Sinanation

It has been a long time since I posted a mix. One reason was that the stuff I compiled for our private parties were all too long to upload on the web. The other was the lack of inspiration. A getaway outside the city last weekend must have finally broken the spell. It was an unexpected farewell to summer and a perfect embrace of the fall. Gordo is a snappy teaser warming up the cold weather ahead. I assure you more is on the way (especially with the ski season right around the corner).

Download Gordo – The Shisko Sevgili here

Going through a friend’s wedding photos this morning forced me to delve into a universal challenge. Being the single guy at a wedding, especially when most of the friends are present with their dates, is one of the most challenging roles to take on. You are at the heart of a celebration with a great focus, obviously, on love. You came empty handed, unprepared and are couple-less. So, it is no wonder that you will most likely be treated like a charity case by all the ones who made into the couples scene.

This is the night everyone hopes to look their best and have all spent a good of amount of time making sure they do. Hairsprays, liters of perfume, caps of makeup, boxes of jewelry glide graciously all around the event. The surroundings are dressed up with fancy flowers and decoration. The wedding is an exclusive event with hand selected guests, free booze and hopefully good music. Although the cocktail time promises to be a carefree social environment, it will be difficult for the single not to feel the pressure of coupling if any older family members are around. “Look at this lovely event. When will we see the day when you finally take the hand of a nice girl?”, “Have you met my friend Suzy’s daughter? Isn’t she lovely? You guys should dance tonight. I will be looking for you two on the dance floor.” The cocktail hour will be the moment the single guy realizes that he is actually not a grown-up for good.

Things will get worse as the shots pour down, the music gets louder and you as the single find yourself tipsy in the middle of the dance floor with your jacket already cooling off somewhere else. By that time, on top of your own vulnerability and the family suggestions, the friends will also be putting their bets on you. ”Dude just go for the easy girl who looks like she just got back from a safari with her leopard dress.” ”Dude you should definitely hit on that girl. She is sizzling and drunk.” Although the specified girl is actually nice and drunk, she is all prepped up to outsmart the lousy advancers. She might be going through an emotional phase as she celebrates her friend’s new family, but her reasoning is way too sober to allow any inappropriate scenery in front of all the guests (at least until the early morning when she might finally give in to the Cinderella-like stories and find peace in your arms).

Despite all the uncomfortable challenges forced upon the “single”, you can still easily manage the floor until the early stages of dancing. Catching up with distant friends, mingling with the bride, shouldering the groom and jumping like monkeys on the floor with your buddies. All fun and games until everyone slowly fades away to their loved ones and you are required by nature to approach the opposite sex who is certified to be a member of your clan “the singles”.

Sotheby’s Art Impressioniste & Moderne Auction will take place in Paris on December 7 and 8. Below are my favorite three pieces.

Karel Appel’s Virilité. I mentioned before that I really like Karel Appel‘s style and use of color as a painter. Since then I have been keeping an eye on his stuff. His Virilité (Manhood) is set to go on sale in Paris on 7 December 2011 with an estimate of EUR 200-300K. If you look closer I think you’ll see that the title matches the work perfectly.

Picasso’s Double Portrait de Mousquetaire (Double Portrait of a Musketeer). For me this is a great example to Picasso’s style in painting. It is not as complicated as Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, yet it still has all the elements necessary to trace Picasso’s vision in art. I am also a fan of the color choice on this piece.

André Masson’s Femme Attaquée par des Oiseaux (Woman attacked by birds). The French painter, Masson’s life is a work of art itself. He was influenced both by cubism and surrealism, but he had a unorthodox technique to painting. He would force himself to work under very strict and unhealthy conditions such that he would starve himself and/or take drugs before painting to be able to break free from consciousness and thus rational control. He is know for his erotic and rather violent themes and the one below is no exception to that. I personally like the piece because I am a fan big chunky curves on women portraits. The use of color is also a plus on this specific one.

You wake up one morning, get on the computer and check the balance on your bank account. 400-500 million casually lounges in your primary checking. What to do? What to do? Why not buy a private island? You can be the ultimate host with amazing parties or the cool businessman with a luxury boutique hotel.

Here it is. Your very own private island next to the Joe Cay in the Bahamas. 11 rooms, 13 bathrooms, pool, spa, helipad, water-sports station, wildlife and virgin beaches…all the goodies you need to pamper yourself. Going for USD 75m. Ready to make that wire transfer?

Dedicated to my dear friend, Emre Demirel…

Are you so confused that you don’t know how to respond? Are you faced with a totally unexpected situation? Is the person in front of you mumbling and you are inclined to add onto the conversation? Is the scale showing you 4 pounds heavier since the weigh a few days ago?

There is a new viral word whispered around my group of friends. Used at a moment of surprise and/or rage, healthier than cursing, classier than yelling, born in Spain and currently lounging all around Istanbul.

Did anyone ever tell you you like an elephant? Que?

10 supermodels, a world famous lingerie company and a super popular music band got together one day and said “wow we are really really really good looking and successful. What else can we do to have a little more fun and promote our sexiness?”

On the 2nd year anniversary of “I am back in Istanbul and it sucks big time that I can no longer watch the Victoria’s Secret Show live on CBS” this is what they came up with. Victoria’a Secret angels lip sync “Moves like Jagger” by Maroon 5.

A chalet that was originally built in 1760! and renovated in 2007. It is located in Champery, a town 2 hours away from Geneva by car with 1,200 residents, overlooking the Dents du Midi Mountains. 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 fireplaces. The famous Champery – Planachaux cable-car is right at the town center to take skiers to Les Portes du Soleil, the largest international ski area in the world. Can’t get any better than this.

On sale for USD 4m.

First it was that great record company. Then it was that airline everyone couldn’t stop drooling about. Then there was the private island estate even the Hollywood stars craved to go. And this time Sir Richard Branson is back with a full-service private ski lodge in Verbier, Swtizerland. Here is the description from the website:

 The Lodge, Sir Richard Branson’s luxury chalet, can accommodate up to 18 adults in nine bedrooms and up to six children for a superb skiing holiday in Verbier, Switzerland. Rates during the winter season are quoted on seven nights’ exclusive hire for 18 guests, and are priced in British Pounds. You can reserve individual rooms during the winter ski season if the chalet has not been booked for exclusive use six weeks prior to the set arrival date. Rates during the summer season are quoted per room per night based on two adults sharing and priced in British Pounds. The Lodge can be hired exclusively during the summer season. The 13 friendly and experienced staff include a Necker Island trained General Manager, an activities co-ordinator, spa therapist, Raymond Blanc trained chef and Bam Bam – the chalet dog. Each one is dedicated to tailor-making each guest experience…. People may arrive as guests but often leave as friends. The Lodge is part of Virgin Limited Edition, Sir Richard Branson’s collection of unique retreats.

Guests will need to fly to Geneva and then, drive, take the train to Martigny or rent a helicopter to their comfy luxurious ski vacation. The average minimum rate per person for a night’s stay  (minimum stay is 3 nights) at The Lodge comes up to 500 Pounds including all the meals, drinks and the use of the facilities inside the ski in/out chalet. Yes, it is a little pricey but what else can you expect from one of the wealthiest men in the world?

Turkish painter, Leyla Gediz’s solo exhibition “Coming Soon” opened at the Rampa Gallery in Akaretler yesterday. I kept getting good remarks about the work of this figurative artist, so I had to go see her new pieces with my own eyes. The exhibition to me seemed more like a collection of unfinished works that once finished could be the one stop to a great composition.

The exhibition was a collection of portraits and still life. I didn’t like at all the big chunks of white space left on the portraits. The detailing on the hair of each figure was completely left out forcing the viewer to focus on the face, especially the eyes. Although the strategy is there, I wasn’t happy with the fact that the artist was so dominant in her motives. I wanted a little more room to move around the canvas and be stuck at a spot I was not forced upon, but I was left empty handed. The still life pieces, I think were the better thought out part of the exhibition. Yet I did not find their composition (such as fireworks and a film roll) interesting. This does not mean that Gediz did not put a successful show on display. She definitely had a strong persistance and unity through all the pieces she created for this exhibition, but I for a fact was expecting a little more challange, a little more “why” out of Coming Soon.

Coming Soon will be on display until January 7, 2012.

A much bigger flood of art comes through Istanbul as the influence of October’s artbeat is fading out. The location is again Lütfi Kırdar Convention Center. Hundreds of galleries (domestic and international) are displaying and of course selling their hand-picked precious works of art under the roof of Contemporary Istanbul. Large pieces dominate the collection and prices are a bit on the heavy side especially on the 1st floor. The opening night was on Wednesday, but the fair will go on until Sunday November 27. If you are a serious window shopper you certainly need more than one visit to get enough of this massive (in Istanbul terms) art carnival.

The ever-so diverse crowd of art lovers fills up the halls once again. There are the camera-lover nouveau riche running around with their mink coats and tight dresses, there are the sophisticated over-60 couples digesting the art with their reading glasses, there are the newly weds who didn’t know what to do with their little children and had to take them with for some amateur canvas shopping and finally there is the hipster cool youngsters mingling with friends and sucking in the best of the flourishing art in Istanbul.

Some of my favorite pieces from the event include works by the Saudi artist, Abdulnasser Gharem, the Turkish artist, Sabire Susuz and an Armenian artist (I couldn’t get the name of).