I just love the 80's...

it speaks for itself... ;) maaan he's Knight Rider!!!! he used to be my hero! and then this... :'(

Greek cinema revival?!

a very flattering article on greek cinema and the Thessaloniki film festival, was published by the Guardian.

keep up the good work!

Oh my God, I just love this country!

Yep, it's only one country... Greece dear all!!! We just cannot be like anyone else... fuck anyone else! We're Greece! So what if we have the most expensive internet in Europe? So what if only a small part of Greece has access to the most expensive ADSL in Europe? FUCK EVERYONE and their efforts! We'll just INCREASE THE PRICE OF DIALUP CONNECTIONS! YOOOHOOO!!! Who the fuck thinks internet is good for the country? It's not... All the rest of the countries trying to minimise internet costs are plain FOOLS! We don't need cheap internet, only more public servants are good for this country. Especially working for the highest grossing company in the country, OTE... Enjoy people. Maybe you want to have a look at the Union of Greek Internet Users' Webpage.

Great way going forward there... Anything else?

Look what I've found...

i know how surreal the feta and koboloi is on top of numerical recipes, but I have found feta! unfortunately, not greek (danish) and simply... awful... thanks to Kamberidis (with a 'b') for the komboloi (with a 'b')

For a friend...

Some nights, if not all, the best time to slow down and think about almost everything in your life is when go to sleep. Here I am, 4am in the morning, writing to--- who, really?

About 2.5 months ago, my friend George was murdered in Crete. It was on the night of his marriage. He had an argument with his newly-wed wife that apparently became violent and she phoned her brother, a coastal guard, to go to where the couple was. The brother did go at their hotel suite and the outcome of the night was the murder of my friend with the gun provided by the greek state to guard the huge coastal borders of Greece, the bride in shock and the brother of the bride fleeing procecution.

I don't know if my friend actually became violent. To me, it is unthinkable that he did. He was definitely one of the kindest and good persons I knew. Still, even if he did he didn't deserve what he got.

I was shocked when my mother told me when I returned from England this past summer. George was an orphan, 5 years older than me. He was a neighbour of mine and I got to know him in the basketball court near my old house. We used to hang out on the afternoons and speak about many things. You see, he had qualified for a course in Computer Programming and this is what I also always wanted to be. He was the best student at his school with an average of 19.3/20. He was more than a friend. He was someone I was looking up to, a mentor. I once asked a cockish self-appointed programming teacher to recommend me a book to learn how to program in C. He replied: "How old are you?", I said: "15". He replied "Go home". I was really frustrated by that guy and George assured me that I could do it if I wanted it too much. George was always kind to me, even though I was so much younger than him at an age that even a year's difference is important. Later on, as my studying became more and more demanding we lost touch. When I qualified for my engineering course I relocated to a different city and he also relocated to another. Our contact became less and less frequent till it became a 20minute chat every year whenever we saw each other. But I always said "hey, come to Volos!" and he would reply "for sure!". Five years after, I moved to England. The motto became "hey, come to London!" and he would reply the same thing. Hey, you know what... this will never happen. When I learned of his death I was in shock for a couple of days. Then life continued. One night during my 10-day vacation I saw a mutual friend of George's and I. We were both on a night club. We avoided to look at each other. We did not speak to each other. We were both embarassed that we were there, supposedly having fun while George was not. George should have been there with us. I should have made more time available for George, because sometimes you just don't know what the next day will bring.

To all of you hot-tempered guys out there, think before you do the most atrocious thing you could ever do. Think what you're doing on someone's child, on someone's brother, on someone's friend. Think what would happen if someone did the same to your child, to your brother, to your friend. Having a gun and pulling the trigger doesn't make you more of a man. It just makes you a plain murderer.

As for me, I only realised what has happened. It's 4.30am, I'm on the other side of the world and I have finally slowed down adequately to have an insight on the past year's events. I feel that the only thing I can do is to write on this electronic substance. Am I becoming more and more insensitive? Do I really think you would know how I feel? I had to give it a try...

Μου λείπεις φίλε. Να 'σαι καλά όπου κι αν είσαι.
Κ.

Fish, anyone? (ok Alex, I know you can also say: Dust, anyone? :P)

excellent website. just keep in mind that it describes japanese extremeties and not real normal life in Japan. so... fish anyone? or maybe interested on japanese toilets?

more on the website...

oh and by the way, ninjas. ninjas kick ass....

Anything better to do?

aaaaaahhh... weekend. sun is shining, the house is too hot to stay in... I have practically went nowhere in the past two months in Japan, so it is a great oportunity for me to go and see this beautiful country! or so I think... another staying-in and working this weekend... pathetic, I know...

in the meantime, I am waiting for the new Sony Walkman to come out. even more pathetic...

My favourite album this period

I know that all of you are wondering what I am listening to now that I'm in Japan... ok, I know you don't, but if you did I would inform you that my favourite album is "Άνοιξα μανταρίνι και σε θυμήθηκα / I peeled a mandarin and remembered you" by "Λουδοβίκος των Ανωγείων / Loudovikos of Anoghia". Loudovikos is one of my favourite greek artists and his songs are a blend of Cretan and new greek style music. my favourite song out of this album is the following. it describes a person looming in the docs

"Του λιμανιού ο γιος"
στίχοι: Λουδοβίκος

τον έχουν δει να τριγυρνά στου λιμανιού τα σκοτεινά κάθε χειμώνα
αν ζει ο Αλέξανδρος ρωτά κι αν ταξιδεύει στ' ανοιχτά η έρημη γοργόνα

έχει τα μάτια χαμηλά και ξέρει να σιγομιλά με τα ζουμπούλια
σ' αυτό το βλέμα το βαθύ έχουν πολλές φορές χαθεί θαλασσοπούλια

σκύβει στην άμμο και γροικά της θάλασσας τα μυστικά
κι οι σφουγγαράδες τον ρωτούν να δέσουν ή να ξανοιχτούν
στα μάρμαρα του βασιλιά και στης γοργόνας την ποδιά αποκοιμάται

είναι του λιμανιού ο γιος, δεν έχει σπίτι ούτε βιος
μη τον ξυπνάτε...


I tried to translate it as accurately as possible and --- believe me --- it's not easy. here goes!


"The son of the docs"
lyrics by Loudovikos

they've seen him roam in the doc's darknesses every winter
he asks if Alexander is still alive and if the mermaid still swims in the open seas

he has his eyes lowered and he can speak to the flowers
in this deep glare seabirds were lost many times

he bends on the sand and understands the secrets of the sea
and the sponge divers ask him if they should tie their knots or embark
on the king's marbles and on the mermaid's lap he falls asleep

he is the son of the docs, he has no house nor possessions
don't wake him...

I wanted to do this for a long time ;)

nihongo issues...

it's not fair! why do I not remember my japanese?! 1.5 years of (ok, not tooooo intensive) study and I cannot properly communicate with japanese folk. I can only say elementary thinks. I think my japanese teacher (Takahashi-sensei, excellent person) would be dissapointed in me, even though her japanese politeness would not let her show... but I will change this!

ima kara mo ichido nihongo o benkyo shimasu! kambarimasu!

100 Visitors Yeah!!!!!!

I should start putting advertisments on! well, probably 50 or so are me ;) thx guys for your interest.