new years

New decade. New numbers. New generation. New music. New trends. New people. New news. New [....]

Or just another new year...

I wish everybody who reads this blog a happy 2011 with lots of fun, health and love! Best 3 things ever! Seriously!

the wizard

LSD, herbs, smoke, wooden pipes, ceilings, black sabbath, long hair, elephants 

 its cheesy, its good

Importance of Weekends 101

Weekends are important.

Abide

break stuff

Breaking stuff is cool, it releases a lot of anger/stress/messed up feelings you hold inside. No need to be pissed off to do it, just do it anytime once a week or month. Yes.

TV's, cell phones, laptops, cameras, glass stuff, thin walls, guitars etc etc etc
Basically whatever CAN be broken

Must have companion is two loud speakers and newer grindcore/spazzcore music.

Compare & Contrast 101

Two different countries. Two different ethnic backgrounds. Two different historical legacies. Two totally different lifestyles. Two different worlds.


I am obviously talking about Greece and the United States if you haven't already noticed.


Having lived in both countries, i feel responsible to make a decision whether i prefer the one more than the other and why.

Here we go

Quality of life:
I like to include a couple of things under this label, such as weather, entertainment and leisure.

Weather: It is quite obvious that a mediterranean country's weather is light years away than a northeastern state. No question. Compare Miami (not even!) to New York and you have it. It never snows, it rains even less and the lowest temperature would be around Dec-Jan (4°C/39°F)
Highest summer temperature (40°C/100°F)

GRE 1-0 USA

Entertainment: Its simple: New York is bigger than Athens and Thessaloniki. This means you can find almost any kind of bar, club and lounge in the NY area. Makes sense. Now what doesn't make sense to me is the prohibition of smoking, the process of carding U-21's and the very very expensive prices that have been haunting NYC and almost any other place in the States for the past 5(?) years.

This is unacceptable. The holy trinity of clubbing/drinking/smoking has been incinerated and there is no turning back. Well if you're 21 and over you're ok, except from smoking (good for you if you're not a smoker)

This is NOT a free country, its a plague inside another plague which was built on the non-smoker's or anti-smoker's freedom of choice and desire to diminish the smoker's freedom of choice.

It was also built on "30 year old acting" 18 year old girls who apparently snorted enough coke and drank too many vodkas and eventually got raped and killed.
False idols?
50% of my blame goes to 00s MTV and Hollywood

GRE 2-0 USA


Leisure: Statement - Greek people are lazy, its in their DNA. Democracy and Philosophy are based on laziness, think about it!
Americans on the other hand are hard working, everybody has a job! They start from 14 and stop when they are forced to retire. You don't see that in Greece.
This breaks it down to: Greeks would rather go out and entertain their ass off (95% entertainment/5% leisure time such as backgammon, some reading and other activities) while Americans balance these two to 50-50 (outdoor activities, reading, sports, off-work tasks)

Its obvious

GRE 2-1 USA


Who doesn't love Sports?:
America's 3 most popular sports: Football, Baseball and Basketball
Greece's 3 most popular sports: Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball

Just because Soccer is 1st on Greece's list and Baseball is Top2 on the American list:

GRE 3-1 USA

Sorry, baseball isn't even a sport for me
And there's nothing like soccer! Ever wondered why it's called "King of all sports" ?
Passionate, dramatic and very intelligent


Economy: The blackest era of the Greek economy since WWII is on its way: inflation, country in high debt, unemployment.

GRE 3-2 USA


Businesses: Three words - professionalism, integrity, reliability
Three words that are absent from Greek businesses' dictionaries.
Shame.

GRE 3-3 USA


History/Sightseeing, Arts, Natural Beauty:
A legacy of 2500 years vs. 300 years

GRE 4-3 USA

Theatrical Composition, Sculpting, Comedy/Sarcasm, Architecture, Philosophy, Literature, Mathematics, Geometry, Physics etc etc etc

GRE 5-3 USA


As far as natural beauty is concerned, ill let you find out for yourself.
Google both Greece and United States
both countries are diverse and possess a wealthy number of natural sights
i wont be taking a side on this one, as it would be unfair.


This post has nothing to do with Greece and Greeks being a better place, country and community than the United States and the Americans. I love and respect both countries for what they are and what can they offer to a tourist or citizen. Every country is unique but equal with each other and same goes for their people. From countries to countries though, people grow up with different mentalities and lifestyles. Nobody is the same and nobody can be perfect.


Until next time, listen to this amazing tune (reminds me of a typical greek summer!) and Google as many greek pictures you can! You can also re-consider a trip to the Greek islands a.k.a small paradises on earth!

Life: As a window

Life is like a window
every morning before you look outside
you never know what you are going to get
every day could be like Sunday
a gloomy rainy day, or a blooming sunny day
hopes may rise, hopes may sink
after all it's life
and that is the beauty of it





Slowdive on Souvlaki, Creation Records, 1993

ENVY

How do you feel about a band that has managed to make you cry with its music, played a show near you but didn't go and then found out that they are doing a last tour in Japan and then calling it quits?

Posting a tribute on this blog is the least i can do, i should probably be on a plane to Japan right now or being busy building a time machine to go back a few months (or years).

All the lyrics are in Japanese.
I never looked them up, i liked considering the vocalist of this band an extra instrument either he is screaming his feelings out or slowly whispering verses.





They started out in the early 90s, blending american and euro screamo, adding their own touch at the same time [From Here To Eternity, 1998]



After that came All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead in 2001 in which the band started introducing more post rock elements, slowly generating a large fanbase outside of their country and starting a league of their own.






In 2003 they released A Dead Sinking Story, an album that many consider their best. This record follows the same path as their previous one set, but with less songs hence lengthier ones, along with a more complex approach in song-structuring. I believe this album could be classified as the even more mature version of All the Footprints You've Ever Left





Insomniac Doze is the band's most experimental album to date. Their sound has changed to a dreamy mix of screamo/post rock (with the latter appearing more than ever), even less tracks (7) building an epic wall of sound for almost an hour. Probably their best one.





After 2006, they released an EP and two split albums with Thursday and Justin Broadrick'sJesu, with all their material floating in the same vein as Insomniac Doze.

Thousand Scars taken from Abyssal


An Umbrella Fallen Into Fiction taken from the split with Thursday


Life Caught In the Rain taken from the split with Jesu

-

They just released their funeral album, Recitation. It is my favorite final album of a band that never had highs or lows, good albums or bad albums, positive or negative reviews. Envy just means so much to me in a different music language for all the soundtracks that accompanied moments of my life with and the chills and feelings i still get when i go back to some of their stuff.





Thank You,
You will be missed.