Things We Learned from NPR Last Week_ Problems with the Other Neighbor

It is well-known that the rivalry between Turkey and Greece is, perhaps after the rift between India and Pakistan, one of the most intense ones anywhere in the world. The two did almost go to war over an uninhabited goat island, relatively close to Bodrum, Turkey, and the Greek island of Kos, in 1996.

But, today, both countries seem to be both plagued with domestic problems as Greece has made international headlines because of the country's financial crisis, and Turkey is in the process of dealing with political gridlock as the conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the opposition People's Republic Party do not get along. This fact was even mentioned by Suzy Hansen in a recent article in "The New Republic" about Erdogan's overbearing cult of personality.

And, perhaps most surprisingly, they are both dealing with 'other neighbors.'

On this blog, we will discuss Turkey's problems with Syria, and on our sister blog, we will examine the lesser-publicized rift between Greece and Macedonia.

Turkey and Greece have many overlapping culture entities, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of shadow puppet theatre. The Figures of Karagoz (the guy with the beard) and Hacivat (the one with the slight mustache) have represented Turkey's inner conflict between the village simpletons, represented by Karagoz, and the urban elites, illustrated through Hacivat.

The plays were reportedly first performed for Sultan Selim the Grim circa 1517. Karagoz remains a major cultural attraction in Bursa, Turkey, the fourth largest city in Turkey where many Karagoz performers and puppet-makers reside, including members of Celikkol family (Ugur Celikkol, who is a tour guide in Bursa, is a personal friend).

In Greece, there is a version of Karagoz called Karagiozis, and the fact that he is a rural dweller as well is made obvious by the fact that like Fred and Braney from "The Flintstones," he goes around barefooted.

As for the Turkish-Syrian problems, the excellent NPR series "The World" said last week that Syria is straining Turkey and Syria's joint 'no problems' foreign policy as refugees are fleeing Syria in droves since Damascus ordered crackdowns on anti-government activists. The domestic conflict in Syria has (as of last week) claimed an astonishing 13,000 lives, making it the second worse mess in the Arab World at the moment behind Libya (with Yemen being a close third).

The Arab Spring fall-out is also drawing Turkey into a Sunni-Shiaa entanglement according to Turkish political commentator Nihat Ali Ozcan of "Hurriyet," the country's most-read newspaper. In a column last week, Ozcan also said that a 'Turkey-Syria-Iran' triangle is forming. This week, Ozcan added that the incresing, though still perhaps a bit remote possibility of a Turkish invasion of northern Syria, could cause the same problems for Turkey that George W. Bush's war in Iraq caused America.

In his comments, Ozcan declared that military intervention in the Middle East may replace dubious politicians, but there is no guarantee that the repalcements will be Westernized democrats.

SIDEBAR: In the world of sport, as the BBC calls it, host country Germany beat Nigeria 1-0 today in the Women's World Cup. France also destroyed Canada 4-0. The ESPN networks will broadcast America's next match with Colombia on Saturday at noon.

Special Quote of the Week- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Today's quote comes from former Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is now 64:

"I can do something else besides stuff a ball through a hoop. My biggest resource is my mind."

SIDEBAR_ This past weekend, I was actually on the NPR show "Studio 360." The show asked listeners to submit what they would want to be the first line of their obituaries.

The reason for this was their guest novelist Timothy Schaffert's new work of fiction is told from the perspective of an old woman who types obituaries for a small-town Nebraska newspaper, perhaps like "The North Platte Telegraph" in North Platte, Neb.

The first line of what I would my obit to say, as submitted to "Studio 360," was: "His dad died on his thirteenth birthday on March 4, 1983, but Tilly Gokbudak somehow managed to live a happy and productive life."

But, my personal favorite submission came from a fellow listener in Connecticut who said: "Rodger has spent his whole life working toward this moment."

Quote of the Week-Umberto Eco

Today our quote of the week comes from Italian novelist Umberto Eco (b.1932) who is best known here for his debut novel "The Name of the Rose," which was the basis for a Sean Connery film of the same name.

Since, we were unable to quote four Italians for our series within a series this month, we will quote one more Italian next month.

This year, Italy is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the country's unification.

Here is the quote from Eco:

"Better reality than a dream: if something is real, then it's real and you're not to blame."

SIDEBAR: Interestingly enough, Italy and Argentina, two countries which are traditional powerhouses in men's soccer are not among the 16 countries at the 2011 Women's World Cup, which is currently underway in Germany.

Today, Team USA won a 2-0 victory over North Korea, one of George W. Bush's 'Axis of Evil' nations (which amazingly enough did not include Syria!). For Team USA, both goals came in the second half from Lauren Cheney and Rachel Buehler. Goal-tender Hope Solo, who is known for being outspoken, delivered the shut-out in Dresden.

In other Group C action, Sweden beat Colombia 1-0. Both Sweden and Norway are considered to be stellar teams when it comes to women's soccer.

Status Update_ Life Might Be Turning Back to Normal

Status Update for June 27, 2011:

"Life is apparently somewhat back to normal. Can I get back to Franz Liszt now?"

Ahh...I did not forget the silent 'z.' I may be one of the very few people who listens to both "Performance Today," a show dedicated to classical music on PRI/NPR (It airs nightly at 8:00 p.m. in my area), and the WKNC show Chainsaw Rock with Hammerhead on 88.1-FM (Raleigh), which is the student-run radio station for North Carolina State University.

Thanks to both shows, I now know more about Hungarian composers and Greek speed metal. What would I do without them?!

The music of Liszt will actually be on today's edition of "Performance Today." My original choice for the Status Update was actually Gustav Mahler.

Status Update_ I am NOT Erupting Like Mt. St. Helens

It has been a crazy, hectic time here in Mudville, Va. (fictional town), but we are hoping to get back to blogging in the hopes that it might connect to the current Miss Turkey, Miss Brazil or well, maybe even Miss West Virginia.

But, in spite of all the zaniness, I have not erupted like Mount St. Helen's in Washington state. The famous volcano, which is now a national park (?!), had its famous eruption on May 18, 1980. It killed 57 people.

While researhing this, we found out that there is a minor league team in Oregon called the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. They are in the Northwest League and a farm team for the San Francisco Giants. They lost their last game to the Eugene Emeralds by a 4-3 score.

Oregon and Washington are two of seven states that I've never been to. I'm not sure if I should count Michigan among the other 43 because I've only been to the Detroit Airport.

Father's Day Kitsch

For me, Father's Day is about remembering my father Mehmet Gokbudak (1921-1983) and my second stepfather Donald Sullivan (1918-2003).

The two men had some similarities as my father liked to collect knives and he frequently wore orange Elmer Fudd hunters caps even though to my knowledge baba (the Turkish word for father) never hunted himself. He also had a fascinated with gun shops.

Donald really, really liked guns, and our political differences on gun control could at times be a sensitive matter. Although we both loved western films, I remember a time when we sat down together to watch a Hopalong Cassidy movie on tv. And, on Father's Day one year, Donald almost cried when he stood up as a 'father' on my behalf during a Salem Avalanche game (now the team is the Salem Red Sox). Since Donald had no children of his own, he cherished being a father figure for my sister and I.

My father had other interests which remain a bit pecuilar to this day. Though he rarely drank beer, though I believe he drank a few Efes Pilsen brews when he was back in Turkey, he loved German beer drinking songs and he had many lp records of those songs, some of which we recently rediscovered. Donald, on the other hand, had little use for Germany as he was a World War II veteran who had seen action in countries like Germany, Belgium and France.

My father's game of choice was soccer, and he rooted for GalataSaray though we didn't have the advantage of watching Turkish soccer games on tv via satellite in the 1970s and early 1980s as many Turkish families can today.

Baba was also not to found of the tv sitcom "Happy Days," which I watched regularly. He considered The Fonz to be subversive because he defied authority, and at times, there was actually a de facto ban on "Happy Days." For me, this simply meant, that I would simply watch the show whenever I was at a friend's house. And, reruns of the show also aired in the afternoon when he wasn't home.

My father also enjoyed classical music, especially accordian tunes, leather belts,
'70s floppy hats, playing the Turkish saz, riiding his bicycle all over town and the Laurel and Hardy short films that he saw at cinemas in Istanbul when he was a teenager.

Besides guns, Donald also liked trains, hot dogs, yard sales, watching airplanes take off and land as well as fishing.

Donald was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but his family moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he resided on Minnesota Street. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1948.

Though I am very different from both of them in oh so many ways, I miss them both every day. And, on Father's Day, I prefer to think of how fortunate I was to have them in my life rather than mourn the fact that they are no longer around.

Special Quote of the Week- Michael Jordan

Today's quote comes from His Airness Michael Jordan who won six NBA titles for the Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998). Curiously, much like Bjorn Borg got burned out with tennis, Jordan shocked the world by retiring at a young age to try baseball. So, he played mostly minor league baseball with teams like the Birmingham Barons where he hit three homeruns.

But, he came back in a veyr big way perhaps to the nausea of other NBA stars like Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz who went to Jordan in the 1998 NBA Finals.

Jordan is the pride and joy of my state of residence, which is North Carolina (I'm from Roanoke, Va.), and he has arguably replaced NASCAR legend Richard Petty (who hails from Randleman, NC) as the Tarheel State's favorite son.

His Airness went to Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, NC, and he later played and won a NCAA title with the University of North Carolina Tarheels, a team that then coached by Dean Smith.

Here is Jordan's quote:

"Even when I'm old and grey, I won't be able to play it, but I'll still love the game."

Incidentally, the Birmingham Barons lost to the Huntsville Stars 6-2 in Huntsville, Alabama, last night. The two plays play each other again this evening.