Two Turkish Drinks

Ayran: a salty yogurt concoction; drunk with main meals. Quite nice.
Salgam: spicy fermented carrot juice. Not found elsewhere. With good reason.

Some tips from four days

Escape the tourist traps. When hiring a car, always check for a good map, and knowing speed limits is pretty useful too . . .

Rugby Water Polo

Two teams, one ref/goalie, one pass before shooting. No contact without the ball, full contact with it. No other rules needed.

Ancient Sport

Clearly cricket is the sport of gentlemen and gods. Only two stumps needed. A similarly classic sport was created: Rugby Water Polo.

Busy vs Quiet part 3

The barmen showed us this backstreet restaurant just away from the seafront. Unlike most no roasts, no Chinese, just a turkish delight.

Busy vs Quiet part 2

Following the beach busyness we found a roof-top bar, empty before the evening rush. Vistas of the sun over the bay. Beautiful.

Busy vs Quiet part 1

Altinkum beach was very busy - 5 rows of loungers / umbrellas extending for miles. No wiggle room in the sea - was warm though.

A Turkish Dichotomy

Turkish driving is interesting. They pull into the kerb facilitating overtaking; yet drive recklessly: pulling out randomly; blinding with full beams continuously.

Taxist/Taxism

British taxi drivers are generally forceful drivers. The Turkish are on another scale. Great to get to the destination on time though.

Easyjet enjoy queueing

Huge queues at check-in, but with half an hour spare we were skipped through the line. And then delayed three hours. Crazy.

A foreword in four words of others (guess whose and whom)

The Travellers:

"wears loads of suncream";

"sorry, I'm not Turkish";

"wing mirrors, useless appendages";

"ref that's not fair";

"the natural Turkish driver".

22 Words about Turkey

Very hot

; tourist focussed; great fun. The holidayers were myself; Dan; Josh; Phil; Chris. The next 22 blogs will tell all . . .

A Turkish Dichotomy

Turkish driving is interesting. They pull into the kerb facilitating overtaking; yet drive recklessly: pulling out randomly; blinding with full beams continuously.

I'm back

Its a pity I couldn't wait twenty two months before getting unbored. Holidays, weddings, summer life - there's so much to talk about . . .

A-Z of Christmas '08

An alphabetical examination of the world around Ed this past fortnight (minus a couple of letters, obviously)

A is for Arsenal, it always has been and always will be. The greatest team didn't have the greatest Christmas, which fits the season perfectly.

B is for the Beckingham Family Christmas: not the traditional gathering of hundreds this year; instead we helped with a community meal. Abnormal and very fulfilling.

C is for Charlott-ie / Soph-a-lotte, my cousins 18 month old twins. Welded to their mother and petrified of me. Probably because I can crawl faster.

D is for Daniel - the boy gave the garlic press I asked for - I still destroyed him daily at Wii golf (don't mention tennis).

E is for Ethel. Words can't express the love I have for my very old lady. For Christmas she got a brand new frost scraper.

F is for Football Boots. I got new boots for Christmas. My Ronaldo style skills will be displayed regularly now that I can stay upright.

G is for Guinness: Zoë gave me a Guinness glass, which makes everything taste nicer, and Guinness toffees, which don't taste of Guinness. At all.

H is for Hopalong - what Rosie (cat) does now she has 3 legs. Becoming a tripod hasn't affected her brain, she's as stupid as ever.

J is for Jesus. Great to take a moment out of normality to remember that 2000+ years ago the saviour of the world was born.

K is for the King William College Quiz. The world’s hardest quiz: from 180 questions I answered 2 correctly. It always puts me in my place.

L is for Losing the Game. Which I jsut did, and thanks to Zoë did all Christmas. And now I will everytime I blog. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.

M is for Monopoly. We attempted to go round the monopoly board in under an hour. It’s not possible, even at 3am. We blame Marylebone.

N is for Norwich and New Years: Combined to create a mellow evening with friends, spoiled only by the fact I didn't win at Articulate.

P is for Pieces, 204 of which make up the jigsaw I gave dad this year, a collage of pictures detailing the world around him.

Q is for Quote. Grandpa Beckingham’s best: "Plain milk can't make chocolate sauce" to a bemused waitress. Only an oap could say something like that.

R is for Ryan, my parents 2 month old foster child. Can sleep anywhere. Sick regularly whilst smiling away. Looks at everything and everyone around.

S is for Steggles, the only family who stayed this Christmas. They made up for eveyone elses absence by leaving most of their luggage behind.

T is for Trumps. A traditional betting card game, usually played for a pound each, which I played 3 times and lost humiliatingly every time.

U is for the USA. I made a poster for Chris, Phil and Stu: it's awesome, (H is for Humble) a photo-collage of our Road Trip.

W is for Wallace and Gromit. Both charming and clever. The film’s good but not as a good as A Matter of Loaf and Death.

X is not for X-Mas. Does writing Christmas take much time? Fortunately we’ll be free for another 11 months. {Note: ask for a Xylophone next Christmas].

Z is for Zavvi. Sadly deceased. Wanted closing down bargains, but the prices were not as great as Woolworths. Got King Kong / Juno though. RIP.

Alfred Hitchcock's Rope: Innovative but no Masterpiece

Hitchcock's films stretch cinematic boundaries. Rope purports to be filmed in one shot. It isn't amazing, but any Hitchcock is worth watching. 

Definition

The ability to define ourselves is what makes us what we are. The question is:

am I human, or am I dancer?

Good Pictures / Bad Pictures

I have been accused of blogging photos that show people in a bad light.

Will there be any photo's following this one?

Small Group Christmas Meal 2008 - Someone's Got Talent

Yesterday was the small group christmas meal at King's. The girls cooked amazingly and the guys provided the "entertainment"'. Judge for yourselves:

1. Boys Aloud - Rule the World

2. Matts Bell and Lang + Nathan - Freedom

3. Matts Bell and Lang + Nathan - Looking for Answers

4. The Nativity in the minds of Tom, Finn and Ian

5. Matts Bell and Lang + Nathan - Like No One Else

6. Matts Bell and Lang + Nathan cover Ronan Keating - When you say Nothing at all

7. Five - Getting Down

Unfortunately the footage of Boys Aloud singing Fool Again by Westlife is missing.

As compensation, here's Tom and Finn playing chinese charades . . .

Film Heaven, or My Week of Many Movies (Mostly Marvellous)

It's been a busy film week: we have started using DVD rental, and I went to the cinema twice. My reviews are:

1. The Prestige

Great film, uses time jumps to tell the story uniquely, creates no strong moral character leading to oscillating favour between main characters. (see also: Memento; ignore: Pulp Fiction;)

2. Changeling

A harrowing and involving film arousing strong emotional support for people failed by the state. Astonishing that it is a true story. (see also: The Shawshank Redemption (failed by state) Man on Wire (true, very different, story); ignore: Open Water)

3. Waltz With Bashir

Israeli animated documentary. Definitely my favourite of this genre. Powerful study of the failure to react to genocide. Successfully innovates to impress view. (see also: ; ignore: Fahrenheit 9/11)

4. Hollywoodland

Private investigator analyses death of 1950's Superman. Flashes back seemingly at random leading to confused plot, overly long film, and general tedium. (recommended: The Usual Suspects, also ignore: 21 grams)

We have the rental until the 27th and before then I hope to watch some Hitchcock, El Orfanato, and more. Any suggestions?