TALES FROM THE BALCONY

Beach Music

             Music on a beach has always had a certain allure about it. A circle of friends around an open fire singing to a lone guitar, or a few instruments played by a group of musicians to entertain people.     

            Gümüşlük over the years has been party to all forms of musical evenings:
 Cesel restaurant  in the mid 90’s had  an impromptu Turkish dance band formed using up-turned buckets and other assorted metal objects, in order that Raki fuelled tourists could sample Turkish dancing, not, I remember of the highest standard, but certainly a great party atmosphere.

           Also at Cesel a friend of ours serenaded his wife on her Birthday singing a Saw Doctors song ‘Only one girl’ With the two Turkish brothers who owned Cesel, singing in close harmony with the rest of us the Chorus line ‘Only one girl for me’, in retrospect a rather surreal moment.

          At the same restaurant in 2006 ( the owners had changed, it had undergone a complete refurb and was called  Amavi) on its opening night the World renowned Turkish jazz pianist Kerem Gorsev and his trio played a memorable set to a packed restaurant and beach.

          It must be pointed out that  Cesel resembled a working man’s club. In comparison Amavi was Claridges.

          Late one night, on the beach outside the Hera restaurant in the mid to late 90’s. Yilmos the Turkish waiter had, after one or three Rakis, persuaded an English visitor who had a guitar, to play the only English song Yilmos said he knew the words to, ‘Hotel California’. As the song was played it became very clear that the only lyric Yilmos knew was ‘Hotel California’. Which, he proceeded to sing at the correct moment in the song, each time louder with added Raki.

          During the later part of 2000, more Turkish people from Istanbul have made  Gümüşlük their summer destination. Quite a few of the Istanbulian  musicians and acting fraternity come for holidays, with some musicians working at the restaurants and clubs on the beach front.

          The Jazz Cafe just down from the Hera  hold regular sets by different artists , sometimes including  guest performances by visiting musicians.  One such session in September 2014, had, as a guest musician, someone we had got to know over the past few years as he had been staying at Hera, a session musician by the name of Toygun. He normally plays saxophone, but on this particular evening he played the clarinet.  A little flavour of the performance that evening can be seen on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMt8J_KZ9Qk

Underwater Surveys of the Inner Harbour at Myndos

Professor Şahin has been busy, he’s posted another article on academia.eu. This time it’s a piece titled MYNDOS IÇ LİMAN SUALTİ ARAŞTIRMALARI -2014 (Underwater Surveys of the Inner Harbour at Myndos) which was published in Issue 2014 No 1-2 of TINA, a periodical issued by the Turkish Foundation For Underwater Archaeology.

https://www.academia.edu/10142311/Myndos_%C4%B0%C3%A7_Liman_Sualt%C4%B1_Ara%C5%9Ft%C4%B1rmalar%C4%B1-_2014

Like the last article it’s not available to view at the moment but can be downloaded as a PDF

Myndos. Eine karische Hafenstadt an der kleinasiatischen Westküste (Myndos. A Carian Port on the West Coast of Asia Minor)

Professor Şahin has recently posted an eleven page article titled Myndos. Eine karische Hafenstadt an der kleinasiatischen Westküste (Myndos. A Carian Port on the West Coast of Asia Minor) on Academia.edu.

https://www.academia.edu/10015417/Myndos._Eine_Hafenstadt_an_der_kleinasiatischen_Westk%C3%BCste

The article by Prof Şahin was originally published in current edition (6/2014 dated 21-11-14) of “Antike Welt” (Ancient World) a German journal of archaeology and cultural history.

I had trouble viewing the article but it is available to download.

The Anthropologist Accused

Following on from the previous post regarding the anthropologist who spent several months in Gümüşlük between 1966 & 67 I found a retrospective account of her stay published in 2003, it has all the ingredients of a suspense novel, a marital breakup, battles with the state bureaucracy, accusations of smuggling, association with a suspected spy and explosives being planted in her vehicle.

Most of the chapter is available on Google Books; see the link below (starting at page 77)

Ch 3 “The Anthropologist Accused” from Crime’s Power: Anthropologists and the Ethnography of Crime, edited by Philip C Parnell and Stephanie C Kane published by Palgrave McMillan in 2003

Google Books Crime’s Power: Anthropologists and the Ethnography of Crime,

The Modern Village

A couple of years ago I came across a reference to an ethnographic study carried out in the village during 1967-8. The names of the individuals are changed and so is the name of village, it is referred to as Mandalinci. Although the name was different it was obvious from the maps and descriptions of the area that author was studying and recording village life in Gümüşlük; the findings of the research were later published under the title of Dispute and Settlement in Rural Turkey – An Ethnography of Law.

The introduction to the study contains a short description of the village’s history from around the mid 1800s to the 1960s, I’ve attempted to summarise the history in a new page The Beginnings of the Modern Village  which also includes a couple of references to a short naval bombardment of the village during WW1.

Presentation to the Bodrum Chamber of Commerce 26 Sep 14

Bodrum Kent TV have reported on a presentation to BODTO, the Bodrum Chamber of Commerce, by Prof Mustafa Şahin, the lead archaeologist, working on the Myndos excavations at Gümüşlük.

During the presentation, which detailed the work to date, the Professor stated that results from a series of geophysical surveys identified features below the present ground surface which indicted that footings, wall lines and roadways of the ancient city still remain, relatively undisturbed, across a large area of the site, furthermore recent research suggested that the site may be much older than originally thought.

Prof Şahin went to say that once the excavations were completed the site could offer a huge boost to the local tourist trade, increasing the season from 3 to 10 months; however it would take many years to complete the excavations under the present regime where the work was limited to a short period each year during the University summer recess.

When asked by a local councillor how much it would cost to employ a team to work on the site for 12 months a year Prof Şahin estimated a cost of 400 – 500 thousand Turkish Lira (approx 174,000 to 217,000 US $) per annum.

Whilst this may seem a large sum, Prof Şahin described how the archaeology team excavating the site of Laodicea (on the Lycus) near the village Eskihisar in the province of Denizli receive an annual budget of 1.5 million TL.

It’s not clear from the article if the professor was attempting to secure funding from individual members of the chamber of commerce or if he was soliciting the chamber’s support to lobby the Bodrum / Muğla Municipalities for additional funding.

Link To The Original Article

Kazı Başkan'dan Açıklama – Explanation from the Chairman of Excavation

Yesterday (02-Sep-14) an article on Bodrum Kent TV’s web page reported that Prof Şahin has issued a written statement in response to Mr Salih Güney’s allegations.

Bodrum Kent TV 02-Sep-14

Like Mr Güney I would also like to see the theatre excavated, but it has been there for over 2000 years so having to wait a for a few more years won’t hurt. After all UU Archaeology are planning a systematic excavation, not a treasure hunt.