This one is entitled "Boþu boþuna".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ces9kIPe7n8&feature=related

sung by Edip Akbayram in memory of Mahsuni Serif the famous (bard/minstrel) folk poet and singer from Gaziantep in South East Turkey.

The lord has given me life
But it is all in vain
He put soul into my body
but it was all in vain

Like water flows into the sea
Whence it ascends into heavens
Thereupon rain it forms
and the rain is all in vain

Was it all up to Mary and Jesus
What did Moses get from the wand
And Solomon sure made a big sultan
yet his reign was all in vain

Once I was lost then I found the path
I searched then I found myself
I have become who I am
Yet it is all in vain
Mahzuni Serif

Translated by Akin Ilicali

Happy birthday!

I don´t know Daydreamer. I am not sure about the way most countries are run today. With leaders like Berlusconi, Sarkozy or Mitterand in power such news do not sound abnormal at all.

A while ago a similar incident happened in Turkey that linked a well-known Islamist columnist with the molesting of a young girl. There was a huge support behind the guy. Luckily, the guy is now in jail now.

I didn´t care much about Liberace until I watched a Youtube video of his. He is proof that sexual preferences must be regarded personal and that they have no bearing on who you actually are... Somehow, both sexes seem to have a problem with that...

There is a process called localization in every language. Loan words usually go through this process once they enter the language. Sometimes, old and new versions of a  loan word may co-exist.

Muhammad is a terrible word from a phonological point of view. To start with there are wovels which do not exist in our language. Therefore they need to be replaced by wovels sounding similar.  Even after this change, the word violates both major and minor wovel harmony rules entailing in the first case the use of only soft wovels with other soft wovels (e.g. e with i) and not allowing round and plain wovels to be used together in a word (e.g. u cannot be followed by a and not to mention "e" which is a total outrage).

In the end, we have a loan word in our language that we cannot be comfortable with unless we indulge in pronouncing our language the Arabic way. Since this name belongs to the prophet, there is not much to be done other than producing a Turkish version of the same noun  (Mehmet or Memed).

During his spell as Besiktas coach, the famous Welsh soccer trainer Mr. Benjamin Toshack was quite amazed at seeing people smile at him when he said his name. He later learned that his name sounds like Mr. Testicles to Turkish ears...

Some Japanese names may have appalling meanings in Turkish.  I remember speaking to a Japanese person whose name was heard as "Hold my Johnson".  When I was on the phone with him, the three Turkish guys in the room burst into a laughter and I was forced to hang up immediately.

One of the most unfortunate persons to have a problem of this sort these days must be Harry Kewell who keeps hearing people call him Hairy Kewell in a bombastic manner.

Here comes Haiiiiryyy Kewellll!

 This is a protest song from the 70´s. As far as I know both the lyrics and music belong to Cem Karaca.

Cem Karaca was born to Toto and Mehmet Karaca a prominent actress and an actor. Cem Karaca used to sing his songs with a theatrical intonation. Therefore, there was also a theatrical quality to his songs. He would present the listener a rich imagery and let you have your unique experience of the story he was telling. There will certainly not be another Cem Karaca though his school of music is still very much in fashion after all these years.