Istanbul, Turkey: Bill, Brando and The 5 Pack A Day Guys

So there we were, two nights ago, celebrating Canada Day here in Istanbul by watching the Euro 2004 semi-final between Greece and the Czech Republic when Greece suddenly, somehow, inexplicably, won the game in extra time to advance to the final against Portugal (who they've already beaten once by a score of 2-1 in the opening game of the tournament). It was just us and about a dozen of The 5 Pack A Day Guys sitting in our hazy smoke-filled hotel lobby, with me and Son being the only ones a) not smoking and b) cheering for Greece. The reason we were alone in supporting Greece, in a room full of people, was due to the fact that everyone else was Turkish and, considering that Greece is Turkey's age-old enemy, few Turks feel any desire to cheer for their Greek neighbors. But, in all honesty, the only thing The 5 Pack A Day Guys really felt any desire to do was have another smoke, but that's beside the point (Turkish men, it must be noted, smoke as much or more than anyone else on the planet!).

Although I lost a rice pudding betting on Holland the previous night with our friend Muammer, I won absolutely nothing betting on Greece in this game since I refused to bet, erroneously concluding before the game that the Czechs were just too strong to lose and the Greeks simply incapable of pulling off yet another unfathomable result - like their wins over France and Portugal and their tie with Spain. But they did it! I could've picked up one of The 5 Pack A Day Guys in joy, but I decided against it figuring that cheering for Greece and being a non-smoker was already provocative enough.

Can you believe this Greek team? Their run to the final has got to be the most spectacular and stunning in history. They were supposed to have quietly lost all 3 of their opening round games and then gone home feeling happy to have simply qualified for the tournament in the first place. The incredible fact is, before this tournament, Greece had never won a single game in either the European Championships or the World Cup - and now they're in the bloody final! Not through luck and certainly not through an easy schedule. They've beaten three, and tied one, of the favorites in getting here. Pretty damn amazing! And through the haze of smoke I could just barely see that The 5 Pack A Day Guys did indeed look stunned, shocked and amazed.

By the way, and as you already know, they say second hand smoke is bad for you and being around it can take years off your life, just as smoking can. Well, after spending considerable time here over the past 3 weeks surrounded by The 5 Pack A Day Guys while watching all the Euro 2004 games on TV (and also considering all the time we spent in China in a constant cloud of smoke 2 years ago) I'm guessing we may have lost a few years already. If not a full decade!

Earlier in the day, before the game had started, in order to celebrate not only Canada Day but also the results of the Canadian election three days earlier, we went and saw "Kill Bill Vol. 6", which was showing for one day only at a film festival here. Ok, so there's no film called "Kill Bill Vol. 6", but since I'd seen "Vol. 1" four times and this was our second time seeing "Vol. 2", it was simply "Vol. 6" to me. And "Vol. 6" rocked! As did "Vol.s 1-5". Loved them all. I have a confession to make, however, and it's quite a big one: "Kill Bill" was playing as a double header - "Vol.s 1 and 2" - but we shockingly skipped "Vol. 1", even though it cost no more to watch both films, and only went to "Vol. 2". Clearly lacking in dedication to Bill, I know.

For those of you who aren't Canadian, what I was celebrating about the Canadian election is that the Canadian voters defied the polls and kept the immigrant-fearin', gay-bashin', Quebec-hatin', Kyoto Treaty-cancelin' right-wing bigoted Bush-alike assholes out of power. And that's certainly something worth celebrating! Yes, we're stuck with Paul Martin as Prime Minister (who's already conservative enough), but the Bush-alikes actually make the guy look quite appealing.

Anyhow, I hope you all had a good Canada Day yourselves on Thursday and here's hoping you enjoy the final between Greece and Portugal tomorrow in a smokeless room full of fresh air. I know we won't. We'll definitely be watching, of course, but the air sure as hell won't be clean. And, aside from the smoke, I have one other problem to deal with: I can't decide who to cheer for. Portugal is playing so well now and it'd be nice for them, as the hosts, to win it; however, the Greeks are unbelievable and I want to cheer for them too. One more day to decide.

Whoever wins, it's been a good, sometimes great, tournament full of surprises. Best game so far: the England-Portugal quarter-final. Hopefully the final will be even better than that one. Finally, it sure has been great watching the whole tournament in a soccer - rather than cricket - mad country; even if it's often hard to see anything at all due to all the smoke.

Enjoy the final!

Oh, and one last thing before I go, the greatest actor of all time is no longer with us. My favorite actor has passed away. The genius who inspired all who came afterwards - since he first blew everyone away in "A Streetcar named Desire" - is no more. Yes, sadly, Marlon Brando has died. Even though he was 80 years old and not in the greatest of health, it still came as a shock. The only thing that lessened the blow of knowing my favorite actor was gone was the fact that we saw the news on BBC - right as it was first announced - while being fed a huge feast at our friends Ilkay and Ni's home here in Istanbul. But, although the feast, the many cups of tea, the dessert and all the fun we had with them lessened the shock somewhat, it was still mighty sad news. Ask DeNiro, Pacino, Streep, Nicholson, Depp, Penn, Norton or any other of The Greats who their biggest influence/inspiration/hero was and I bet nearly all of them would give just one name: Brando!

Mike Cowie (Oredakedo)
Saturday, July 3rd, 2004

Epilogue: In the end I decided to cheer for Greece and, to all of Europe's amazement, Greece won the final and became European Champions.