"Poland vs. EU" part 2

I warned you that Poland is a problem for EU and here it is again...
While the world is aware the climate change and trying to prevent the catastrophe of the environment and its unique natural resources, Poland wants to cut trees and kill some animals just to create a road that passes through a protected wildlife area.

The European Commission is seeking a court order to prevent Poland re-starting work on a road through a protected wildlife area. The Commission wants work suspended until the European Court decides whether the road - a 40km (25-mile) bypass around the town of Augustow - complies with strict EU environmental laws. from bbcnews.com

Jesus Christ Super...hero!!!

What kind of "hero" can win a battle against Spiderman or Transformers? But of course Jesus Christ!

From the middle of August, Wal-Mart, the biggest toy retailer in the US, will for the first time stock a full line of faith-based toys. from bbcnews.com

What else I will see my god?

Read more here.

Cyprus and Malta will adopt euro from 2008

The two Mediterranean islands were ready to adopt the euro as expected on January 1, 2008, which will increase the ranks of the currency club to 15 members.

Here are the 1 and 2 euro coins of Cyprus and Malta (for more information about the euro click here):

...there was silence in heaven...

Ingmar Bergman, the “poet with the camera” who is considered one of the greatest directors in motion picture history, died today on the small island of Faro where he lived on the Baltic coast of Sweden, Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, said. Bergman was 89. from nytimes.com

Here is a video from his film "The seventh Seal" and one of the most famous scenes in the history of cinema.

Chania, Crete island

Tamta

Tamta was born and raised in Georgia, where she started singing in the age of five. In the age of 22, she and her family are being relocated in Greece, where she decides to contest in Greek “Super Idol”. She managed to take the second place in the finals.

Her discography debut was made with her first personal album entitled “Tamta”, released through Minos EMI on February 2006, making Tamta extremely popular while her unique style created a trend. Her song “Ftais” was included in the top airplay rankings.

Tamta is a well-known singer in Greece nowadays and one of my personal favourites. Just check her wonderful summer hit "agapise me" (love me) by clicking here. You can also check a video from her performance in Greek video music awards '07 Relax/Agapise me

Preveli beach, Crete

My friends Spiros and Efi in a wonderful and isolated enough beach. Beautiful :-)

Hande Yener - Romeo

I really like this singer in Turkey. This is Hande Yener! You can consider me as a fan of her! The sound of her songs is exactly my style. And the videoclips are usually amazing - unlike this one :-( If you want to check a very nice video of her, click here.

The song is really cool though and a big hit in Turkey.

Falassarna beach, Crete island

Congratulations Turkey!

The majority spoke. I wish to Turkey 5 years of prosperity and wealth and for those that feel bad tonight:

"Whoever you have voted for... We respect your choices. We regard your differences as part of our pluralist democracy. It is our responsibility to safeguard this richness."
Recep Tayip Erdogan

Hopefully he will keep his promises...

By boat to the island of Crete

Few minutes ago I left Athens and I'm in the boat travelling to the island of Crete. I'll visit a very good friend of mine in the beautiful city of Chania! This is my fifth time there but this place is wonderful! I cannot wait to taste the authentic mediterranean cuisine of the island. According to dietologists, the residents of Crete live longer than the rest of us because of this healthy living... Wonderful salads, amazing olive oil and of course the famous Cretian Raki. Oh! Did I mentioned the beaches, people and night life of the island? No? Well... They are amazing too :-) kisses

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The wait is (nearly) over :-)

All the world will know from tomorrow all the truth about the fate of the beloved magician. What will happen to Harry? Will he save the world from the evil lord Voldemort (or "Tom Marvolo Riddle", or "Dark Lord", or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named")? Who will live and who will die? What exactly means "Deatly Hallows"? Some of the answers to these questions you can find in an "early" review of the book in New York Times website.

For the rest of us, let's just wait to buy the book tomorrow... (How wonderful! I'm leaving to Crete for vacations and I will be able to read the book on the beach. This is fun!)

The beautiful city of Serres

Serres is my city. The city I was born. These days I'm in Serres enjoying the foods and care of my mother and enjoying the summer nights with my friends (in the photo -from left to right- Thania, Maria and me).

There is something "weired" with this city. People are particularly beautiful. No, I'm not exaggerating. With just one visit to Serres you will see that. After all, Serres is famous in Greece for two things: one is "Akanes" (a desert similar to the Turkish "lokum") and its beautiful population.

If you are interested to flirt with a girl from Serres it might turn to be particularly tricky. But if you are "brave" enough just visit Serres and the Agioi Anargyroi Park near the downtown area. It's a paradise with many Night clubs and cafeterias in the summertime.

Greek frappé coffee

I would like to write some words for the "national drink of Greeks"! I'm not exhaggerating. It is like this. I think that 90% of Greeks drink this more than couple of times per day. Turks and English have tea, Italians have espresso but Greeks drink frappé. I'm not a fan of this drink (I prefer green tea) but I think it's interesting to share frappé's history with you :-) Here it is:

Greek frappé or Nescafé frappé is a foam-covered cold coffee drink made from spray-dried instant coffee. It is very popular in Greece especially during summer but has now spread to other countries.

Frappé dates back to the 1957 International Trade Fair in Thessaloniki. The representative of the Nestlé company, Yannis Dritsas, was exhibiting a new product for children, a chocolate beverage produced instantly by mixing it with milk and shaking it in a shaker. Dritsas' employee Dimitris Vakondios was looking for a way to have his usual instant coffee during his break but he could not find any hot water, so he mixed the coffee with cold water and a shaker, creating the first frappé coffee. from wikipedia

Absolute Vodka, In a dream world

How War should be in a dream world...
yeah... keep dreaming :-(

Freedom

Freedom is the ability to act without restraint, or the ability to have access to particular resources without constraint. (from wikipedia)

In my case things seem different these days. This was not the case for 7 years now since I started studying away from my family. I had full freedom of my actions, from everyday stuff (I was responsible for cleaning MY house, cooking for ME etc.) to paying my own bills and buying the staff I fancy without asking for permissions.

But it seems that this is period is over (at least for now). I was talking with a friend from my mobile and my father got angry because I was talking "too much"! This was a big shock for me. First I realized that I'm 14 (and not 24) and second that I'm incapable to cover my own expenses until I'll finish with the army and find a proper job.

My father apologized 15 mins later for the way he talked but still, these 15 mins of "lost freedom" were enough for me. And I'm currently thinking of all those people that live their lives without freedom. In countries that they are not allowed to talk about their opinions or their beliefs. In homes where the husband beats his wife every day. In the trafficking of women who live in locked rooms ready to fulfill the sick fantasies of their customers and so many others...

Compared to all these "everyday nightmares" I feel very grateful to my father for what he offers me.

Goodbye Istanbul

Yesterday I left Istanbul after 2 years of happiness and I'm now back to Greece to my home city (Serres). I'm getting ready for the army.
It was very painful experience the time I was leaving my flat in Cihangir and I saw it empty. But it was not the flat that I was connected to. The reasons of the complete psychological breakdown I experienced the minutes before I pass the door were more complicated. The empty house represented my exit from the city I loved the most! It represented the numerous happy times I had there and the few sad moments.
I'm sure that everything will gonna be alright and I will return back after the completion of my military obligation. But for now I cannot say that it will be easy...
I prefer not to say "goodbye Istanbul"... but see you soon...

Last night in Nevizade

The beautiful people are Hande, Mine and Yiannis. I will miss you guys :-(

Where am I now?

My friends!
You can "track" my current position in the earth(!) by checking the left side of the screen. It is a very cool feature :-)

Bye for now...

iPhone in a Blender!

This is outerly insane! People out there are completely out of their heads and I love it :-)

Watch the total distruction (or should I call it: melting) of the world's "dream phone".

Tea 'healthier' drink than water

Great news for me and all the Turks :-) For more information go to bbcnews.com by pressing this link.

According to a research and work of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition:

Drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits.

Introduction...

... or How you keep in touch with your friends while you are in the army.

    I decided to start writing this blog one month ago after a crazy idea I had. I bought a new mobile phone (with decent camera and internet capabilities) to have a piece of modernity in my hands while I will be on a mountain (or wherever they will send me to serve my country in the army - I'm entering this August). But I realized that I can actually do something fun with it while I will be away from my friends. I can take photos with the phone's camera and send them directly to a blog of mine. What if I was taking one picture every day or so while I will be there? Why not share my completely new experience via a personal photo blog? And that's what exactly I'm planning to do...

    I will take pictures from my experiences, I will send them to this blog alongside with a text with my thoughts and share everything (?) with you and (why not?) with the world!

    But by browsing in this page you will notice many other things that interest me like music, arts, politics and technology. I hope I will be able to share also these kinds of things while I will be in the army (providing that I'll have enough time to surf the net and find new staff of course).

Please feel free to leave your comments or thoughts...

and please keep coming back! :-)

 

Always yours,

Tasos

Radar Live Festival 2007 @ Istanbul

Last week I was in this year's Radar live festival in solar beach (a beautiful beach just 1 hour from Istanbul). The organization was wonderful and the whole place looked like the paradise. So much fun!

Enjoy some of the pictures from the festival :-)

Jamie Oliver and my passion for cooking

For me cooking is art. Using various ingredients and by blending them together using a large number of technics you can create a contemporary masterpiece!
Oh yes! This is how I feel about cooking. I always enjoyed good food (but really who doesn't). But what is better than using your own hands and the creative part of your mind?

The chef that literally changed the way I'm cooking is Jamie Oliver. I first watched him in his cooking show, "Oliver's Twist". He loves cooking in "mediterranean" way and he doesn't really care about quantities and time of cooking. He is just using his imagination and his instict to create miracles.

I cannot paint or write books and I definitely cannot sing but I'm proud that I can cook :-)

Coca Cola feat. Faithless

I like "Faithless" really much. Their song "insomnia" was one of the first songs, I remember as a teenager, I ever danced with.
But what happens when "Faithless" (with a group of artists: "Paranoid") and Coca Cola come together? Well... a new fancy metallic bottle, a cool new song, a fun short film and a gorgeous website.

Live Earth and reality

Almost everybody knows that on 7/7/2007 8 concerts in 8 different cities will try to increase the awareness of the public about the climate crisis. But I totally agree with the George Marshall that:

Their aim is admirable, but if we are serious about climate change, then telling concert-goers to take the bus once a week is not enough

If you visit the official website of the event you will find some simple "ways" to fight against the further polution of the earth. But in my opinion they are over-simplistic. The problem needs far more drastic solutions than these.

All-in-all I think that people are becoming (if they allready didn't) aware of the problem and this leads to a pressure to their governments. All together we can make a difference.

But for now... enjoy the show!

Robocop is coming!

Beware! According to guardian.co.uk:

Real-life Robocops, robots armed with lethal weaponry and a programmed determination to eliminate foes, could become a key element in global counter-terrorist and military operations within 10 years, a US security expert said yesterday.

cool? ... not really

continue the story

The new Cinquecento

Fiat announced that after 50 years after the first Cinquecento produced, a new version of it (500) will hit the streets later this year.
Fiat's chief executive, Luca De Meo, wants it to become "the ipod of cars". Well, it looks cute... and with a starting price of 10000€ it may become!

Kanye West feat. Daft Punk _ Stronger

Who could expect this? Daft Punk with Kanye West!

But it's beautiful. Isn't it?

Banksy

Banksy is probably the most famous "uknown" artist. Almost everyone heard of him but nobody knows who really is (some believe that his real name is Robert Banks).

Mainly a graffiti artist and famous for his "controversial ways" of expression, Banksy is my favourite artist not only because of his radical ideas of expression but also because of his political messages.

Check his website for all his artworks and also a very interesting video in youtube that covers the "illusive" and infamous Banksy (it also contains some footage from the artist).

My Top-10 websites

I would like to share with you the websites that I have in the main toolbar of my Firefox browser. These websites are really "vital" for me and I visit them many times per day.
So.. let's start:

1st of all email is the most important service in our days. For this, gmail has everything I need. Large space (almost 3gb and increases every day) and it's extremely fast. Plus it has a wonderful java application to check your emails from your mobile. The 2nd thing I do every day is to check the news from news.google.com. I like it because you can find all the news from all the news sources out there in one page. 3 Another website I like (for world news especially) is bbcnews because they are not exhaggerating (as cnn.com usually does) but it becomes annoying when you read in the main headlines about cricket (that nobody really cares). An alternative could be the guardian.co.uk although you can read even more boring articles for non-UK citizens some times. 4 If you would be interested to read some greek news (well... at least I am :-) the website that you need to know is kathimerini.gr. You can also read the news in english. As an alternative I would suggest a new website e-tipos.com. 5 For turkish news I'm visiting the website of the newspaper Hurriyet. 6 Technology news are vital for me and the website that I recommend is the cnetnews.com. You can even read reviews for the latest electronic gadgets, mobiles etc. 7 For the latest film, music, book and video game reviews there's only one website that I trust and this is metacritic.com. You can find reviews from a quite big nimber of sources. 8 Of course, a top10 should contain the free online encyclopedia so here it is. wikipedia.com. 9 Now we passed to another interesting category. The "sharing" websites. Flickr is the first choice for sharing and viewing (quite interesting) photos while 10 youtube is the No1 choice for video. A runner up for my top10 list could easily be the myspace.com but I really thing that the website has the ugliest interface ever. It looks like an interface from the past decade. But yes, you can do many interesting stuff in there...

That's all from me for now...