" and "Crush" (click here for the complete set list), Dave Matthews Band has captivated the although -not -full -but -crazy -Forest-National -audience. If from the 8,000 available seats only 6,500 were taken, those present made as much noise as for 13,000! Size doesn't matter, indeed. We're now impatiently waiting for the next European tour... Life is short but sweet for certain!

The Cell Phone

In less than three hours, I will be at the most important press conference of the year at BOZAR, as the organizer.... which makes it quite stressful I might say. This morning, I dressed up quite quickly (yes, I did!), and I left home in peace, knowing that when I will come back, I will see the same but also each time different, beautiful smile and face. Stepping on the tramway, I figured out I forgot my cell phone, but it was too late to get back. I've arrived at the office at 8:50, and at 9:01, got a call from the reception: "There's a young man here who brought you your cell phone". My heart began to beat like if I were going to meet him for the first time. He was standing in front of the reception desk, with his red shirt and black sweater on. A marvellously good-looking guy with his hair "en bataille"... the "out of bed" hair every Tony & Guy fan would like to have. He handed me my phone, I embraced him and felt like the happiest girl in the world. Not because of the phone, just because of him. Then I stepped back in my office, looking at my colleague and saying "He's the sweetest man on earth, an angel, I love him so much".

Audrey Hepburn VS Truman Capote

I agree, these two are far from being comparable, with only one thing in common, artistically speaking... Breakfast at Tiffany's. Everybody knows the movie, and even if never read, also the book. Well, I happened to experience both within two days. Hepburn is quite stunning indeed, but Capote's story has nothing to do with the movie. Of course, a movie is never like the book it is based on (it's always worse if you ask me). But here, apart from Audrey Hepburn's acting and beautiful black dress, I couldn't see a slight interest in the movie. I'm quite glad I read the book right after, the movie was enjoyable but the book is quite a masterpiece. And since one has nothing to do with the other (except for some character names and dialogues), it was easy to ignore the movie while reading the book. I would therefore easily say Hepburn and Capote are ex-aequo... even if on fairly different levels.

Autopsy on a female soul

It was quite clear from the beginning,
it was just a physical matter.
That's what he said
"It's just sex"
It's not his fault
if you have feelings.
He's not supposed to see what's inside you.
So leave,
run,
go away before you fall.
Go away, run, leave,
or you'll be sorry after.
Don't take any risk and
run before he leaves.
Loneliness is something you know,
don't you?
So leave, go away, run.
Let's run away together love.
Let's leave them.
Let's just go, let us go
life.
It's midnight already.
Cindirella's waiting.
She lost her shoe. No one's getting it. No one will find it anymore.
You'll wait forever Cindirella,
for a shoe that will never come.
It's five past midnight,
Cindirella isn't waiting anymore.

From the Panama Diaries

3.01.2007
Coronado beach, Panama

Deniz kenarinda oturuyorum, günesten gölgeye geçtim. Biliyorsun fazla dayanamiyorum günesin altinda kalmaya...ancak kuruyana kadar. Okyanusa bakiyorum, kulagimda Eykah Badu "He became the sun I became the moon", ve karsimda çok eski bir balikçi teknesi. Hayatimda böylesini görmemistim, sanki eski bir filmden firlamis gibi! Pastan rengi garip bir kahveye dönüsmüs ve kanatlanir gibi demirleri her iki yandan çikarak sularin üzerinden bakiveriyor atlayan baliklara. Kuslar tünemis direklerin her bir yanina. (Bu arada iPod'umu ilk kez shuffle'a aldim ve çok güzel sürprizlerle karsilasiyorum). Kendi dünyama kapaniyorum, etrafimda insanlar konusuyor, oynuyor, bebek fotograflari çekiyor sürekli (tanrim, bundan daha yorucu bir aktivite olabilir mi?). Dalgalar gittikçe daha yakina vuruyor. Balikçi teknesi ise uzaklasiyor, koynunda baliklar, kollarinda kuslarla birlikte.
Uzun zamandir özgür olmak için içime kapanma ihtiyaci duymamistim, susmayi. Sessiz olup kendi kendime olmayi. "Rahat birakin, istemiyorum, evet eglence size göre bu ama benim için yanliz kalmak sikilmak anlamina gelmiyor". Bunu ama anlatamazsin, insanlar bos seylerden hoslaniyor, bizim zevk aldigimiz seyler ise bos geliyor onlara. Anlatmak gereksiz, sende biliyorsun. Balikçi teknesi kayboldu, okyanus ise kumsali iyice islatarak bizide yavasça kovuyor. Sesimi tek duyan oymus demek.

Oh Belgium! ... Lovely Holiday Country!

Sitting on my couch still in my PJ's on a Thursday morning at 11 o'clock, am I ill? Hell no! The whole country (and even Europe I guess) is celebrating Jesus's bodily ascension to Heaven... As a Muslim, I might say I enjoy it pretty much! But what my sweet second (or first? Don't know anymore) country (Belgium, for those of you who will still have some doubts) offers ... is an extra day off on Friday, which makes the weekend not two but four days long. Isn't this brilliant? "Le pont" they call it here (because they put a bridge between the official day off and the weekend). Well now, I'm enjoying it, even if sometimes I do think they are exaggerating, not when my office gets closed, but when supermarkets are for instance, but as we say in French "On ne peut pas avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre"! So, thank you Jesus for showing us the way to fly away from work!

Mastering the fact of not being a native speaker of whatever language

"We are sorry, but your application cannot be accepted because you are not a native English speaker"... This is the sad answer that a good friend of mine, native from Panama, raised and educated both in Spanish and English, gets to hear from some European Commission employee to her application for an internship... How do they expect to evolve with such a narrow minded view on today's world, especially in a place like Europe where people, cultures and therefore languages are continuously intermingling? Even if not from birth (still, at least two languages are spoken in many families), languages can be learned and mastered through education and practice. I cannot believe that one can only write in one's own native language (I wonder how Nabokov would have answered to such a stupid assessment). I was myself raised in Turkish, educated in French then in English and Spanish, using Dutch in everyday life and at work. I do not master all of these languages in the same way of course, but I couldn't accept anyone limiting my capacities in writing, thinking, understanding or communicating in any way, to my native tongue, which isn't actually one but two. Nothing rare here, nothing impossible and certainly nothing extraordinary. When Elif Shafak, a writer who was born in France, lived in Spain, studied in Turkey and the United States, writes novels in Turkish and in English, I can just applaud her. It is a richness and not a mistake to be able to write in as many languages as one masters. The key word, as you may have understood, is not "being native" but rather "mastering", and the same goes for everything, far beyond languages.

Sahar's journey in Brugge

It isn't because an oriental lute, a piano and an accordion appear to be on the same stage that "fusion" or "encounter" between Oriental and Western cultures are automatically to occur.
Yesterday evening, in the beautiful Stadsschouwburg 's main hall in Brugge, lute player and composer Anouar Brahem together with his fellow musicians, pianist François Couturier and accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier, formed a perfect out-of-borders-trio. There was only one thing to hear... pure music. It feels so reposing not to think of an artists' origin, and regarding his or her art only.
I felt good last night, following Sahar's footsteps, enjoying the journey, just for the music, and nothing more was necessary. It was pure.