Tonight, I watched the copy of Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul that my flatmate Kai gave me. Quite aside from its virtues as a documentary, it demonstrates something about tourism. The whole thing is basically shot in areas we never saw: areas you couldn’t hope to access without knowledge of the local language. Those of us most familiar with English are lucky that it has become the standard for business, technology, and science. Unfortunately, that very status can help to push English speakers to the margins of places they visit.
The music that forms a constant backdrop to the film is excellent. Indeed, the musical segments are a lot more engaging, overall, than the various statements made by musicians about Istanbul or Turkish music. My favourite, among the musical offerings, is the rap music made by a man called Ceza. I will need to track down some more of his work. Just be sure not to watch the film using tiny laptop speakers as the audio source. The Etys and the A510 vie for the title of ‘best electronic purchase per dollar.’
PS. There has been a bit of progress on the job front. I actually have an offer of a job in Oxford, starting immediately. I am a bit wary for two reasons: it involves two shifts a week starting at 6:30am, and I suspect that the pace of academic work may get somewhat fevered this term (not that I could ever devote as many hours a day to it as my flatmate Alex does). On the matter of a job after I leave Oxford, there has been some progress as well. All this seems to indicate that even very tangential personal contacts are a more effective route than openly advertised positions and recruitment websites.
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