Turkey: The Land of the Hijab and the Bikini

Today, I will skip my usual political rants against right-wing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which might make some think I'm a cranky middle-age man like American comic actor Marc Maron, and illustrate that Turkey is ultimately a country caught between two fashion trends: the hijab and the bikini.

And, for good measure as we say here in the states, we've thrown in a burqini (also spelled burkini as well); all of these definitions are from Wikipedia. We are aware that this entry could get us banned in Dubai and Pakistan; but it could make us more popular in Canada. As my favorite comic strip cartoonist Keith Knight says (paraphrase), Canada is the one place that all Americans can still make fun of:


Hijab: A veil which covers the head which is particularly worn by a Muslim female beyond puberty in the presence of non-related adult males.

Bikini: This is a type of women's two-piece swimsuit designed to provide minimal coverage of the body. One part covers the breast and one part covers the groin and part of or the entire buttocks.

Burquini: A Swimsuit for Muslim women designed by Lebanese Australian Ahena Zametti. The suit covers the whole body except the hands, face and feet.  

http://www.hurriyetnews.com (Turkish newspaper in English)

http://www.wtfpod.com (Marc Maron's podcast)

http://www.knightlifecomic.com (Keith Knight's comic strip "Knight Life")

http://www.burqini.com

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com (Our sister blog, which will feature much of the same text as this one, but with different images).

Last Ten Films We've Seen- The Michael Caine Version

Since we love the series 'Last Ten I've Seen' in the monthly cinema magazine "Film Comment," we occasionally do films that those of us here in 'the office' in Hartford, Connecticut,* have seen lately. Javier the Intern** is really into Japanese Godzilla movies, bu he's been busy these days.

First of all, let's go over the images:

1) A fineral limo- the French film "Holy Motors" (film #1) has some of these, email Javier the Inern for an explanation.

2) The burqini- we are bascially doing this for our reades in Cairo, Doha and Dubai, for the film "Spring Breakers," (film #6) not to be confused with the 1983 teen sex film "Spring Break." We assume both films are hard to find in Eqygt, Qatar and Dubai.

3) A brass teapot for "The Brass Teapot," (film #10)  a new indie film with Juno Temple that screened recently at the River Run Film Festival in Winston-Salem, NC; we need to ask Ken Farmer of "Antiques Roadshow," an auctioneer from Radford, Va., how much this teapot is worth. Actually, we'll ask Javier to do it!

Here is the list:

1. "Holy Motors" (France. dir-Leos Carax. 2012)

2. "Cosmopolis" (Canada. dir-David Cronenberg. 2012)

3. "Elmer Ganry" (dir-Richard Brooks. 1960)

4. "The Day of the Dolphin dir-Mike Nichols. 1973)

5. "This Is Not a Film" (Iran. dir-Jafar Panahi 2011)

6.  "Spring Breakers" (dir-Harvey Korine. 2012)

7. "Alfie" (the Michael Caine version; UK. dir- Lewis Gilbert. 1966)

8. "The Company You Keep" (dir-Robert Redford 2012)

9. Wake in Fright (Australia. dir-ted Kotcheff. 1971)

10. "The Brass Teapot" (dir. Ramma Mosley. 2012)

*-We are not actually in Hartford, but we are in the same time zone

**-Javier the Intern is a fictional character who has 'been working' for us for four years now

http://www.filmcomment.com

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com (Our sister blog)

http://www.kfauctions.com

http://www.riverrunfilm.com

http://www.michaelcaine.com