Get some rest

I feel alittle bit tired. I think, it's because i was watching TV until 3a.m.I need some sleep.This weekend i will stay in Athens and enjoy my home sweet home. I will watch some DVD films (there are some of them in my DVD collection need to be seen)and of course we'll go for a coffe.Probably to seaside at Vouliagmeni.

We're expecting to meet Kostas & Ria on Sunday and it will be a good chance to go to a restaurant.mmm...I feel hungry and a nice meal is ready at my home. Thanks Eleni for today's choice.

The weather is brilliant, spring is here and my mood is fine.
Have a nice weekend...

Same play again?

I've just read on a news site that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is joining foreign ministers from five other major powers to discuss a future strategy on the Iran nuclear issue.

The war at Iraq begun like that. From conversations, through diplomatic ways ...final at war. I'm get affraid of seeing this again. We thought(3 years ago) that a war against Iraq was was difficult to happen but unfortunatelly happened.From the other side Iran government says its nuclear programme is being developed for peaceful purposes and has refused to stop its activities.Can we believe it? I don't know...I know nothing about war.

I just don't want to see this play again. The drama of children growing up in a world of violonce.

History is repeated but repeated with its fault.

25th of March

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Greek revolution against Othoman empire. Beside this, we celebrate Theotokos Evangelism, a great day for the greek Orthodox church. Greece celebrates tomorrow...

I like all these anniversaries.Especially anniversaries of great events. When i was a child, that date mean the first ice-cream after the parade. In fact in my birthtown city, was, and still is, a habit children eating a Pitta gyros after parade.A habit, as we all eat bakaliaro fish that day. I liked participating in this parade and now like watching it.Well, now, sometime i'm getting bored but anyway...I like the military march played by bands.And of course, after the parade i like people who have the chance to meet familiar faces.A chance to see some persons after a long time. In small societies the parade was a big event. I remember after lunch time, all were watching on national TV (ERT -YENED)some patriotic greek movies, like "Bouboulina", "Manto Maurogenous", "Souliotes" but the best was "Papaflessas". I still watch it almost every year and as I'm just being informed "Papaflessas" will be shown at 9p.m tomorrow. Nice time...A great movie, a fantastic music by Kostas Kapnisis with some of our best actors above all Dimitris Papamihail. I watch it almost every year and never bored of it.

As we all know, the revolution started at Peloponissos, "Morias" and propably tomorrow we'll travel there. We wanted to go at south east Peloponissos and its a good chance. We have gone there many times and we like this place.A good weather, nice mood, quality music at CD car stereo and we're ready to depart.

Day of poetry

Today, is the world day of poetry. Just a small poem by greek poet Nikos Karouzos.

THE NIGHT IS IN MY INTEREST


Indeed the night is in my interest.
First of all, it reduces ambition; moreover,
it corrects thoughts; then,
it collects the grief and makes it more bearable;
it dissects the silence with respect; in the gardens
it stresses smell,
but above all, night envelops.

Η ΝΥΧΤΑ ΜΕ ΣΥΜΦΕΡΕΙ

Πράγματι η νύχτα με συμφέρει.
Πρώτα-πρώτα ελλατώνει τις φιλοδοξίες' ύστερα
διορθώνει τις σκέψεις' έπειτα
συμμαζώνει τη θλίψη και την κάνει υποφερτότερη'
τη σιωπή με σέβας ανατέμνει'
εξαίρει την όσφρηση
μα προπάντων η νύχτα περιζώνει.

The night is nice and make our souls feel better.
The night, lights the soul.

Mosxovoloun oi geitonies

Have a good week my friends and i'd like to apologize to my foreighn friends because today's post is about one of my favourite greek songs. The greek song "Savatovrado", lyrics by Tasos Leivaditis, composed by Mikis Theodorakis.

Μοσχοβολούν οι γειτονιές
βασιλικό κι ασβέστη,
παίζουν τον έρωτα κρυφά
στις μάντρες τα παιδιά.

Σαββάτο βράδυ μου έμορφο
ίδιο Χριστός Ανέστη,
ένα τραγούδι του Τσιτσάνη
κλαίει κάπου μακριά.

Πάει κι απόψε τ’ όμορφο
τ’ όμορφο τ’ απόβραδο,
από Δευτέρα πάλι
πίκρα και σκοτάδι.
Αχ, να ’ταν η ζωή μας
Σαββατόβραδο
κι ο Χάρος να ’ρχονταν
μια Κυριακή το βράδυ.

Οι άντρες σχολάν’ απ’ τη δουλειά
και το βαρύ καημό τους
να θάψουν κατεβαίνουνε
στο υπόγειο καπηλειό.

Και το φεγγάρι ντύνει, λες,
με τ’ άσπρο νυφικό του
τις κοπελιές που πλένονται
στο φτωχοπλυσταριό.

Πάει κι απόψε τ’ όμορφο
τ’ όμορφο τ’ απόβραδο,
από Δευτέρα πάλι
πίκρα και σκοτάδι.
Αχ, να ’ταν η ζωή μας
Σαββατόβραδο
...

When i hear this song a strange feeling run through my heart. This song smels Greece, our country. I understand that for many people this song means nothing but for me its full of icons. The lyrics are fantastic and of course the music by Mikis Theodorakis is as always superb. The song at the same time talks about happiness and weariness. Mixed feelings together. It describes, in my mind, spring.

Although Kazantzidis is not of my favourite singers,with his strong and dramatic voice helped alot the song. Gave it the colour of contempt greece.

I always singing this song when i hear it to a radio station or whereever.You feel it if you've lived all it talks about.

Eurovision contest

Tonight, Greek tv viewers will vote which of the 4 songs Anna Vissi will sing at the final on 20th May. People at ERT, expecting to keep viewers interesting on high levels. They have last year’s experience which gave them high figures at tv audience measurement.

But, what is this about? What is this contest about? Who gain from this? Supposed it should be a contest for young singers from all over Europe represent their country. This means, each county’s song should be in their language. As it was some years ago. But, now, almost all of the singers (even from ex Soviet Union countries) sing in English.

There are many people, behind its competent country, which gain a lot of money. That’s not bad. The bad is when, disco graphic companies works only for gaining money and using country’s budget for increasing their singer value. They care only for advertising the singer, promotion him/her abroad and having as a purpose to sell more CD’s.

Anna Vissi is well famous singer in Greece. That’s enough. Why is she interested for the contest? Only for selling CD’s abroad, in other countries. In my eyes, she looks tired and she is not interested at all for the contest it self. She looks like does it under pressure. She doesn’t care and all we pay her. As about the 4 songs…I think (heard a little) they’re really…bad! Maybe 3 of them are good for another Opa-Opa tsiftetel CD's.

At least on 20th of May, Menounos will be on stage.

Out of Athens

Good morning to all of you. I'm back to my blog ready to write a new post.In fact i have no idea what to write about and i decided to tell you what i did the previous week. I have no idea if you care about it but anyway...i will do it.

Continouing the previous post about kite flying, i could tell you that the weather was awful.Strong winds and rain didn't let to keep the yearly habitude. Next year...

The rest of the week, i was out of Athens, i was at Ioannina due to medical reasons. My mother made a surgery at general hospital and i stayed there until saturday. She's fine and God helped alot. The doctor was very good. Almost all the family moved at Ioannina, stayed at a hotel and we were all the day at the hospital. On saturday, we left the hospital, and i went to Amaliada to meet eleni. In fact i went there because my father in law had his nameday. We had a good time, a nice dinner and we came back to Athens yesterday afternoom.

The important is we're back at home. Home sweet home...

Kite flying

It's friday and the weekend with a bank holiday on monday (kathari deutera) is ahead.
The plans for this weekend is to visit my father's in law, home at Peloponissos and spend the weekend there with eleni. It will be the first time I go there for this bank holiday. Time to see how people there joy the day.

For me, the basic thing on this weekend, especially on monday is the kite flying (χαρταετός).When i was a child, the kite flying was something serious for all the boys in the neighborhood. The period was keeping about 2 weeks. Almost 2 weeks before kathari deutera, kites were flying and there was a competition among children whose kite is the best and fly higher. That was the purpose. The higher the better. I wasn't so good on this as my two brothers were. They were very good on making paper kites. Colour paper were used, yellow and red the prefered ones. We were using stubbles, light weight and about 3 to 4 marline clews. Other times...

Nowadays, we see kites only on monday. Especially here in Athens, none fly a kite before monday. Children, guess, prefer play this on their PC game console.Apart this, as last minute people, all want to buy a kite on monday and almost none makes his own by his own hands.Its like food, ready made food. Anyway, i won't be more crabby.

Weekend is coming, hope enjoy it and make my kite fly as higher as it can.Hope wind helps our efforts.Ι Love this game.

Greek higher education

This morning I read at newspapers that the greek ministry of national education and religious affairs announced the number of entry students at greek univerisities. 83.268 instead of 81.267 last year's. This means that about 8 to 10 high school students will entry at universities.It's a big number.

Ten years and more ago, the proposition was much different and was very difficult to get in a university. Depended on the univeristy school, the propositon in some of the them was 1 to 5 or 6. Extremely difficult to pass the exams. Even for the lest compatitive univerisites, the proposition wasn't much better. The dream of every young student was to pass the national exams. To get in a Univerisity, any university. To make the whole "family pround" of daughter's/son's succed. Still, this perception exists but not like the old ages.

Times changed and nowadays, almost every city in Greece has a University. The slogan of all political parties was "in every village open a university school". The local society and local politicians work on this theory. They care only for their citizens profit. Nothing more. All these, behave to students like being "money sources". They all want universities to their citites for reasons such as, renting their houses, making clubs and bars, and gaining money form students. They don't interested if there is a good library for the student, if there is a univeristy campus, if there are professors to teach or even if there are properly buildings.They all only want:"Bring us Universities". Unfortunatelly, the government(each government the last 15 years) follw this policy. The result: thousands of students without professional future.Apart some high universities schools, most of the others produce future unemployment people.

Is that the education we want? I agree, all people can have access to higher education but under some circumstances. We cant't base higher education on making university in every city and we can't change the exams system every 2-3 years. Maybe, we have to follow some of other European countries exam systems. They are not always "stuped", as the old greek myth says.

Cartoons

One of the things children like are Cartoons and comics. Today i'll talk about my favourite cartoons heroes. In my young ages there were alot and most of them based on Disney's characters. Mickey was the classical one but as i have told in other topics i always had an ascent to less famous heroes. One of them was Woody Woodpecker.

I remember, every saturday at about 2.30p.m there was on TV the series of woody woodpeker. Those years, in Greece, schools were open on Saturday's and after coming back to home at about 1p.m, Woody on tv was something expected to be seen. The music of this cartoon is classical anymore and i remember after watching the carton, all children were trying to imitate Woody's voices.

Apart Woody Woodpecker, other favourite cartoon heroes were Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck.Thats why i still like eating carrots.All has an explanation. Donald Duck was the "makeweight" to Mickey. Besides, ducks are prefered to mouses. But, generally i think i liked more "Looney tunes" heroes instead of "Disney's". Maybe they were more active and of course made me laugh even more.

Now a days, i watch on tv some of the modern cartoons heroes and geτ me mad. So much violence and cartoons without laughing. A sign of these ages? maybe...

Apart the above cartoons, i could mention some other more but i think its enough. Don't make you get bored...