The X-Files Always Rings Twice

Last night, after 3 agonising days of waiting, I was finally awarded a trip to watch the X-Files Movie: The X-Files 2: I Want to Believe. To say the least, I was far from disappointed. Trish (not her real name. Her identity remains protected by the forces that be) in an act of selflessness, agreed to accompany me on this historic journey. She knows of my like of the X-Files and didn't think my alien rap too bad. Besides, I would not have seen it with anyone else. Well, David and Gillian were both busy for the premiere anyway.

My family was there, thus making the treat even more delightful. The film opened scarily enough with a kidnapping and a severed limb in the snow. Very classy. Although the pace could've been faster, the film stayed true to its identity as a thriller, more disturbing than outright frightening show. Mulder and Scully, sans their agent-status, were wonderful as always. Special mention to Mulder's facial hair, and I do mean his beard. Dr Scully, as she is now known as, looks awfully sexy in a lab-coat. Needless to say, I was sitting in a pool of drool half-way throughout the film.

This film has everything you want in it: love, hope, chills, overcoats, Ford cars, heads, two-headed dogs, snow, blood, more snow, gay marriage and everyone's favourite agents.

Through the doors of the Sublime Porte

Istanbul's been on my mind: I've been thinking about the Byzantines, the Ottomans and the Bosphorus. I've been emersed in its history, its very rich and vibrant history. Its buildings, morning light across the Golden Horn. I've been reading John Freely's Istanbul: The Imperial City, and I highly recommend it. It's very well written and full of pictures (miniatures, photographs) for the visually inclined. He alludes to many of the great classical works about and from Istanbul. I was particularly drawn to Elivya, a religious scholar who was attached to Sultan Murat I and his court. An extract of a procession is as follows:

"All these guilds pass in wagons or on foot, with the instuments of their handicraft, and are busy with great noise at their work. The Carpenters prepare wooden houses, the Builders rasie walls, the Woodcutters pass with loads of trees, the Sawyers pass sawing them, the Masons whiten their shops, the Chalk-Makers crunch chalk and whiten their faces, playing a thousand tricks... The Toy-Makers of Eyup exhibit on wagons a thousand rifles and toys for children to play with."

Another place, another time. Take a walk through these doors once in a while, even if it's all just in your imagination.




Ah to be an illuminator at the palace!