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...

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.

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

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!!!

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.

So in titles the 10 way's history's finest kept focused at work

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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!!!

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

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...

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.

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(!!!???)...

Best Scientific Magazine Now is Free

Could it be Nature? Could it be Science? PNAS? Popular Science? Scientific American?

No, no and once more no. The source off grandioseness lies elsewhere.

The one and only magazine that will be unforgettable for its "Ig Nobel Prizes" offers for free a low resolution of its acclaimed publications in pdf format. So, click on the link that will let you through the vast knowledge that improbable research offers us.
...and to give you a hint of the grandioseness of those Ig Nobel Prizes, the winner of 2007 for the PEACE IgNP was:

The Air Force Wright Laboratory, Dayton, Ohio, USA, for instigating research & development on a chemical weapon -- the so-called "gay bomb" -- that will make enemy soldiers become sexually irresistible to each other.
REFERENCE: "Harassing, Annoying, and 'Bad Guy' Identifying Chemicals," Wright Laboratory, WL/FIVR, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, June 1, 1994.

.
conducting war without spilling a drop of blood, but by spreading LOVE to the world

Although my favorite is the IgNP for the AVIATION category:

AVIATION: Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek of Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina, for their discovery that Viagra aids jetlag recovery in hamsters.
REFERENCE: "Sildenafil Accelerates Reentrainment of Circadian Rhythms After Advancing Light Schedules," Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 104, no. 23, June 5 2007, pp. 9834-9.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Diego A. Golombek

yeap, this is THE PNAS dear ladies and gentlemen!

P.S. Dear koxakies are you reading this?

A long time ago, in a music land far away

Again, due to extreme situations, I was not able to update this post. But I'm BaCk.

This Time I intend to do a review, tribute to things I listened to a decade ago, but still I am really Fond of them. Most of the albums I will present, or just announce, could be unknown to most of you, but I enjoy them till now.

So let us begin...
The albums will be not presented in a Top 10 listing and are from my CD collection

808 state - Don Solaris// a great album from a group that influenced musicians as Autechre and Aphex Twin. This album includes one of my favorite songs, Azura, featuring the lead singer of Lamb Louise Rhodes

A Reminiscent Drive - embrace e.p.// electronica, down tempo, kind of music. Not the boring type of down-tempo you usually listen to those fancy bar found anywhere in Athens these days. No computer was used for this album, as the creator of this album is mentioning. The last song of the e.p. "two sides to every story" distinguishes from the rest.

AkaSha - cinematique// from the wiki:

Akasha (or Akash, Ākāśa, आकाश) is the Sanskrit word meaning "aether" in both its elemental and mythological senses. In Hinduism Akasha means the basis and essence of all things. The source of everything that exists. One of the Panchamahabhuta, or "five great elements"; its main characteristic is Shabda (sound). In Hindi the meaning of Akash is sky.

In this catalog refers to a band form in Brixton, London, UK, and theirs first album. A fusion of electronica and jazz. Akasha are responsible for one of the best re-arrangements and orchestrations, of Guns n' Roses' Sweet Child of mine, featuring Neneh Cherry

Boards Of Canada - in a beautiful place out in the country// another electronic based e.p. I surely recommend the excellent album: Music Has the Right to Children, but this one belongs to the LP/Vinyl area. Excepts from the easy-listening theme song this e.p. includes the "amo bishop roden" one that comes in waves of repetition, building the sound in every step, adding in every loop a new sound, so being repetitive but not boring.

coti K- quasi// a Greek producer, mostly known from his collaborations with the famous Greek band Στερεο Νοβα. This album from the '97 includes one of the best memories I have, the formation of the AEON FLUX, and the intro of our radio days, back there in Patra. Notte Estiva was the track. I found an interview of coti K from avopolis (Greek only).

the princess + the warrior - OST// From the same people that brought up Run Lola Run comes another great film. Enough with the film, the soundtrack is written by "pale 3", the same people that written the Run Lola Run Soundtrack. I think that I prefer this one.

french fried funk - various// all the super stars of France electronic stage are here, from DJ CAM to AIR,Alex Gopher to Dimitris from Paris. Double cd, songs spiced by the remixes of IVAN and ERIC RUG (who the F@$K are those people?)

Gonzales - Uber Alles// hmmm, this one is sooooo good, he is behind and responsible for the increased fame of popstars as FEIST and Peaches , involved in various collaborations and re-arrangements. I recommend his latest album "Solo Piano"

Deep Dish - junk science// house music from one of the best groups (DJs actualy) formed by the Iranian American members Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi.

Cut La Roc - la roc rocks// At the end of the big-beat movement led by "fat boy slim", "the chemical brothers" and other bands, this album stands out to remind us of the parties. Get you jumpin'.

Red Snapper - Prince Blimey - The debut album from the U.K. instrumental band. One of the best albums I ever listened to. An excellent fusion of Jazz and jungle-breakbeat percussions, performed using a bass, drums and a guitar.

Jamie Myerson - The Listen Project//Mostly known as a remixer, but this album is good, and the songs titled as "afraid" and "this time" are worth your attention.

DAFT PUNK - everything your choice// OK, so nothing to say here, the name speaks for itself, the duo from Paris, with the robot heads. Influenced everyone and everywhere.Teir first album back at 1998. tracks as "revolution 909", "da Funk", "Around the world",Burnin'" from their first album are monumental to the dance community (am I wrong?). Ah, also you can know find them at their new sub-site in youtube

check this one...it really rocks


Scheer - Infliction// enough with the electronic based groups. This one in '96 was voted as one of the most promising new bands. And listening to the "wish you were dead" felt like it.

cracker - kerosene hat// don't foul yourself lyrics are about opium!!!

Sometimes I wanna take you down.
Sometime I wanna get you low.
I brush your hair back from your eyes.
I take you down let the river flow.
Sometimes I go and walk the street
Behind the green sheet of glass.
A million miles below their feet
A million miles, a million miles

CHORUS:
I'll be with you girl
Like being low
hey hey hey like being stone
I'll be with you girl
Like being low
hey hey hey like being stoned.

A million poppies gonna make me sleep.
But just one rose it knows your name
The fruit is rusting on the vine
The fruit is calling from the trees
Hey don't you wanna go down
Like some junkie cosmonaut
A million miles below their feet
A million miles a million miles

CHORUS
Blue blue is the sun.
Brown brown is the sky.
Green green are her eyes.
A million miles a million miles
Hey don't you wanna go down
Like some disgraced cosmonaut
A million miles below their feet
A million miles a million miles
CHORUS

Don Fleming - Because tomorrow comes// the uber song, the uber e.p., from the leader of the "Gumball".

Motorpsycho - angels and deamons at play// the first album of the Norwegian rock band that i have ever heard, The Song "in the family" echoes in my brain for a decade now. Also its one of the bands, with the Gomez, that till now never fails to amaze me, that every-single-one album they release is a diamond worth listening.

Kyuss - Blues for the red sun// long time ago, before QOTSA (queens of the stone age), this band among others was building the now-called "stone rock". Hard guitars, mixed with blues rhythm, cool as a hard-rock band can be. Each album a different story, a different sound, till their final one "...and the circus leaves town"

Steel Pole Bath Tub - scars from falling down// from New York, a punk rock band formed almost 20 years ago. This is the only album I ever listened to. They sound almost like Sonic Youth, if you asked to compare it with another group. Song to listen to "Kansas City"

The Posies - Amazing Disgrace// Power-Pop band, with lots of fuzz to the guitars (speaking for the amazing disgrace). Not so good in total, but there are excellent songs in this one. My favorite "Please return it", melancholic although the the fuzzy guitars. Loved also "ontario", "precious moments" and "everybody is a fucking liar"

the experimental pop band - homesick// one of the coolest albums I have ever listen. Most famous for the "forty greatest hits". Pop-funky-Samples, everything goes in this album. Songs as "for dancers only", "archive"

the afghan whigs - black love// If I were to describe the music played by the afghan whigs I would described it as soul-funk-hard-rock fusion, sometimes with a 80's finishing touch. Honky's ladder the single from this album. The band became famous with the 1965 album and the single "somethin' hot". In the 1965 album their love for soul, is more than obvious.

Fu Manchu - the action is Go// Speeding cars, gazoline in the air, explosive riffs...

Rolling Stone describes their sound as: "Super heavy and bass happy Detroit rock 'n' roll is totally deep-fried, fuzzed out, window breakin', pot sellin', sleepin-in-the-van, skater metal."

...head-bunging all the way. Feel the power of fu-manchu.

Octopus - from A to B// Pop till you drop dead, with a touch of psychedelic tunes. A classic if you ask me, the first single, also the first track "your smile", sounds so gooooood. Find it, listen to it. The best part is the album itself, a game is hidden inside it.

Lightning Seeds - Dizzy Heights// from pop to pop, lightning seeds dear ladies and gentlemen, one of the most famous british bands around. Lucky you from the Jollification, album is their greatest hits ever.

Shit gotta go so a few more in rush...

the cruel sea - the honeymoon is over
john lee hooker - chill out
honest - OST
grand lee buffalo - copperopolis
this is for apache - various
babybird - ugly beautiful
the church - magician among spirits

Radiohead, a new album, but not a review

I believe that most of you know that Radiohead (Ραδιοκέφαλος) have finished recording their latest album, In Rainbows, the forthcoming cd/vinyl release should be available after the 3rd of December. I am also aware that a great deal of you also have visited the corresponding site and downloaded the album either free or by paying a fee (those not informed of this, will now be considered as such!!!). No big deal right?
Not quite...
...Radiohead are not just a group, since they considered to be one of the greatest bands in the world. So when Radiohead decide to "sell" their new album, directly from their site, by giving us the chance to pay as much as we want, to download the album, (or to preorder a great edition of it, double cd, vinyl and a hardcover illustration book, I'm drooling here, without the labels) it will be an opportunity for various sources to do their hypothesis and conclusions about the outcome.
From Bittorrent search engines to market analysts. even slashdot.com, all making their comments on this movement, as do I, while others, go even farther, considering it to be a hard kick in the balls for the music industry.
Even TIME magazine has an article on this, including a piece from an interview of Thom York, describing the music industry as a decaying business model. A statement, that is backed up by:

an A&R executive at a major European label:
"This feels like yet another death knell, If the best band in the world doesn't want a part of us, I'm not sure what's left for this business."

As of 12th of October Radiohead Made $6-$10 Million on Initial Album Sales (depending on the average amount payed for downloading the album) as I was informed from WIRED

I'm thinking...will they got a lawsuit from RIAA, from music corporations, for "freely" distributing an album via the internet, even if Radiohead has finished with EMI from 2004, and by doing so, encouraging the "leeching/seeding" community to burn up some more the copper telephone wires?

A few more artists seem to follow this business plan, one of the Trent Raznor, the Nine Inch Nails man, as well as Prince(?couldn't find that one). Even a record label as magnatune and artists as Saul Williams.

And this lovable guy (Trent Raznor) has said:

A few months ago, Trent Reznor (frontman of the band Nine Inch Nails), was in Australia doing an interview when he commented on the outrageous prices of CDs there. Apparently now his label, Universal Media Group is angry at him for having said that. During a concert last night, he told fans, '...Has anyone seen the price come down? Okay, well, you know what that means — STEAL IT. Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin'. Because one way or another these mother****ers will get it through their head that they're ripping people off and that's not right.

And to finish this read that one:

The Impact of Music Downloads and P2P File-Sharing on the Purchase of Music: A Study for Industry Canada

Description: Industry Canada undertook a music file sharing study during 2006-07 to measure the extent to which music downloads over peer-to-peer file sharing networks, for which the sound recording industry receives no remuneration, affect music purchasing activity in Canada. The data used for this analysis are from a Decima Research survey conducted between April and June, 2006, on behalf of Industry Canada. The report, prepared by University of London researchers, Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz, found that music downloads have a positive effect on music purchases among Canadian downloaders but that there is no effect taken over the entire population aged 15 and over.

that's all for now...keep on sharing...

News, DO we have ENOUGH time to ponder over them

In the state I am the past 2 and 1/2 months, I've been missing quite a few things that concerns me and the rest of the world. The one outside the NAVY. One of those is the ability to "freely" be informed on the latest developments on almost every subject, whenever and wherever I want to. So during my "vacations" I spend most of my time sitting in frond of my (excellent DELL 2007WFP) screen (if you won't praise your house...!!!) and reading everything, from the game industry to scientific achievements to domesticate problems. I don't think that I will be able to read, even superficial, what happened in the real world before the 2nd of November.
So this one raises one significant question:

News, DO we have ENOUGH time to ponder over them?

...and more significantly, DOES IT WORTH IT? What good does it make to know that Radiohead earned about 6 million $, by releasing their latest album over the internet under a shareware, kind of, license? Or that scientist are about to brake through the production of hydrogen from waste water by bacteria, so that it can be used in a mass scale (a kind of free- environmental friendly energy).

So, as all these information stacking in my brain, occupying free neuron cells and reforming or forming new synapses, between my nerve cells, do I have time, or will I ever be able, to brake down this information, deconstruct it and in consequence reconstruct this flood of information to knowledge, that can be used to make my life better, to know my rights, to brace myself for the future (I am denying to talk about the future of me as a worker in this country, considering the pensioning system, that competes on equal terms with the estimate Average life span.)?

A Gem Raised From Trash? Paul Potts

I got the following from the known email-chain, so probably it's not news, but it was one of those things that got my attention. Is anyone of you familiar with the show "Britain you have talent"? I believe that the same reality show was aired in Greece with the profound name of "Greece you have talent"!!!
I could never attend to similar shows for more than 15 min, and I thing that that's a personal record. But a friend of mine send me an e-mail, that emphasized on the winner of this show.
Paul Potts
He appears to be an ordinary guy, a 36 year-old cell-phone seller, too ordinary, modest and maybe a little bit shy, bullied as a kid, with low self esteem. He chooses to participate in the show and I'm indifferent to what he is about to do or to say, his looks betray him. One of the judges asks one and only one question:

"What are you here for today, Paul?"
"To sing OPERA", he replies

and she is almost shocked by this unbelievable answer. So am I, this is just another hoax with a lunatic megalomaniac thinking of being grandiose, without even deserve to be in frond of a TV camera (now that is an oxymoron). And after the millions of animals performing, sometimes better than men...

...he sings and I am amazed and shocked. I just hope this is for real, cause he is marvelous. "a breath of fresh air", out of those TV trashes, I couldn't agree more.
Listen to him sing:

Nessun Dorma from Puccini's Turrandor, in the first round



...and Time To Say Goodbye