Merry merry christmas everyone! I hope every single one of you has a wonderful Christmas... With your families, your boyfriends, your friends, your children, your pets, your neighbours or just yourself, I hope you have everything your heart desires... I hope the turkey's well-done the stuffing has 0 calories the tree is all green the lights are bright i hope there's snow and it's cold but not very cold just cold enough to give you this tingling holiday feeling you know the one I'm talking about!
and i hope you are all happy and healthy and all your loved ones are healthy and by your side and they love you as much as you love them
I hope you get wonderful presents from everybody and I hope everyone adores the presents you bought them
Just don't forget don't ever forget the biggest present you will receive this year is having your loved ones near (hey that rhymes! i rawk!) we often take this for granted when we should not
cherish every moment with them and i hope that there's moments like this for many many many many
So, it's about 10 minutes before 5 and I'm thinking about leaving work, cause my boss has left and, you know, the minute she left everyone left, and I was there, all alone, wondering why I stayed! So, I'm talking to Pano on MSN about this tshirt place debs showed me, and we've picked out the tshirts we like, and I'm emptying my water bottle and everything and seriously thinking about leaving. Suddenly, there's loud noises coming from... well, I don't know at the time where they're coming from, and we start to wonder what they are. This guy says "it's probably the neighbors having really loud sex" and we laugh, but it's really not normal for us to hear such loud bangings, cause we have pseudo-ceilings, which means no contact with the upstairs neighbors... Plus we have our own entrance, seperate from the building we are housed in, so we don't have access to the usual noises of a building. Then someone says: "you guys think there's someone down there breaking our cars?". The very second he finishes his sentence, we hear people shouting slogans from downstairs, and it becomes clear that the noises we hear are of people breaking our ground floor down. I have never been more thankful for our lame-ass elevator, which makes it almost impossible for people to come upstairs quickly.
About 50 people - I'd say "kids", with the danger of sounding really old, cause they were about 20 years old, give or take a year or two - barged into the newspaper I work at, completely broke down the entrance, upturned all the desks, terrorized the girl working at the entrance, broke all of our windows, then went to the radio that's working at our basement - which is easily accessed from the ground floor, it's just one door - broke everything, all the computers and the studios, then they wrote on the walls, called us names, threw some trashcans on the street and left. Oh, upon leaving, they threw some kind of gas thing in the elevator, so when it came upstairs and we opened the door, some kind of smoke filled the room, but it was nothing.
Not much has happened today... Sure there was a huge general strike, and sure there were demonstrations and riots again... but everything was much more quiet than it has been these past few days...
I read what the foreign press has to say about what's happening here, and i'm afraid it's all a bit exaggerated. That's not to say that things are not out of hand, or that there's no riots, or that things are quiet... But we are not in the brink of a civil war, we are not face to face with desperation, we are not "brave rebels who don't take oppression and rise up to anyone who takes away our freedom" (I read that somewhere, yes i did)
Ok, maybe we are to some extend. And, yes, maybe we do have a smaller tolerance level than others. I do not know, honestly. And, yes, the people who demonstrated peacefully - and there were such, and their (our) demonstrations were beautiful and creative and hurtfully intense and to the point - were outraged by the unfair killing of a young man. A killing that was the result of many things that go wrong with this country: a justice system that is corrupt and punctured. A special police force that accepts people with "special exams", meaning that anyone who knows someone can enter and carry a gun. Policemen who are given weapons without psychological evaluations and wave them around like kompolois. Policemen who are provenly "Rambos" but still allowed to carry a gun, in the most neuralgic part of a large city. Policemen who act like mafia, selling "protection" to clubs and bars, selling drugs and trafficking women and children. Politicians who live inside their own world, far from the prefectures that vote for them, granting favors to voters a year and a half before the elections, to ensure their favor and their vote. Politicians afraid to lead the people, afraid to take a stance and make unpopular but necessary decisions, for the good of this country and the people. People who believe that everything is owed to them and whatever they don't have, has been stolen from then and should be taken back: by violence or by cheating/ stealing. People who don't respect one's right to be different ("you are aderfi/queer/anarchist/communist) People who believe themselves to be leftists, and anarchists, and strive to enforce their opinions on everyone, by causing trouble, breaking and burning, attacking to kill and disrespecting other people's lives, in the most fascist way.
I can think of only a few things that could be sadder than the murder of a 15-year-old boy, by the very person that was supposed to protect him and for nothing more and nothing less than bullyism. "I'll show you", the policeman said, and took away a life that could have so much to give. One of the sadder things I can think of is the exploitation of this tragic event by people, in order to push their own, personal, political, ideological agenda forward. Or in order to just "go out there and burn the country down, because I am mad/sad/angry/boohoohoo". Or in order to loot stores, because i need a phone/new sunglasses/a gift for my girlfriend. If you are wondering, yes, this happened.
If Alexis Grigoropoulos is watching, I am sure he will be proud of his schoolmates, his friends, and the vast majority of teenage children, who took to the streets and defended his name in the face of police brutality. He will be proud of the theatrical manifestations of support he got, with children giving roses to the policemen, asking them to let them live and protect them in peace and love, with teenagers laying half-naked on the stairs of police stations, showing the police that their lives and body's are in the hands and protection of the police, but their souls are their own. He will be proud of all the teams, who hung black cloths at the european games to express mourning, and he will be prould of his favorite team, Panathinaikos, that made it to the Top 16 in the Champions League, because, in Greece, we love sports.
But he won't be proud that so many "little" peoples fortunes and businesses were destroyed and burned to the ground, in his name.
And I am not proud that all this happened. I believe it's my fault too, though. When shit hit the fan, I choked. I got afraid and didn't go out. I set one foot at a demonstration, and not both feet. I locked myself up in my house and chose to let these people burn up my city, break and burn the main street, where I would do my christmas shoping (which I will now probably do online). I receded and allowed them to take over the city, when I should be out there, protecting what's mine, demonstrating peacefully and standing by what I believe in.
This too shall pass. I hope those who say that we are ahead of a new junta, or a revolution, are not right. I wouldn't say no to a class revolt, in fact I would probably be one of the first out in the streets. But not the way it is expressed right now. Not by people who do not respect other people's personalities.
OK, be nice with me, I'm no photographer... plus these photos were taken while I was driving, so i couldn't zoom (can't zoom anyway, iphone won't let me!!) or center it right!
This is the traffic just out of the center, about 500 meters from the main street (Tsimiski)... It took me about 20 minutes to do that distance
This is a bee that sat on my mirror... Nothing to do with the riots, but I thought it was cute
The rioters took over the offices of the Lawyers' Union... It is common in Thessaloniki, and Athens, to do so... Entering Tsimiski street, there was no significant damage, and I thought "what the hell were they talking about? Things are OK!"... Then I drove a bit further and I saw it! Most stores were broken or burnt - I'll show you some - and the ones that were not, were closed, on a Tuesday morning, two weeks before X-mas
This is the first Zara store I drove across This is the second one
Marks & Spencer's didn't bother opening up today
Neither did this Alpha Bank branch
Tous bags... gone... *tears*
I took this photo yesterday, while walking to work... That is a Benetton store with its window broken... That black hole in the middle there, that is the same Benetton store... sorry, WAS the same Benetton store!
These are a few photos I snapped... Mind you, I didn't walk through Egnatia, where the fightings were held, but Tsimiski, which is a couple of streets to the south... At this moment, more fighting is held at the same places... I hope people start to think really soon... Think people... Think!! what the fuck!!
...and I'm sorry... but right now, Athens is burning up
They have set the christmas tree on fire, the whole center of the city is on fire, banks and stores are on fire, whole buildings are on fire, and just when we thought things can't get any worse, they set the ministry of internal affairs on fire There were no police or fire department vehicles on the spot
If the government can't protect their buildings, how will they protect the citizens??
We've lost control again
EDIT: There's people trapped in the Greek Telephone Company building, where there's looting and destroying. The people fear for their lives, they called the police and the TV channels, they're begging for help. Meanwhile, fire and violence has erupted in Kolonaki too, that's right in the center of the city, the most posh part of central Athens. The Polytechnic school in Athens is under siege.In Thessaloniki the center is burning up (and drowning, cause the fire dept. has filled the streets with water, trying to stop the fires), and we just watched a store being looted live on TV. Street fights, street fires, people running and screaming... at least I found Antigone, she was not out on the streets, thank god...
EDIT2: The people from the Telecom Company are now free, the police got in and got them out
EDIT3: Aristotelous Square in Thessaloniki, the absolute center of Thessaloniki, is on fire...
A fellow journalist, Nikos Papadogiannis, a big fan of Bruce Springsteen, brought this to my attention through his blog. Bruce Springsteen wrote this song about the killing of Amadou Diallo in New York by the police in 1999. Amadou Diallo was 23 years old, an immigrant in New York, looking for a better life. One night he came across four policemen in plain clothes. One thing led to another and he put his hand in his pocket. The four men fired at him, a total of 41 shots, killing him on the spot. As it turns out, Amadou was reaching for his wallet, since he had no weapon. Bruce Springsteen wrote this song and performed it live in 2000. The NYPD didn't take it lightly, they boycotted The Boss's concerts and albums, and so did many of his fans, who believed him to be anti-American, even a member of Al Qaeda... Amadou Diallo's only crime was being a citizen
Here are the lyrics
(41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) 41 shots, and we'll take that ride 'Cross this bloody river to the other side 41 shots, cut through the night You're kneeling over his body in the vestibule Praying for his life
Well, is it a gun, is it a knife Is it a wallet, this is your life It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) No secret my friend You can get killed just for living in your American skin
(41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots)
41 shots, Lena gets her son ready for school She says "On these streets, Charles You've got to understand the rules If an officer stops you, promise me you'll always be polite And that you'll never ever run away Promise Mama you'll keep your hands in sight"
Well, is it a gun, is it a knife Is it a wallet, this is your life It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) No secret my friend You can get killed just for living in your American skin
(41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots)
(41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots) (41 shots)
Is it a gun, is it a knife Is it in your heart, is it in your eyes It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
41 shots, and we'll take that ride 'Cross this bloody river to the other side 41 shots, got my boots caked in this mud We're baptized in these waters (baptized in these waters) And in each other's blood (and in each other's blood)
Is it a gun, is it a knife Is it a wallet, this is your life It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) No secret my friend You can get killed just for living in You can get killed just for living in You can get killed just for living in You can get killed just for living in You can get killed just for living in your American skin
(41 shots) You can get killed just for living in (41 shots) You can get killed just for living in (41 shots) You can get killed just for living in (41 shots) You can get killed just for living in (41 shots) You can get killed just for living in (41 shots) You can get killed just for living in (41 shots) You can get killed just for living in
How difficult is it to understand that by criticising what's wrong and hailing what's good is the only way to make a country, a society, better?
Jesus Christ... this is making me sicker and sicker
Some kids shot a video of the murder of the 15year-old kid -who had a name, by the way, his name was Alexis Grigoropoulos. The video is shot from a roof, you don't immediately get what's happening, but the two guys seen walking are the policemen. Keep in mind that they parked their police car away and returned to find the kid and "show him"
"I'll show you" the police"man" said and shot at him, twice. You can see how calm they both are after the killing
All day yesterday the country was on fire There were demonstrations all over the country that broke out in violence, cars and stores were burnt, people were injured and arrested... The Universities are closed today, in an effort to calm things down
About a thousand people went to the demonstration in Thessaloniki, which doesn't sound like much, but it is... Mainly because it's a volcano out there, waiting to erupt, and I know a lot more people wanted to join, but were afraid of the violence... We've seen violence break out during demonstrations in Greece, it happens every time and it targets everyone, people in the demonstration or out of it
There are fundamental problems in the greek society. There is an underlying rage that seems to want to break free every chance it gets. Cops shooting at kids, kids throwing stones at cops, that's normal. But kids stabbing other kids because of football or polo, grown men kicking women in the stomach because they hate Americans, what is happening today is not a first... It is boiling blood in a cauldron and it explodes regularly. I fear what is to come, but if what's coming means a change, then I'm curious to see what it will be
Last night - or rather, early this morning - I went to bed in a different world than I had woken up. Not much different, but still more than my conscience would allow me to let go without ever commenting about it on my blog.
Fifteen years ago a boy came into this world, much like any other person does. He was raised not to believe everything he is fed from the media, he was raised to raise his voice and speak out his opinion, he was raised to be different and not one of the mass. I didn't know this boy, much like most of Greece, until last night, when a policeman saw fit to shoot him down like I would never allow a human being to shoot down a dog, and killed him for reasons that are left to be cleared out.
The two policemen - notice, I'm not saying "the police", since the Athens police chose to distance themselves from these two "men" who acted out the way they did - claim that they had no choice. The two policemen said they were driving down Harilaou Trikoupi (a street in Athens) answering a call, when about 30 masked men attacked their police car throwing sticks and stones at them. They left their vehicle, and one threw a noise-bomb at them. The other shot twice in the air and once in the ground. Somehow, one of these bullets found its way to the boy's chest. He was killed on the spot. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your bullets will surely kill me.
I have a couple of problems with this theory, and I will write them here. a) I find it hard to believe that 30 15 to 20 year-old kids had nothing better to do on a saturday night that put their masks on. get their sticks and stones ready, meet up on Harilaou Trikoupi and wait there, in case a police car happens to pass, to attack it. b) I find it hard to believe that the boy either lay on the ground underneath the policeman's gun, or flew up in the air, so that the bullet would hit him straight in the chest. c) According to eye witnesses, the policemen drove by a dozen kids hanging out, drinking beers on the street. The kids yelled something at them, the policemen answered back, there was an exchanging of words, the kids threw their beer bottles at them, and one of the policemen fired right at them. Bullets for beer bottles. Policemen with shit in their heads.
Since last night there have been riots all over the country. Leftists, anarchists and troublemakers are now out of control, burning Athens down, destroying stores, banks, cars, everything they come across. And this time, who can blame them?
I don't understand how some people think. I don't understand where they come off thinking they are God's greatest gift to this world after babies and sliced bread. I don't understand how they believe they have the right to raise a weapon and shoot a bullet against a boy, a man, a girl, a woman, an old man, a dog, a cat, a butterfly. I don't understand how they think that other people have no right to an opinion, to a different way of expression, to a different lifestyle than their own. I don't understand how they can carry a weapon and not realize that they are supposed to use it to PROTECT that 15 year-old boy, not kill him. How they can clean that weapon in the morning and beg it NOT to shoot today. Beg it NEVER to be used. And not wake up and pray to God they have a chance to prove what "men" they are, by shoving bullets in a boy's heart. I don't understand how these people decide to become judge and jury of a whole generation and seize an opportunity to start a crackdown on a Saturday night and with no provocation. I don't understand how they believe that to take a life is the right response to any "crime" they believe was committed. Newsflash, "Mr. Judge": The death penalty has been abolished in Greece, but I guess you didn't take that class in Self Righteousness College, right?
In the "country that introduced democracy to the world" individuality should be hailed, not punished. In the "country that introduced democracy to the world" a 15 year-old kid should be allowed to be stupid, and make stupid mistakes, and pay for them the way he should pay for them, and not punished by death. In the "country that introduced democracy to the world" the people enforcing the law should be responsible and patient, not bullies and trigger-happy. In a country where not so long ago people gave away their lives to have this, so celebrated and sung for, Democracy restored, it is a downright disgrace that, this morning, I am watching people burn down stores and cars and all I can think of is "they are outraged, and today they have every right to be".
I am proud of our forefathers, for all they have accomplished and all they have done. But, the way things are going, I am afraid that my children and their children will not be able to say the same thing about us. In the "country that introduced democracy to the world" today I am ashamed
I came home early from work today I wasn't in a good mood I was thinking of how my life is slowly passing me by... how I feel I'm watching it go by, like looking at the landscape from the window of a moving train... how I wish things could change for the better on their own, without my having to do somet.... hold on!! what is this in my mailbox?? a little box... brown and small enough for a book to fit in it... could it be......?? would it be.......???? you think it might be........??????
THE BOOK
As of today, I am a proud owner of what I'm sure will be a favorite book for everyone who reads it So go buy it, for real! Mame, you rawk, dude, I swear
Forgive the bathroom mirror photo, but the iPhone isn't exactly self-photo-snapping friendly!
WARNING Bitching and moaning to follow, so if you're not up to it please don't go past the line! Just know that I'm back from Athens and I hope everyone is doing well! Oh, and that I probably won't read your recent posts, cause my Inbox is packed!
I am back from Athens Missed one day of work in the process - I called in sick and stayed in Athens an extra day
I am kind of tired, so this is mainly to inform you all that I tried to catch up on all your blogs, but didn't quite make it... I think I'm tired in general, and not just because I didn't sleep much, or because the cat was so excited to see a familiar face that saw fit to chew my hair all night long, or because I went around so much and saw so many things... I'm tired because every time I go to Athens I realize that I'm nobody, doing nothing in an empty city and that, in Greece, the life is down there... and I'm up here... and i don't know what the hell i'm doing staying here, when I should be down there, living it up...
I feel like I'm way too comfortable here, doing a job I hate, living in a city I've come to hate, simply because I have a job and a roof over my head. I know that having a job is nothing to be taken for granted or lightly and that it is extremely precious and all that. And, believe me, that's the only thing that's keeping me at it... Because I hate everything about it, and you've heard me bitch and moan about it for way too long. Every once in a while, though, I get this feeling that I feel like I'm a bit more creative a person than what I give myself credit for through my job and my everyday life, and if I keep burying it, it will, eventually, suffocate and die - if that hasn't already happened!
Panos has been looking for a job in Athens forever, and I really do hope he finds one. That may mean the end of us - cause I don't really know if I can find something down there, it's a jungle down there! - but he really should be doing something better than what he does right now - he is miserable, and that brings me down too, and we shouldn't be miserable, right?
Anyway... Am I ranting? Does 10 minutes of typing a ranting make? If yes, well, then, scusi!
I would have quit my fucking job if i didn't need the fucking money... i hate all shitheads in there... I'm lucky I don't need to punch in though... and that's probably one of the reasons that I haven't quit yet... I'm quick and I'm good at what I do... I do twice the work other people do in half the time and probably twice as good... that makes everyone just dumping work on me, and me just doing it and leaving before everyone else even starts working... you want to know my secret?
I - Don't - Slack
That's right
If I have to work, I put my head down and get the job done. I won't gossip, I won't have coffee, I won't snack, I won't sneeze or go to the bathroom until everything is perfect.
People ask me "how do you do it?", well, duh, Einstein, I work! When I have three pieces to write, I don't just talk about my weekend with everyone that comes by, then try to catch up on office gossip, then go get me some food, then play some Tetris on my PC and then, at 7 in the afternoon, wonder why everything didn't just materialize on my Word and ask people to help me cause "I have so much work I will never leave the office!"
Buy some brain cells
As you can tell, I'm not in a good mood. The big boss called me in his office last week and gave me more work to be doing on a daily basis. Says he doesn't really trust anyone else with it, but won't relieve me of any of my other duties.. I couldn't really say "no" because everyone knows I'm quick in getting things done, so he would just say "you are not being paid by work volume, but by the hour". which makes me feel kind of stupid, because i was already doing twice the work everyone else does... What made it worse is that a) I can't go to ballet classes anymore cause I don't have the time anymore, and b) it HAD to be the week Brett Anderson came to play in Athens. Dammit...
Also this week my dad asked me to go have some tests done. You see, my mom had this hormonal condition when she was about 35, i'm not sure what it was, but she got bloated and couldn't have kids anymore... Well, I'm 33 and my dad noticed that I started to get bloated, so he's afraid I may have the same thing, since it's hereditary. I don't really want to go get tested, cause there's nothing that can be done anyways, and if I have it, it means I can't have kids, and gods know i want to have kids, and it will just destroy me. well, you'll say "and wondering won't?". Who knows? maybe!
Also the iron in my blood has dropped to the floor again, and I should be doing something about this too, cause it brings my depression back to the surface! I'm thinking spirulina, but it smells sooooooo bad!
Also, I got rear- ended this week! Get your minds out of the gutter, geeeeeeez! My car! I turned and there was this girl unparking and she saw me and, instead of stopping to let me pass -cause i was IN the street, she was TRYING to get into the street - accelerated and cut me off, so I had to brake, and the guy behind me was going too fast and was way too close to me, so he just drove his car into mine. did some damage to my bumper, but that's ok, it's just a car!
I'm glad Lionel is back, cause I was worried! Dude, I hope everything was OK while you were away, why were you away? I'm glad you're back
I'm glad Ned is back too, don't go away again!
And...
Ask no questions, just open up your minds and hearts and trust me. Go here and buy! I've read it and it's great, and by great I mean awesome!
Με αφορμή το πρωτόγνωρο κύμα απεργιών πείνας από τους κρατούμενους στις Ελληνικές φυλακές αλλά και την εγκληματική αποσιώπησή του από τα κυρίαρχα ΜΜΕ, για τη Δημοκρατία και την προάσπιση των βασικών ανθρώπινων δικαιωμάτων καλούμε όλους όσους διατηρούν μπλογκς, διαδικτυακά φόρα και όχι μόνο να δημοσιεύσουν ταυτόχρονα και συντονισμένα στις 20 Νοεμβρίου 2008, ημέρα Πέμπτη, το παρακάτω κείμενο και όλους του χρήστες του διαδικτύου να το υπογράψουν.
Από τις τρεις Νοεμβρίου μία εκκωφαντική κραυγή συνταράσσει τα θεμέλια της Δημοκρατίας μας. Από τις τρεις Νοεμβρίου σύσσωμοι οι κρατούμενοι όλης της χώρας κατεβαίνουν σε απεργία πείνας διεκδικώντας το αυτονόητο : τη χαμένη τους αξιοπρέπεια. Απέναντί τους αντιμετωπίζουν την εκκωφαντική σιωπή των κραταιών ΜΜΕ και την παντελή αδιαφορία της πολιτικής ηγεσίας. Σε αυτές τις πρακτικές όσοι υπογράφουμε αυτό το κείμενο ΔΕ ΣΥΝΑΙΝΟΥΜΕ. Η κατάσταση στις Ελληνικές φυλακές είναι απερίγραπτη και μπορεί να γίνει κατανοητή μόνο με τη σκληρή γλώσσα των μαθηματικών. Στα κατ’ επίφαση “σωφρονιστικά” ιδρύματα της χώρας έχουν καταγραφεί συνολικά 417 θάνατοι την τελευταία δεκαετία, ενώ ο ρυθμός τους έχει απογειωθεί σε τέτοιο σημείο, ώστε σήμερα να σβήνουν στα χέρια του κράτους τέσσερις άνθρωποι το μήνα. Η πληρότητα αγγίζει το 168% (10.113 κρατούμενοι για 6.019 θέσεις) με την αναλογία χώρου για κάθε άνθρωπο να φτάνει σε περιπτώσεις το 1τμ. Με ημερήσιο κρατικό έξοδο ανά κρατούμενο τα 3,60 Ευρώ τα συσσίτια που παρέχονται είναι άθλια, οι υποδομές θυμίζουν μεσαίωνα και η ιατροφαρμακευτική περίθαλψη είναι ελλιπέστατη. Συγχρόνως, το Ελληνικό δικαστικό σύστημα στέλνει στη φυλακή έναν στους χίλιους κατοίκους της χώρας με τους έγκλειστους χωρίς δίκη (υπό προσωρινή κράτηση) να αγγίζουν το 30% του συνολικού αριθμού των κρατουμένων. Αν η ποιότητα μίας Δημοκρατίας κρίνεται από τις φυλακές της, τότε η Δημοκρατία μας ασθμαίνει. Αν η τιμώρηση παραβατικών συμπεριφορών με εγκλεισμό γίνεται από το κράτος στο όνομα της κοινωνίας, τότε για την κατάσταση στις Ελληνικές φυλακές είμαστε όλοι υπόλογοι, με συντριπτικές όμως ευθύνες να αναλογούν στην κρατική μηχανή. Σε αυτή την πραγματικότητα όσοι υπογράφουμε αυτό το κείμενο απαντούμε ΟΧΙ ΣΤΟ ΟΝΟΜΑ ΜΑΣ. Τα στοιχεία που αποκαλύπτονται από επίσημους φορείς για τις Ελληνικές φυλακές σκιαγραφούν εικόνα κολαστηρίων. Έκθεση της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής για την Πρόληψη των Βασανιστηρίων (2007) διαπιστώνει βασανιστήρια, απάνθρωπη μεταχείριση και απειλές κατά της ζωής κρατουμένων, σειρά παραβιάσεων αναφορικά με τις συνθήκες κράτησης, ελλείμματα στη διερεύνηση και τιμωρία των ενόχων, αποσιώπηση περιστατικών βίας με την συμπαιγνία ιατρών και φυλάκων, απαράδεκτες συνθήκες ιατρικής περίθαλψης και ιατρικού ελέγχου στους κρατούμενους κλπ. Το Ευρωπαϊκό Δικαστήριο Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου έχει εκδώσει σειρά καταδικαστικών για την Ελλάδα αποφάσεων που αφορούν κακομεταχείριση ή/και παραβιάσεις άλλων δικαιωμάτων κρατουμένων από σωφρονιστικές αρχές. Η Εθνική Επιτροπή για τα Δικαιώματα του Ανθρώπου έχει πάρει απόφαση - καταπέλτη για τα κακώς κείμενα στις φυλακές, προτείνοντας άμεσες δράσεις για την επίλυση τους. Ο Συνήγορος του Πολίτη διαμαρτύρεται για την παντελή έλλειψη συνεργασίας των αρμόδιων κρατικών φορεών μαζί του, λόγω της οποίας έχει ουσιαστικά απαγορευτεί η είσοδός του στις φυλακές της χώρας τα τελευταία δύο χρόνια. Οι δικηγορικοί σύλλογοι όλης της χώρας, μη κυβερνητικές οργανώσεις, όπως η Διεθνής Αμνηστία, και πολλοί πολιτικοί/κοινωνικοί φορείς καταγγέλλουν την απαράδεκτη κατάσταση και ζητούν ευρύτερη συνεργασία για το ξεπέρασμα του προβλήματος. Αν ανθρώπινα είναι τα δικαιώματα που πρέπει να απολαμβάνει κάθε ανθρώπινο ον, κάθε στέρησή τους στις Ελληνικές φυλακές αποτελεί ανοιχτή πληγή για την κοινωνία μας. Σε αυτή την κατάσταση όσοι υπογράφουμε αυτό το κείμενο απαντούμε ΝΑ ΣΠΑΣΕΙ ΕΠΙΤΕΛΟΥΣ ΤΟ ΑΒΑΤΟ ΤΩΝ ΦΥΛΑΚΩΝ. Με την απεργία πείνας οι κρατούμενοι καταφεύγουν στο τελευταίο οχυρό αντίστασης, που τους έχει απομείνει, το σώμα τους. Είχε προηγηθεί έσχατη έκκλησή τους προ μηνός προς τους ιθύνοντες να ενσκήψουν στο πρόβλημα, καθώς δεν πήγαινε άλλο. Για να λύσουν την απεργία πείνας ζητούν την ικανοποίηση αιτημάτων, που αποκαθιστούν την χαμένη τους αξιοπρέπεια και επανακτούν τα βασικά ανθρώπινα δικαιώματά τους, αιτημάτων συγκεκριμένων, αξιοπρεπών και άμεσα υλοποιήσιμων. Απέναντι στις κινητοποιήσεις των κρατουμένων η πολιτική ηγεσία εξαντλεί τη δράση της σε αδιαφορία, υποσχέσεις και καταστολή των κινημάτων τους. Τυχόν αδιαφορία και αναλγησία της πολιτικής ηγεσίας όμως και σε αυτή τη φάση θα σημαίνει νεκρούς απεργούς πείνας. Στη μετωπική λοιπόν σύγκρουση που επιλέγουν οι κρατούμενοι της χώρας για τη διεκδίκηση των ανθρωπίνως αυτονόητων δε μπορούμε να μένουμε απαθείς σταυρώνοντας τα χέρια και περιμένοντας τις ειδήσεις των θανάτων από τις απεργίες πείνας αλλά θα σταθούμε αλληλέγγυοι. Αν η περιφρούρηση της δημοκρατίας και των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων επιβάλλουν την επαγρύπνιση όλων μας, τώρα είναι λοιπόν η στιγμή να πάρουμε θέση όλοι απέναντι στο πρόβλημα χωρίς αδιαφορίες και υπεκφυγές. Απέναντι στην τεταμένη κατάσταση στις φυλακές όλης της χώρας όσοι υπογράφουμε αυτό το κείμενο καθιστούμε την πολιτική ηγεσία απολύτως υπεύθυνη για ό,τι συμβεί και απαιτούμε άμεσα την τόσο θεσμική όσο και στην πράξη ΕΓΓΥΗΣΗ ΤΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΚΩΝ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΙΝΩΝ ΔΙΚΑΙΩΜΑΤΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΚΡΑΤΟΥΜΕΝΩΝ ΟΛΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΧΩΡΑΣ.Την 21η Νοεμβρίου το κείμενο αυτό θα σταλεί σε όλα τα μέλη του κοινοβουλίου και σε όσο το δυνατόν περισσότερους φορείς μέσων μαζικής ενημέρωσης με την προτροπή της αναδημοσίευσής του. Το κείμενο προς αποστολή θα φέρει τους υπερσυνδέσμους (URL) από όλες τις ιστοσελίδες, που το υιοθέτησαν.
I blame Daisy for this... And I thank Daisy for this! Either way!
A is for age: 23, and i'll stick to that even under torture (so please, don't try!)
B is for beer choice: Guinness... i love mcfarland too
C is for career right now: Down the toilet... right now, or in a while, either way that's where i'm flushing it soon
D is for your dog's name(s): I never had a dog, but my godparents who lived next door did... they were named Phoevos and Peggy
E is for essential item you use everyday: let me see... what do i use everyday?? i've been staring at this for five minutes now... my car? my blowdryer? the coffee pot?? my laptop? i don't know!
F is for your favorite TV show at the moment: I honestly don't have one! oh! except for Charmed, but that's a rerun
G is for favorite game: Ok, i honestly don't have one... unless you count cards, in which case, biriba
H is for hometown: Thessaloniki, greece... you should visit, it's nice... ONLY for a visit!
I is for instrument you play: OK... I play the piano and sometimes i play with other peoples nerves
J is for favorite juice: apple juice, by far
K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: do NOT get me started! it will be a very long list, it will crash Multiply and that won't be good for anyone!
L is for the last place you ate: Home
M is for marriage: I wouldn't know
N is for your name: I hate my name... when i was little, i exchanged names with a friend. seriously. she took my name and i took hers. didn't work very well, though, cause noone else would get it, and when they called me, she would answer and it was a mess... so we changed back after a couple of days
O is for overnight hospital stays: none... oh except for that time when my dad was in the hospital and that other time... but none for me
P is for people you were with today: too many for my peace of mind
Q is for Quote: uhm... if there's a god, i'd like some proof, like a million dollars in my bank account, or something like that... woody allen said it... it was cute - Panos' addition: I get the best parts in my movies because i sleep with the director - again woody allen
R is for biggest regret: hmmm... not going to athens when asked at a certain time
S is for status: the magazine? never read it
T is for time you woke up today: i don't remember... 7:30? 8?
U is for underwear you have on now: yes i do
V is for vegetable you love: broccoli, don't shoot me
W is for worst habit: eating as much as i do - seriously, i'm unstoppable
X is for x-rays you've had taken: a few, can't count them!
Y is for yummy food you ate today: Panos' spaghetti sauce... it was so good, i ate as much as a four-member family would
Z is for zodiac sign: Sagittarius... so what does this say about me?
He was singing “ we shake shake shake to the trumpet, and through the slippery city we ride, skyline swine on the circuit, where all the people shake their money in time” and we were dancing. It was the ‘90s, when Suede, with the unique Brett Anderson as their frontman, would pave the way for a movement called “britpop”, a movement that culminated in the years to come and produced names like Damon Albarn’s Blur, Gallagher brothers’ Oasis, even –the already existing but not very successful until that time- Jarvis Cocker’s Pulp.
Come November 20th, Brett Anderson, older, creative and more attractive than ever, will be in Athens, playing at the Polis Theater. In his suitcase, he carries his second solo album, entitled Wilderness.
He was born on September 29th of 1967, in West Sussex. According to those who knew him, he spent much of his childhood playing sports and changing hairstyles. His occupation with sports was serious, since for some years he held his school record at 800m. As he had said “it was the only way to avoid being beaten up. All the bullies tended to leave those who did well in sports alone”.
Music was always on his agenda. One of his first jobs was DJing in Manchester clubs. During his teen years, he had formed many bands, like the Pigs (that were the root for the song called “We Are the Pigs”), or Geoff, which he formed along with Mat Osman. During the late ‘80s he formed Suede, along with Mat and his then girlfriend, Justine Frischmann. If you recognize the name, that is because she is the singer of Elastica.
It didn’t take them too long to discover Bernard Butler, through an ad in NME magazine. Butler became an integral and neuralgic part of Suede during the first years.
That was the time, in 1991, when Justine left Brett for Blur’s Damon Albarn. Even though she was still a part of Suede and living with Brett Anderson, Justine would flaunt her relationship with Damon, always be late for rehearsals and never care about the band. That led her to see the exit sign pretty soon, and also caused an early rift in the britpop scene.
Brett always had an idea of how the perfect band should be, and implemented that (with huge success) on Suede. Even before their first record was out, his androgynous style and vague “confessions” about his sexuality stimulated the british music press and brought Suede in the spotlight. In 1993 their record, Suede, climbed at the top of the british charts, while Brett’s style (a little bit of Morrissey combined with a taste of David Bowie’s theatricallity) gave the band immediate acknowledgment and fame.
Success in Europe, of course, did not mean success in the United States too. The grunge air, and the wrath of Kurt Cobain, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, that had covered the country was clashing with Suede’s lyricism. Moreover, the band had to change its name, due to the existence of a folk singer called Suede in the US. That displeased Brett Anderson a lot, and he never wholeheartedly accepted it.
That was the way he accepted the term “britpop” as well. As he confessed, speaking to the Guardian,
“we were never really at the party, and Britpop was like a big party: people slapping one another on the back and getting beery and jingoistic. We could not have been more uninterested in that whole boozy, cartoon-like, fake working-class thing. As soon as we became aware of it, we went away and wrote Dog Man Star. You could not find a less Britpop record. It's tortured, epic, extremely sexual and personal. None of those things apply to Britpop”.
Despite the success that followed, Anderson’s dependence on drugs soon led the band to a compulsory hiatus, in the end of the ‘90s. As he told the Guardian, “in the 90s, I became a bit of a wild boy. I was trying to keep my world together enough to document it. But I always felt that I couldn't document it unless I was in the middle of it. I felt that it would have been patronising to be sitting behind my typewriter, writing about unhinged people, if I wasn't slightly unhinged myself. Although I'm sure that, deep down, it was also a good excuse to take lots of drugs”. In 2003, after their Singles record was released, Suede were disbanded.
In 2004 Brett Anderson formed, along with Bernard Butler, Will Foster, Makoto Sakamoto and Nathan Fisher, the band The Tears, that was met with mixed critique.
On May 2006, he announced the details of a solo album, entitled Brett Anderson, which was released on March 26th, 2007. This year his second solo album, entitled Wilderness, was released. As he says, in his webpage, “it was one of the most satisfying records i have ever been involved with.it is simple, personal, bleak, raw, romantic and soulful and is full of the jagged edges and hiss and crackle of the studio”.
According to the Guardian, Anderson’s solo work speaks in notes “ the emotional development of a generation: from the flippant nihilism of youth to the stark choices of middle age”.
Tonight, five years ago, was the last night you were alive. You were in terrible pain, and you knew you were dying. You had been crying for months, but in reality you had been crying for years... for a whole lifetime. But we never ever saw it.
I wonder what you were thinking... I know you asked Ricky not to call us and not to tell us, and I am angry at him for not doing so... I so wanted to be there for you, in your final moments. I wanted to always be there for you, I just hadn't realized it until it was too late.
I remember you calling every single day, saying "come visit!" and never did I realize how important it was... not until it was too late.
What were your thoughts? What were you feeling? What does one want and hope for when on a deathbed? I wonder if you knew how I hoped I could touch you with my hand and share your pain. But I know I could never be as strong as you. How could I? I wonder if you knew how I hoped I could take it all away. I think you did... I just wish I knew it.
Five years ago, tonight, was the last night you were alive. It was the last moon you saw, the last time you counted the stars. The last time you wished you visited Iceland, the last time you listened to music in the dark. The last time you fell asleep to wake up. The last time you had a dream that would end in the morning.
I hope there's no more nights where you are. I hope it's all bright mornings and clear faces. I hope you are in the most beautiful dream. I hope you're singing and dancing in clouds and music. A non stop dance to happiness and truth. And laughter
Our ballet teacher told us yesterday, during class, that ballet dancers don't get Alzheimer's disease. "You will not find one professional dancer with Alzheimer's" he said, "and that is simply because a dancer learns how to keep his or her mind working in complex ways, in order to complete a choreography. And this complex thinking can help prevent Alzheimer's and other brain degenerating diseases". That made me think. I looked it up -yes, OK, I googled it!- and it looks like it may be true. I found out that at least 1,5 million Americans have Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and that number is expected to rise to at least 16 million in 42 years (that is, by 2050), in case a cure, or a way to stop it isn't discovered. That is a lot of people, and a huge increase! I also read that it is costing the U.S. about 150 billion dollars every year, to treat, diagnose, care for, and supervise the disease and those afflicted by it. And, it IS a fatal disease. I know we were always told that, yes, it's an ugly disease, it makes you forget everything and everyone, it makes you scared and fragile, but it doesn't kill you. But that's not true. It is a fatal disease. According to the Alzheimer's Association, "it begins with the destruction of cells in regions of the brain that are important for memory. However, the eventual loss of cells in other regions of the brain leads to the failure of other essential systems in the body. Also, because many people with Alzheimer's have other illnesses common in older age, the actual cause of death may be no single factor".
My father, who is a doctor, has taken up Sudoku. It's been about a year (wait... maybe longer!), that you can't see him anywhere without a Sudoku puzzle and a pen in his hands. I remember one day, he got two puzzles wrong. I could sense his panic. "Why did I get it wrong? How could I have missed that 2 up there?". My father is a brilliant man, he is probably the smartest person I know. He can solve puzzles and riddles in a blink of the eye, he was always top of his class, in University, at school, best at his job, funny, with sharp and quick come-backs and in general, a bright mind. I'm not just saying that because he's my dad, it's actually true! He chose to solve Sudoku's, i'm sure, because he wants to keep his mind sharp.
I think it may work.
I mean, we exercise, we run miles and miles every day, we kick butts at martial arts, we swim, we play basketball... Then, we check ourselves for diseases, us women, we have mammographies (GIRLS, DON'T FORGET YOUR MAMMOGRAPHIES! NEVER!!) and Pap tests (AGAIN, GIRLS, YOUR PAP TESTS! PLEASE!! WHY BE SICK WHEN WE CAN BE WELL!!) and take care of ourselves... And we forget one of our most important organs: our brain. It can be exercised, it can be kept in shape, it can be kept healthy. Why not do something today, when we know, if we don't, we'll regret it later?
So... Dance! It's fun, it fixes our body, it helps our brain, it gives us grace. What's not to like? Bridge: Yes, it can help! It sharpens the mind and also helps you meet new people! Exercise in general: that may not actually train your brain (hey, I found a motto!) but it keeps the blood flowing through your brain and that's never a bad thing! Play a musical instrument: I don't know how this helps, but i found it on the internet, and the internet doesn't lie. Besides, it's fun.
Last weekend saw the birth of MTV Greece. I know, you are all wondering how come we didn't already have MTV, or why that was a big deal. Well it was a big deal for two reasons: 1) REM played a free concert, in the center of Athens, at Kallimarmaro Panathinaiko Stadium. 2) I was there
So, this is what happened.
We left, (not so) early on Sunday morning, to get to the concert. It's a 5 1/2 - hour - drive from Thessaloniki to Athens, and we did it almost without stopping at all. Almost, because close to the end of our drive, I got carsick and absolutely had to stop. The rest of the drive, I had to have my head stuck out of the window, my face green and my dignity dragged from the back of the car, bumping on killed cats and dogs on the highway to Athens.
When we got there, we found that my friend at whose place we were staying was sick too, and wouldn't come to the concert. I was already exhausted and way too sick to think straight, so I said: "Well, maybe I shouldn't go either", anxiously waiting to hear the liberating answer "well, duh! you are green like a dollar, you should stay at home and rest". Instead of that, I got the "Are you crazy? You drove 800 miles just to stay home and sleep? Go there, besides it's free, if you feel badly, you can always come back".
So, a while later, we got on the subway and headed for Kallimarmaro. I couldn't even take the subway ride, I was so sick. Good thing it was only four stops from where we were staying. I saw a weird guy in the train: he was about 24- 25, dressed nicely, cute, and had a "Pass" hanging from his neck. I thought to myself that maybe he's one of the crew at the event, so I read the pass more carefully. It was from a Kids' Festival that took place about a month earlier. I was so confused... Why would anyone still wear a pass from an event that took place a month earlier?
Anyway
Some time after 8 we reached Kallimarmaro Stadium. We were sent through Gate 4, which means that we had to climb two flights of stairs to get to where we would enter the stadium from (we could freely move once we were in). I had already missed C:Real, which is a greek band I really didn't want to hear, so I didn't really care. I could hear that Gabriella Cilmi was on stage, singing Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River". But the real surprise was when I reached the top and looked at the crowd: more than 50.000 people (I'm sure it was more than that) had come to the concert and were already dancing to Cilmi (or to Timberlake, sung by Cilmy).
I walked through the crowd. Mainly young people, the ones you will NOT find in bouzoukia, "enjoying" canned music (those of you who have ever listened to popular greek music, you know what I mean). Amongst them, older people, who probably were simply just passing by and went in, due to the free entrance. But I might not be doing them justice, maybe they were actually there to listen to REM, or the Kaiser Chiefs, or Gabriella Cilmi. Besides, REM have admitted that they can't tell their fans when they see them in the street, since they may belong to all age groups, after all these years.
It didn't take me very long to forget that I was ever sick. I took a walk to the right of the stage, then the left, then the middle, and the party had already begun.
The Kaiser Chiefs didn't play long. We had only just realized that they were up there, and they were gone. They thought exactly the same thing, at least that's what they told the "hosts", during an interview after they sang. And, yes, there was an interview and everything. It was an MTV event, after all, and it was in no way worse than what we see on TV.
A while after 10:30, the great REM went on stage. Having already stated their support to Barack Obama (I think a lot of famous people will be really disappointed if he's not elected - ftou ftou ftou) and how they loved to be in Athens, "the city that gave birth to goods like democracy", REM rocked the center of Athens for about an hour and a half. Old, young, 20somethings, 30somethings, 40somethings and some even older than that, became one large bundle jumping up and down to old and new songs by a band that came from Athens (Georgia, not Greece!). Drive, Man On The Moon, What's The Frequency Kenneth, The Great Beyond, Orange Crush (Yes! They did!!), It's The End Of The World As We Know It, but everyone - everyone - sang at the top of their lungs to Losing My Religion and To The One I Love.
With this concert, REM cleary and eloquently proved that they are a huge group: they didn't succumb to the temptation of turning this into a meaningless, easy way for them to earn money and go home, simply by playing all of their new songs and Losing My Religion. Leaving the crowd not knowing what hit them. No. They chose to sing all those songs the crowd loves, thanking everyone for honoring them with their presence.
What can be said about Michael Stipe? Ageless, restless, shiny, wonderful, with a voice that could melt the hearts of 1000 Chinese warriors going to battle.
I left Kallimarmaro after midnight, filled with pleasure and free of any illness! It's true, music is the best medicine. I hope the best is yet to come
George W Bush has accused Russia of violating the UN's charter by invading Georgia, in his final speech to the world body as US president.
Mr Bush urged world leaders gathered at UN in New York to "stand united in our support of the people of Georgia".
Referring to Russia's recent military action in Georgia, he said: "We must stand united in our support of the people of Georgia... The United Nations charter sets forth the equal rights of nations large and small. Russia's invasion of Georgia was a violation of those words."
And blah blah blah
And now I'm confused
Is this the same George W. Bush, US president, who completely ignored the UN's calls and charter and invaded a foreing country? Using a justification that only proved to be a fabrication?
Karin did this, Erin did this (oh... all -rin's... I wonder if this means something!), so I'll do it too Please, be patient
1. Who was your FIRST prom date? I'm greek, we don't have proms. Plus, most of us are not really allowed to date before we turn 30, which means that we do it in secret. So, all this american hype about dating, corsages and the stuff, that means absolutely nothing to Greeks. Nothing! And we don't date for parties either. If you're asking me who my first real boyfriend was, that was Chris. I was 13, so was he, he was the funniest guy ever! I really liked him, and I think he really liked me too. We stayed friends for many years after we broke up (well, duh! we were 13, we broke up cause the wind blew from South to North or sthg!!). Actually, we stayed friends until 1997, when he was killed. He was 22! I still think about him sometimes.
2. Who did you FIRST play Doctors and Nurses with? OK, kids actually play this? I grew up with boys, I knew a lot about boys and girls, I didn't need to play that!
3. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? A couple of issues here. As I said, Chris was my first real boyfriend, and I'd have a beautiful room with an ocean view at a mental institution if I still talked to him (you know, cause he died. Although, my sister's husband has an aunt who claims she can talk to spirits, and I'll pay her a visit one of those days). But Angelo was my real first love. I was head over heels, and for many years too. It was an unbelievable story between the two of us, which doesn't belong here, or in a blog. But we don't really talk now. I see him sometimes, but we don't talk. We just stare at each other from a distance. 4. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink? "> Ouzo... When I was little, I'd always drink out of my dad's glass... So one day, when I was about 3, he was drinking ouzo, and I grabbed the glass and drank it. It was horrible, and I hated it, and only managed to drink ouzo again after many many many many years!
5. Who was your first kiss? George. We were playing Spin The Bottle, but not with real kisses. When the bottle showed me, he grabbed me, and ... well... the rest belong to camping history
6. Who was the FIRST person to tell you they loved you? My parents.
7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning? Panos, cause he's not here, and his cat has been busting my balls at nights, meowing endlessly at the door, waiting for him to come. I will cook his cat before he returns (notice how NOW it's his cat, when usually it's my or our cat?)
8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Ah! Mrs. Thomai! A saint! Oh, the hell I put that poor woman through! Because I knew how to read and write for a couple of years before first grade, I found it extremely boring, and would get off my seat and sway on the desks, or run around the classroom, and she was always so nice! She was the best
9. Whose heart did you break for the FIRST time? I think it must have been Chris'. But I was really young, so I don't know if it counts. If I was to think of a serious heartbreak I caused, that would probably be Angelo's. You guessed it: I regretted doing it.
10. Who was your FIRST best friend and are you still friends with them? Eleni (my sister), Katerina and Sofia were my first best friends. The four of us grew up together (our fathers had been best friends in High School and then University, and then after that), so I've known them forever. I'm still very close to Eleni and Sofia to this very day. Katerina had better keep away from me!
11. What was your FIRST sport played? Sport? I was chubby but pretty athletic growing up. I'd have to say the first real sport I did was gymnastics. After that, when I was about 11, I started playing volleyball, and it stuck.
12. Where was your FIRST sleep over? Katerina's, for sure. We'd sleep over at one another's place all the time.
13. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Person? My mom, she called me to tell me that a girl on TV was wearing my red lipstick. She was right too! Non-person? The cat! I was yelling at him all night
14. Whose wedding were you in for the FIRST time? I have no idea, sorry! It could have been Vaggelitsa's the girl that was living with my aunt - the one that raised my dad, long story - but I'm not sure. You think that was my First Big Fat Greek Wedding? I'll have to ask my mom!
15. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Peed. Then showered. Then made myself breakfast. Then let the cat out of the closet.
16. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? Hmmmm... I THINK it was Dimitra Galani but I'm not sure.
17. FIRST tattoo or piercing? Why would I be any different? Ears!
18. FIRST foreign country you went to for vacation? Italy. Italy when my mom was pregnant with me, Italy when I was born, Italy later. I visited many countries, but Italy most of all!
19. What was your FIRST run in with the law? I don't think I've had one so far! I'm so boring
20. When was your FIRST detention? We don't have that in Greece, so never. We got reported when doing something wrong, and my first time was when I was 14, for talking during the test. The truth is, I never spoke, the girl sitting next to me was, but she was a greek parliament representative's daughter and the teacher had to punish someone.
21. What was the FIRST state you lived in? New York, since I've only been to the States once, and that was in New York.
22. Who was the FIRST person to break your heart? Angelo. No doubt there. He broke my heart and then broke it again! And still does, every time I see him.
23. Who was your FIRST roommate? LENA! Oh, what a person! Our moms knew each other, and Lena had a secret boyfriend in Athens, where we were staying, and her dad would often visit and she wouldn't be there, so to justify her absence, she told her mom that I was doing drugs in the apartment, and I was always wasted and my friends were dangerous and she didn't want to be around for that! And her mom told my mom, and my mom told her "I trust my daughter, so if you think something is going on, you should wonder why Lena need to lie to you that way!". And I heard about this from my sister, to this day my mom has never said anything to me! That was in 1994.
24. Where did you go on your FIRST roller coaster ride? Poseidonio. It was really small and unimportant. Haven't had one since.
25. Who will be the FIRST to repost this? Who knows?
In greek we say something that roughly translates to this: “God loves the thief, being His child and all, but he also loves the good guy!”. About a week ago, I came to find out why we say this, and why it is so true. Let me tell you this story
You all remember about my ex-friend, that truly religious girl, whose brain is never in the gutter, who always protests when someone utters a curse word, who always goes to church, and who also, very easily and with no hesitation, lies, gossips, manipulates and makes up rumors. Yes, the very same one who waited until she was 20 to lose her virginity to the right man... The right man, of course, being a D-list bouzoukia singer. Did I mention the right place? His dressing room, I guess.
Anyways.
This ex-friend of mine is still dating this guy. According to her, he is the love of her life, the man she is going to marry. That would be all merry and dandy, if the truth wasn't so far away from it. Mr. Right lives in Athens, they meet twice a year, when he allows her to visit, months have gone by without him calling her, he doesn't even know when her birthday is, and, this year, while we were still on speaking terms (remember? when I thought she was a nice person!), he was in town for two months, they met twice, after that never even spoke on the phone, and of course he missed her 30th birthday. Back then, we were all telling her to break up with him. “You may be serious about him, but obviously, he's not serious about you!”, I told her, and I think that was the beginning of the end for me. Now? Now I'm glad she's dating him, cause, frankly, I don't think she deserves any better, and if there's decent guys out there, I wish a decent girl will find them. Let her stay with him.
Anyways.
Last week, last Sunday, to be exact, my friend, Kalouda, was meeting her other friend, Dimitri, for coffee. She was late, but Dimitri was even more late (never be on time when you go out with a Greek. We're always late), so Kalouda had to sit on a bench and wait for him. At the bench right next to hers, there was a guy sitting, and a girl was standing right in front of him. The girl was on the phone, talking to another friend of hers, about her boyfriend. She was nagging, and Kalouda was afraid she would have to sit all through the whole ugliness of some lady nagging about her boyfriend... and how he didn't call her the day before... and how all he could do was send her sms's... and what was really wrong with the network, and she couldn't really understand why he couldn't call her... And yes, she knows that being he has a lot of responsibilities... what with his record coming out soon and all... ... but he should have called... ... but before she had the chance, the friend they had been waiting for came, and they left.
We were giggling about this all week long. You see, this is a girl that made us doubt ourselves. Then she started lying about us. Saying this and that, left and right, information that kept coming right back at us, hitting us from all sides. Lies that we couldn't rebut, simply because noone cared enough to ask us if they were true. Now, all the people she thought she had won over, are slowly coming back. Her “best friend” from work is constantly talking to me on MSN. He tells me stuff she thinks I don't know (I can see how she reacts when she realizes I know) and even tells me stuff and asks me not to tell her. That is causing her grief, and I can see it every day... And then... This happens. And I think... The world is trully a miraculously small place. Nothing can stay hidden for too long under the sun. The Gods sure have a sense of justice. And humor.
I am watching SATC. It's the one where Samantha's hair starts falling off from chemo, and Smith shaves his head with her.
Sickness scares me. It scares me a lot. The thought of something going wrong in my body terrifies me, it petrifies me, it scares me to a point where I avoid going to the doctors, simply because I don't want to know. My father is an oncologist, and a lot of my parents' friends have had to go through his hands. I remember Lena, my mom's best friend, they lived at the appartment below ours for ever, ever since I was born. When I was about 18, Lena was diagnosed with colon cancer. She had to go through an operation, and horrible chemotherapy. Her hair fell off and she was in awful pain. Lena eventually got better, and it's been 14 years since then. She's been cancer free and I hope she stays that way. That wasn't the case with Mr. Nikos. Mr. Nikos was my friend Sofia's father. I've known Sofia for ever, we grew up together. Of course, since my father and her father went to Junior High toghether, and then High School, and then they were roommates in University, and then stayed friends their whole lives. Actually, Mr. Nikos' whole life. In January 1996, Mr. Nikos was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died exactly one year later - six months after Kosta. My father also treated his other University roommate - my godfather's brother. He, too, had cancer, and he, too, died. That was actually the first time I saw my father absolutely break down and cry like a baby. Through all the people that died, how can I forget about Tina. She had been sick her whole life -mediterranean anaemia did the trick. She was in pain, she was always weak, and died aged 28.
Tina used to say that we shouldn't be afraid of anything. And that we should live our every moment like it was our last. Coming from anyone else, that would be just another little poem on a piece of paper baked inside a fortune cookie. But with Tina, you knew she meant it: her every moment could be her last one.
I grew up with an unprecedented fear of death. Ever since I was a little kid, my aunt would scare me with stories of all her dead brothers and sisters, who would come back to haunt the house she lived in, saints would come knocking on her door, and a huge hallway filled with photos of the dead. I remember being 2 and afraid to open the front door, because I thought I'd see a dead guy staring at me, asking why he had to die before his time. How would I know, I was 2! I remember the first day I went to school. All dressed up, holding my little bag, with a Merenda sandwich, juice and an apple for the teacher, waiting for the bus to come, I turned to my mom and said: "I guess now real trouble starts". My mom thought I was talking about school and all the work. To this day I can still hear my thoughts in my head: "I am one step closer to dying now". I was 4.
I don't know where this fear comes from. Maybe it's because I'm missing out on life. Maybe it's because I should be doing things, and I'm not, and I feel that my life is being wasted away. But every time I think about sickness, I get that same feeling in my stomach, and I can't breathe. - Same thing when I get on a plane! The take-off and the landing... You'd better be nowhere around me at that time! -
Panos came in through the door this afternoon and said to me: "How would you feel if we sold everything here and went somewhere else, like the US, or England, or Ireland, go study at some University and live there? Do things?"
I said "I'd absolutely love that" What I meant to say was "I feel like we're taking a step away from dying".
I "bought" my iPhone -which doesn't have a name yet, but will soon - a couple of days ago... Having a cute gadget kind of changes your life for a split second, and this time I figured out the big Y! ...the big "why", that is!
So, trying hard to hide but really show off my newly acquired gadget, i strutted in my office. iPhone being in my front left pocket, I did a pirhouette going in, like I dropped a nickel or sthg, like "oh... what... where is that?", turning left and right, until the right person spotted it.
"You got it!!", he exclaimed! "Huh? what do you mean? ooooh, thaaaaaaaaat", I said casually... "yes, yes, i got it", I answered, very successfully (and academy award deserving-ly) hiding my excitement. "Letmeseeitletmeseeitletmeseeit!", he started singing. Him. Who, up until the day before was afraid to talk to me, in case my ex-friend-who-has-befriended-him-selling-him-lies-about-me-and-a-basketball-team-and-whipped-cream-in-weird-places finds out he's friendly with me and stops talking to him to.
I went up to him and placed it in his hands. It's white, it's shiny, it's gorgeous, and his eyes were shining. "Was it awfully expensive?", he asked, and I could see a drop of drool at the corner of his mouth. "Nah", I replied, oh so casually. "As a matter of fact, I paid nothing for it, it was included in my dad's programme".
He played with it a little and never even noticed her coming in. She turned her head away from us and said goodmorning to everyone else. I was on top of the world and pretended not to notice. I'm pretending not to notice a lot of things lately. That has become a second nature to me.
Anyway! The day passes and everyone has a nice word to say about Snow White -oh! I just named my iPhone! Cute! - and I'm quite proud. But, guess what.. my split second is not even here yet!
Close to the end of the day, I was sitting alone with our photo editor, discussing things. Suddenly, the discussion -of course- turns to Snow White. "Can I play with it?", she said. "Sure" I said, "Go ahead!". So she took it in her hands and looked at it right, and looked at it left and looked at it lovingly and admiringly... And then she came in
My lying-through-her-teeth-all-year-long-and-then-spreading-rumors-about-me-like-i-was-a-piece-of-sh*t-she-just-happened-to-step-on-and-carry-around-on-her-shoe finally, after a whole day of everyone talking about it, caught on.
"Oh my GOD!", she shrieked, and the tone was so high pitch i swear it broke a window. "Is that an iPhone? Is it yours?", she squealed.
I blinked
"Uh... yeah?"
"ohgodohgodohgod can I hold it?", she squeaked.
I blinked
"Uh... ok?"
"It is sooooo gorgeous I love it, oh wow, it is absolutely gorgeous, i love it love it love it, and now i hate my phone!", she exploded. "You are so lucky, it is amazing, great for you"
I blinked
"Uh... uh -huh..."
Then gave it to me and then left trashing her phone
I immediately called Kalouda and said "Please... do that magic you do about the evil eye... I have a feeling my phone will break today".
Well, it didn't break. But I got a pretty good idea of what a masked person is all about!
“I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumors But I think that God’s got a sick sense of humor And when I die I expect to find him laughing”
I don’t remember when this song came out, because, contrary to general belief, I was pretty young in 1984. But in later years, I learnt and read about the commotion that was caused by it. And, even though I wasn’t really in the epicenter of things, in order to have a clear view of the reactions, I can see them in front of my eyes as clear as the skies in a Greek August morning.
“An abomination” they must have called it. “A direct insult to God”, or “proof that this generation will be the last one, because God’s anger will smite us with fire and sulfur. And it will be the result of thoughts and provocations like this song”.
I loved this song from the very first time I heard it. Or, to be more exact, from the very first time I read it, since I read the lyrics in the notebook of a classmate of mine. It depicts, with accuracy that shocks me, the feelings and the thoughts that go through one’s head when life happens.
When a 28 year-old girl dies a few months before a cure to the illness that has been torturing her, her whole life, or a medicine to prolong and better her life is found. When a 17-year-old boy dies on the asphalt, killed by a car that shouldn’t be driven, by a 19-year-old boy who, before starting the car, thought to himself: “I don’t really want to go, I’d rather stay at home. But I’ll go now that I’m in the car”.
The song tells the story of a 16-year-old girl, who wants to die and tries to commit suicide, by slashing her wrists. God takes pity on her and she doesn’t succeed. Two years later, the girl is a happy person. She finds her lost love for life and also finds Jesus. But that doesn't last long, since a car hits her and sends her to the hospital on life support. A while later she dies.
“I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumors But I think that God’s got a sick sense of humor And when I die I expect to find him laughing”
I find it so ironic that people – humans, people like us – take it upon their hands to interpret other people’s actions, other people’s thoughts, and their beliefs and their words. And they take it upon themselves to interpret God’s will, and how God – any God, this is not an attack on Christians – would interpret something, and if He would take offense and be angry.
I remember when Harry Potter was first published, how all the Church people gathered in various places of the planet and started big fires burning the books. That took us all back to the time when the Nazis burned books and, along with the books, free thought and expression. Or even further back, when they would burn “witches”, women who used their heads, or helped their fellow men, or were simply a bit more beautiful than the establishment could handle.
I wonder if these people know how they are insulting God themselves. If this is the God we think it is, then I doubt he wouldn’t mind people talking trash about other people’s free thoughts. I doubt that he wouldn’t mind the hate that is born when someone goes out and publicly accuses someone else of even the smallest thing. I doubt he wouldn’t mind the blocking free transmission of ideas, because some preacher or priest or simply some self-righteous self-proclaimed savior of the world has so decided.
But, most of all, I wonder if these people know how they are insulting their own intelligence. I know they are insulting ours, and, unfortunately, they are right to think of a fairly large part of the population as idiots – or, strike out the word “idiots”, I’ll just call them “people who have decided not to use their brain, but to only use other people’s brain, in order to not waste calories”. If, when they say something, people jump right on that wagon and agree, then why not say something all the time and serve their personal interests and goals? But in doing so, they are also insulting their intelligence. Being the leader of a group of morons does not say much about you, does it? Go out there and do something great for your generation, you coward. Don’t just try to manipulate others. Greatness doesn’t work that way.
I was going to say that we have lost our humanity. But, come to think of it, I don’t know where the word “humanity” came from, because there aren’t all that many examples of it existing in our history books. Maybe it was simply a goal that was set ages ago. I just hope one day we find it.
on Thursday, August 7th, everyone must light a candle and leave it by their window, to remind this planet that there's such an issue, as the issue of Tibet, that has remained unsolved throughout the 20th century and must be resolved immediately. Otherwise, we have no right to be called a lawful community
The World's Greatest Light Protest for Tibet grows even greater
All out light for Tibet in the 24 hours preceding the Olympic Games.
Sad Smoky Mountains & Skyscrapers join Candle for Tibet campaign. Will ignite red smoke on hundreds of mountain tops, and on several skyscrapers and landmarks in major cities.
Candle for Tibet asks people to put the candle in their windows, desks, or anywhere else where other people will see it and hopefully do the same. Many will participate in candle vigils throughout the world.
CFT is calling on All Light artists in the world to create light shows for freedom.
CFT calls the people of the world to take part by lighting candles, flash lights, lighters, car headlights and any other light source.
CFT calls for all those who plan to attend the opening ceremony in Beijing to light a candle, flash light, a lighter or even a cell phone during the ceremony.
Tel Aviv, July 21 2008
Candle for Tibet, the world's biggest campaign for freedom in Tibet, was joined by Sad Smoky Mountains & Skyscrapers to create an even greater light protest for freedom in Tibet.
The Light Protest for freedom.
On Thursday August 7th at 9:00 p.m. local time at least 100,000,000 people, from every corner of earth, will light candles in hundreds of planned candle-lit vigils, with their friends or at their homes. They will call for freedom in Tibet. (All details can be founds at CFT's press room)
SSM&S will send on the day following CFT 's candle action hundreds of mountain climbers and volunteers to ignite red smoke flares on Skyscrapers roofs in NY, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and other major cities around the world, and on over 100 mountain tops in 3 continents. The smoke ignition will coincide with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
"We are now ready to instruct hundreds of red smoke flares in cities all over the world" says artist Alberto Peruffo, the project's creator. "We will flare up the skies red from buildings, monuments and palaces"
SSM&S has already proven record. On May 11th hundreds of mountaineers climbed to the summits of over 100 mountains in Europe, Asia, North and South America, where they flared up the sky red calling for a free Tibet (Link to images at the bottom)
"This is very exciting development" says David Califa, CFT's creator and organizer, "SSM&S values fit ours like a glove, our whole campaign is built on unity, solidarity and sharing. It's a fantastic artistic action for freedom. We are calling on every light artist in the world to join us. We are also calling on all freedom lovers in the world to drive with their cars' headlights on, in the 24 hours preceding the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8th."
CFT is endorsed and supported by the International Tibet Support Network (ITSN), the global coalition of Tibet-related non-governmental organizations, almost all other major International Tibet support group, and several local support groups.
"We are calling on all human rights organizations to join this beautiful manifestation of solidarity for freedom. In the next few days we will also call on hundreds of performing artists, athletes and celebrities to light a candle for Tibet" says Califa "We don't expect that many will turn us down".
Very partial list of targeted mountains for August 8 2008 (Urban locations will be revealed to the media before the Light Protest starts)
All heights in meters
MATTERHORN 4478 m (Alps, Switzerland) MONTE ROSA 4634 m (Alps, Italy) MONTE BIANCO 4810 m (Alps, France) DOLOMITI 3300 m (Alps, Italy)
VOLCANO SAJAMA 6530 (Andes, Bolivia) ALPAMAYO 5947 m (Andes, Peru) HUASCARUN SUR 6768 m (Andes, Perù) CHOPICALQUI 6354 m (Andes, Perù) NORTH TABLE MOUNTAIN (Colorado, USA)
