Thursday, June 29, 2006

Midnight summer dream or ...?

One can ask themselves what to expect when attending a formal venue as far as formalities are concerned, dresscode, special guest lists and so on.
But can one really predict the exact opposite outcome or better yet, what I've personally experienced last evening? I think not.
The event was organized on behalf of a world renowned mobile company and as summer is vividly present, it was hosted at a summer beach club venue.
Crowded, yet quite comfortable as the place was large enough to host a fashion show and some other on-stage performances that took place throughout the evening.
Hosted by a famous greek model along with her also famous pop singer/husband on the DJ decks, the evening seemed like a family affair. (even though music wise, they could have done a better job with the playlist).
My very first impression once I got there, was that things were somewhat toned down compared to other similar venues I have attended in the past. It may have been the music, the lack of interest of most guests, perhaps the strong spotlights that surrounded the whole area or even the heat itself.
Gladly the club extended all the way to the beach so many of us prefered to be on the sand catching a breath of fresh air instead of being indoors to watch the catwalk.
And this is where things have started to move, on a completely different level..
Only a few minutes past midnight, and more and more groups of people were gathering on the beach. Some lying down with their gowns on the sand, others walking barefoot by the water, others on sunchairs (me included), others moontanning, others singing along with the music.. until.. we hear the first "splash".. A "splash" like the ones you hear when a big rock is thrown in the water. Although this time, it wasn't a rock that was thrown in the water but a woman. Yes a woman, whose friends were apparently in a crazy yet funny enough mood to actually push her in. And from that moment on the "inevitable" was bound to happen. The situation got out of control. More and more people started diving in the sea! The sea war had just begun. Others with clothes on, others without, but all wet and crazy splashing eachother like animals. At a certain point a security man came by and started asking them to get out of the water as some people may have been drunk and things could get dangerous.. but he didn't seem to be able to stop them. And so he called for reinforcements, now 5 security guys trying to stop the raging group! All they've acheived to do is just lower the volume of their screaming, but in no way would they accept to get out of the refeshing water. Other highlights of the night included a couple which apparently found true love under the moonlight or perhaps they were inspired so they were literally.. going at it.. in a not-so-romantic way..
As you may have noticed I couldn't take nor include any pictures for this post as it would probably become too explicit to publish..
What's important is that the evening had turned from predictable to an unexpected yet fantastic fiesta! (Excellent example for event organizers if you ask me!)

Monday, June 26, 2006

Signed

I thought I should add yet another clip as well as my signature claiming my own little spot on the beach.

I just can't get enough..

Enjoy!


W for Weekend, Wild, Whole

With a short delay, here’s my past weekend post as promised!

After an approximate 4 hour drive, we finally arrived on location.

Situated in western Peloponnesus right across the Ionian island of Zakynthos, the area is surrounded by long golden sand beaches dipped in turquoise waters and by deep forests adding harmoniously a dark green background to the landscape.

Although most part of the weekend was spent on the beach I still didn’t seem to get enough of it. The sounds of nature such as water washing the shore, birds, insects or even the mild wind made me experience moments of pure serenity. The crystal clear sea, calmer than a huge swimming pool, was the ideal place to cool myself every once in a while as the sun was sometimes unbearable especially around early afternoon. Regardless of my oil’s sunblock factor, a sunburn was unfortunately inevitable after so many hours of exposure but it was still worth it.

On Sunday, I came across a horse on the beach. Yes, no illusions, it was a big black horse. It was held by its owner and headed in the direction of a nearby hotel where they would probably provide horseback riding. Beautiful sight to see it gallop on the coast although it didn’t seem to fancy the water too much…

Other enjoyable moments included a night encounter with a wild fox in the middle of the road which was obviously not as afraid as I would expect it to be. It stood there right in front of the car, staring at it and eventually deciding to slowly move aside and let us pass. Strange perhaps, but still a cute little creature I must admit.

Other less enjoyable moments yet inevitable when you’re this close to nature, included mosquitoes (or other similar flying beasts) which were literally sky diving on me at night time. Fortunately they couldn’t get indoors so they only had their chance on me when I was outside the house.

And since all good things must come to an end, so did my little weekend.

The drive back lasted quite longer than our trip going there.

A total of 6 hours was spent on the road due to the heavy traffic congestion we encountered right before entering the capital.

But I didn’t mind. I guess subconsciously I didn’t want the weekend to end and the traffic was really helping postpone my return to the city.

Feeling whole again and with my personal batteries fully recharged, I’m now back. (Perhaps more in flesh than in spirit)

Followed the light at the end of the tunnel

A small lack of updates this weekend, but I was out of town (enjoying the sun, beach and finally getting some long awaited sleep).

And since I just came back, exhausted, along with a severe sunburn, I’m not going to get into too many details about my little trip just yet, but will wait until tomorrow where I will be in much better shape.

Meanwhile, here’s a little video of my “leaving the city” aka following the light at the end of the tunnel on my quest to paradise.

More paradise to come in tomorrow's episode!

Friday, June 23, 2006

A loss isn't always losing

One of my closest friends has lost a close family member today and my thoughts are out to him.
I have been, myself in a similar situation earlier this year losing a family member and most importantly someone who was also a friend.
I guess many of us have had to face such unfortunate moments at one time or another in our lives and we all know how difficult it is to cope with.
Inevitably, I have given it much thought with my recent experience and I've concluded that although hurting in times like this is indeed a natural process we must go through, there's still another aspect that we shouldn't neglect yet we tend to forget. We grieve and miss anything that surrounds the physical element of a loved one but the memories continue to carry on and never cease to exist in our minds. Memories that are evoked by several moments of the past, shared moments that have left a landmark of the person's personality, character and composure. These are the elements that remain and that we must focus on. Enriching elements that we can't lose no matter how much time goes by and by which, the person who passed away continues to exist within us.
Having adopted this approach, I'm now persuaded that losing someone isn't always losing, but most importantly, it's having and keeping.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Heat - The Global phenomenon

As my PC is doing much better with the high outside temperatures, it seems that a far more serious heat issue was just announced by the American National Academy of Science.
Further to their latest scientific study, it appears that the Earth's temperature is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even more..
And while the US government is currently focusing on Iran's nuclear power plan, they have even officialy stated that the threat is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls.. maintaining that such controls would cost 5 million American jobs..
So I'm wondering with the simplest possible logic, if Global warming persists, what good is a job if you can't properly live on earth?..

Source: Associated Press, reuters

"Strike" a "pause"

Yet another day of strikes for the public sector!
Students, teachers, bank employees and other public sector related groups have gone on strike and protested in the center of the city, each one of them for their own reasons.
Even though I personaly support them 100% and sometimes even participate in any human rights movement whatsoever, I wish today wasn't one of those days as most of my morning tasks (Banks, Tax office, post office) were put on "pause".
Hopefully they'll get something out of it, or at least their voices will be heard, although chances are...

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Every day is music day

There couldn't be a better way to celebrate the official first day of summer than with music, which is itself celebrated today on the "European day of music".
Taking advantage of this occasion and of course also trying to enrich my blog as best as I can, I've added a small player on the side bar which will be frequently updated with different songs of my choice.
After all, June 21st is only one day, but music must be honoured every single day.

I've also made some other minor technical changes in my blog, and as easy as it may have seemed in the beggining, blogging can get a little complicated at times..
Gladly, I was fortunate enough to get another blogger friend's assistance on a few issues so i'm really thankful about that.

Things that make you think twice.. or not..

Near-death experiences go under the French microscope from PhysOrg.com
Doctors, researchers and patients gathered near Marseille in southern France on Saturday for the world's first ever conference dedicated to near-death experiences (NDEs). [...]

Sea Breeze

An evening walk by the coast side, is undeniably an excellent way to literary free your mind from stress or similar disturbing parasites. Not to mention the sea breeze substitutes perfectly for air-conditioning especially on warm days like today.

Visited by people of all ages, regardless of their mood and whether their purpose was a romantic evening, a dog walk or even a jogging sprint, the coast seemed to offer them exactly what they were looking for. As far as I know it worked perfectly for me.

The video above was taken half way of my walk and it’s interesting to see how the city noise blends beautifully with the soothing sounds of the breaking waves :-)

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

The heat

This is my second day blogging and it appears that things have started to heat up already.
My PC seems to be having serious heat issues and keeps crashing on me constantly (unlike mammals on “heat”).
As you might have noticed, I still had some time to experiment a few things on my blog, such as videostreaming and layouts, but it makes it much more difficult to actually post something.
I might have overworked the machine by running too many programs simultaneously but in my opinion a second fan would come in handy and actually solve the problem.
After all, we’re still in early summer days, so things are only going to get warmer from now on.
Meanwhile, I think I’d rather deal with the heat myself by hitting the beach.

my second video attempt

this is yet another test...

hope it works

my first video

this is a test

video(019).3gp

Monday, June 19, 2006

My first attempt


Well it seems that the inevitable was just bound to happen.
My first blog is now a reality.

Purpose? : it remains to be seen

The best is yet to come.