Thursday, November 20, 2008

Pearl Jam, Athens 2006

Driving on a rainy morning (the sun could be up, but heavy clouds obscure the rays to end their journey) from home to work, I plugged in the car stereo my mp3 player. As always in Athens a rainy day equals to hours inside the vehicle just to go to work. So my mp3 player is my only remedy. I resume listening to Orishas, a good group mixing hip-hop with traditional Cuban music/rhythms, and as "el kilo" was finishing, from the speakers came the sound of clapping from a live show.
"Go" was starting to play and I was transfered once more into the stadium...
The band was on time and as soon as the clock ticked the eighth hour of the evening Eddie with his friends stepped into, through screams of joy and excitement.
Two years and almost two months ago, I was present in one great evening, an evening with Pearl Jam. The first track of the evening felt as a trip through time, years ago, still at high school. "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town" had me singing and it was just the beginning.
I still had a long way to work and I was happy about it. As soon as it finished we received a surprise call from our friend from Spain, and as soon I got to talk with him Pearl Jam was playing "Given To Fly". One of my favorites, one of Pearl Jam's best songs, and I was remembering how excited I was talking with him and listening to the song (the conversation lasted for a few seconds, but that was enough!).
As soon as I was trying to find a parking space, Eddie was presenting his "wish list". The first part of the concert was over, I closed the stere,o got out of the car and patiently was letting time slip away so that I could hit the road.
Play button and "Insignificance, Jeremy, Better Man", got me to the last traffic lights before show down of evening's traffic jam.
The first Encore started with "Footsteps" and we were still at the middle of the evening, sun was descending, leaving hopeless drivers looking for a small fracture in the continuity of endless metal to fill in. In between Pearl Jam's songs a small tribute to Pink Floyd, "Daughter (Another Brick In The Wall)" and Jimmy Hendrix, " Yellow Ledbetter(Little Wing)" which closed the evening and some greater with the Band to thank Ramones, by performing "I Believe In Miracles" and Neil Young by performing " Rockin' In The Free World".
And then the lights were on, lifting away the anonymity, the crowd was exposed to the Band, but even under the heavy light the crowd was happy, was singing was dancing. The band finishing with " Yellow Ledbetter(Little Wing)" waving to everyone of us...

Friday, July 25, 2008

Memory

It was an ordinary day in the lab, an unpleasant one, since I was In the Lab, and one of the hottest days of July the last days of July. I was sitting on a stool, mixturing some liquids in a small tube. In order to avoid any unforgivable mistake, I had blocked out every distraction, the chattering people, the music from the radio, the boss asking various information needed to be answered. Everything was but a blur, I was just counting every μl and memorizing each ingredient I've used, so that the steps would be imprinted in my memory, long enough to transcribe them to a piece of paper, at the end of the experiment, for future evaluation.
But memory works in mysterious ways. No one knows which memory, information, or whatever, is stored in the brain, patiently waiting for the moment that it will be retrieved. No one knows what is hidden deep into the labyrinth of myriads of synapses between an equal amount of neurons. How all that information is being organized, archived, does any kind of indexing exists, that will facilitate the immediate and specific extraction of long forgotten information? Or, rather, there is no organization, everything is in chaos, so that enormous amount of data could be stored in that gelatinous part of our bodies called brain.
I had blocked out everything, but just the smallest distraction could blow everything in the air. So, when a colleague of mine opened one of those advertising handkerchiefs used for cleaning up our hands after a meal, a soft ,but not so delicate, lemon aroma diffused into the lab. It was not the first time that I had smelled that aroma, as those handkerchiefs are common.
For some reason at that particular moment and within a relative small amount of time every function ceased, I blacked out and my brain filled with all the data that had been unlocked from that aroma. My mind was filled with images, smells, feelings, sounds, of a past time. Every sense was alive but inside my brain. It was as if for just a few seconds there was nothing else. As time was not and past and present was one.
In the center of this experience was the soft delicate lemon aroma derived from those big dark semi-transparent bottles filled with hand-made lemon aroma.
Sunday evening, probably during the winter, cause I was having finishing a hot bath. Wrapped in a big-towel following barefoot my mother, who is carrying into her arms my brother, to the sofa to dry us. My father watching the news. Since it is Sunday and the day after we have to go to school, we need to be shiny to wear fresh clothes, for the first day of the week. I am still attending the first classes of junior. While we are still covered with our towels (my brother covered with the towel he had inherited from me, the one with a small hood with some patching on it, making it look like an animal's head) steaming from the hot watter, she would probably trimming our nails, dry and brush our hair.
Then I know that she will stand up and headed for the kitchen and I will wait there patiently for that big bottle. She would open the cabinet door beneath the kitchen. There are always two big bottles, among other things in that cabinet, but I can never recall the aroma of the second bottle. It is as that second bottle was sealed, never meant to be opened. So, she returns to find us still waiting patiently. As soon as she removes the lid, she sealed the opening of the bottle with her palm and inverting it so that sufficient amount of cologne would soak her hand.
And as she removes her hand from the opening of the bottleneck, the lemon aroma is feeling my lungs and my senses...
and I exhale into the lab those memories from the past.

In The Mood For Love

Busy day...a hot day
an exhausting day, but still when the work was done I returned home waiting for the night, there is a promise for the end of the week, for something different. Not that it was a special night, but still, the promise of a night with friends, the promise of a well organized party changed dramatically my mood.
It was party time and that was all i needed.
I took a shower, wear my favorite t-shirt and a pair of short trousers and rushed for the late bus. In my ears the appropriate music from my mp3 player to warm my mood. Radiohead, The Dandy Wharhols, Mars Volta, and Blue Monk to cool down.
I only needed a few drinks to loosen up so I could work out my dancing moves. There is no greater joy than losen up, cloud a little bit your thoughts with the appropriate amount of alcohol, not to much not to little, just enough to let go of he moral constrictions that tighten up the feet and the tongue, and then ignoring those that stare at you making all kind of comments, good or bad, to dance, sing, talk with all you.
So, I entered the room, dim light enough space for the guests to feel comfortable, but not to spacey so that stranger will have the chance to get accustom with each other. Most of my friends were already on the second round, high on spirit, talking vigorously, mostly about soccer, about the new season, the new coach...
"I'm late as always" I though...but the bar is always close.

It is as if the shortest road to anything is the road to the bar. And when you reach it, usually the amount of time required to reach the bar is always proportional to your sobriety (you get there faster when you are a little bit drunk) you found it crowded, with people doing anything else BUT drinking. So you end up thinking of ways to remove the obstacles that separates you from your goal, a cold big glass of frozen Beer.

After the usual greetings and small talk I headed to the bar.
The music was surprisingly good. The one that will make you feel great, smooth to the ear and to the mind. It was a great evening. Not as great as I could possibly think. As I reached to the bar I grubbed a cold beer, for starters, and turned around to look upon the growing crowd. The music had an amazing effect on all the attendants, as the next song was started I was astound. it was Frank Sinatra's
"I've got you under my skin".
"that is an excellent choice" I though.
I turned around now facing the steady relaxing movement of people having fun. The crowd surrendered to the groove. Some of them were singing the song, others had already found a partner to dance with.
"some songs will always have that amazing effect" I pondered... I let the beer to cool me, and as I took a deep swallow of the liquor, a exhale of relief, relieved from the last traces of the morning tension.
As my mind and my sight was wandering, partially from the big gulp of 1/2 lt Weiss beer, in the far end, under low light, and in the left side of the room, I saw her.
...I may see only fools 'round she...
The air was heavier, my knees could not held my weight, and time stopped, for as long as it was necessary for me to fully grasp the moment. I stepped away from the lights that darkened my vision, far but not too far, so that I would not miss the softness of your movement, the freshness of your smile, just enough to be unnoticed. I was memorizing every gesture, trying to read your lips, not to understand what you were saying, but to just watch, observe, with a faint smile.
For that time of no time, I could only hear my heart
...pounding to the rhythm of the rain..,
just for a second, but it was enough.
Dark black straight long hair shining to the faint light of the room, a gentle calm face, a woman's body, not too thin, not fat, just as I dreaming of it, in a simple black dress that fitted with her pale skin and those black eyes, shining more that anything I could thing of, looking straight at me.....The darkness I was hiding was illuminated, your smile, to give breath to my breath , and to stub once more my heart, crushed my knees under the weight of its glory. My mind was numb, the place was erased, and all that was left was her.
...You know, you must take a look at me, Baby, baby, I know that's the way...
Time, once again, was on the move and the voice of Brian Ferry's interpretation of
"the way you look tonight
"
brought fear to my heart, I turned around, seeking for a second drink. stronger one this time. To calm me down.
I stand still staring at the enormous variety of alcohol, try to think of possible knock-down combinations, I poured a big glass of beer, and insert a sot of tequila, a good drink, with a nice aftertaste and with guaranteed results.
"I will have one of that" heard a voice, and turned around in awe.
I was surprised to she her smiling at me
...all I ever wanted, all I ever needed...
I was even more disbelieved and turned to see if she was talking to someone else.
"None around" I though..."not good" I add, "not good at all", "OK, unexpected, but definitely good" I concluded.
"It would be my pleasure" I added with a smile, trying to look as fascinated as I could.
And as a naive knight from the old times I asked for her name:
"Could I have your name", and that time this few words implied that her name WAS important, as important as were the true names in the earthsea, from Ursula's K. Le Guin novels. A name that I will only know and pronounce cause she had gave it me.
I'm @@@@ she said,
@@@@@@@ I replied...
I present her the mixture of beer and tequila, she brought it to her lips and I wished that it were my lips she was drinking from.
She smiled at me, at least she liked it.
"So what are you doing in a place like this?" I asked
"A friend of mine is organizing it." she replied
...Stop me, oh, I said stop me, Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before...
"Who, @@@@? I know him since we were still at high school"
and it was easy for me to direct the conversation from that moment to where I was most comfortable with.
...I rather dance with you, than talk with you...
I can not remember the details of our conversation, what we were talking about, what was her favorite movie, her favorite song, what were her thoughts on religion, economics, the big bang theory, the existence of extraterrestrial beings, ... but all I wanted was to hear her talking
"Thank almighty sfiltros and koxakies the twin gods of alcohol that I'm not that drunk, I couldn't stop talking if I was" a thought crossed my mind...
It was as if I we were alone by the sea, or even better on a boat on the calmly surface of the sea, the sparkling sea under the bright light of a red full moon.
...You whisper secrets in my ear, Slowly dancing cheek to cheek...
All are a blur in my mind, I was only noticing her movements, her hand moved away a strand of hair getting in front of her face, her white skin soft and smooth as a marble statue. Her posture, as she was sitting to this long chair, her legs crossed. I was listening but not listening, I was talking and not talking. The world had disappeared, my friends fell into a black hole aimlessly wondering in the room. The room itself had vanished together with my friends.
And suddenly unexpectedly the black hole suck me through, the universe had collapsed under my feet.
"Actually, I'll be back at @@@@ in two days" I heard her saying.
I stopped talking, I stopped listening, everything stopped once more but this time even her was frozen, was out of the frame, out of my reach.
...Cos I don't wanna lose/What we had last time your leaving this life ain't fair/You don't get something for nothing, turn back/Mmmm gotta try a little harder/It could be sweet...
There was no point on continuing this, no point at all, suddenness filled me, darkness surrounded me, as in one night I had found and lost in a moment what I wished for.
I gave her my telephone number, but never asked for hers, cause I though that it will be meaningless to chase down what appeared to be a loosing case.
...this is the end...
Something that I always regret cause when I see on my cell phone screen, an identified/unknown telephone number, my mind always hopes at the other end to be her. But, it never is...
...and what can you tell to your friends that smile at you with truthful joy, knowing that something good was happening back there...
...κι είναι βάσανο ο φίλος, κι είναι βάσανο ο φίλος, που ζητάει εκδρομή...

Thursday, May 29, 2008

has the beautifull game turned ugly

I saw that advertisement and just couldn't resist from posting it.


from footballyourway.co.uk

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Nightmare - Terrifying Bed-Time-Stories

How many of you have seen a frightening nightmare? One that will wake you up in anguish, heavy breathing, rapid beating heart and so on? Do you recall that dream, even if you had experienced it years ago?
I once though that that kind of reaction existed only in movies. I had experienced terrifying dreams and still do, but never managed to wake me up, so much for heavy breathing, and the ones I could remember were practically a remake of past experiences, usually ones that exited me, in the negative way. I had my share of hideous monsters, with claws as big as my fingers, etc, running after me, to end my life by strangling me, but it was the sheets that tangled around my neck that was threatening my well being. Experiences of falling, after the first 50 I got used of them and realized that it is a reaction to the relaxation of the muscles, or falling from the bed, for various reasons!!! And other ones too common also.
But...
It was years ago that I got that weird dream, one that when I describe it to other people they find it quite weird but not at all frightening, that got me full awake, standing on my bed sweating heavy breathing, a dream that the reminding of it kept me awake. For no apparent reasons.
Since it has been more than a decade I cannot recollect if I was drinking that night, had an overwhelming dinner, a rough day or any other experience that could produce such a nightmare. When I was a little boy no nightmare could mess up with my sleep, even when watching those Friday night horror movies.
Also, from what I am reading it's stated that our dreams lack of colors, all we see is shades of gray.
But...
I recall red in my sleep, if that is possible. The only color that dominated the dream.
It started as a journey into a forest, a person (that one should be me) dressed in red holding a messengers-bag, accompanied by my huge-ugly-drooling BUT trusted friend the Bear, he looks more than a vigilant than a good person, but in the story he is a good person, or so I believe!!! We are hight-spirited, singing as we walk and so on. Times goes by, if time exists in dreams at all, when we stumble across the Wolf.
Now that one is familiar, it cries out for Little Red Riding Hood.
So the Wolf character steps in front of me blocking my way. He is one great gentlemen, all suited up, nice talking and so on, but his honey-dripping talk is threatening in some manner. I cannot make out what he is saying, but his chattering implies of danger.
The Bear enters in front of me blocking the wolf from coming closer and gets scary, his foolish attitude is gone and now by looking straight at the eyes of the Wolf he warns him to withdraw and let me be. The warning, although I cannot here it, is starting to develop an atmosphere of anxiety, the forthcoming event seems appalling. The Wolf with all his sweet talk he backs-off and disappears into the bushes.
In a few moments our spirit is restored and we continue to fool around, the Bear has transformed again to that hideous creature but a fool one, more innocent than a infant. But the Wolf never give up. He reappears in front of starting his sweet-talk (you know like those salesmen that get really kind and gentle, not because they truly are, rather cause that it is the only way to approach the customer and "force" him to consume). The Bear transforms once more, blocks his way and for a second time he warns him to stay away. He also warns him of not trying to approach me for a third time cause the Bear will be different and not so soft on the Wolf. And again by the implication of the warning the atmosphere changes.
So for a second time we continue our carefree walk as if nothing has happened.
But...
The Wolf appears for a third time trying once more his sweet-talk on me...
...
...the Wolf was informed but he ignored the warnings of the Bear, as if the Wolf was looking forward for the Bear to do what he was about to do. As if I was insignificant in that play and the only thing that matters was the Bear's reaction.
The Bear transforms once more, but this time in something different, there is no shape, it is peculiar but still not frightening. It seems that the Bear engulfs the Wolf...
...before the Bear with enormous fists start pounding hard the Wolf. The Wolf isn't even trying to defend himself, only stares in apathy those fists hitting him hard...
...there is nothing supernatural about it, is real, it feels as a street fight, but only one part of the contestants fights, it is RAW, bones against meat...
...and then...
...then once more color, red splatters everything... slowly starts to accumulate...I try to stop the Bear from harming the Wolf...the Bear ignores me...
...red...
...and I'm awake, bathing in my own sweat, heavy-speeding-breathing, heart pounding-like-a-sledge-hammer, the taste of the dream still in my mind.
I never could figure out what was about this dream that frightened me so much.
Since then I never had a similar dream. Real life is still more terrifying than any fictional monster...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Comments Layout

The ones that visit this blog probably noticed a new blog element (?) that I had introduced in the right panel, since today I've removed it cause I didn't like it that much, that presented in a feeds form comments made by users. The script, is placed in a new HTML/Javascript-untitled element and delivers in your main page the newest comments.
This code was not written by me it was taken directly from the Tips For New Bloggers site.
Some of you might find it interesting.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Asian Movies

This post will be updated from time to time, since I will try to record here all the movies I've seen and were directed in Asia (Australia not included, since Australian movies are considered to be Western Movies under revision of that statement under the term Asian Movies, I will include movies filmed, produced or written in Japan, China, Korea and Thailand).
The movies I will recommend will not be ranked and will not be sorted either alphabetical or by any manner.
Also those movies I present in this post are recommended but not for all, some are at least weird, and you are advised that some of them will test your senses and your ethics, your stomach, and more one at a movie or all together.

Memories of a Murder

...is a South Korean Drama film, directed by Bong Joon-ho, mostly known in the rest of the world so in Greece for "The Host", The film is based on a true story about one of the country's first serial killer. The film tries to explore the characters personalities as those change from the outcome of the murders.
Two detectives trying to solve the mystery behind the identity of the serial killer. Under different methods, a violent one, first shoot then ask questions, and a more methodical educated one, one that trust more the facts than his feelings.



rating from imdb




Premonition (Yogen)

Do not be mislead, this one has nothing to do with the 2007 film under the same title, staring Sandra Bullock

...is a Horror/Drama from Japan. A professor going with his family for an excursion, stops at a public phone booth, to send his work over to the university via modem (damned 56k), when a truck hits the car with their daughter inside. The car burst into flames and professor with his wife run to save their daughter. Only to find a piece of a newspaper...



rating from imdb









Battle Royal

...a Japanese movie, so different from every movie I've seen that I refuse to include it any kind of tag. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku, mostly known as the director of Tora!Tora!Tora!. Based upon the novel by Koushun Takami, tells the story of a parallel universe where grown-ups in order to restore order, send children in a remote area and force them to kill each other till only one is left alive.
"At the dawn of the millennium, the nation collapsed. At fifteen percent unemployment, ten million were out of work. 800,000 students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence, and fearing the youth, eventually passed the Millennium Educational Reform Act - AKA: The BR Act..."
rating from imdb






House of the Flying Daggers


...is a Hong-Kong wuxia film, from the director of the amazing film Hero, Zang Yimu, also known for the raise the red lantern, maybe his best movie. A drama, in beautiful colors, of martial arts choreography, and wonderful scenery, dreaming photography and so on.

The film is set in 859 AD. The once great Tang Dynasty is now in decline. Numerous rebel groups have formed, the largest of which is the House of Flying Daggers, based in Feng Tian county. The Flying Daggers steal from the rich and give to the poor, gaining the support of the locals.
The local deputies have managed to kill the leader of the Flying Daggers, but the rebel group only becomes stronger, due to a mysterious new leader. Jin and Leo, two police captains, are ordered to kill the new leader within ten days.

rating from imdb




Hana-Bi

This movie by Takeshi Kitano if I remember correctly is the one movie that started my journey (some people can't stand me for my love to asian movies, anime, manga) to the diversity of modern japanese films. Till this day Takeshi Kitano remains as one of my favorite director and this movie I still consider it as one of the best movies I ever seen. So beautiful, simple and melacholic, yet so brutal. The plot simple, but full of possibilities:
Kitano plays Nishi, a violent and unpredictable ex-police detective who quits the force after a terrible incident that results in his partner, Horibe (Ren Osugi), being confined to a wheelchair. After his retirement he spends much of his time looking after his wife Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto), who has leukemia.
...and one usufull information, hana means flower, bi means fire, all together fireworks, literally fireflower...
rating from imdb


A Cruel Attendance


...is a Korean comedy/ethics/horror(?)/action(?) movie. I've seen a worthless wuxia film by the same director the Shadowless Sword, so I was a little bit prepared for a big time shity film (φόλα, πατάτα κ.λ.π.). But, I really enjoyed that one!!!
The story as far as I recall is about two losers, who own money to yakuza(?), try to get some money by kidnapping rich people's children. But, they never get it right...

rating from imdb (I would give it a 6,5+)









Save the Green Planet

...is a Korean anti-war movie, that defies every known categorization to any known movie genre. If you would like to place it somewhere put it together with the Battle Royal, mentioned above. Director Joon(or Jun)-Hwan Jang in his 2003 debut knows how to surpass the expected and mixes perfectly the violent, sadistic, melacholic, psychedelic, drama, action, horror, thriller, and Sci-Fi genre presenting a truly fresh film.
...and the plot is even more twisted:
A young a man who believes that aliens are about to attack Earth and that he is the only one who can prevent them. With his childlike circus performer girlfriend, he kidnaps a powerful executive who he believes is a top ranking extraterrestrial who can contact the prince of these aliens when the upcoming eclipse occurs. After imprisoning him in his workshop/basement he proceeds to torture the executive, and slowly Byeong-gu's true intentions are revealed.
rating from imdb



This one I've seen it back in 2004, at Athens movie festival called "nights of premiere"(I don't even know if the translation is good) alone in a full cinema after midnight. I believe, judging from the expression of the attendants that most of the people enjoyed it!!!


Kung-Fu Hustle

...is...don't tell me that you haven't seen that one yet? The
Chinese movie by Stephen Chow? It was appraised advertised and it worthed it. It's a hilarious parody of the kung-fu movies of the past, especially the ones where an innocent boy, suddenly becomes a kung-fu master. But to get there one has to go through a bunch of gangsters, a trio of furious assassins, but the most fearsome of all is the landlady...ok and later that frog-smelling-dude.



rating from imdb

I sincerely thank
- m - for her corrections, Kung-fu hustle is Chinese.






Emperor And The Assassin

...is a historical Chinese film based upon a true story. In the 3rd Century one of the Seven Kings of China sets on a dream, to unite all China under the same sky (Hero, is also another movie based on the same events). King Ying Zheng sends his concubine to find an assassin from the Kingdom of Yan, to fake an assassination against himself, so that king Ying will have an excuse to evade the kingdome of Yan. But, the concubine felt in love with the assassin, something that wasn't in the plan. Do not expect flying scenes, and martial-arts-choreography, this film is more about the characters, a sword is rarely drawn. I would consider to be more than a Historical Drama, than action. Far from the Hero or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style, 3hrs long but worth viewing.


rating from imdb





Monday, April 21, 2008

Bad news

...there are a few events that can be associated through almost visible lines that eventually will reveal the great picture, even though you can not make out the final strokes, even though this picture is just a faint sketch, because like a good mystery novel the important notes, clues, hints, the masterminds behind the curtains, are unreachable. There are a lot of people that try to assume what will happen, what the multinationals have planned long time ago, or whoever weaves the plot, in order to achieve world domination (like brain in pinky and brain!!! although brain always failed to achieve his ultimate goal), by controlling the economy, the governments, the masses and finally the individual, preferably in this order. Few people deciding over the fate of billions. Governments, unwilling, for any reason, to stand up and act in favor of the citizens, for reasons probably unknown. Tragic misdirection of funds (from the view of the many), and labor, keep making the rich people reacher and the poor poorer. Since we live in a world dominated by imperialism and capitalism it is an expected fate. We are blinded from our urge for consumption of products, as the one I'm currently using to deliver you those thoughts, keeping us in constant search for the best, the fastest the one with the best style, with the most functions, and so on, to keep our minds away from the problems that keep surrounding us, and we like it as it is, no worries, means a happy life. We using technological achievements to keep ourselves occupied, to get away from the boredom of the contemporary life, to get ourselves safe from everything evil. It reminds me of this expression:

see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evilWe tend to resemble those three little monkeys, trying to keep away from evil, although it exist, happy in our ignorance.
This is human nature, selfish, arrogant and self-destructive. Exceptions exist to verify the rule.

But for how much longer? How long our empathy, indifference will last?

What am I referring to with that cryptic prologue? Basically to the latest(s) world wide crisis, the plural under the brackets defines the variety. I do not know how it started or why (although I think that it all resides in the those aspects of human nature described from as the 7even deadly sins)!!!???. Anyway, in a few words, I am referring to what I consider as the greatest crisis till now, that seems to just getting build up. It's not about the oil, about the banks or the downfall of the stock markets, I am referring to a crisis of the most basic human needs.
The lack of food, the high food prices, around the world that is more noticeable in countries where the daily salary of a great percentage of the population is no more than a dollar.

One of those is Haiti, where people where killed during food riots.

from timesonline
from msnbc
from bbc

In Zimbabwe also in the middle of political crisis, during the elections (the link is in Greek, sorry), while millions are disappearing, in a country that a decade ago was one of the most prosperous in Africa.

from bbc

Also in India

from economic times
from down to earth

Asia Food Crisis, facing Rice shortage,

Cambodia
Vietnam
Thailand

Those are just the peak, according to the wiki on world food crisis. The World Bank has donated 10 million dollars and advices other countries to do so( I heard that one from the news on the TV), a total amount of 500 million dollars should be raised to avoid a crisis in much larger scale. Some articles and news reporting sites give the magnitude of this crisis.
USA and UN express their concern, but it appears that they are capable to do only that.
The World Food Program cannot afford the raise in food prices, UN strangle to keep the program going.
France one of the first countries (?) to give 60 million euros trying to avoid the worst.
But my opinion is that giving just money, the amount is insignificant, will not solve anything, the problem will remain as long as the causes are unsolved. As a Chinese anecdote says, if you want to keep a poor man well fed, do not give him fish to eat, teach him to fish.
The main causes of this phenomenon are the extreme rise in oil prices and the usage of fertile land as source for biofuel, and of course the climate changes (one more site). Also other reasons exist, such as animal industry, millions of food is wasted to feed our beloved cats and dogs, and I do not want to know what else, keeping the products of the land away from the farmers, and the citizens.


To end this a few more links regarding the food crisis, comments, facts and analysis of the phenomenon.

2007–2008 world food price crisis

Global food crisis looms as climate change and fuel shortages bite
Food price hikes spark riots
US Food Riots Much Closer Than You Think
Already we have riots, hoarding, panic: the sign of things to come?
Riots and hunger feared as demand for grain sends food costs soaring


Food riots revisited - public protests in the seventeenth to the nineteenth century
this one is a rather big article and I haven't read it all...will try
and a site from wiki that try to document the enlisted riots of human history:

List of riots


Finally I've finished it!!!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Good News

After years of struggling with supervisors about the minimum amount 0f time a person (that person is me) should spend in work, or working, or do anything but work, talk about work, and even dream of work, an article from lifedev, an internet site about the numerous ways to increase your productivity, by be focused on the work, who many times have I heard that single word, clearly argues for the exact opposite. Taking short, or long, brakes, letting your mind wonder, working but few hours per day, was common schedule, some of them never had one, of great people of world history.
What that article doesn't comment, but I hope that it implies it, is the fact that during the time we consider as working hours should be dedicated for that purpose.

1. Don’t work long hours (tell that to my supervisor)
2. Take breaks
3. Take even longer breaks (that one is my favorite)
4. Stop work and sit down for meals (I'm already into this one)
5. Don’t work in the afternoons (actually I'm trying not to work even in the morning)
6. Mix it up (done that)
7. Aim low (all I need is a roof above my head, a plate of food to eat, and a woman to love)
8. Take time to relax (isn't that one consistent with points 2,3,4,5?)
9. Get up early(?) (I couldn't argue more with question mark, but waking up early has some advantages, I can recall none of them right now, feel free to add some)
10. Exercise! (no comments)

Friday, March 28, 2008

Vodka

I found that one while I was reading the daily news. The one who wrote those facts is unknown. So apart from the link, I am posting directly the 21 uses of Vodka.

21 Uses for Vodka

1
. To remove a bandage painlessly, saturate the bandage with vodka. The solvent dissolves the adhesive.
2. To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers, fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking, let set five minutes and wash clean.The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew.
3. To clean your eyeglasses, simply wipe the lenses with a soft, clean cloth dampened with vodka. The alcohol in the vodka cleans the glass and kills germs.
4. Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka and letting your safety razor blade soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting.
5. Spray vodka on vomit stains, scrub with a brush, then blot dry.
6. Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face as an astringent to cleanse the skin and tighten pores.
7. Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo. The alcohol cleanses the scalp, removes toxins from hair, and stimulates the growth of healthy hair.
8. Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle and spray bees or wasps to kill them.
9. Pour one-half cup vodka and one-half cup water in a Ziplock freezer bag, and freeze for a slushy, refreezable ice pack for aches, pain, or black eyes.
10. Fill a clean, used mayonnaise jar with freshly packed lavender flowers, fill the jar with vodka, seal the lid tightly and set in the sun for three days. Strain liquid through a coffee filter, then apply the tincture to aches and pains.
11. Make your own mouthwash by mixing nine tablespoons powered cinnamon with one cup vodka. Seal in an airtight container for two weeks. Strain through a coffee filter. Mix with warm water and rinse your mouth. Don't swallow.
12. Using a q-tip, apply vodka to a cold sore to help it dry out.
13. If a blister opens, pour vodka over the raw skin as a local anesthetic that also disinfects the exposed dermis.
14. To treat dandruff, mix one cup vodka with two teaspoons crushed rosemary, let sit for two days, strain through a coffee filter and massage into your scalp and let dry.
15. To treat an earache put a few drops of vodka in your ear. Let set for a few minutes. Then drain. The vodka will kill the bacteria that is causing pain in your ear.
16. To relieve a fever, use a washcloth to rub vodka on your chest and back as a liniment.
17. To cure foot odor, wash your feet with vodka.
18. Vodka will disinfect and alleviate a jellyfish sting.
19. To remove cigarette smoke in your home or office mix one part vodka and three parts water and spray the clothing, then launder and let dry.
20. Pour vodka over an area affected with poison ivy to remove the urushiol oil from your skin.
21. Swish a shot of vodka over an aching tooth. Allow your gums to absorb some of the alcohol to numb the pain.

One last thing:
Do not drink Vodka, as it will harm your health. Excessive Abuse Will Kill You.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Top 10 Reasons To Have Sex Tonight (from cbnnews)

Top subject on every conversation, on every text, in our life, is without doubt sex. Even when everything goes wrong, the pressure rising up, we look for the comfort of the opposite gender, to have a person on our side, to have sex with, making love, for the romantic ones.
Once more, from cbn this time, we have all the good reasons to get out of our clothes, literally. Ten reasons to be more exact, in headlines those are:
1. Sex Relieves Stress
2. Sex Boosts Immunity
3. Sex Burns Calories
4. Sex Improves Cardiovascular Health
5. Sex Boosts Self-Esteem
6. Sex Improves Intimacy
7. Sex Reduces Pain
8. Sex Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk
9. Sex Strengthens Pelvic Floor Muscles
10. Sex Helps You Sleep better

This articles reminds me of those chain mails we receive almost everyday, usually from friends. The purpose of those mails is to raise our "stats", such as fortune, luck and charisma, by forwarding them to as many people as exist in their address book. All these for just to get laid. It reminds me of those RPG games
and the items a character receives usually randomly. It is the only way for a character to achieve a heroic status, in order to be able to finally defeat the final enemy. These kind of mails magically, found their rightful place into my garbage bin. Anyway, as you can read there are ten sentences above, all starting with the sex word, implying that action. I could say that reasons 1, 5,10 maybe 6 and 7 are known to everyone that had sex. One can argue about the beneficial of having sex without being an expert, with a pHD in medical science, that kind of expert, for hours and he will probably be right.
Those kind of arguments do not solve any problem, it is not like visiting a doctor, who examines you and then prescribes a dozen of medicines. Not even a law that you are forced to obey, otherwise there will be consequences, have sex or I'll sue your ass, although I tend to believe that such a law should be interesting (this though reminds me a little bit of a comedy from Aristophanes the
Ecclesiazusae. These kind of news reminds me of those advices you get from parents or friends to be more socialized and so on.
Back on the subject, in those arguments and scientific observations or experimental verifications, there is always one MAJOR factor that is absent. Two or more people should be active to have sex, one person alone leads to masturbation or to the "making love to the one you love most" situation. It will be a relief, if one could walk into a place, spot a person with whom would love to have sex, and vice versa, and accomplish it by mentioning those ten reasons. That would be beneficial cause part of the stress is caused by the fact that finding someone to be with is troublesome and usually at least one of the people involved hasn't the courage to move on.
Still "Top 10 Reasons To Have Sex Tonight " does not sound so much promising.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Police Officers and Protesters

I got that one from the digg and I just keep on wandering a great WHAT IF...
What If every Police Officer would treat every citizen in a same manner?
...enjoy your time protesting...

...I just don't want you running of the streets getting hit by a car...

I believe that one should be considered as the line of the month, so with every single word delivered from the officer.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Anonymous web posting may become illegal in Kentucky

So, the next one has to do once more with the freedom of speech in the internet era, under the safety of anonymity. This one from Kentucky, news taken from Betanews

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews March 11, 2008, 2:31 PM

Although it's not exactly clear how the law could be enforced, the lawmaker said outlawing anonymous posting could curb online bullying.

Kentucky Representative Tim Couch introduced the bill in the state's Legislature last week. Under the policy, anyone who contributes to a Web site will have to submit a name, e-mail address, and mailing address.
This essentially would ban anonymous posting, as the contributor's name would have to be listed with the post. If the site still decides to allow for anonymous posting, a $500 fine would apply for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.
Couch seems to be directing his ire at sites like the increasingly popular JuicyCampus.com, which encourages students to post anonymous, and most times slanderous, comments about others. He says that the bullying problem is significant in his own district in eastern Kentucky. However, at the same time he says the bill could be difficult to enforce if signed into law.
A local news station said it polled residents of Couch's district and found mixed results. While some saw it as a method to combat online harassment, others saw it in violation of the First Amendment.

I find it a little bit ridicule and more importantly frightening.

So let me get this straight. In USA and particularly in Kentucky, a new law was voted (?) to protect people from being bullied. A law to divide citizens:
some saw it as a method to combat online harassment, others saw it in violation of the First Amendment
In Greece there was a big fuzz a few weeks ago when it was discovered that a blog site (in Greek) maintained by "bloggers" (I despise that word), tried to blackmail a few high ranked persons (as the article mentions this story is more than a year old), from journalists to politicians, with the threat of exposing their illegal actions to the public. The revelations were mostly false accusations with intention to hurl the reputation of the "victims".

I hope that that case will not set an example to the rest of the world to blackmail by abusing the freedom of speech and the anonymity of the internet, because the outcome will be terrible. Certainly, governments and companies will have a milestone to use in their efforts to control the internet and silencing the unwanted voices.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

VerveEarth

Today I got this message from the CEO of an new site, still in Beta, but it looks OK:

Trotos,

Your blog Navy, a playground for bigger kids caught our attention.
I'm the founder of a recently launched startup for bloggers. We are searching
the internet for the world's best blogs by geography, and we found yours for
Greece. I would like to invite you to our site which plots the content of the
internet on an interactive map of the world. VerveEarth is an entirely new way
to surf the net. It shows spatial and geographic connections that a blog search
engine could never reveal. The site is http://www.verveearth.com/. Once on board, you can easily claim your blog a place in the VerveEarth world. The site is free to use
and a way to drive new traffic to your blog. If our vision resonates with you,
please give us a mention or add our widget to your blog. Please see our FAQ for any
questions, and we welcome your feedback. The VerveEarth team will make a timely
reply.http://www.verveearth.com/
Kind Regards,
Clayton CEO VerveEarth.comEmail clayton@verveearth.com,



First of all my thanks to VerveEarth's CEO, but I do not believe that my blog is even close to be described as one of the "best blogs by geography". It seems to me that this mail is nothing more than a polite invitation, randomly generated by a script. It could be a clever way to invite one more blogger (I think I dislike this word, blogger) to register to theirs site and grow it bigger, fine by me. The invitation is welcomed but I do not thing that exaggerations such as best blogs is suitable.
So I registered, at the end a few more readers never harm anyone, right?

It seems that till now 32 other people from Greece received the same e-mail. Haven't checked their blogs yet, till now I'm preoccupied with other activities (NAVY, my thesis (actually on hold at the time), women (if I can find any)), so I only have time to read and sometimes comment my friends' blogs.

...less than a month now...

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Darkness

For more than four days the workers from the public electric service (our friends call us ΔΕΗ-"dae") are on strike (if I'm not mistaken they still are and as of Wednesday it was announced that their efforts will keep up in greater magnitude). Everyday at noon, for a duration of three hours the area I live in was experiencing scheduled power outages (blackout). But, on Saturday the 8th, the ones that are in charge of the scheduled electricity losses, changed their minds. They rescheduled the whole schedule (!), for our amusement.
As it was scheduled, at that Saturday noon we experienced electricity loss, but not for long, in fact it lasted a whole minute, or so, nice. Say goodbye to my microwave, may it rest in peace in the micro-appliances heaven (I won't write about that). One of the major points is that in the official site there is a complete lack of information about Saturday. No scheduled blackouts, nothing. We had a good Sunday, but Monday, clean Monday, even if the news report reassured the clients, me for example, that there will be no blackout, it strike at two o' clock P.M. and lasted for about 2 hours (that's not the story I want to tell either, so, I won't get in any further details).
Saturday is the day that "dae", instead of providing us an enjoyable quiet noon (you have no idea how much noise is being produced from electric appliances, constantly working 24 hours a day, inside your own house, I won't mention the noise from outside), spending it in my back yard, staring at my garden (no exotic women next door to spy on), drinking a chilled frappe, reading one of my books (and that's life, since my current state could be described as unemployed, I can relax a little bit longer, well not to long cause I have a thesis to finish), we had one of those ordinary noisy beautiful shiny days.
That was one disappointment, but still I could place my vinyls on the turnable and rock the neighborhoud. Not too loud, do not want to disturb them, only to entertain them, and "who's afraid of the big bad Monk" is an excellent choice, and "Blue Train" lines up.
But, "dae" never meant to hurt my feelings, so to my surprise, we experienced a late afternoon blackout. Unexpectedly, the room filled with shadows, colors disappeared and neutral grey filled everything. By the time I finished unplugging the electric appliances, darkness surrounded me. Not absolute though, since in a city as Athens light is everywhere.
I opened the lid of my laptop and shiny bluish light blinded me. I found a couple of candles light them up and silence filled the room. Static was the only sound I could hear, the hissing from the candles and the bells responding to the wind. Blackouts during the noon when the sun is illuminating this side of the earth might be OK, but after sunset blackouts are almost horrible. My first thought after the realization of the situation was "now what?" what is for me to do without light, without electricity during the night? In an empty house, but for the candles. I sat back and stared the malformed shadows on the wall, dancing to the rhythm of the candles. Stand up, open the dark refrigerator (now this is an odd image, since we are used to the light of the refrigerator as the sole light source in a dark kitchen), find a bottle of wine open it up, pure some in a short glass of wine, resumed my previous state and continued to stare at the dancing shadows.
I tried to think of the time before electricity, what normal people did, every night. Only one thing came to my mind, sleeping. Finishing their dinner under the candle's light, a few hours after the sunset, after the end of their day-jobs, chattering a little bit about the events of the day, cleaning up the left overs from the dinner, taking care of children, if any, and after that straight for theirs beds.
The day will start once more as soon as the first sun-ray break-through the vastness of darkness.
Electricity was restored and I got up, opened my Desktop PC and did what I did.
For the modern human blackouts are nothing more than waiting time, waiting till electricity will be restored so that we continue to do what people were doing hundreds of years ago without the existence of electricity. Trying to spend their free time. Others will sit back in the sofa, changing the channels of TV programs with the remote, others will listen to music, surf the internet, read the newspaper or read a book, talk to their friends and be occupied with other wonderful activities of our everyday life.

P.S. If any mistake, failure to comprehend or misspellings is caused by another blackout, an hour ago, again without notice and by all means out of schedule, actually I'm starting to believe that there is no schedule.
P.S. Lord praise the UPS!!!

Friday, February 1, 2008

FACEBOOK.COM

What is facebook? Answer: one of the most famous social networking sites IN THE WORLD (pffff).
I have also signed in and I'm active. Not under my nickname, "trotos", but, rather, under my real life name (hehe it will not be revealed, although all my friends and maybe more people know my real-life personality). This revealing of identity is not common when browsing the net, registering to sites, or talking to chat groups. Everyone wants to move in the vastness of the internet under the safety of anonymity, to speak up one's mind or even to be what he ever wanted to be, without "the real life" to criticize him or make fun out of him (in person anyway).
For once this "revelation" goes with some happy surprises.
For me one of this welcomed surprises, came from an ex-neighbour, with whom we were good friends almost 20 years ago, back in the days of innocence and soccer-playing in the alleys (yes those mythical places existed once). She was just looking around faces in the "search for people" option and my lovable face, popped up, like a politician's fart, waking up memories of the past. "Where have I seen this toad!!!" she would probably thought, but she didn't hesitate, she just grub the keyboard and send me a message, despite my toadish appearance. "this person wants to add you as a friend", appeared in my screen, and I was amazed that a woman would like to add me as her friend. But, as I was reading her name and watching her photo it occurred to me that I know her from somewhere, so I confirmed the add friend invitation. In a few days we were talking over the phone about the good OLD days.
Some thing happened recently when I received another invitation from a colleague of mine from the academic era,
the traitor now lives in a different town, so it is not soooo easy for me to give him a visit, but I will work things out. Although till now I haven't wrote anything of importance to him, cause I I'm bored to death (and that is unacceptable).
But beware, and be advised, facebook once probably was a fresh air to the social networking community, but I think that lately it stinks of money (maybe this one sounds a little bit harsh, but If you read the various reports on how much the facebook worths, and how managers from various big companies whining about the money companies are loosing cause the employs are preoccupied with the facebook. and rumor has it that from sometime in the future it will ask for a subscription -that one could be a hoax-. Also a lot of people, and companies residue in the facebook hopping to attract more clients.
The article "The Facebook economy" is describing in more details the road to success for facebook.com but also ways to get money out of it. I believe this one is worth reading.
For example, download iLike, an app that lets you sample and purchase music, and the developer gets a 5 percent kickback if you end up buying songs from iTunes or Amazon.com (Charts, Fortune 500).
Last but no least, facebook, is not as safe as we think it is (previous post for details). And most of the so called applications for me look like the evolution of the chain-mails and the spam-mails, so please take no offense if I immediately ignore or delete any invitation-message that applies to the previous categories. Also, there is the case of exploiting our personal data for economic interests without asking us first, personal data as sex, likes, occupation, education and so on are delivered to companies so that will feed us with more personalized advertisement. A lot of articles exist over the net about the mining of personal data and a few of them are:

Do internet companies protect personal data well enough?
Facebook Sharing Too Much Personal Data With Application Developers
MySpace and Facebook Plan to Use Personal Data for "Targeted Advertising"
Facebook questioned over data protection

BUT, I will continue to use it since I find it useful and sometimes even funny and relaxing, but I do not know for how long. Also I'm thinking of removing every application, except maybe a few, and use it as a tool to communicate with people, usually with the ones that are hard to find.

P.S.: Is my English terrible, or it's just me?

Update 06-02-08: As a friend wrote at the comment session, my English IS terrible, but it's OK for facebook. And I expect it to be OK for any social networking site, for any instant messaging application.
Yep, it's a fact my English is terrible, so are my Greek...so, no harm done. But, I also forgot to finish a sentence...

Update 07-02-08: This articles will again be revised, since everytime I read it I find it incomplete and horrible.

Update 08-02-08: This should be the final

Saturday, January 19, 2008

From The Rooftops

How are you this excellent, superb, if I may, morning. Today, the 19th January 2008, started as a awful day (OK not so awful). From the next building the sounds of reconstruction, hammers, jackhammers, and other unspeakable tools were disturbing my sleep, also Vassily's sleep, who is kind enough to get along with my existence and my occupation of his house, and mostly his toilet. The weather WAS cloudy, and the mood was not the one suitable for a weekend away from the Navy (mpliax, Greek expression corresponds to great revulsion). The tip of the iceberg (the cherry on the cake, as we say here in Greece), Vasily doesn't have an ADSL connection installed to his house and no TV (no TV you've read correct), and the radio in Crete really suck big time
(in general, I think that the radio stations that worth your attention are the national radio station and the university radio station in Heraclio). So, it is a little bit boring to just preparing the breakfast, waiting for him to wake up. Anyway...
The point is that in a few minutes, sunrays break through, Vasily woke up and most of all I could get an access to fast internet (Broadband). The rapid change in the weather is all about physics, the early arouse of Vasily is thanks to the jackhammer (which in general is no good at all), and the internet-connection thanks to those loving-caring-people who, either because they do not know how, or they just don't care, leave their wireless routers free to public access. BUT, the good weather was actually the main reason for the internet. If the cloudy weather persisted I would have never pulled myself on the rooftop and search around for an open wi-fi network.
Dear LILA, is kind enough (no past tense here) to share her internet access with everyone. So I Seized the day, and wrote down those lines, which have no meaning and will not change the way people thing. But, it could be an important aspect of my life, because the story doesn't end at this point.
The truth is that this story, if you haven't been bored till now keep reading, completed in FO.R.T.H. (the technological institute of Crete), were I had accompanied Vassily to finish a work with fruit-flies. After a long-long time I was inside an institute, deep-freezers on one corner, little glass bottles on the other one, PCR machines, electrophoresis devices, and so on. It occurred to me that I enjoyed working in an institute, able to talk about "science", do science and all that stuff, even when the environment (talking mostly about my supervisors and the way the institute, I am working to (know I consider to be on vacation, long term), is functioning. So I would like to return to a place like that, for many reasons, but under better supervision, and of course with bigger salary:)

P.S. another chaotic note from a disturbed mind...

Thursday, January 10, 2008

News For Technology Freaks

The first one goes around to the net for a while now and has to do with the popular "social site" FACEBOOK. So if you ever get invitation from the application "Secret Crush" just harden yourself, turn your heart into stone and forget of the could-be-lovers ones.
Secret Crush was quickly branded a malicious widget by the security researchers who discovered it, seeing as how it poses as a legitimate application that promises to reveal someone’s admirer(s). In reality, it loads an adware/spyware associated with Zango, which historically has been linked to adware and spyware designed to gain access to certain games, DRM-protected videos, and software. In 2006, the FBI gave it a fine of US$3 million for allowing third parties to secretly install its adware.
.
The next one has to do with the vodafone 3G, or however they call it, and sites as yahoo, mail.yahoo.com to be more accurate. It just refuses to load while I'm surfing using the vodafone's 3G service, for those who doesn't know, 3G services are streaming data over the cell technology in high speed, as with ADSL. This network thinks for itself, sometimes I'm able to "surf" to any site I want to and sometimes the address is unreachable...This blog is not too popular so it want make any difference, or I want start a thread from this post, but posting it won't harm anyone, right?
update
it seems that with the newer 3g modems internet sites loads properly now.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

eArtHQuakE

For your information and only, Sunday's earthquake was strong enough to wake me up, even all the way down here in Crete.
It was one of a horrible Sunday.
I had a really good plan.
It would started with dozing in my bed till 10:00 in the morning and latter on reading the news, spend time listening to music and reading a little bit...and so on.
But the sailor-mates who woke up at about 6:30, they needed to wear the official uniform, the one that also SAILOR MOON characters wear, to participate in the Sunday's ceremony (present arms and so on), and had the bright idea to wake me up by turning on those horrible lights of the dorm had it coming...
...and you know how rude I am when waking up like this...
...well...you know, I think that a was f@$k and As#$%e them for nearly 30min...

maybe this is a new record

and then there was the earthquake. The bed was swinging like a ping-pong ball in the middle of a game, and the old building was threating our peaceful living with collapsing.
I think that it was the first time that I did nothing, I just woke up, wished a "good morning" to the earthquake as I had done with the guys earlier and stood up and went to take a leak(!!!???)...