travels with herodotus

what a great book!

my first encounter with ryszard kapuscinski just totally drew me into his world. an amazing book blending a few of my favourite topics: travel, history, the modern and the ancient world, discovery. if you come accross it, read it!

one of my favourite parts...
"...For all intents and purposes, [such people] do not grow attached to anything, do not put down deep roots. Their empathy is sincere, but superficial. If asked which of the countries they have visited they like best, they are embarrassed - they do not know how to answer. Which one? In a certain sense - all of them. There is something compelling about each. To which country would they like to return once more? Again, embarrassment - they had never asked themselves such a question. The one certainty is that they would like to be back on the road, going somewhere. To be on their way again - that is the dream."

and yet another one of the many gems and anecdotes hidden in the book:

"...Croesus personally received Solon and ordered his servants to show him his treasures, and, certain that the sight of them astonished his guest, he queried him: "So I really want to ask you whether you have ever come across anyone who is happier than everyone else?"

But Solon did not flatter him in the least and instead cited as the happiest of men several heroically fallen Athenians, adding: "Croesus, when you asked me about men and their affairs, you were putting your question to someone who is well aware of how utterly jealous the divine is, and how it is likely to confound us. Anyone who lives for a long time is bound to see and endure many things he would rather avoid. I place the limit of a man's life at seventy years. Seventy years makes 25,200 days...No two days bring events which are exactly the same. It follows, Croesus, that human life is entirely a matter of chance...

"Now, I can see that you are extremely rich and that you rule over large numbers of people, but I won't be in a position to say what you're asking me to say about you until I find out that you died well...Until [a man] is dead, you had better refrain from calling him happy, and just call him fortunate...

"It is necessary to consider the end of everything...and to see how it will turn out, because the god often offers prosperity to men, but then destroys them utterly and completely."

πραγματικά απίστευτο

εκείνη την εποχή ήταν απλά αστείο. σήμερα η προφητεία του μητσικώστα είναι απλά απίστευτη! καλά, πόσο μετρούσε?

new link

check the link on the left for the failblog.

pure gold!

screw viagra - eat watermelon!

it's official. scientists are close to proving that fruit is good for you. especially watermelon.

in greek

in english

too bad this country doesn't really produce any decent watermelons.

sw11

surprise! dimi has moved yet again. i think it's about number 15 in the last 12 years, and it is definitely the 4th place in live in london in the past 2 years. but it's the best one so far, and have been thoroughly enjoying it for the past 7 weeks!

so after a tour in the East (the infamous E17), the West (W14, barons court was not all that bad), the North West (golders green), i am now a resident south of the river, in clapham junction. i love it so far. the combination of northcote road with wandsworth common and me being in the middle of that, is great!

i also just realised why i am getting so restless these days. it's because i have crossed a threshold of staying in the same city (london) and the same job (!) for two years in a row (completed june 13th for london and june 19th for the job) for the first time since...??? i think the last time i stayed in the same place for 2 years in a row was 2000-2002 in athens and have been pretty much a nomad ever since. if i manage to stay in the same flat for 2 years in a row that must really mean i'm growing up then!

the last thought was really not needed, since i'm turning 30 in just 10 days!

robin hood modern version - made in greece

i was wondering when something like this would happen in greece. apparently prices have been going up for years, and salaries not following. so a lot of people nowadays struggle. i was wondering when there's gonna be a protest about. and here it is. a few people waring hoods have started looting supermarkets in athens, subsequently just handing out the products for free to passers by outside. not bad for a start.

the news in greek:

http://www.cosmo.gr/News/Hellas/202249.html

no surprises

a heart that's full up like a landfill
a job that slowly kills you
bruises that won't heal
you look so tired-unhappy
bring down the government
they don't, they don't speak for us
i'll take a quiet life
a handshake of carbon monoxide

with no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
silent silent

this is my final fit
my final bellyache

with no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises please

such a pretty house
and such a pretty garden.

no alarms and no surprises (get me outta here)
no alarms and no surprises (get me outta here)
no alarms and no surprises, please

a few good concerts

yep, it's been a while since i last was on a live concert, and i have to say i had two in the same week!

radiohead, at victoria park on the 25th of june, and bon jovi at twickenham on the 27th. they were both awesome. seen radiohead before in thessaloniki, some 8 years ago, and they were also amazing. this time they skipped a couple of my favourites (street spirit, fake plastic trees), but they put on a great show for the fans. highlights: my iron lung, no surprises, a couple of the new songs in the beginning, karma police (when they let the crowd keep singing at the end "for a minute there, i lost myself, i lost myself...!") and finishing with the ever atmospheric paranoid android was all great! 40,000 people enjoyed a unique experience.



bon jovi is the only concert i have ever been to that there were only 2 songs i didn't know the lyrics to (and i've been to a few). it was a great show, in american band fashion the crowd was completely involved in the whole thing, singing and dancing for 2 and a half hours. it seems like i've grown up with their songs, and so did the rest of the people there, so the connection was instant. can't even begin to list their songs, i would need two pages. but name anyone of their greatest hits, and they sang it!








in the meantime, i got the news that my best childhood friend - kostas - and his band in italy - 81db - are opening the deep purple concert in torino on july 13th! another great gig to follow then! worth visiting their website and listening to their music! all the best!

το δίμηνο που πέρασε...

λοιπόν, μιας που εξαφανίστηκα, να δώσω τα νέα σε τίτλους, για το τι συνέβη το τελευταίο δίμηνο
- πήγα ελλάδα προς τα τέλη μαϊου για τη βάφτιση της ανιψιάς μου, και πέρασα ωραία, οικογενειακά και με φίλους εννοείται. μόνο ένα 3ήμερο
- είμαι και πάλι ένας σινγκλ
- ΜΕΤΑΚΟΜΙΣΑ (γουάτς νιού?). το 4ο σπίτι μου στο λονδίνο σε 2 χρόνια, αλλά το καλύτερο προς το παρόν. να έρθετε να επισκεφτείτε, οτσέι?
- Α! έκλεισα 2 χρόνια στο λονδίνο και στη δουλειά εδώ. και νομίζω είναι το περισσότερο που έχω μείνει συνεχόμενα στην ίδια δουλειά ή πόλη από το 1997 ! ! ! μισός χρόνος ακόμη και σπάει το ρεκόρ για τα καλά. ρε λες να φύγω?
- είδα 2 πολύ καλές συναυλίες (ακολουθεί πόστινγκ) τους radiohead (για δεύτερη φορά) και τους bon jovi
- παρακολούθησα ολόκληρο το euro, από αρχής μέχρι τέλους, χωρίς τις υπερβολές της ελληνικής τηλεόρασης, την οποία και δεν έχω στο κεφάλι μου. απλά απογοητεύτηκα από την ελλάδα κ ευχαριστήθηκα το τουρνουά
- πήγα μια βόλτα στις βρυξέλλες για ένα Σ/Κ, όπου και πέρασα τέλεια, με παλιούς φίλους
- ετοιμάζω τον εορτασμό της 30ής επετείου (30 χρόνια επιτυχίες!) στη μύκονο, στο τέλος του μήνα

αυτά. ελπίζω να σε δω σύντομα, ονλάιν ή οφλάιν. για στείλε κανένα ημέιλ!

your favourite office chat

come on now, we've all heard that, and none of us loves it. but you can't avoid it. a few months in a corporate environment and you start talking like that. when i catch myself doing this, i laugh at myself though. here are a few favourites, from an online article on the topic:

1. "When I worked for Verizon, I found the phrase going forward to be more sinister than annoying. When used by my boss - sorry, "team leader" - it was understood to mean that the topic of conversation was at an end and not be discussed again."

2. "My employers (top half of FTSE 100) recently informed staff that we are no longer allowed to use the phrase brain storm because it might have negative connotations associated with fits. We must now take idea showers. I think that says it all really."

3. At my old company (a US multinational), anyone involved with a particular product was encouraged to be a product evangelist. And software users these days, so we hear, want to be platform atheists so that their computers will run programs from any manufacturer."

4. "Incentivise is the one that does it for me."

5. "My favourite which I hear from the managers at the bank I work for is let's touch base about that offline. I think it means have a private chat but I am still not sure."

6. "Have you ever heard the term loop back which means go back to an associate and deal with them?"

read the rest of them and the full article here

nowhere to hide

"Damage to forests, rivers, marine life and other aspects of nature could halve living standards for the world's poor, a major report has concluded."

it seems like it's more than an ecologic disaster being caused by deforestation around the globe.

read the article here

online banking fraud alert

if you thought that you can just report it to your bank when your card has been stolen, and everything will be restored as it was before, you might have it a bit wrong there.

an article on times online suggests differently. due to recent changes in the banking code, you should also do your part in ensuring you're not allowing people to have access your credit card details, and therefore to avoid becoming an online fraud victim.

how?

The minimum requirements
1. Firewall
2. Antivirus software
3. Antispyware

read the full article here, it's probably in your interest!