zoolMar 8

I made this lamp! With a bona fide effort to place all the tiny glass beads by hand, towards the end of the session gave in and shoved the rest of the gold ones on with a spoon, as previously instructed. The lamp now has a big base which i *might* be able to pack

Sticking the mosaic to the glass bulb is done with clear silicone gel-glue like you'd use for plumbing. There's glass-cutting gear and scraps in the hacklab...

Show threadzoolMar 8
Process photos; the crafts workshop was a lovely offering as a tourist experience and looked like good business, staffed by students, set up for parties, quite a few couples passing through the perfume-mixing area. €35 is a good amount in Turkish lira, it covers all the materials, option to pay more to make a bigger lamp
Show threadzoolMar 8

Wandered back the route i'd taken on Friday night, chance to see it all in daylight, and found Taksim Square covered in police presence, layers of kettling barriers, Gezi Park full of buses to cart people off in, if needed, and water cannon parked round the corner

No-one seemed alarmed, no event obviously going on, the news suggests it's International Womens Day that merits this treatment!

https://www.turkiyetoday.com/nation/istanbul-closes-major-roads-and-metro-lines-for-international-womens-day-events-3215805

Show threadzoolMar 8
Cut back through the campuses of the Technical University (and yes, i am wondering if they need any research engineers, i'd like to palm off a scientific revolution on someone), issued myself an Istanbulkart and caught the tram back to Fatih from Kabataş
Show threadzool

The workshop was in part an appointment with myself to get out of Fatih; as spectacular as the area is, it's all tourist service.

Walked back to the bridge through the eerie bazaar mid-morning, found it still mostly shuttered at this end. The traders there are unhappy, selling derived goods no-one wants in an internet age of Temu on one hand, Instagrammable experiences on the other. The old town's heart failing, its fabric decaying behind shutters. You wonder how long it has been becoming this

Mar 8 at 7:11pmWeb
Show threadzoolMar 8

Another #audiofoto #soundscape walking through a section of the bazaar covered with a tin roof. It's a nice mode of use of space, half open. You guess the covered market is a gesture of feudalism, tax the contained edges. You wonder at how life is being lived, all the other things that do not involve selling objects which could happen there

Our high streets are in some way the same. Differently phrased activity below. Above, the same space of absence and decay

Show threadzoolMar 8
There's a good graffiti scene visible in Beyoğlu. I didn't see a single piece that would have brought No Murals out
Show threadzoolMar 8

Ate supper after sundown in the blissfully quiet and calm Art Cafe tucked away behind the Little Hagia Sophia mosque. It's full of paintings, some clearly by the proprietors, and like sitting in someone's living room. The people are all lovely smiles, there are peaceful cats in there. An oasis of contrast to the rest of the area.

Bought a cup of something called "salep" on the walk home, best described as a hot liquid nougat with nutmeg on. I can still taste it. Never again

Show threadzoolMar 9
Umbrellas whirling over a street in Kadiköy, on "the Asian side" of Istanbul
Show threadzoolMar 9
You catch a ferry to the Asian side, the trams and metro don't run across the Bosphorus. The ferry's integrated to the Istanbulkart payment system, costs about a pound, 20 minutes each way. The scale of the place! You could spend a lifetime exploring here, and never find it all
Show threadBarry RowlingsonMar 9
@ultrazool Have you seen the bridge that was on the cover of the Fortran 90 book I probably still have in the attic? Pretty sure it was one connecting Asia and Europe...
Show threadjarkmanMar 9
@ultrazool I am loving this travelogue.
Show threadTom ChadwinMar 8
@ultrazool Ah, for me it was the turnip juice.