Greece's fires as seen from space

photo from NASA

Greece under attack!

These are very difficult times for all of us,' as our prime minster Kostas Karamanlis said. Greekfires continue to destroy many parts of Greece. So many parts simultaneously that really makesyou wonder what or who caused this attack. And it's deffinetely an attack. More than 50 people died until now and the death toll rises from hour to hour causes desperation all around the country. For me it's deffinetely a somekind of a terrorist attack. All these fires lighted uptogether from arsonists in many parts of Greece. Their reasons? Greek general elections are set for 16th of September... who thinks that these two have no connection?

Wild monkeys!

A troop of vervet monkeys is giving Kenyan villagers long days and sleepless nights, destroying crops and causing a food crisis.

The monkeys are more afraid of young men than women and children, and the bolder ones throw stones and chase the women from their farms. Nachu's women have tried wearing their husbands' clothes in an attempt to trick the monkeys into thinking they are men - but this has failed, they say.

"But the monkeys can tell the difference and they don't run away from us and point at our breasts." The monkeys grab their breasts, and gesture at us while pointing at their private parts. We are afraid that they will sexually harass us," said Mrs Njeri.

from bbnews.com

Quite interesting ha?

"Cool" game

A Japanese arm wrestling game is being withdrawn from arcades across the country after three players broke their arms, company officials said. from bbcnews.com

"We think that maybe some players get over-excited and twist their arms in an unnatural way," a spokesman said.

And what was the answer of the company?

The machine isn't that strong, much less so than a muscular man. Even women should be able to beat it," company spokesman Ayano Sakiyama told AP news agency.

I love Japan!

The Bourne Ultimatum

There is one movie that you need to watch this summer and this is the 3rd in the series of Jason Bourne, "The Bourne Ultimatum". The movie exceeds expectations (as the critics agree) of how an action film should be. The action is extremely fast and continuous without leaving you much chances of taking some breath but it misses all this spying features of its past (as James Bond still does).

Cat senses death...

A cat has "predicted" the deaths of 25 residents in a nursing home in the US. The residents of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Rhode Island would be forgiven for getting a little anxious if Oscar was to curl up next to them.

Animal behaviour experts in the US say Oscar is probably smelling a chemical given off by the body. And Jacqueline Pritchard, an expert in animal behaviour in the UK, agrees the explanation is biochemical, rather than psychic. "I don't doubt that the cat in this case is sensing death approaching. There's little we really know about it but as the body is shutting down, I could hypothesise that the cat is sensing and smelling the organs shutting down." Dogs, in the other hand, with an acute sense of smell and awareness are known to detect cancer and predict epileptic seizures.

from bbcnews.com

The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance

and here is the new video for Chemical Brothers and it's awesome as always. Really :-)

Armand Van Helden 'I Want Your Soul'

Here is my favourite song for this summer. It's the new video of the DJ Armand Van Helden and his last album "Ghettoblaster". It reminds me of the dance songs of late '80s to beginning of '90s... enjoy!

Good Advice that Anyone Can Use

found in flickr

Buildings from the future

30 St Mary Axe: Better known as the Gherkin to locals, this Norman Foster design has quickly become part of the London skyline. Its energy-saving techniques - including natural ventilation and insulation created by huge shafts that run up and down the 41 floors - make it highly efficient, using around half the energy a typical tower would consume. Photograph: Frank Baron/Guardian
(picture in the right)


Stata Center: Iconic architect Frank Gehry was employed to build this, a modern centrepiece to the campus of the Massachussets Institute of Technology. Full of angles and empty spaces, the building appears to be collapsing into itself before reaching up into two independent towers. And if the building itself isn't advanced enough for you, then look inside: it is home to the university's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP (picture in the left)

Bank of China: This 1,034 foot tall tower is instantly recognisable in Hong Kong for its sloping roof. At the lower levels the building is rectangular, before switching to a triangular shape as it stretches upwards. Designed by IM Pei, the structure boasts an award-winning sustainability programme and environmentally-friendly operation.

Photograph: Michael Setbourn/Getty (picture in the right)

InterActive Corp: Frank Gehry is best known for swooping metallic structures such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao - but his latest creation is one of his most technically advanced. Housing the offices of IAC, a large web conglomerate, the outside is made entirely of glass - a decision which required "cold bending" of huge panes, sometimes up to a 150 degree angle. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty (picture in the left)

Taipei 101: The 101-storey green giant in Taiwan is decked out with hi-tech baubles: fibre-optic and satellite net connections and the world's fastest lifts (they shoot up at 37 miles per hour). But perhaps most impressive is the 660 tonne ball of steel that hangs down inside the building from the 92nd floor. The mass damper, which hangs on a pendulum, is built to steady the building in extreme winds.

Photograph: AP (picture in the right)

from guardian.co.uk

I'm "Lost"

These days, except of reading slowly (it extends the pleasure) the 7th book of Harry Potter, I'm watching the 2nd and 3rd season of "Lost" series. And what I can say is that I'm absolutely thrilled, first with the script (these guys are writing a movie for each episode) and second with the performances of the actors. Everything fascinates me and I'm still in the middle of the 2nd season. I hope I will finish it before I enter the army in 28th of the month :-)

Tonight watch the sky...

...it will be full of "falling stars"!

Shooting stars are gracing the night sky with a spectacular light display.

Both hemispheres will receive good views but the prime locations will be Western Europe and North America.

Watchers will get the best of the display from about 2200 BST (2100 GMT) on Sunday 12 August, which will peak just before sunrise on Monday 13 August. from bbcnews.com

So get ready for many wishes :-)

My neighbor's kittens...

...are the cutest ever!

One year to go

Exactly one year left for the opening ceremony of the summer Olympic games in Beijing.
Most of the stadiums and the structures needed are ready and China will open the games in a very interesting stadium called "Bird's nest" (picture in the right).
The mascots of the games are five and their colors represent the respective colors of the Olympic circles. Altogether they called "Fuwa" but their names... Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni, altogether means "Welcome to Beijing"! (picture below)

"Milk or gold?" China says: "I'll better take the first"

You liked the title eh? It's silly actually. What is interesting is that China is becoming more and more used to "Western" habits as it is the drinking of milk!

"I have a dream to provide every Chinese, especially children, sufficient milk each day" ... said the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao but what's wrong with that? Except that it sounds like a dream from another century it will may shift the prices of milk elsewhere in the planet:

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, China's consumption of milk has gone from 26 kilocalories per person per day in 2002 to 43 in 2005. Westerners consume many times more, but their demand is stable. from bbcnews.com

You see, China's population adapts new habits that may cause "seismic shifts elsewhere".
Milk, enjoy it while it's affordable :-)

Milk or gold?

The largest known planet discovered!

I was always interested in what is "out there" and this one really fascinates me:

An international team of astronomers has discovered the largest known planet orbiting another star. It is so big, in fact, that its size is difficult to explain using current scientific models of superheated giant planets. from bbcnews.com

Agapise me - Tamta

This song, as I said some days before in my blog, is the summer hit in Greece. Its lyrics and the whole sound suits pretty much with my current situation. Enjoy it :-)

I miss you guys...

Tonight I'm in my hometown Serres and the whole day rains! If it was raining like that in Ankara there wouldn't be any water problem for the rest of the year. Generally I love rain even in the middle of summer (especially because my vacations are partly over :-). But by listening the sound of the water dropping in my garden and by contacting with some friends via facebook I started getting sentimental. I remembered all these wonderful days in Istanbul, Amsterdam and Brussels with my dear classmates from the MA in European Studies program of Bogazici University. Almost a year passed since we graduated... All my classmates were so beautiful (inside and outside) and our connection was magical. We were a real team. I remember the jokes of Cagri, the sweetness of TugceBingul, the friendship of Mine, the politeness of Umut, the sex-appeal of Sena, the genius mind of Alp, the leadership of Pelin, the smile of Hande Ozhabes, the laughter of Zeynep, the absence of Kivanc ;-), the party instinct of Korur, the complex mind of Pinar, the beauty of Tutku, the wisdom of Ilknur, the cute difference of Caner, the innocence of Hande Unan, the craziness of Jennifer and of course Bahar(our beloved asssistant)...

I love you all!

Chill out and enjoy. . .

When I'm home I prefer listening web radio and always one specific radio station. Chillout lounge radio (especially with the good quality version of winamp). It plays the best -needless to say- chillout music and it makes you feel good. Somehow it throws away any bad feelings, anxiety and boredom and your head feels clean and refreshed (it's like a shampoo commercial).

Try it and you will feel the difference after the first wash ;-)

Cheers

How to become a superhero and save the planet!

Well... it's easy!

Actually each one of you can become a superhero and not just for a day!

Just click here and follow the instructions...

Kelis @ Radar Live 2007 - Istanbul

I always liked her songs but I had to actually go and watch her live to see that she is also sexy... especially in this skirt... enjoy!

and if you want to check a tour of the festival's venue before the beginning of the whole gig, click here. I will hopefully be there again next year ;-)

Groove Armada @ Radar Live 2007 - Istanbul

Panic! The video has not good sound but still you can have some idea from how wonderful it was

More pics from Istanbul's Radar live Festival '07

alone...with Jasmin...and Volkan

More pics from Serres by night

Again with my dearest friends :-)

Verka Serduchka's X-Rated video

How I can write in the same blog for Van Gogh and this year's Ukranian entry in eurovision? I'm crazy... but I told you that I will write anything that interests me, right? Well, someone sent me this video of this year's runner up song in eurovision "Lasha Tumbai" (check the live performance here). But the interesting thing is that near the end of the video things are going c-r-a-z-y and quite hot. Anyone for Kiev?

If you want more hilarious performances of her just click the following links: link 1 link 2

Van Gogh

I always loved Van Gogh's masterpieces. Every single work of his is unique. Last year I visited Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. In a long "trip" that started with his early drawings in Netherlands up to his depression and death in Utrecht I had the chance to see more than 200 paintings, 437 drawings and 31 prints. After a long and impressive audio tour, the last painting I saw was his last one. Depressive and beautiful, tough and hopeful? You choose. I choose brilliant!

Boy scouting and I

Now that I'm getting ready psychologically to serve my country as a soldier I remembered the days that I was a boy scout. Days is incorrect... years. 9 full years of active participation in a worldwide youth movement "with the aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, so that they may play constructive roles in society" wikipedia
I was a little child when I entered with my friends from the neighborhood and until 16 years old I learned to share and give, to obey (good or bad) and to have FUN! Near the end of my boy scouting "career" I became a commander of the boy scouts and I earned medals and awards that few in Greece ever earned (without really deserving them :-). I stayed for hours in the middle of a dark forest in watching-posts and I walked for hours in rain, snow and heat through wonderful forests.
After all those -military like- experiences why I'm "afraid" of the real (?) trial as a soldier?

In Greek Air Force from 28th of August!

It's official!

From 28th of August I will contribute for the safety of my country as a soldier in Greek Air Force! The city that I will go first is the city of Tripoli (Greek city near Athens) where the "training centre of Air Force" is based. I will stay there for about 24 days for the basic training and then who knows where I will go.

But don't think that I will fly or something. My eyes are too weak (I'm wearing contact lenses) and except of that I will not be permanently a soldier. I will be wearing the dark blue uniform for "just" 12 months!!! "Gecmis olsun" (περαστικά) as my Turkish friends would say :-)

In the right you can find a photo of my -near- future uniform.