In stark contrast to the strong chorus example comes, from the same artist though several years later, a surprisingly weak (but catchy) one. The conclusion is obvious: People might have to change in order to remain relevant.
Tonight you may date all the sluts in the world.
Go on, go strong, for new romances.
Go ahead and find proper girls, to make mama happy.
At the stake... at the stake... burn with the dull ones.
Wait for it, or seek it at 0:45, 1:35 or 2:20.
Anna Vissi - Stin Pira
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
The case of a strong chorus
I wanted to tell you so much, yell at you that I love you.
If only I could change a life in an instant.
I wrote "I love you" on the window,
and when I saw you shed a tear, I cried a river.
Cause, my heart, you were late...
Wait for it, or seek it at 1:54 or 3:48
Anna Vissi - Treno
If only I could change a life in an instant.
I wrote "I love you" on the window,
and when I saw you shed a tear, I cried a river.
Cause, my heart, you were late...
Wait for it, or seek it at 1:54 or 3:48
Anna Vissi - Treno
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Full Circle
Flashback: Fall of 2004 (5 years ago).
A bunch of friends from UW and I are doing an internship in Mountain View, California. We take the opportunity to visit nearby Stanford whose campus we had heard great words for. The campus was indeed beautiful. Part of our sightseeing included the campus's cactus garden. One cactus was particularly interesting: It curiously grew sideways, almost crawling throughout its life, until it found an obstacle, a rock, and only then did it become a normal standing cactus (the tallest one, too).
Fast Forward: Fall of 2008 (less than a year ago)
I am now a student at Stanford and some friends are visiting California. I take them to the cactus garden and we accidentally stumble upon the curious cactus. It seems the cactus has fallen and looks almost dead. Perhaps the rock was not a big enough obstacle to sustain its growth. Perhaps it was just too old and it was time for it to and provide "space for growth" for the normal cacti which have now grown quite tall.
It could be a sad story to some, but to me it looks more like a celebration of life in its full form: Good and Bad.
A bunch of friends from UW and I are doing an internship in Mountain View, California. We take the opportunity to visit nearby Stanford whose campus we had heard great words for. The campus was indeed beautiful. Part of our sightseeing included the campus's cactus garden. One cactus was particularly interesting: It curiously grew sideways, almost crawling throughout its life, until it found an obstacle, a rock, and only then did it become a normal standing cactus (the tallest one, too).
Fast Forward: Fall of 2008 (less than a year ago)I am now a student at Stanford and some friends are visiting California. I take them to the cactus garden and we accidentally stumble upon the curious cactus. It seems the cactus has fallen and looks almost dead. Perhaps the rock was not a big enough obstacle to sustain its growth. Perhaps it was just too old and it was time for it to and provide "space for growth" for the normal cacti which have now grown quite tall.
It could be a sad story to some, but to me it looks more like a celebration of life in its full form: Good and Bad.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Second in The World
Sotiris and I took part in a beach volleyball tournament at the end of last May (2008). The tournament took place in a complex called "Mediterranean Κόσμος" which translates to "Mediterranean World" but its common name, the one everyone refers to it as, is simply "The World".
The tournament lasted two days, had 16 teams and was played in a double-elimination setting. On Saturday we won our first game by default and lost the second one. Our performance was quite bad. Sunday was a very different story: The stakes were high as we had to win all games in order to get to the final. And so we did. But the highlight was the final itself...
We played against two very good players, Akritidis and Naziris, both of whom have consistently won medals in Greece's North Cup in the past. One of them however had not trained during the year, due to army obligations. Both Sotiris and I put forward our best selves and probably played the best beach volleyball of our lives against the excellent opponents. The first set was very tight for its entire duration and ended with a slim 2 point difference in their favor although we were leading the score for most of the game. We lost the second set with a higher difference (close to 5 points) which was indeed quite expected both due to the quality of opponents but also because the body was weak, even though the spirit was willing (we had already played 9 sets before that). And just like that, we became second in the world!
Le me elaborate on the pun:
Greek, being a highly inflected language and quite strict with its syntax, would not allow us to play with words like that and mislead the public on our achievement. In Greek, we are forced to say "Δεύτεροι στο Κόσμος" [Deuteroi sto Kosmos] as opposed to "Δέυτεροι στον κόσμο" [Deuteroi ston kosmo] but in this case I choose English and say, with great pride, "Second in the world".
Here we are, Sotiris and I, second in the world...
The tournament lasted two days, had 16 teams and was played in a double-elimination setting. On Saturday we won our first game by default and lost the second one. Our performance was quite bad. Sunday was a very different story: The stakes were high as we had to win all games in order to get to the final. And so we did. But the highlight was the final itself...
We played against two very good players, Akritidis and Naziris, both of whom have consistently won medals in Greece's North Cup in the past. One of them however had not trained during the year, due to army obligations. Both Sotiris and I put forward our best selves and probably played the best beach volleyball of our lives against the excellent opponents. The first set was very tight for its entire duration and ended with a slim 2 point difference in their favor although we were leading the score for most of the game. We lost the second set with a higher difference (close to 5 points) which was indeed quite expected both due to the quality of opponents but also because the body was weak, even though the spirit was willing (we had already played 9 sets before that). And just like that, we became second in the world!
Le me elaborate on the pun:
Greek, being a highly inflected language and quite strict with its syntax, would not allow us to play with words like that and mislead the public on our achievement. In Greek, we are forced to say "Δεύτεροι στο Κόσμος" [Deuteroi sto Kosmos] as opposed to "Δέυτεροι στον κόσμο" [Deuteroi ston kosmo] but in this case I choose English and say, with great pride, "Second in the world".
Here we are, Sotiris and I, second in the world...
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Paris Reloaded (aka 2008)
Yet another G-Unit reunion took place in Paris on May.
Our mission was simple: Get 5th place in the volleyball tournament, a long-standing hope ever since last year's trip. We failed...
What we didn't win in the tournament's placement though, we won in fun, new friends and hope that we will keep on improving and that in 3 year's time we'll get first place: See, we got 6th this year and we want to believe in math, patterns and their inevitable consequences.
Karim, that means you need to practice thrice per week, every week of the year, and not just one.
:p
In retrospect I do think we all played well, but the truth of the matter is placement is not important as long as we have fun galore. And that we did.
Following the long standing Inside-Joke-Quotes Paris tradition I present some below:
Gus, god bless his innocent friendliness. Upon arriving to Paris a day early, he sees an Italian volleyball team that he recognizes from last year. He approaches to say hi. The Italians have no clue who he is. He lifts his shades. Still nothing. He smiles, shrugs, and walks away - ego bruised. This becomes the weekend's best joke.
Our mission was simple: Get 5th place in the volleyball tournament, a long-standing hope ever since last year's trip. We failed...
What we didn't win in the tournament's placement though, we won in fun, new friends and hope that we will keep on improving and that in 3 year's time we'll get first place: See, we got 6th this year and we want to believe in math, patterns and their inevitable consequences.
Karim, that means you need to practice thrice per week, every week of the year, and not just one.
:p
In retrospect I do think we all played well, but the truth of the matter is placement is not important as long as we have fun galore. And that we did.
Following the long standing Inside-Joke-Quotes Paris tradition I present some below:- Annoying Conversation in the Train-Tram-Metro, you name it.
- And then she was like... blah blah blah
- And I was like...
- And then she was like so whatever...
- Like... like...
- We'll do this the engineering way: Proof by Example.
- I think we should have blocked that guy's line.
- Yeah? You think? Give me an Example...
- Karim's funny bitchy moments.
- Eddie: Sorry guys, my fault...
- Karim: We know...
- All: [delirious laughs]
- ... time passes, several plays take place ...
- Gus: Nice dig Karim!
- Karim: I know...
- All: [delirious laughs]
- Enough said.
- Bonjour...
- I'll bon your jour!
- Koutchi, Koutchi...
- Koutchi, Koutchi, kou...
- In face of you, the palece of ...
- French 101.
- Allo, qui est a l' apareill?
- C'est moi Filippe, et toi?
- C'est moi Corrine.
- Comment ca va?
- Ca va bien et toi?
- Tres bien.
Gus, god bless his innocent friendliness. Upon arriving to Paris a day early, he sees an Italian volleyball team that he recognizes from last year. He approaches to say hi. The Italians have no clue who he is. He lifts his shades. Still nothing. He smiles, shrugs, and walks away - ego bruised. This becomes the weekend's best joke.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
A true believer
G-Unit rules!
They put the 'team' in volleyball's 'team sport' qualification.
Playing with them reminds me what Volleyball is all about. Although they haven't coined the term "let's just help each other" they are the embodiment of its meaning.
We had two excellent tournaments in Canada and managed to get 3rd out of 36 in the first and 2nd out of 21 in the second. During the tourneys I was once again reminded that team play is all that really matters, and ever since I am a true believer!
Here I present to you, G-Unit, around the time when I first met them.
And since this blog is becoming ever more media inclined, what better thing to do than to share a song capable of conveying some of the feelings G-Unit induces.
Dragonette - True Believer
They put the 'team' in volleyball's 'team sport' qualification.
Playing with them reminds me what Volleyball is all about. Although they haven't coined the term "let's just help each other" they are the embodiment of its meaning.
We had two excellent tournaments in Canada and managed to get 3rd out of 36 in the first and 2nd out of 21 in the second. During the tourneys I was once again reminded that team play is all that really matters, and ever since I am a true believer!
Here I present to you, G-Unit, around the time when I first met them.
And since this blog is becoming ever more media inclined, what better thing to do than to share a song capable of conveying some of the feelings G-Unit induces.
Dragonette - True Believer
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
On GASS Conventions
It's been occupying everyone's mind lately, that much is obvious. Fans across the world have been anticipating this convention for a while now. I am of course referring to the latest GASS convention which, with only its third occurrence, has swept the world by surprise and has everyone asking for more. In this post I shall try, to give to you the history and significance of this recurring event.
The GASS conventions were established as a means for four University of Waterloo (UW) alumni to meet annually. Gus, Albert, Steve and Sinan all completed their studies at UW (three Computer Scientists and one Actuary) and subsequently parted ways to split all over the globe. Two remained in Toronto, ON while the other two headed to two different parts of the US. It wasn't until the first GASS convention that the four of them met again.
The first GASS convention took place in Montreal, QC in the Summer of 2006. Its importance was immediately apparent and a pact to guarantee its recurrence was established.
The second GASS convention took place in Niagara Falls, ON in the Spring of 2007. One of the four founding members (Gus) was quite far away at the time (Greece) and consequently was unable to attend. Petitions raged on whether there should be a renaming of the convention but, as any astute reader can notice, the proposal would have raised many eyebrows and was quickly dropped. The name would remain the same with the prospect of the missing member return at a future convention.
The third GASS convention took place in Washington, DC in the Spring of 2008. All members were once again present and able to witness the cherry trees, a gift from Japan to the US, blossom.
The archives and proceedings of the convention are not easy to be found. But after thorough scrutiny of the press I was able to unearth a picture from their latest convention, which I am posting here to prevent it from getting lost forever.
The GASS conventions were established as a means for four University of Waterloo (UW) alumni to meet annually. Gus, Albert, Steve and Sinan all completed their studies at UW (three Computer Scientists and one Actuary) and subsequently parted ways to split all over the globe. Two remained in Toronto, ON while the other two headed to two different parts of the US. It wasn't until the first GASS convention that the four of them met again.
The first GASS convention took place in Montreal, QC in the Summer of 2006. Its importance was immediately apparent and a pact to guarantee its recurrence was established.
The second GASS convention took place in Niagara Falls, ON in the Spring of 2007. One of the four founding members (Gus) was quite far away at the time (Greece) and consequently was unable to attend. Petitions raged on whether there should be a renaming of the convention but, as any astute reader can notice, the proposal would have raised many eyebrows and was quickly dropped. The name would remain the same with the prospect of the missing member return at a future convention.
The third GASS convention took place in Washington, DC in the Spring of 2008. All members were once again present and able to witness the cherry trees, a gift from Japan to the US, blossom.
The archives and proceedings of the convention are not easy to be found. But after thorough scrutiny of the press I was able to unearth a picture from their latest convention, which I am posting here to prevent it from getting lost forever.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
It does conspire, but humorously so
"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."
- Paulo Coelho
I had heard the above mentioned quote in the past and even then thought it sounded really good. Very optimistic and positive. I will now tell you a story that reinforces Paulo's belief, but with a twist. The story goes like so:
Once upon a time there was a volleyball player named Gus. Like most volleyball players he trained regularly and occasionally watched professional games. During one of the professional games, when PAOK wasn't doing too well, Gus heard one of the players say 'Come on guys, let's just help each other'. The words felt profound. You would expect everyone in a team sport to 'just help each other' but there are times when it doesn't happen. Gus felt inspired by the player's words and thought he ought to get a picture or autograph.
Weeks passed and due to work or other commitments Gus couldn't go to watch PAOK. Things changed though, a couple of days ago. Gus went to PAOK's arena and hoped that by the end of the game, he would find a way to enter the main Gym and ask for a picture. To his great surprise, Grigoris, his team's physiotherapist was in the main Gym. Grigoris used to work for another team, ARIS, but had switched teams a couple of weeks back. Gus and Grigoris spoke and everything was arranged: Gus would go in the gym at the end of the game and get his picture. The game hadn't started yet and Gus saw a lady that he had seen in the past. The lady spoke English and French and seemed to know the players. Gus thought: awesome, the lady might actually help in the pic. So they talked and she offered to help with the picture. Awesome!
The game that followed was a very good one. PAOK ended up winning 3-1 while offering a great show. At the end of the game the girl started talking to the Canadian players and nodded to Gus, who went there. The girl took the picture, Gus thanked her and the players and left thinking how lucky he was that the universe had conspired to help him achieve his goal.
Gus then went down town to meet up with Harris. He found parking space very easily and thought 'Wow, things are only getting better today'. He parks and is about to leave the car when he realizes his wallet is missing. He searches the car, but nothing. The wallet was gone... nowhere to be found. The universe's services are kind of expensive he thought as it did conspire but at a cost.
Harris arrived at the parking lot and after searching some more, both of them decided it was a good idea to head back to the Gym and look there. So they went, arrived at the Gym's parking lot and started searching. Nothing. They went in the Gym which was still open. The Gym's guard turned on some lights, Gus went to his seat and started searching under it. Nothing. He then searched behind it, and there it was! The full wallet with nothing missing! AmaZING!
It does conspire, but humorously so!
As for the picture, appearing from left to right:
Alex Gaumont Casias, Gus the Goose, Louis-Pierre Mainville
- Paulo Coelho
I had heard the above mentioned quote in the past and even then thought it sounded really good. Very optimistic and positive. I will now tell you a story that reinforces Paulo's belief, but with a twist. The story goes like so:
Once upon a time there was a volleyball player named Gus. Like most volleyball players he trained regularly and occasionally watched professional games. During one of the professional games, when PAOK wasn't doing too well, Gus heard one of the players say 'Come on guys, let's just help each other'. The words felt profound. You would expect everyone in a team sport to 'just help each other' but there are times when it doesn't happen. Gus felt inspired by the player's words and thought he ought to get a picture or autograph.
Weeks passed and due to work or other commitments Gus couldn't go to watch PAOK. Things changed though, a couple of days ago. Gus went to PAOK's arena and hoped that by the end of the game, he would find a way to enter the main Gym and ask for a picture. To his great surprise, Grigoris, his team's physiotherapist was in the main Gym. Grigoris used to work for another team, ARIS, but had switched teams a couple of weeks back. Gus and Grigoris spoke and everything was arranged: Gus would go in the gym at the end of the game and get his picture. The game hadn't started yet and Gus saw a lady that he had seen in the past. The lady spoke English and French and seemed to know the players. Gus thought: awesome, the lady might actually help in the pic. So they talked and she offered to help with the picture. Awesome!
The game that followed was a very good one. PAOK ended up winning 3-1 while offering a great show. At the end of the game the girl started talking to the Canadian players and nodded to Gus, who went there. The girl took the picture, Gus thanked her and the players and left thinking how lucky he was that the universe had conspired to help him achieve his goal.
Gus then went down town to meet up with Harris. He found parking space very easily and thought 'Wow, things are only getting better today'. He parks and is about to leave the car when he realizes his wallet is missing. He searches the car, but nothing. The wallet was gone... nowhere to be found. The universe's services are kind of expensive he thought as it did conspire but at a cost.
Harris arrived at the parking lot and after searching some more, both of them decided it was a good idea to head back to the Gym and look there. So they went, arrived at the Gym's parking lot and started searching. Nothing. They went in the Gym which was still open. The Gym's guard turned on some lights, Gus went to his seat and started searching under it. Nothing. He then searched behind it, and there it was! The full wallet with nothing missing! AmaZING!
It does conspire, but humorously so!
As for the picture, appearing from left to right:
Alex Gaumont Casias, Gus the Goose, Louis-Pierre Mainville
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas... Beach Volleyball
Merry Christmas to all of us!
Most of us associate Christmas with snow and Winter while some of us associate it with sun and Summer. I associate it with snow. It did actually snow here but it was a few days ago and I didn't get the chance to take any pictures. Instead, I've had some time to digitize and upload 3 Beach Volleyball videos of this past summer.
Gus - Odisseas
Haris - Lefteris
Giannis - Odisseas
Most of us associate Christmas with snow and Winter while some of us associate it with sun and Summer. I associate it with snow. It did actually snow here but it was a few days ago and I didn't get the chance to take any pictures. Instead, I've had some time to digitize and upload 3 Beach Volleyball videos of this past summer.
Gus - Odisseas
Haris - Lefteris
Giannis - Odisseas
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
3500 Linuxes... or maybe Linii? Yes, Linii!
A nation-wide election took place in Greece this past Sunday (2007 November 11). Its purpose was to elect PASOK's new leader. For the politically inclined, details can be found here.
What's interesting from a technology perspective is that Linux (Xubuntu 7.10) was chosen as the OS for the computers used for the election.
Computron is proud for having prepared, distributed and having installed Linux on 3500 computers, of which 100 laptops, to facilitate the election process throughout Greece. More details here.
What's interesting from a technology perspective is that Linux (Xubuntu 7.10) was chosen as the OS for the computers used for the election.
Computron is proud for having prepared, distributed and having installed Linux on 3500 computers, of which 100 laptops, to facilitate the election process throughout Greece. More details here.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Victims of Peace
In my pre-blog era I had read a book ('Victims of Peace' by Vassilis Vassilikos) and wrote an admittedly tiny review of it that was then emailed to several friends. Recently seeing the book on the shelve reminded me of the review and thought it fits well in this blog especially under recent circumstances of non-updatedness.
In a blatant attempt at Self-Plagiarism:
I've read a (greek) book whose title loosely translates into "Victims of Peace".
Overall it's pretty good. Me loves the writing style. Kind of cryptic. It's one of those almost self-referencing things (see "This statement is false") but in a completely story-telling novel way. Doesn't make sense? Sorry, can't express it...
Maybe this will help: In the story, one of the characters is an author who writes the book "Victims of Peace" about his friends. Half the book is mainly an introduction of the characters and the other half puts them together with a common goal. So the question is, which book was i talking about??? The real or the book in the plot. Both.... Along the same lines there's more stuff, on how the book is written: The author of the "real" book dictates the fate of the heroes (cause he writes it). But at the same time, the heroes in the book talk about how the hero author dictates their lives with his book story... weird... but fun.
Also, it so happens that the hero author's girlfriend is named Eirini which means "Peace". Was he a victim of his Love? Is that why he chose the title. no. doesn't seem so. but still a twist. funny.
Overall a good read.
In a blatant attempt at Self-Plagiarism:
I've read a (greek) book whose title loosely translates into "Victims of Peace".
Overall it's pretty good. Me loves the writing style. Kind of cryptic. It's one of those almost self-referencing things (see "This statement is false") but in a completely story-telling novel way. Doesn't make sense? Sorry, can't express it...
Maybe this will help: In the story, one of the characters is an author who writes the book "Victims of Peace" about his friends. Half the book is mainly an introduction of the characters and the other half puts them together with a common goal. So the question is, which book was i talking about??? The real or the book in the plot. Both.... Along the same lines there's more stuff, on how the book is written: The author of the "real" book dictates the fate of the heroes (cause he writes it). But at the same time, the heroes in the book talk about how the hero author dictates their lives with his book story... weird... but fun.
Also, it so happens that the hero author's girlfriend is named Eirini which means "Peace". Was he a victim of his Love? Is that why he chose the title. no. doesn't seem so. but still a twist. funny.
Overall a good read.
Friday, September 21, 2007
All about us
The TATU girls have done it again. It so happens that their songs are extremely catchy: They will get stuck in your head and just stay there, refusing to go away until you are completely fed up with them.
You doubt me??? Wrong move...
All the things she said
Not gonna get us
There... now have them stay in your head for a while!
I recently heard a relatively new song of theirs, All about us.
I can now claim, with a fair amount of confidence, to know why their songs are so catchy. I've found exactly what they have in common. Being the cryptic that some of you want me to be, I won't give the answer right out. I will instead let you watch a clip of the new song and then give out some more clues.
The song:
The clues:
([:phrase:][:phrase:]+)+
You doubt me??? Wrong move...
All the things she said
Not gonna get us
There... now have them stay in your head for a while!
I recently heard a relatively new song of theirs, All about us.
I can now claim, with a fair amount of confidence, to know why their songs are so catchy. I've found exactly what they have in common. Being the cryptic that some of you want me to be, I won't give the answer right out. I will instead let you watch a clip of the new song and then give out some more clues.
The song:
The clues:
- All the things she said, all the things she said, running through my head, running through my head, running through my head...
- They are not gonna get us, they are not gonna get us, they are not gonna get us, not gonna get us, not gonna get us...
- It's all about us, it's all about us, it's all about us, it's all about us...
([:phrase:][:phrase:]+)+
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Go back and face your deepest fear
We have been naughty lately...
A couple of us are attempting to relieve the thrills of life, the kind one gets by experiencing intense emotions from the past. We opted to begin with fear.
The plan went like so:
We must do something that we used to do in the past. Something that "didn't kill us and so made us stronger." We will visit a deserted house, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, at 3 am. We will explore the place, ignoring the presence of wild, barking dogs. We won't hesitate to go inside the house, even if it's dark and creepy. We will avoid using flashlights. We will be prepared for anything, even though we most probably should be prepared for 'nothing at all'.
And so it was... Mission accomplished! Is there a next, and if so what?
A couple of us are attempting to relieve the thrills of life, the kind one gets by experiencing intense emotions from the past. We opted to begin with fear.
The plan went like so:
We must do something that we used to do in the past. Something that "didn't kill us and so made us stronger." We will visit a deserted house, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, at 3 am. We will explore the place, ignoring the presence of wild, barking dogs. We won't hesitate to go inside the house, even if it's dark and creepy. We will avoid using flashlights. We will be prepared for anything, even though we most probably should be prepared for 'nothing at all'.
And so it was... Mission accomplished! Is there a next, and if so what?
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Mini-trip to England
I met up with a few ex-UWaterloo students in England a few days ago. Jennifer and Kevin actually work there. John flew over from Sweden and I from Greece.
We visited Stonehenge for 2 days and the remaining 2 we stayed in London.
Jennifer and Kevin were very good hosts, taking us to all must-see places and giving us very good historical information for each. We had our private guides to all museums. Kevin had tons of info on the Egyptian culture as well as the English dynasties. The stories were very entertaining.
London was rather expensive, but overall the trip was totally worth it!
Below Kevin is taking a picture of the rest of us.
We visited Stonehenge for 2 days and the remaining 2 we stayed in London.
Jennifer and Kevin were very good hosts, taking us to all must-see places and giving us very good historical information for each. We had our private guides to all museums. Kevin had tons of info on the Egyptian culture as well as the English dynasties. The stories were very entertaining.
London was rather expensive, but overall the trip was totally worth it!
Below Kevin is taking a picture of the rest of us.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Island Hopping 2007
Francis visited Greece this summer and we together embarked on an island hopping trip to several Greek isles. Our trip lasted close to 10 days and included stays on non-islands.
We first visited Possidi, a rather large camping in Halkidiki occupied mainly by University students. Thousands of them. Our main activities included swimming, sun-tanning, beach volleyball and some partying. Francis and I took part in a beach volleyball tournament, but actually lost in the first game. We had rather good opponents and didn't play our best either. The game was close but we both think we could have actually won... Me losing a serve near the end didn't help either, and would under other circumstances have invoked an at-least-a-troisième dumb bitch cheer.
Following our devastating defeat, we left for Athens via train. The plan was to take a ferry from there to Mykonos early in the morning, but luck would have other plans for us, as we lost the ferry. We had to wait till the afternoon to eventually arrive to the island. I liked the island and its windy weather. It was quite crowded, with Italians holding the majority in the population pie. We visited beaches, but overall our trip was not very eventful, perhaps cause we only stayed there for a day and a half.
Naxos was our next stop. A pleasant surprise awaited us: A beach volleyball court at the beach next to our hotel. A chance for redemption! We ceased the moment and immediately challenged any player in the vicinity. The challenge was a success. We effectively decimated every team willing to stand in our way. Go G-Unit Mini!
The second day in the island involved climbing a mountain to eventually reach the Cave of Zeus. The cave was rather large, dark and kind of scary, especially when the bats living there felled threatened by our presence and started making noises, presumably to scare us of.
Santorini was next. I will make the bold statement of saying that it is the most beautiful place I've seen in the world. The natural beauty coupled with breath-taking cliff views are simply phenomenal. I doubt any picture can actually convey the reality. Do visit this island if you ever have the chance!
Our stay in the island ended with some mad dancing. Go G-Unit Mini, once more!
Francis continued his trip to Crete and I returned to my hometown, Thessaloniki.
Overall a very enjoyable summer excursion!
We first visited Possidi, a rather large camping in Halkidiki occupied mainly by University students. Thousands of them. Our main activities included swimming, sun-tanning, beach volleyball and some partying. Francis and I took part in a beach volleyball tournament, but actually lost in the first game. We had rather good opponents and didn't play our best either. The game was close but we both think we could have actually won... Me losing a serve near the end didn't help either, and would under other circumstances have invoked an at-least-a-troisième dumb bitch cheer.
Following our devastating defeat, we left for Athens via train. The plan was to take a ferry from there to Mykonos early in the morning, but luck would have other plans for us, as we lost the ferry. We had to wait till the afternoon to eventually arrive to the island. I liked the island and its windy weather. It was quite crowded, with Italians holding the majority in the population pie. We visited beaches, but overall our trip was not very eventful, perhaps cause we only stayed there for a day and a half.
Naxos was our next stop. A pleasant surprise awaited us: A beach volleyball court at the beach next to our hotel. A chance for redemption! We ceased the moment and immediately challenged any player in the vicinity. The challenge was a success. We effectively decimated every team willing to stand in our way. Go G-Unit Mini!
The second day in the island involved climbing a mountain to eventually reach the Cave of Zeus. The cave was rather large, dark and kind of scary, especially when the bats living there felled threatened by our presence and started making noises, presumably to scare us of.
Santorini was next. I will make the bold statement of saying that it is the most beautiful place I've seen in the world. The natural beauty coupled with breath-taking cliff views are simply phenomenal. I doubt any picture can actually convey the reality. Do visit this island if you ever have the chance!
Our stay in the island ended with some mad dancing. Go G-Unit Mini, once more!
Francis continued his trip to Crete and I returned to my hometown, Thessaloniki.
Overall a very enjoyable summer excursion!
Monday, June 25, 2007
That summer song
Here's the tune that will be considered my summer song this year.
As most good things in life, it's a mix. Kind of rock, kind of pop, kind of its own genre.
Prove me wrong, listen to it and judge.
The song is in Greek, but here's the translated chorus.
Hide, lest I find you and love you
lest I touch the things you feel
lest I bend your confidence
and erase the things we've lived
I'll erase them
Ράλλια Χριστίδου - Κρύψου (Rallia Hristidou - Hide)
As most good things in life, it's a mix. Kind of rock, kind of pop, kind of its own genre.
Prove me wrong, listen to it and judge.
The song is in Greek, but here's the translated chorus.
Hide, lest I find you and love you
lest I touch the things you feel
lest I bend your confidence
and erase the things we've lived
I'll erase them
Ράλλια Χριστίδου - Κρύψου (Rallia Hristidou - Hide)
Saturday, June 02, 2007
On Farewell
We are social creatures. We most of the time enjoy the company of others, and when not enjoying others' company we still remain social, in engaging with ourselves.
I understand the argument is kind of circular and as such the phrase a tautology, but I believe it to be true based on my experience, so to me it's closer to an axiom.
So what happens when we are forced to walk against our nature? It's time for a farewell.
It could be to a family member, a dear friend, a favorite team, an unrequited love or even crush, a person we exchanged lots of smiles in a small amount of time, a perfect stranger at the airport with whom we shared one too many gazes, or ourselves when it's time to leave our-world. The farewell is almost always bitter-sweet, and sometimes addictive.
The recent trip to Paris lent itself to most kinds of farewell to me.
In my search for a video clip able to convey the complicated parting emotions, I settled with an amalgamation of scenes from Jean Grey's Phoenix Saga (X-Men Animated Series). In the video, one can find two spoken farewells, as well as an implied one, which I will leave as an exercise to the astute viewer to discover. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then the following video should be worth close to 12,905,000 words.
Farewell!
Parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell. [Emily Dickinson]
I understand the argument is kind of circular and as such the phrase a tautology, but I believe it to be true based on my experience, so to me it's closer to an axiom.
So what happens when we are forced to walk against our nature? It's time for a farewell.
It could be to a family member, a dear friend, a favorite team, an unrequited love or even crush, a person we exchanged lots of smiles in a small amount of time, a perfect stranger at the airport with whom we shared one too many gazes, or ourselves when it's time to leave our-world. The farewell is almost always bitter-sweet, and sometimes addictive.
The recent trip to Paris lent itself to most kinds of farewell to me.
In my search for a video clip able to convey the complicated parting emotions, I settled with an amalgamation of scenes from Jean Grey's Phoenix Saga (X-Men Animated Series). In the video, one can find two spoken farewells, as well as an implied one, which I will leave as an exercise to the astute viewer to discover. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then the following video should be worth close to 12,905,000 words.
Farewell!
Parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell. [Emily Dickinson]
Friday, June 01, 2007
Paris, the highlights
For this once, I am not referring to miss Hilton's hair.
Instead, I'm referring to the Paris vacation which is now nearing its completion....
Our team managed to finish 8th out of 10 in the tournament's A league.
We could have done better, but our performance on Saturday was way below what it should have been. Sunday however, was a different story! A feisty G-Unit put forward a recital performance against the then 2nd team (who would eventually finish 4th), and we scored an important victory with two winning sets, 20-13 and 20-09. You can see the happiness reflected in our faces below.
The New Inside-Joke quotes
The Cheers
The Classics
Instead, I'm referring to the Paris vacation which is now nearing its completion....
Our team managed to finish 8th out of 10 in the tournament's A league.
We could have done better, but our performance on Saturday was way below what it should have been. Sunday however, was a different story! A feisty G-Unit put forward a recital performance against the then 2nd team (who would eventually finish 4th), and we scored an important victory with two winning sets, 20-13 and 20-09. You can see the happiness reflected in our faces below.
The New Inside-Joke quotes
- Oh come on, people are dying back here!
- Just buy shorter shorts...
- - Dan, Dan, Dan, Danny, Danny, Daniel, Daniel wake up! - Whaaaat?!?!?! - G-Unit needs you.
- That's not classy...
- Bravo!!! [frantic clapping ensues]
- When I was in Jamaica...
- Do you like Bob Marley?
- Pita Bread!!!
- Fifth... [delirious laughs ensue]
- Dear diary...
- We ought to talk!
- - Mercy! - Beacoup, Beacoup!
- Bagel. Oh god, I keep getting this picture in my head...
- What's a guy gotta do around here to get a gommage?
The Cheers
- Ace, Martina! M.A.R.T.I.N.A. ACE! Ooohh!
- Dumb bitch [clap, clap, clap], Dumb bitch [clap, clap, clap].
- - Au sigming! - Ping!
- Allons, energy!!! ooooOOOOOHHH
- Barbie, Jouie! Hi hi hi hi hi.
The Classics
- - Didn't your mama teach you how to show affection? - Well, she did, she tried, it didn't work...
- Talk, talk, talk... Just too much.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Spielberg, eat our dust!
I present to you a recently unearthed film by Goun Productions.
Short, unfinished, not properly edited and as such quite funny. Every director's dream!
Αόρατη Απειλή [Aorati Apili] (Invisible Threat)
Short, unfinished, not properly edited and as such quite funny. Every director's dream!
Αόρατη Απειλή [Aorati Apili] (Invisible Threat)
Friday, May 04, 2007
The Big Three
The videotape searching spree has been fairly fruitful.
Below I present the Big Three. I am most certainly not referring to C++'s law concerning the copy constructor, assignment operator and destructor. Instead, the Big Three represent three spoof video clips we created a couple of years ago. Without further ado...
Spoof 1: Oops I did it again [Britney Spears]
Spoof 2: Killing in the name of [Rage against the machine]
Spoof 3: Freedom [Rage against the machine]
Below I present the Big Three. I am most certainly not referring to C++'s law concerning the copy constructor, assignment operator and destructor. Instead, the Big Three represent three spoof video clips we created a couple of years ago. Without further ado...
Spoof 1: Oops I did it again [Britney Spears]
Spoof 2: Killing in the name of [Rage against the machine]
Spoof 3: Freedom [Rage against the machine]
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