Blockbusters 2007 under the hitman's scope....

Ok, I thought about this and decided. Yes, my soul is scarred from what happened to my country but does that make me go all puppy eyed and gloom, bursting into tears just listening to the word 'fire'? Hell, no! Life is a neverending adventure full of interchangeable joys and hardships, it is what makes it interesting and worth living. So, personal garbage aside, I want to have fun, I want to laugh, I want to be as nuts as I can because I hurt inside, I hurt really badly and this is the only way to make the transition back to some sense of 'normal' more smooth.


THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE VIDS! (ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE THIS, ANOTHER SILLY AMBITION OF MINE FULFILLED. IS BLOGGING COOL OR WHAT, LOL!)


In that respect, I am going to go where no man has gone before(no, not Atlantis, you myth loving fools... geez...), I am going to try and slay the blockbuster monster of 2007 (this statement makes no sense whatsoever but at 2 pm , just prior to lunch time it is all I got, LOL). To specify, for the few readers that survived my introductory nonsense, I am going to write in my own unique way about the blockbusters of this summer season that I watched . It is going to be hard, it is going to be fun, it is going to be a post to raise some doubts about my sanity (nothing new there) and challenge the limits of human patience and endurance of my readers. A noble goal indeed... So, take your refreshments with you, some poprcorn with extra butter, look at the girl with the cute behind just before you enter in the dark room and enjoy:



Unlike a lot of people I love this scene... because I love the character of Peter Parker. I know that if he ever wanted to play it cool he would still do it in an uber-dorky way. The off beat sense of humour of Sam Raimi at full force. Way to go Sam!

SPIDERMAN 3

Go Spidey go (oh man that sounded so lame...geez...) : Ok, ok I have been a big Spiderman fan since I was 6 years old. I love the guy in a strictly non-sexual kind of way (although his outfit, as with all superheroes, is leaning towards 'uber-gay' in the fashion stakes, lol, sad but true...sigh...). At the other end of the spectrum, I was also one of the devoted fans that wanted to see the character Venom realized on screen. He is really cool visually in the comics and I was eager to see him on the silver screen.

Swinging through rooftops and skyscrapers... : Spiderman, spiderman doing whatever a Spider can (oh my fanboyism knows no limits, I'll need a cold shower after this post, ha,ha,ha,ha). Action, romance, great special effects and an amazing visual depiction of Venom. This movie had it all in spades... Thomas Hayden Church was the pleasant surprise for me since he made an impact in a very underwritten role, so all credit to him for injecting some soul into Sandman. Also on the plus side : the surreal use of humour from Sam Raimi which I totally dig, plus the cameo from "b-movie god" (and all around nice guy) Bruce Campbell which let's face it he is too adorable to resist even if you are made from Antartic ice (Wait a minute, does that still exist or it has gone AOL on us from global warming... hmm... so essentially that would make anyone made of it extinct... bummer...)


Trapped in the spider's web...: I am pretty sure whoever doesnt know much about Spiderman and his extended cast of characters would have a trouble following this movie. So many characters on screen, so little screen time for each... This movie is too 'soap operish' at intervals , I almost expected Mary Jane to tell Peter:
' Peter, the kid is not yours, it is Harry Osborn's, we did the nasty in episode 234 and now the pregnancy test results are out after 500 episodes...". Kirsten Dunst is also a problem... I have a love/hate attitude towards this actress. I either want her to be my girlfriend (Get Over It) or I am just annoyed by her sheer presence (Spiderman 3). I dont feel for her, she just annoys me in this movie, she is like the girl that every guy dreads to have next to him, whining like her life depends on it... The other shitty thing is that Sam Raimi doesnt like the character of Venom and it shows.... You can just picture how this character was included in the movie...

Sony Pictures Executives : Venom HAS to be in this movie Sam!
Sam Raimi(strapped into a torture chair): I won't do it! He is just a psychotic bafoon with overgrown tonsils!!!
Sony Pictures Executives: He has too many fans Sam! You either put him in the movie or that left leg of yours has to go....
Sam Raimi(Nervous): I love Venom! Let's bring this overgrown black slime onto the silver screen... and make him a C-list character that has limited screentime! Oh yes, it is going to rock!

That is the spirit Sam! Bend over to corporate pressure and destroy a cool character in the process.... oh yeah... you rock... NOT! Last but not least, the damn dancing scene in the night club with Peter Parker performing like John Travolta out of Saturday Night Fever on speed. And dont get me started on the news reporting scene... I think I'll use the loo now...

Spared by DP or down with a headshot? : This movie was enjoyable, but not what it could have been. I liked it a lot but it didnt rock my world and I think part of me liking it is because Venom was so cooly digitally created. Still, better luck next time Marvel... ok for the fans,possibly indifferent for the rest(although overall dollar gross of the movie suggests otherwise) :

Verdict: Spidey still dodging my bullets! - 7/10

This is more of a Jack Sparrow funny compilation vid and not a Pirates 3 vid. Selecting this took me more time than the rest of the post altogether! There are so many great Captain Jack vids out there but I opted for one of the classic theme tunes for this. A tribute to all those episodes of BBC's "the Benny Hill show" broadcasted on greek TV back when I was a kid and there were only a couple of channels available. Good, fun, more innocent times indeed...:)

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3

A pirate's life for me...: Ok, it is a fact of life that I like Johnny Depp a lot. I've liked him since "21 Jump Street" and I still like him. I am glad he is elevating to superstardom with the Jack Sparrow role , he totally deserves it in my book! Whenever he is on screen the movie has interest and you know you are going to crack the occassional smile or even laugh. What can I do, "us" wackjobs have our own code of honour, eh Jack? He, he, he... This movie is action packed , it doesnt rest for a moment, it has a huge budget and you can tell since every single penny of it is on the screen (too bad it isnt in my pocket though...lol). From a visual standpoint top marks...

Stop shooting at me with your cannons damn Pirates!!!: I got a confession to make this movie really tired me out... Epic battle, after epic battle, pointless characters uttering even more pointless script lines... and the actual movie is too long for what it is... Out of the supporting cast only Geoffrey Rush escapes with some dignity intact, while Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom have as much sexual chemistry together as George W. Bush and Donald Ramsfeld (hmmm... what a disturbing thought...ewwww). When Jack Sparrow is "off screen" the movie stalls and everyone just mumbles mumbo jumbo lines like "Our way of life will end forever. The pirate crew needs to save the hot dog Den to survive or die trying...". Ehhh, yeah, whatever you say matey!!! Oh, what sophisticated malarchy indeed... Ok, it is a blockbuster we got it, special effects do the talking and actors sleepwalk, but not THAT much... Come on!


Walk the board and jump to the sharks you treacherous fool!!!: It was a numbing experience watching this. I enjoyed it for what it was, I felt really tired by the end of it and I totally forgot about it as I exited from the movie theatre...Yep, a way too long and underachieving ride... Just like the Bush administration then...

Verdict: Let's end its misery shall we? - 5/10
(If it had been a full blown Jack Sparrow movie it would have gotten top marks, lol)

I totally loved this scene especially the little dance Bumblebee does:) This whole movie rocked!!!

TRANSFORMERS

Robots transforming to cars and beating eachother up... yep I am in geek heaven alright!: This was such a good movie I cant believe it. Sometimes, if you dont have great expectations before you enter the movie theatre, it seems to be better. I liked the robots, I liked the characters in it, Shia Le Boeuf is amazing in it and surely a talent to watch for years to come it seems. I wasnt aware of this actor till now but from now on I'll follow him closely(Dont worry dear readers, I am not becoming a stalker of sorts... too time consuming you see,lol! I was just referring to his movies, geez...). Great eye candy for the guys with Megan Fox and the other blonde girl in it. I honestly cant remember any other movie in the last 2-3 years that I have enjoyed as much as this one. It is just FUN! It is a really good comedy with robots beating eachother up... I know my definition doesnt make sense but who cares... this is Deadpool's Laughing Den, it is not supposed to make sense so roll with it:)

Do you have a screw loose you dear robot?: I really cant think of anything that seriously messed with my viewing pleasure of this movie. Oh, I can be a nitpicking fool and say that the story that moves proceedings is utter BS and the light political subtext is laughable but still, I cant find any major gripes with it. Well, one thing only, Jon Voight and John Torturo in "Transformers"! I mean there are worst things out there like stuffing the toilet seat full of toilet paper and then water coming out to retaliate (long story of my sinful student past, dont ask...ha,ha,ha,ha) but I am sure that both of these fine actors thought, prior of signing in for the project : " Great pay day, but where have the good times gone...?".

"Transformers kneel before me", says Deadpoolite your nutty master!: Very enjoyable movie! I am sure I may find some more flaws on second viewing but if the first impression is what matters then I can only give the damn thing top marks. Congragulations Michael Bay (Now I'll go rinse my mouth with sulphuric acid since I never expected to say the words "Congragulations" and "Michael Bay" in the same sentence.... oh what is this world coming to when you cant "massacre" a Michael Bay film, after all he is the guy who unleashed "Pearl Harbor " upon us ...eeewww!!!)

Verdict: Perfect Headshot! 10 out of 10




Such a cool scene it is unbelievable, all credit to whoever came up with this stunt, it is amazing! I have to say that there are better 'visual quality' vids of this scene out there but this is the only one that has the really funny 'self chatter' of Bruce Willis which I found very amusing:)

DIE HARD 4

Yippy Yi Kay motherfucker (infamous John Mc Clane warcry of sorts): Okay, okay, if you are a guy that reached "a sexual climax of uber machoness" (what a scientific term... I guess all those bioscience degrees I got have some value after all... oh my folks should be so proud of me, it brings tears of joy to my eyes...ha,ha,ha,ha) watching Die Hard movies, you'll like this one as well. Bruce Willis is visibly aged but who cares, he can still pull the "lone gunman with average joe mentality" persona in his sleep. Justin Long, as the compulsory sidekick of sorts isnt doing a half bad job although appearence wise he still reminds me of some sort of rodent (just cant pinpoint which one,possibly a squirrel, sorry Justin, couldnt help it). I like that he doesnt have conventional Hollywood looks I have to say (then again if I call a guy with a friendly face a 'rodent' imagine what I say about the people I dont like... creepy...). The bad guy is bad enough... the explosions are big, the stunts are insanely cool... yep this is a Die Hard movie alright:)

Damn! I forgot my bulletproof vest! : This is a good action movie but it lacks something. I dont know, maybe Bruce Willis seems a bit bored by the whole affair. The sidekick can get annoying now and then and the bad guy is like a bad photocopy of previous bad guys in action movies nothing alluring about him. Alan Rickman is still by far the best bad guy in this series. And then comes the infamous scene with the damn jet fighter shooting John Mc Clane which is absolutely ridiculous, I was too busy laughing with the absurdity of it all to watch what was going on. Another low point is that I am not currently dating the actress playing Bruce Willis' daughter in the movie but I'll get over it.


Shoot first, ask questions later: Cool fun ride for while it lasts. For once the enemy in a US movie is not from the great beyond or Asia, but from within which is greatly appreciated by the rest of the world trust me on this:) Bruce Willis kicks ass albeit in a more geriatric way (still great fun to watch him though) and the rest of the cast are enjoyable without outstaying their welcome. So, yeah, great action movie then but in this age of Bourne Identity and the new James Bond movie a bit of an acquired taste. Still, a Die Hard movie is a Die Hard movie so I can be as elastic as I want in the marking ha,ha,ha,ha!

Verdict : I never miss a hit unless I am stuffed with Taco bells!

8 out of 10

Οh, there are other blockbusters out there I am sure but these are the ones I recall fondly, plus it is getting close to lunch time in Greece and I am a sucker for prioritizing:)


Some complementary tidbits before I leave you:


- I typed this in like 20-25 mins which must be a new personal best timewise and a new blogging low quality wise, LOL!!! The best (or worst depending on perspective , lol) is yet to come friends.

-I got a couple of Bush jokes in there, so what is new... they are funny and I am mad... it is just a match made in heaven:) I got a couple of American readers maybe more out there and I just want to tell them to "brush up their sense of humour" and leave the deep political subcontext out of my blog entries. My country is on fire so I couldnt care less about worldwide politics at the moment... I just dont want people to be insulted it is not my intention.

- This post felt so insanely liberating after the mayhem of the past days. I witnessed enough human tragedy to last me a lifetime, so I needed to let some steam out in my own insanely humourous(?) way. I can imagine worse ways to to channel one's frustration but I chose to do something fun(to me at least). And that is that really...



Take care of yourselves and talk to ya soon!

My country is on fire and all I can do is watch…

Before I start writing I have to warn you dear readers. This isn’t a pleasant post, it isn’t full of wisecracks or a funny take on life. I ditched my self sarcasm cloak for today and put the DP mask in the closet… This is about me , Christos, trying to exorcise the demons that raised their ugly heads in front of me today.

My country Greece is an 11,000,000 people nation, a small dot on the map, a beautiful country bathed in sunshine, a place of great historical heritage and mediocre modern achievements. It is a place where people live life to the fullest even if that means being lazy a lot of the time, we are not amazingly organized, we love to laugh and when pressured by time we make miracles happen… Greeks whine a lot that they don’t get paid much but live life like they won the lottery… Greek people are extreme people in the way they love, the way the swear , the way they beat eachother up, in every single way they are full of passion be it negative or positive. So, yeah I may be biased, I may sound a bit too patriotic or just a greek sentimental fool but I do love my country a lot, not in a creepy uber ethnicist way but in a romantic idealistic way.

Today my country is on fire… no we are not rocking the world with some event of Olympic proportions… “we” are literally on fire!!! As I am typing this, I am watching the news and they just said there are 177 fire starting points all over the country!!! The news stations are having a blast, they are blaming politicians for everything, they ask about ‘who kickstarted the fires’, they interview innocent bystanders and survivors, they thrive on human pain and misery. Reporters mixing rumour and fact, casualty figures are changing before my eyes “oh no 41 is not a large enough number” let’s make it a “50”, a nice round number maybe we are going to get that extra boost in ratings who knows…

My country is on fire… A woman burned alive hugging her three children while the fourth one tried to run away and combusted a few metres further, the reporter sheds a tear and me and my dad feel like we were hit with a sledgehammer. My God, how can you be so cruel… letting a mother getting burned alive and listening to her children scream in pain before her eyes… She was just going to a bloody wedding and look at her now, only 4 corpses and ashes remain…Oh, but I forgot, God has nothing to do with this, this was all caused by actions of "men"...

My country is on fire… Villages burned to the ground, people left helpless without a glimpse of hope, not enough firetrucks , not enough planes, the wind is blowing so hard nothing can fly…. People got burned, people fled away, aged men watching the hardships of a lifetime go down in seconds… Help… nowhere to be found, a nation watching in awe, standing, praying, feeling angry at what it sees… Surely this can't be happening to Greece…

My country is on fire… A state in stasis and hibernation, an invisible government, a non–existent coordination of available resources. This is by far the worst government that I have "survived" through in my 28 years, it is disastrous, it is totally incompetent and they got the nerve to come and ask for our vote in 3 weeks time (national elections). I guess they had to go out with a bang… The prime sinister speaks but you can see it in his eyes he cant handle it, he is as scared as a kid on the first day at school, he can't inspire a nation to unite or just emmit some sort of courageous aura… He is the guy you want to have as a friend, to talk about football, drink uzo and eat meze, have a laugh with at the cafeteria… he is a nice guy... just not a prime minister…

My country is on fire… Noone knows what happened exactly…. Was it the real estate fuckers wanting more land, was it some stupidass shepherds wanting to expand the nourishment grounds for their herds, was it a malakas driver passing by throwing a cigarette out of the window, was it a devious coordinated plan by some external non-Greek force to royally fuck up this country and manipulate it easier afterwards or was it a damn side effect of a fucked up extremely hot weather that lit garbage, wood or other flammables… ? Noone really knows, maybe a combination of sorts, I don’t know and I cant think… what is the point… I am no policeman, judge and jury. I am just a Greek citizen angry and in pain…

Dont mind the initial messages in Greek, they simply state that we are grieving as a nation for our people, our forests, our lost hope... We have lost so much in such little time... this year's summer was such a nightmare... Tonight is time for grieving and licking our wounds... I just hope, tomorrow this nightmare ends...

My country is on fire… and all I can do is watch. I think about my dead compatriots that died for no reason at all, I anger at the lack of coordination of the available resources –lives could have been saved-, I spare a thought for all those people that lost their houses and have to face an all new reality starting tomorrow… Immigrants in their own country, a caravan of wounded souls looking for some support and inspiration in their time of need. Fires still burning all over the country, when is it going to stop….?

My country is on fire… the nation is shocked, victims and no victims alike. I sense that the same feel of impending gloom that spread on the streets few years ago, when a bus full of students was literally butchered by a fucked up lorry will make a comeback once again probably even worse. Oh, we will mourn for a couple of days and move on, such is the nature of life, in a couple of days maybe more I’ll be cracking wisecracks again being my usual merry self having a bit of harmless fun. ‘Us’ the non-directly affected ones will move on, the news stations are going to have a blast blaming everyone with or without proof and then the attention will shift to the national elections. And those souls that lost loved ones in the fire or buried an entire way of life in the ashes will have to move on, away from the limelight, trying to rebuild some sort of tolerable existence using miniscule inefficient means… No rest for the wicked it seems is at hand…

As I finish this post, I realize that all countries have tragedies like these embedded in their psyche, stories of horror and pain, stories untold and efforts in vain. However, disaster has hit home and I just can’t shake this feeling of insecurity and dread that the whole nation feels, watching helplessly its beautiful country burn…

This post was written on Saturday night, 11:26 pm and the flame burning my heart has been tamed a bit, making sleeping tonight a tad easier… The actual fire(s) is still raging, tearing my beautiful country apart bit by bit… Eventually, it will be put out, leaving the fuming carcass of a nation’s psyche behind…

As I post this blog entry , today on Sunday night... 63 people have died, Ancient Olympia (this is the place where the Olympic games originated from and were originally held in ancient times, a place of great historical value as much for Greece as for humanity as a whole...) has burned to a great extent, not totally at least... The fires are still raging, burning Peloponessus to the ground as they go... The following song depicts totally how myself and most Greeks feel at the moment:

P.S. I really needed to get this out of my system, since I was so enraged and miserable today it truly defies belief… I felt like a loved one died even at short intervals… imagine the people that were actually affected by the fire directly… I just can’t bare the thought…

(Click on map to enlarge it)

I added this map to give you an idea of the localization of fires. Nome Ilias in the Northwest of Peloponesus (yellow region on the map) is the one that has been totally devastated. Then comes, Nome Evias (this is the green area that has the shape of a hippocampus ). Several fires are burning in other parts of Peloponesus and Sterea Ellada (green area in the central part of the map). Still, Nome Ilias is the one that has been totally devastated. Personally, I live in Sterea Ellada, Nome Fthiotidas, in the town of Lamia.

Talk to you later all…

Who are these people…?

Nope this isn’t a “Dr Who” episode so non-fans of the eponymous “Dr” do not scatter around like a bunch of rascals on fire. This is about “them”. Who is “them” you may ask? All in good time, a bit of backstory first…

Boring flashback coming up... you have been warned, LOL! By the way this pic was the game cover of one of my favourite videogames ever: "Flashback" for the Megadrive a.k.a. Genesis. Just a tidbit of useless trivia right there my dear, dear readers ha,ha,ha.

When I kickstarted this blog and as I was considering what ways are out there to discover readers and take them out of their respective “blogging caves”, so they could read and comment on my posts, I tried a couple of initial approaches. To name a couple: I registered in a couple of relevant forums posting some cheesy PR comments and I advertised the blog via a couple of real life friends and relatives around my age (let’s face it “Aunt X” wouldn’t be too interested in saying to her friends “Oh my, have I told you the latest gossip, my nephew DP has a blog, such a sweet, sweet boy…”, hmm… come to think of it… this just sounds creepy as hell, lol). Those couple of approaches yielded like zero or miniscule results, so after a bit of thinking I realised that what I was doing wrong was, that I was unintentionally treating people like “mindless blogging drones” and not like unique and interesting individuals. People are not anonymous members of a uniform “flock of fools”, they are unique and that is how it should be. So, I started visiting blogs one by one and when I commented on them I did it because what they wrote genuinely made me have a reaction to it. So, little by little, some people started reacting in return and I couldn’t be happier about that.

Oh man, I 've got some people that actually read and comment on this blog! Oh, I am so happy, let's throw a party and celebrate my ubercoolness! A party "the DP way" of course :)

Which brings me to today and the reason I am writing this short passage of a blog entry. One of the places I registered was something called "BlogCatalog" or something like that. I signed in there, wrote a catchy intro text on what my blog is about and then I never returned to the place, LOL. Yep, I guess I have a small attention span ha,ha,ha. Anyway, for the past 10 days or so I have been receiving e-mail alerts from the site that “this guy” or “that gal” have added me to their “friends” or to their “neighbourhood” or have founded some cheesy heresy of sorts under my name or whatever really. Now, I don’t want to ditch people and maybe some of the people actually liked what they saw when they visited my blog once or whatever, so if that is the case I guess they got good taste or some sense of humour(hey, I never said I am modest, lol). But the thing is, they have a strange way of showing it… I mean, you visit (if you have visited at all…) a guy’s blog, you say to yourself “another potential reader” and all of a sudden he is your “friend”? What utter crap is that? Has the concept of “friend” fallen so low? All these people maintain blogs, so obviously they are masters of some sort of coherent written form of communication. Why don’t they use it then, lol! I don’t care about extensive comments in my blog or having 100 readers instead of 10, if that comes at the expense of not relating to the parts of themselves that they wish to share on-line. I am interested about the people behind the avatars and the nicks, I want to see people as the interesting and unique individuals that they are and not just mechanically browse other people’s blogs and randomly post comments on them just for the sake of it. Some people seem to be desperate for attention and apparently want to brag that they got “100+ readers” compared to the “2-3 readers” that comment in other blogs. Honestly, I don’t see the point behind this madness (and I am mad enough as it is so I should know better, ha,ha,ha).

When reading the comments that readers leave on my posts, I sometimes notice a comment in the lines of “Hi! Cool blog you got here! Visit mine at…. Yadda yadda….” and I am just annoyed. This has been generated by a spamming engine of sorts by someone that treats people like statistics and that royally sucks in my book. If this is communicating for communication’s sake then I don’t want to be a part of it(not unless I am handsomely compensated financially or given a medal of honour for my hardcore attitude towards blogging, and yes that was a joke so keep the golden mastercards in your wallet holsters everyone,LOL).

The Great Unknown Blogger... Some people claim they have seen him/her and lived to share the tale, some people say it is an urban legend and doesnt really exist, other individuals say it must be a cool person deep inside trying to come out, while others couldnt care less unless he shows up and says "hi". Take your pick on what I believe... it is all good:)

So, to sum things up then. I don’t ditch people doing what they do, randomly browsing people’s blogs via any means available(like BlogLog and so many other out there) to do it faster and more efficiently, throwing their respective “blog-fishing” nets to catch many readers. It is cool that people want more people to read them and I am ok with that. Besides I haven’t killed off my account there either and keep it there as a promotion relic of sorts, so it would be hypocritical of me to ditch the concept as a whole. But when you start treating people like numbers and you can’t tell your Calistas from your Xanadus, your Zhus from your TCRAs and so on, so forth then the whole concept of a “personal blog” becomes a bit of a mockery of itself. So, to the people out there that add me as a “friend”, as a “neighbour”, that take a screenshot of my blog, enlarge it and put it in their home walls worshipping my awesomeness day and night (ok, now I am entering the Realm of Science Fiction just by thinking about this, LOL), I have to say one thing and one thing only:

“Drop by and say “hi” as a comment or in the chatbox! I don’t care if you visit once in a month or regularly, I just want to see that in this day and time when we are more alone than ever, you are real, fleshed out people and personalities and not just little pics with funny nicks underneath (look who is talking ha,ha,ha,ha). If some of you read this and react, even negatively, it means you are reading and trust me, any reaction is better than no reaction at all…”.

If people are offended by what I just wrote it is their problem but look behind the words and think, maybe, just maybe, this blogging lunatic called Deadpoolite has a bit of a point…

You know, I just realized this post was not the best PR choice I could make ha,ha,ha,ha. Then why did I have such tremendous fun writing it I wonder …! Oh well, time to carve my blogging tombstone and write an “appropriately wacky” obituary (let’s face it only DP would use the words “appropriately” , “wacky” and “obituary” in the same sentence, LOL!!!!).

Oh, you've read this far and actually liked it. You are too kind, dont make me blush...LOL!

P.S. Each one of the blogs I have put in my links list has not been put there lightly. All of those people have something interesting and fun to say, a rare breed of individuals indeed and I am glad I have found them.

Till next time, take care all!

The death of a blog that never happened...

Ok, I am back from vacation and all, it was cool and rejuvenating as it should be. I'll probably talk about it in a future post. Thing is before all the lunacy kicks off again in this blog I wanted to get something off my chest. I am in a period in my life with some new beginnings and changes of sorts (hopefully) on the way. This summer has been as much about resting as it has been about planning what comes next. Because of something that happened in February (no earthshattering event I assure you so dont tie your knickers in a knot or anything just yet,lol) my planning for the year went kind of out of the window in a big way. In the months between March and August blogging has been nothing but a terrific diversion from other things. So far so good...


Maybe I should just clone myself and be done with it... who knows:)

Last week as I was thinking about some stuff regarding my future career plans along with some personal stuff, I kinda of started thinking about some habits that may or may not need to change in order to make other more substantial things work. Anyway, some people would call it prioritizing but me being my little silly self would call it "this is what happens when you get too laid back and you start philosophizing for philosophizing's sake" (yep, I am deep like that, scary isnt it... LOL!). Anyway, to cut the long story short, after a couple of sips of my ice cold coffee(the ritual of preparing and drinking what we call "frappe coffee" here in Greece deserves a post of its own, so roll with it for the time being, lol) my ever diminishing brain matter pointed my attention towards blogging. The name of the game being that this particular fun ride takes "too much time" since I am maintaining two blogs, one written in english and one in greek. As it usually happens with these things, a couple of coffee sips later, a domino effect spiralled that made me think if I had to close down one of the two blogs which one would it be and why (I am a sucker for ridiculously stupid dilemmas, it is my nature, lol). What really surprised me is that at a moment's thought I said to myself "the greek blog" which really stroke me as odd to be honest. Heck I am Greek and I like my language very much so why say Greek instead of English. This kinda of unexpected realisation made me get to the juice of this post (at least for me). What does each of the blogs offer me as a blogger, what I like or I dont like about each one of those endeavours. I dont know why I felt the need to share this with you but here are my two cents on the matter:


Let's kickstart with the Greek blog which is more or less "unmarked territory" for you guys (except for itelli who i s Greek as well) because of the language barrier and all.




What I like about the greek blog first...

-Greek language is harder to master(I am focusing on the written aspect of it) and has way more vocabulary than english. I love the "art of using it" way more than the equivalent of english. So expression wise it is more challenging and fulfilling for me at least.
-Greeks hang out in the greek blog, so I am not even partially worried about multicultural differences or offending anyone. That is offending anyone by mistake of course, since I am not much into offending people, unless someone provokes me and persists on it.
-What I like about MY greek blog is that compared to other greek blogs I dont whine about shit all the time. Greeks whine a lot by default, sometimes justly but sometimes because they are afraid to admit they are at fault or afraid to take responsibility for their actions. Thus, they just blame the state for everything like they are not the fools that voted and had it elected, LOL!
-The brand of humour that I use over there is kinda of "diluted" since Greek people are more about laughing with their everyday lives mishaps or some prominent political figure and less about self sarcasm and that little extra black flavour to the humour which I like from time to time. So big challenge there as well, creatively:)
-I like a lot the sense of community in the greek blog among me and my readers as well as among the readers with eachother. Generally greeks are outgoing people compared to other cultures that I have encountered and that reflects in the sense of community among the readers of the greek blog a lot.
-There is more chance of meeting some of them in person because of the distance issue and all. This sort of interaction could breed friendships and relationships which is an intriguing prospect if you think about it.




Now for the ass kicking part, what I DONT LIKE about the Greek blog:

-I dont like the layout THAT much. I mean it is easy going, I like the sunset theme on it and the labels are original but that is about it. It doesnt "rock my world" so to speak from an aesthaetic point of view.
-Greeks in general are not big on pop culture references, comics, movies (unless something becomes a mass phenomenon) or anything of the sort. They consume, digest and spit out but generally speaking they dont "get" the humour of some things that I adore. Thus I prefer not to talk about movies,videogames etc etc. Therefore it sometimes becomes more tiring to write, when you got to come up with original ideas all the time(not that anyone forces me to do it of course ha,ha,ha).
- If I want to ramp up the humour stakes a notch, I cant do it that easily in the greek blog. They either dont "get" the dead pan humour of saying the most ridiculous thing in a serious way -which I love- or they would think that someone that is using such a brand of humour has something wrong with him just because they dont "get the joke" (I dont really give a toss about that by the way, LOL). Truth be told I am pretty happy in that respect with my greek readers, their humour sense is what keeps me going sometimes:)






Now, onwards to "Deadpool's Laughing Den". What I LIKE about it first:

- I love the layout and the appearence of it as a whole. A lot of credit has to go to TCRA for the kickass header he designed for me, I cant thank him enough! But yeah, it just looks way cool in my eyes and I am immensely pleased with it.
- Here I can talk about things more freely, more vividly, more "out there", if you catch my drift. I can use as many pop culture references as I want and statistically speaking, a lot of people will "get" them which just rocks.
- Approaching people from different cultures is something that I always liked and finding the common ground with people of such diverse cultural backgrounds is just something that I really enjoy a lot.
- Since most of you are not familiar with modern Greece talking about it to a pristine audience and finding novel ways of presenting it, is a challenge by itself (more on that in future blog entries).
- The "freeform" nature of the english language and the lightheartidness of approach in this blog makes me write more text in less time which is always cool.
- I just love the wacky sense of humour that permeates this blog. It is just so liberating:)




What I DONT LIKE about "Deadpool's Laughing Den"...

-With some people the cultural barrier and the difference in perspective means that you always need to be a little bit more alert not to insult anyone by going that bit of "extra mile" in the humour stakes or in what they consider politically correct etc.
-Writing in english, regardless how fluent one is, kinda of pisses me off from time to time. Sad but true, LOL! Funny thing is this blog kickstarted as a way for me to keep in touch with the english language above all else before elevating into this behemoth of wackiness that it currently is.

Lastly, although not a dislike thing per se, I am really curious about one thing since I raised the issue. I am really curious how this wacky alter ego I have created for myself, Deadpoolite, is perceived by my readers. I dont know, it never occurred to me before but do people hanging out here identify this "over the top" approach on things as anything more than a way to let some steam off in a funny way ? Who knows... I am having fun so it is all good:) Hmmm... where did that come from I wonder.... I shouldnt have had that last M and M's package last night it seems, LOL!




So there you go, a "blogging weight" off my shoulders, I am home free to spread more lunacy to the masses, a noble goal indeed (yeah right... LOL)!


Take care all of you and dont worry regardless of how rare or often I am blogging, I dont plan to leave the premises for the foreseeable future (I like the damn header and the little poem underneath it too much you see, oh what a sophisticated incentive to keep writing indeed, LOL).


P.S.1: A lot of the views I presented here, especially regarding greek people, do not apply to all people or to my readers in particular (after all since they hang out in my blogs we must have something in common it seems). Just wanted to clarify that since I hate generalizations to be honest with you.

P.S.2: That is one misleading and catchy title I used right there at the top... heh... Oh lady inspiration was kind with me tonight it seems ha,ha,ha (eat your heart out Shakespeare, LOL)

Take care all!

Till next time, DP out!

Let the music do the talking... see you in a couple of weeks!

I wanted to put something in this very spot as a temporary "farewell" to my readers. In all honesty, I will be returning home in a couple of weeks but I dont really know when will be the next time I blog.Returning from my vacation will signal a transition period of sorts for me, so no guarantees for anything really.

Regardless, instead of lengthy text and snappy wisecracks I opted to royally shut my pup for once and let the music do the talking for me. This song I post here was written/performed by Neil Young and I first listened to it when watching the movie "Deadman" by Jim Jarmusch. This is one of my all time favourite movies and one of my all time favourite tunes. I dont know how deep Neil Young dag to write this tune but to me it sounds like his soul is playing the guitar and not his fingers. In periods of self discovery or when I needed to think things over this song always spoke to my soul and helped to cleanse my view on things and dilemmas. Essentially, I am sharing a piece of my soul here, albeit an itchy bitsy tiny one:)





Of course since this being "Deadpool's Laughing Den" and all, I cant leave you on a low so listen to the following song as well for a more uplifting fix:)




Yep, I am one frequently moodswinging Merc but boy am I loving it (this doesnt make sense by the way but I am sure after 30+ posts of "pure uninhibited wackiness" you are used to it by now, LOL!)

Take care all of you and better be here when I get back to full blogging gear in a couple of weeks or whenever really!

C u in the funny pages:)

You got nothing on me cop… a tale of greek traffic madness (Part 2)

(There is no point in reading the following text if you haven't checked out Part 1 first! So be good sports and scroll down or click on the provided link to read Part 1 of this story. Oh, come on, you know you want to ha,ha,ha!!!)


The procedure to reclaim the number plates was quite simple, something unusual for the behemoth of bureaucracy that a greek citizen usually faces when dealing with the national public services. All we had to do was: A) Get the car to the designated KTEO control centre and be done with the malarchy of mechanically checking a car which has nothing wrong with it, B) Get the bloody KTEO certificate to the traffic control centre at Thermopylae (this is the area that you know as “Gates of Fire” where King Leonidas fought the Persian invaders in 480 BC . It is pretty close to where I live, like 15-20 mins or so by car. This place has been, for centuries now, a levelled area compared to the narrow passage among high rocks that it was in ancient times), C) Show it off cockily to some lazy ass cop in an office, pay the bloody fine and reclaim our damn licence plates back , regaining in the process ‘the driver’s dignity’ that was so savagely stripped from our bones.

As the tremendous master tactician that I am, I had formulated an appropriate battle plan...We were few against many but that never stopped the Greeks before... I guess if I took the Spartans' famous words in heart they would go something like these : "Either return back from the battle with your license plates or do not return at all". Who said the spirit of Thermopylae doesnt live on to future generations of Greeks:)

On with the show then… A day after we made the greek traffic regulatory system ‘tremble’ under the weight of our ‘serious offense’ , we went to the KTEO control centre to have our car checked and see if it was a car at its prime or a ‘late’ car mechanically speaking. According to the ‘by the book’ procedure, the personnel had to check a few hundred parameters of the car, e.g. performing some mechanical durability tests to the vehicle, meticulously observing the car seat and recording if it had a crater formed on it from our chunky drivers’ behinds (well not really, but you get the point some of those tests are pointless…). As with all things in Greece, a long story was cut short and the mechanics checked around 10 essential aspects of the car instead of hundreds meaningless ones(I guess having this check up in a private KTEO centre was a wise choice after all, compared to the madness of the public KTEO centres where it is more of a case of "survival of the fittest wallet" if you catch my drift...).

Public KTEO mechanic:
"I can see what the problem is now, pass me that 50 Euros bill... ahem... I mean that wrench and let's proceed to checking the car properly using the process of elimination. Whatever part doesnt fit we throw it away... or you can just write me a bank check instead..."

After the car had passed the tests with flying colours, the mechanics proceeded to give us a pat on the back and to stuff a KTEO certificate up our asses saying that ‘all is good with this car, don’t bother these gentlemen for the next couple of years, not unless you got some death wish or the public vaults are empty and you got to fine someone to compensate for your uncontrollable waste of public money as a government (it didn’t say that but it bloody hell could have, lol). Putting the certificate as a flag of honour on the inside surface of the windshield , we drove to the traffic control centre where some much needed mortal combat was in order.

Despite the small triumph over the technical control hurdle, I couldnt help but have this sinking feeling crawling inside me. More hardship and tears were certain to follow, when dealing with an alien species even DP is afraid of... public servants:)

As soon as we reached this lair of enforced political correctness, we witnessed the usual spectacle of public servants in uniform, constantly scratching their balls in order to make time pass by (or create sparks to make fire who knows...heh) and finish another ‘tiring day at the job’. Amused at this display of fine public service, we found the guy responsible for returning us the license plates of the car. As soon as we provided the appropriate documentation, we made the simple request to him to screw the retrieved license plates back on the car. Apparently, either his hearing ability or his deductive logic left a lot to be desired since he reacted as if we had asked him to diffuse a ticking bomb in a matter of seconds. What? You don’t believe me...? Well, judging from his apathetic reply you bloody hell should! The guy said “Here at the greek traffic service, we don’t screw license plates back on, we just unscrew them!”. Best case scenario was that this clockwise and anticlockwise screwing and unscrewing motion was a great mystery to him and he didn’t want to burn any brain cells trying to figure it out… Worst case scenario is he was just a lazy bum in a uniform (I am sure you know by now which version I am rooting for…LOL).

I was looking for sources of inspiration on how to "make a point" to this loser that was turning a blind eye to my requests. Then I remembered Mortal Kombat and it all became clear to me:) Shortly after the license plates were mine again muhahahaha!

With license plates in hand, we marched outside this place where time had stopped along with the brains of the people working there. Me and my dad went to the car and were ready to make our escape from this lair of public apathy in a blaze of glory… The only problem being that the street signs in the path leading to the major national highway were all either invisible to the human eye or just fucked up. A "U-turn" in the national highway, right in front of the traffic control centre was as death defying as rewatching Jar Jar Binks talking in the first Star Wars movie and living to tell the tale (which is impossible by the way...) . Therefore we opted to make our way using the hieroglyphics written on the few signs we encountered. As we were following this route of no return, the only intelligent life form we encountered was a cop taking a leak in some bushes (Come to think of it I should have asked the bushes for directions… since the guy was busy enjoying one of the simple pleasures in human existence and I didn’t want to ruin this defining moment of his life… ha,ha,ha,ha).

When a man has to go, he has to go! Oh, the simple joys in life, that cop was one happy trooper and I didnt want to ruin his moment... This one is a beautiful video by the way but what it represents in my wacky mind isn't:)

As we continued our quest for the highway road, the asphalt on the street gave place to some really pointy and sharp white rocks (great place to shoot Indiana Jones 4, I am sure, but no place to drive a car, not unless you get some inexplicable kick out of replacing flat tyres…). With every passing moment the car was vibrating even harder from the ever less hospitable surface of the rocky road we were browsing through.As all hope seemed lost, I started imagining pictures of me and my dad on the frontpages of newspapers with the MIA(Missing In Action) tag underneath… Suddenly, amongst the gloominess of this ominous vision of things to come, I saw something flashing at the distance… For a moment I thought it was Optimus Prime in his day job, blame the heat for this insane assumption. Then I realised it was a truck that was carrying various materials in some construction site of sorts. If there ever was a sign of ‘divine intervention’ in this little ordeal, this was it!!!

Could it possibly be true... we had recovered our license plates and escaped from the grasps of traffic warden madness all in one piece! Oh beautiful white light how much I have missed you, oh the fun we shall have together... just lead the way:)

A moment later, one of the workers at the site gave us directions on how to get to the main highway in one piece. As we entered the main road once again, heading home, we started laughing with my dad at the absurdity of it all. We had beaten the system once again and we would enjoy this little victory for the rest of the day… After all, you can never be too sure, in this country, if you will survive your next encounter with any of the tentacles of the public service monster , lol!

I hope you enjoyed this chunk of humourous take on a real life event, as much as I enjoyed writing it….

Till next time…

P.S. I'll be away for the next 10 days, maybe a bit more... Nothing too fancy, not even far from here actually, but truth be told for me it is just perfect:) Staying away from the PC and recharging my 'proverbial batteries' will be just what I need. Take care all!

You got nothing on me cop… a tale of greek traffic madness (Part 1)

As I was daydreaming the other day, I realised that it would be cool, once in a while, to use some sort of real life experience as a more direct starting point for another fun blog entry. It is always amusing to exaggerate on the reality of an actual life event and make it transcend from a miniscule fact in the finite soap opera of one’s life to a whole new level of existence using imagination and self parody as means of expression. Ok, ok, so I got a bit extra philosophical about a simple life moment (giving no doubt a bit of a mini-stroke to a couple of my readers with this sudden excessive display of multisyllabic words and implied intellectuality, heh) but it was a good way to show that I can write down other words except from ‘wacky’ and ‘madness’ (hmmm… what a wacky sentence full of madness… oh crap I just did it again didn’t I… lol).

This is where this story truly starts, fasten your seatbelts to avoid getting any unnecessary traffic tickets (heck a blog has to make some profit so don’t say I didn’t warn you…) and let the madness of my narration officially begin:

A couple of months ago I was driving with my dad, going to a place by the seaside called Rahes in central Greece. To get there faster, from the place of my permanent residence Lamia , we took the highway road instead of some other local route. Half way towards our destination, a traffic warden stopped us to check if our car documentation was ok.

As soon as the traffic cop waved us to stop, some of my money had already flown out of the window from the upcoming fine... I just didnt know it yet:)

As soon as I immobilized the vehicle, I turned to my dad to ask him if the documentation of the car was ok (I am an on/off driver of this car, since I am not around most of the time, thus I had been left in the dark on such technicalities before, what an irresponsible fool I am, lol). The following short piece of dialogue ensued among father and son (DP senior and DP jr so to speak, ha,ha,ha,):

DP: Oh crap, what the hell does this loser want? Of all the cars in the world he had to stop ours… So dad am I missing something on the paperwork front?

Dad: Well everything is pretty much in order except from the KTEO technical control thingy…(Every couple of years or thereabout, vehicles in Greece go through some technical control procedure that takes place in certified service centres. “KTEO” is the abbreviated name of these centres and the process itself).

DP: When were we supposed to do this anyway?

Dad: I think we still got time, it hasn’t been that long since we bought the car…has it?

DP: This is at least a four year old car …. Oh man we are screwed….

Where is KIT when you need him/it? The copper would have just blown a fuse or something if my car was like that:) God I loved this show as a kid, I am grinning just by watching this trailer, LOL!

The cop approached and asked us to get out of the vehicle and present him with our licence and registration (man those clichés are so last century I hate them…lol). Like sheep to the slaughter, we complied to his request while praying to every god imaginable (including Bruce Campbell, LOOL) that the KTEO control thing would pass under his radar. Yeah, right… So, the traffic cop asked for our license and registration (so far so good… ), for the car’s insurance papers (still going strong as law abiding as Wyatt Erp without the moustache and excess gun slinging to boot…) and then the KTEO technical control verification papers (bullseye at last!!! Rocky Balboa would have been proud of such a killer blow… lol). In situations like these, at least in Greece, it is an unwritten rule among public offenders(think ‘the code’ of Pirates in the Jack Sparrow movies and you get the picture…) to try to talk their way out of a situation by pleading not guilty using every conceivable or inconceivable argument in the book. Being the man of action that I am (ha,ha,ha,ha ,sorry , I couldnt resist, this is just ridiculous to even think about… ha,ha,ha) I thought of taking down the cop in a blaze of gunplay but logic prevailed (damn… not again… those social inhibitions of mine need to go ASAP…).

Hmm, always aim for the chest hair... better keep that in mind next time I have some trouble with the law:) Either that or just aim for "the crown family jewels" for a bonafide touchdown (as in US football...)! Too bad I am as law abiding as they come... bummer:)

Therefore, it was up to DP senior to fight the good fight and try to make the cop all sympathetic and puppy eyed towards us. My dad started spitting some incoherent BS about how ‘he was going to do the KTEO thing eventually’ and that ‘this is a relatively new car so he wasn’t aware it needed a certified mechanical check’. I guess those kind of arguments could have worked on a ‘sanity challenged’ individual such as myself (give DP senior an Oscar I say, if Gwyneth Paltrow was awarded one, anyone can get one really, lol). However, the cop was so “impressed” with my dad’s versatility as an actor that he proceeded to award him with the prize of ‘removing the number plates from the car’ and ‘giving a traffic check for the offense’.

Well at least he spared us the full cavity search treatment routine... LOL! I guess that was a small victory of sorts for the DP family under the circumstances ha,ha,ha,ha!

Then, this hybrid of Chuck Norris on crack and Steven Seagal with severe constipation (where did THIS analogy come from is anyone’s guess… ha,ha,ha) started explaining what had to be done to get the plates back. As he was talking, my dad had a vacant look in his eyes like a zombie in a George S. Romero flick, probably thinking to bite the policeman’s head off. Personally, I was thinking to revert to “King Leonidas in 300” theatrical tactics and kick the copper’s ass into a bottomless pit shouting at him “THIS IS SPARTA!!!”. However, my ever invisible biceps would ruin the coolness of the moment, so I hesitated to revert to such extreme measures of photogenic violence(too bad the moment is gone now...if only...oh no point in having second thoughts about it now I guess... lol) . As soon as the "Judge Dredd wannabe" stopped talking, both DPs woke up from this trance of excess envisioning of unfulfilled public violence and went back to the now ‘plateless’ car. My dad was swearing like there is no tomorrow, while I was trying to be the voice of reason of ‘the merry couple of offenders’ and plan our coordinated attack to the greek traffic service with only one thing in mind… We were either going to take our bloody number plates back or we were going to die trying!!! (Don’t you just love those macho ultimatums… ha,ha,ha).

To be continued (and concluded) in Part 2…