Money and the Seven Deadly Sins

Money & the Seven Deadly Sins

          Seven sins 

Is it time to eliminate money from our transactions between ourselves? And try to find a different barter source...

Sincerely,

Ben

The Moneylenders

The Moneylenders

I came by the below quote that made me reflect on the current times that we are in.  This quote was said by a President, more than 150 years ago, as he realized the importance of keeping a 'balance household budget'.  If we or our country does not properly handle the resources and keep spending in check, the Bankers will surely, come in, and seize everything we own.  

Here is the quote.  

"The Moneylenders preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity.  It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy." --- USA President Mr Abraham Lincoln

          Mr President 

Sincerely, 

Ben 

Game Over for Cesare Prandelli

Game Over for Cesare Prandelli 

Galatasaray Football Club has sacked Mr Cesare Prandelli following a series of poor results that culminated in the teams early exit from UEFA's Champions League.

I wish Mr Prandelli success in his future endeavours.  

Gian, the Villain

Gian, the Villain 

The movies of 'A Fistful of Dollars' and 'A Few Dollars More' had something very important in common.  

 

Both films show the brilliant acting from 'Gian Maria Volonte'.   He was the villain in both movies directed by Sergio Leone.   Brilliant performance by this Italian actor, who died from a heart attack in the year 1994 at the city of Florina, located in northern Greece.  He was filming the movie 'Ulysses Gaze' when he passed away.  

Mr Volonte wanted to be buried in the small island of Sardinia. His resting place is at 'Isola Della Maddelena' on the previously mentioned island.  

I watched the movie of 'A Few Dollars More' again today and I very much enjoyed this movie, especially the performance of the late Mr Volonte.   RIP, the best villain in any movie.   

Sincerely 

Splendour

Splendour

What though the radiance, which was once so bright,

Be now for ever taken from my sight,

Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass,

Of glory in the flower,

We will grieve not, 

Rather find strength in what remains behind. 

(Wonderful poem) by William Wordsworth

Here We Go Again

Here We Go Again

3rd Place

3rd Place

This years uefa champions league is well underway and after 3 games, Galatasaray SK is sitting in last place in their group, which has the following teams, from first to last:

Dortmund, 9 points

Arsenal, 6 points,

Anderlecht, 1 point, & 

Gala, 1 point.  

The first two teams make it to the last 16 of the champions league.  The third place team goes to the uefa cup competition, and will be in the last 32 teams in this competition.  And the last place team will be eliminated from European soccer competition for this season.  

I would recommend to Gala to really try to finish this years competition in third place, therefore they could continue  their journey in uefa cup competition, instead of the champions league.  Let us be honest, Gala is not very strong this year and they are not firing in all cylinders.  

The uefa cup competition will be better suited for Gala this year as the teams in this competition are more likely competitors for Gala. 

The last 3 games remaining for Gala are: 

Borussia Dirtmund, at Germany,

Anderlecht, in Belgium, &

Arsenal, in Turkey. 

I cannot see the team get even 1 point from the Germany game.  However, they should be able to secure a minimum of 1 point from Belgium.  The last game will surely need to be a win.  Therefore, Gala will hopefully finish with 5 points. 

Their direct competitor will be Anderletch.  The Belgium sides last 3 games are: 

Arsenal, at home,

Gala, at home, &

Dortmund, in Germany. 

I cannot see Anderlecht winning or tiring with Arsenal and the game against Borusia Dortmunf will be a definite win for  Dortmund.  

This is my analysis of this group within the champions league, therefore, from first to last, here below is the standing after 6 games: 

Borussia Dortmund,

Arsenal, 

Galatasaray, &

Anderletch.  

What do you think?

Sincerely. 

Mevlam Gor Diyerek

Mevlam Gor Diyerek

Bugun cok begendigim bir Turkunun sozlerini buraya yazmak istedim.  Buyrun okuyun ve manasini anlamissinizdir.  

Iste Turku sozleri:

Mevlam gor diyerek iki goz vermis,
Bilmem aglasam mi aglamasam mi,
Dura dura bir sel oldum erenler,
Bilmem caglasam mi caglamasam mi.

Yoksulun sirtindan doyan doyana,
Bunu goren yurek nasil dayana,
Yigit muhtac olmus kuru sogana,
Bilmem soylesem mi soylemesem mi.

Mahzuni Serif'im dindir acini,
Bazı acilardan al ilacini,
Pir Sultanlar gibi daragacini,
Bilmem boylasam mi boylamasam mi. 

Saygilarimla. 

Adalet Tecelli Etmedi

Adalet Tecelli Etmedi

'Adalet tecelli etmedi' - Atasozu

Bence bu Atasozu cok manali, soyle bir kisa aciklama yapiyim.  

'Hak yerini bulmadi'. 

          Yanginlar alevinden gelen dost

Yani istedigimiz bir sonuc cikmadi, bekledigimiz bir davadan yada herhangi bir interaction yada transaction'dan. 

Bir hatirlatma yapmak istedim, bizim cok guzel eski Atasoz'lerimiz bulunmaktadir.  

Saygilarimla, 

Ben

🤓

The Tale Grew

The Tale Grew

'The tale grew by the telling...'

Intervention by Turkey

Intervention by Turkey

I have been following the 'guerrilla war' going on in Syria, and I am perplexed at some comments made by westerners from the comfort of their peaceful homes.  

          Tanks sitting on the Turkish side 

Let us briefly look at the issue at hand.  

But first, I will re-write the question, why are some screaming for meddling and interventions by Turkey? 

The answer is that the Turkey does not want to get dragged into an in-ending & un-winnable guerrilla war.  

I invite citizens of the world to read 'Art of War' by Mr Sun Tzu.

If USA politicians actually read the book, they, I mean the politicians would not be constantly getting involved in fiascos all the time, all around the world.  

          Men watching the bombing

If IS (Islamic State) attacks Turkey, then the matter is different, as Turkey is justified to protect its borders and therefore retaliate.  What Turkey is doing is watching how the affair unfolds and using caution.  This 'caution' is something all countries should use, before bombing each other.  

But, let's say something needs to be done right away, as in we need to go into Syria and 'bomb' IS or other parties.  

I for one definitely agree that something should be done to save the people of the town of Kobani. 

However, Turkey should not fight IS on its own.  

What is required is a a 'joint force' of NATO countries going in to solve this dilemma.  

Or how about the 'so called' world powers of USA, UK, Canada and France, putting their nose into this as well and going into Syria and bombing that country like Afghanistan or Irak or Vietnam was 'handled' previously.  

But, let's not be sarcastic here.  

If Turkey were part of a joint force it would make sense to complete a 'peaceful ground operation' but for a single country to invade another is illegal and absolutely foolish. 

I hope our politicians have learned that 'war is not the answer to peace'.  I really hope that...

Sincerely, 

Ben 

Wallpaper of Summer 2014

Wallpaper of Summer 2014

the window scene in the classic 1931 movie

Bela Lugosi, the original Dracula.

Stay safe people, 

Ben

🤓

What Happened to Gala?

What Happenned to Gala?

My opinion is this.   

The game on October 1st, 2014, Arsenal vs Galatasaray, ended with a win for the English club, with 4-1 result.  

           the first goal by Arsenal 

Briefly, the problem is that the coach of Gala, Mr Prandelli is fooling around too much with the lineup. 

He played a 3 - 5 - 2 formation against Arsenal.   And he only played this formation once before.  Yes, you read that right, once before.  

Don't try new shit against these strong clubs, it works in Turkey, but will not work against European clubs.    

         Penalty for Gala

Play it safe, a 4 - 4 - 2 or 4 - 5 - 1 formation is best for Gala.  This is how (we) Gala, played for 40 years. It's in our culture.   

Fuck I hate that, a coach fooling around too much with the lineup, before a very important soccer game.  

Mr Prandelli will not last long now as the coach of Gala.  

We have a lot of good young coaches that deserve a chance but we as fans are not patient, we need to learn this, however not now, as here is the scenario unfolding at Gala, presently.  

Soon as the president of Gala resigns his position, effective October 25, 2014, the incoming new president will fire Mr Prandelli.  This is good, but bad aswell in that we are wasting to much money, since we will need to pay his salary for the entire season.  

          the only goal by Gala is from Burak Yilmaz

We should have never have fired Mr Terim or Mr Mancini, the previous two coaches for Gala. 

The future for Gala is not looking very bright, today. 

Tomorrow, needs to come fast. 

Thank you,

Ben

🤓

Ahmet

Ahmet

     Drawing inside Zeyrek Church/Mosque

This is a very nice name for a boy, the meaning is as following 'Highly praised One'.  I really love that meaning.

Peace everyone,

Ben

🤓

Will Anderlecht of 1977 Show Up

Will Anderlecht of 1977 Show Up

Galatasaray soccer team is based out of Istanbul, Turkey.   They finished in second place, in last years domestic competition, behind the champions Fenerbahce.  

          Preview

Anderlecht soccer team is based out of Brussels, Belgium.  The team finished champions in the Belgium domestic division last year.  

Today is the first game of 2014 - 15 UEFA Champions League for both clubs.  

The game will be played at 'Turk Telekom Arena' in Istanbul, home of Gala.  

How is Anderlecht's record against Turkish opponents in Turkey? 

I found that it is a decent record of:

Won 2,

Draw 1, &

Lost 2. 

Both teams have last met almost 40 years ago, in the 1976 - 1977 'European Cup Winners Cup' competition.  After two games, Anderlecht triumphed to a 10 - 2 trashing of Gala, after winning each game with the identical result of 5 - 1.

It is with enthusiastic anticipation, I will be following this game.  Let the better team win. 

Thank you, 

Ben 

🤓

The Beautiful Tuco

The Beautiful Tuco

Eli Wallach, who played "the Ugly" character of the brilliant movie of 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly' has passed away quietly on June 24, 2014.   

         Excellent actor - Tuco 

Rest In Peace.

Mr Wallach was an American film, television and stage actor whose career spanned more than six decades, beginning in the late 1940s.

      the cemetery scene

Mr Wallach initially studied method acting under 'Sanford Meisner', and later became a founding member of the Actors Studio.  

I first watched him in the spaghetti western mentioned about and always thought he was brilliant in this role.  'Tuco', one could argue, stole almost every single scene in the movie.  Now , we will not argue this, not the time, as the entire production with all the cast and members, came together to make the 'best' film in 'world' theatre, in my opinion.  

        Another scene from the cemetery 

Today, I wanted to bring to attention, this 'Beautiful' man passed away on June 24, 2014; and I am ashamed to admit I heard about this yesterday, on August 29, 2014. 

My humble homage to this man.  

RIP. 

Thank you for visiting,

Ben here 

2004 Soldier

2004 Soldier (Asker - in Turkish)

10 sene olmus...

Hakikatten o kadar olmusmu?

Ben 2004 senesinde 'Parali Askerlik' yaptim Burdur sehrinde.

Askerligimi 28 gun yaptim. 

Ilk gittigim gunun gecesi cok kotu idi, cok iyi hatirlarim, kendime demistim/sormustum 'Ben ne yaptim?'

Koca bir 'Gymnasium' Salonun icinde 50 kisi yatiyorduk, rahat degildi. 

Ve hersey cok degisik idi.  

Kalabalik idi, 

Hava cok sicak idi, 

Kimseyi tanimiyordum,

Cok kotu gorundu hersey, ilkbakista...

Ama son gunun gecesini hatirliyorum, ne cabuk gecti 28 gun diye dusunmustum.   

Cok guzel arkadaslar vardi ve hic bir kotu gunum yok idi diye hatirliyorum simdi geriye baktigimda.   

Tum arkadaslar ile oturup cay iciyorduk o son gece ve askerligi bir cirpida bitirdik diyorduk ve aramizda gulusuyorduk.   

Bence hayat boyle iste, zor gunler olur, iyi ve kotu gunler olur ve bir bakarsin ne cabuk gecti...dersin kendine.  

Bazi seylerden ders almak lazim diye dusunuyorum.  

Simdilik hoscakal,

Ben

Robin Williams Passed Away

Robin Williams Passed Away

        Picture from my iPhone

          Another picture

May the funny man rest in peace.  

Ben

😥

Rest In Peace Suleyman Seba

Rest In Peace Suleyman Seba

Allah Rahmet Eylesin,

Topragi Bol Olsun, 

Ruhu Sad Olsun, ve

Allah Gunahlarini Af Eylesin. 

Saygilarimla 

Ben

😥

Day of Birth

Day of Birth

Some sites can now tell you the exact date of your birth.  I have copy/pasted a link of one of these sites, here below.  

http://www.korn19.ch/coding/days.php

Please visit this site if you are interested in the 'day' of your birth.  I have an interesting story of my 'birth day'. 

It says I was born on a Sunday, when completing the required information on the above site.  My mother has told me the story of me being born on a Saturday, which is interesting as then it conflicts with the website.  

Here is the story:

My father went to work Saturday early morning, he was a 'Pazarci', which means that he sold fruits and vegetables at various 'Farmer markets'.  How it worked in Istanbul was that each day, he would sell his produce at a different farmers market across the city.  That day, on Saturday, he was located at 'Beykoz', which is a neighbourhood in the Asian side of Istanbul.  My parents lived in 'Fatih', which is on the European side of the city.  

     Fatih, Istanbul

I was born early afternoon on that day my father worked at Beykoz, which would be Saturday.   

Also, my father did not work Sundays, this was his only day off. 

     Beykoz, Istanbul

After giving birth in her home, the upstairs neighbour, who was my

mothers uncles daughter, and my mothers best friend, which her name was Hatice.   Hatice's husband was called to duty, however, sadly I cannot remember his name, today.  

Anyway, the husband of Hatice was sent to where my father was employed that day, to inform him I was born.  He went from Fatih to Beykoz, which would be approximately hour and half journey.  For his efforts and good news, my father bought him a nice meal, and they returned back home together, later that evening.  

I saw this gentleman, Hatice's husband when I last visited Istanbul in August 2012.  He re-told the nice story of how he travelled from the European side of Istanbul, and crossed the bosphorous sea to the Asian side to tell my father of the birth.  He told the story, while we were sitting at a 'coffee house' in Fatih.  I bought him a cup of tea and he spoke while I listened.  I hope I see him again when I visit Istanbul again....soon.  

I have to remember his name, his name is on the 'Tip of my tongue', 

Back to that webpage. 

Therefore, either the chart is wrong on the webpage, or my parents put my date of birth of January 31 and it should have been Saturday January 30th. 

Interesting story, I thought to share.  

Thank you for visiting,

Ben here 

Highlander Quote

Highlander Quite

          Picture taken from the 📺 screen

Thank you,

Ben

🤓

So Called Defend the Land

So Called Defend the Land

I read an article in a major American news paper today.  There was a full page advertisement which was a statement that was pro-Israel, listing all the reasons why they have a right to defend themselves.

          Palestine flag and her young future

They are spending a lot of money trying to convince the world that they have a right to defend themselves, which no one is disputing.

Furthermore, a journalist in that newspaper had a whole argument about how people who harshly criticize Israel over humanitarian concern for the Palestinians are closet anti-Semites. 

The magazine 'Economist' has published many articles which are biased in favor of Israel.  So have many other big publications.  

Soldier taking away a young boy

Such biased and one sided reporting of so called facts and interpretations completely discredits the entire news media.  It has become so bad that their is more truth in the advertisements than there is in the actual news.  

Well, just because people are critical of Israel when Israel misbehaves does not make them anti-Semites.

To disagree with a Jew does not make one an anti-Semite.

To label such people like that is dirty, a low blow, and downright despicable.

This type of rhetoric will not win people over to Israel's side, but will anger them and drive them away.

Thank you for reading, 

Ben

Kibar Feyzo, Hadi Yine Seyredin

Kibar Feyzo, Hadi Yine Seyredin

Bilinmezdir ama bu guzel Turk filmin senaryosu, oyuncu Ihsan Yuce tarafindan yizilmis.  Onun bu filmde cok guzel bir rolude vardir.  Mujde Ar'in babasini canlandirir, film geregi ismi Huso'dur.  Tabiiki, seyretmeyenler bilmezdir, Mujde Ar'in kocasida Kemal Sunal'dir.   

          Kibar Feyzo 

Diger bir kac oyuncuyuda sayiyim asagiya:

Sener Sen,

Ilyas Salman (Bilo),

Adile Nasit (Sakine Anney),

Erdal Ozyacilar (Zulfo), 

Bahri Ates (Topal Hoca)

Filmin kısaca konusu soyledir:

Kibar Feyzo (Kemal Sunal) askerden dondukten sonra Gulo'ya (Mujde Ar) evlenme teklifi eder.  Tabiiki, bu ufak koyde Gulo'ya baska erkekler talip olur, bunun bir tanesi Bilo'dur (Ilyas Salman).  Gulo'nun babası 'Baslik parasi' denen uygulamayi cok ileri goturur ve 'Acik artirma' uygular, kizi icin.   

Ve boylece film baslar.  

          Baslangic sahnesi 

Damat elbette buyuk bir borcun altina girer ve bu parayi odemek icin para kazanmasi lazim.  Damat, yani 'Kibar Feyzo' borcunu odemek icin 'Sehre' gidip calismaya baslar.  Sehre her gidip donusunde, koylulere 'Artik Aga'lik kalkti' gibi laflar eder.  Ve boyle Aga'ya karsi cephe olusunca, filmde cok guzel, dusundurucu, aydin ve anlamli sahneler olusur.  

Maho Aga, Sener Sen tarafindan canlandirilir ve o ve diger oyuncular, bu filmi 'American filmi' olarak cekseydiler, elbette o senenin 'Oscar'ini' herbiri alirdi.  Ve tabiki 'Best picture' kategorisinde bu film kazanmasi suphesizdir.  

          Kemal Sunal, rahmetli

Film:

Koy hayatini,

Feodal (Agalık) düzeni, 

Toreleri,

Muzikal Turkuleri,

Koy insanının cehaletini, &

Bunlarla birlikte gelen yobazlıgı 

Kara mizah yoluyla elestiren sahane bir filmimizdir. 

         Meshur savunma 

Cok kere seve seve seyrettigim bir film'dir, tavsiye ederim.  

Saygilarimla, 

Ben

Todays Temperature

Today's Temperature

Today, and the next few days are looking to be absolutely amazing, if you like 'hot' temperature.  

Enjoy, 

Ben

Eid

Eid

Eid Mubarak to everyone. 

From my family to your, peace. 

Ben

Niyeti Guzel Olanin

Niyeti Guzel Olanin

'Niyeti guzel olanin, akibeti hayir olur' --- Atasozu (Anonim)

          Narrow roads of old Bodrum

I would like to explain what the above Quote means.  I will first write what it means in Turkish, as it does have a deep meaning. 

Afterwards, I will translate it to English. 

First of all, I need to explain what 'Atasozu' means.  The 'Atasozu' is used for 'sayings' 'quotes' 'proverbs' that have come from centuries past, and the author is an unknown person from society.  

Now, the Turkish meaning of the quote is written below:

Bir insan, bir sey yapmak isterse, ve yapacagi seyi onceden dusunup yapmak istemekte ise.  Ve bu yapacagi bir sey, kendisi, ailesine, mahallesine 'hayirli' ise, o zaman, sonuc olarak, bu isin sonu iyi olur.   Evet, sonuc olarak, herkez icin faydali olur.  Aksi taktirde, kotu niyeti olup, ise baslarsa, sonuc cok zararli olur, herkez icin.  

Kisacasi bu Atasozunun anlami budur.  

Bence cok anlamli bir soz idir.  

And now, the English translation. 

Before beginning a task, event or duty, make sure to understand that, the event needs to be beneficial to ones self, family and neighbourhood.  Because, if beneficial to ones self, it will be a 'positive' outcome for everyone.  However, if we have 'evil' or 'bad' intend from the beginning, the results will be detrimental to everyone. 

Basically, do the right thing from the beginning, and the result will be positive for everyone. 

Kind of a 'dark' topic today, however thought to share.  

          Arkada Bodrum Kalesi

Thank you again, for visiting and reading, 

Ben

Mesut Ozil Donates

Mesut Ozil Donates

Mesut Ozil, who was born in Germany, from Turkish parents has completed an incredible gesture.  The Arsenal player shows that he has compression and is keeping current with the events in the Middleaest.  

The German National Team football player, who won the World Cup title this year (2016), has donated his $500,000 World Cup winnings share to projects in Palestine.  

Mr Ozil, who is a practising Muslim, has decided to donate his bonus for a good cause of helping the 'children of Gaza’.  

May this good gesture be returned back to you in volumes of success in your future endeavours Mesut. 

Thank you for visiting, 

Ben