When Deadpoolite started kicking his LINKS butt...

Ok guys, I have to be honest with you I've been seriously multi-tasking these past couple of weeks so I cant really write or visit blogs as often as I would like. Plus there is always the greek blog I maintain which has become a "monstrosity" of sorts lately, LOL. Still, I am having too much fun here at Deadpool's Laughing Den so regardless of frequence of blog entries, I am always around the corner (creepy.... hahahaha).

Regardless, this entry is not about what is and what will come in the future, but more about DP kicking butt and you, as my 'known blogging accomplices' (links), being at the receiving end of it. Something has being troubling me about my links. The thing is, most people just put them there and forget about them and they become a part of blogging past consensus that noone really cares about. Still, to me my links are important. I want to have links of people's blogs that make me feel, laugh, think, wet my appetite to crack a joke or be the receiver of one. I want links that make me REACT to them and dont make me browse them in apathy. Most people would be, "Why so much fuss?" "Why dont you let all of them be?" " Why do you care?"...

I like the interaction with my readers/links, some heated arguments, some fun jokes, some chunks of blogging heaven, never a dull moment!

I like the sense of community that blogging creates. I dont fancy having gazillion links that I dont give a toss about just so that the other person links me as well at their site. Personally, I think it is pointless...although there was a time when I started up this blog that having a lot of links did cross my mind but it is not who I am. I like human relations even if it is in the form of blogging contacts not to be mechanical and typical but have that extra little human touch that makes them worthwhile.

So, yeah, I have deleted some of my links not because of bitterness or indifference but because I want to maintain this sort of an interacting community that I am maintaining over here at Deadpool's Laughing Den with a human heart at its core. Maybe I am a hopeless romantic (apart from totally wacky and borderline psychotic of course, LOL) but what can you do:)

People that I regularly visit their blogs should not "worry", they've gained their place in this Merc's little blogging corner by being their formidable and unique selves.

Essentially, I thank you for being YOU!

The erased links' owners were furiously retalliating to my decision, but I was ready for them :)

For the owners of the erased blogs I only have to say that my decision is not based on whether their blogs are fancy looking or interesting. It is based on pure human emotional growth and that is something worth savouring. Feel free to delete my link from your blogs and glad to have made your acquaintance, albeit shortly.

Yep, a weird decision(nothing new there) this may be but an essential one if I want to get mass enjoyment out of the blogging universe experience.Sometimes you got to go with your gut feeling with decision making and screw the politically correct option:). I hope this doesnt alienate some people but bottom line is, you cant please them all...

Later folks.

The fun side of national elections in Greece...

Ok, ok, enough of the gloominess. I am fricking Deadpoolite damn it! "Wackiness is my name and making you laugh is my game" (Where do I find those cheesy one liners... someone has seriously put an "all out cheese" spell on me...I cant explain it otherwise...Could be anyone of you my "laugh brigade" lot...). So, it is that time again in little glorious Greece. National elections time! Oh, goody- goody, time to have a good laugh during the pre-elections period and vote with grave seriousness on the day of the elections (Yeah, I know I am emphatically "torn" like that you see... LOL).

You know if every female voter was as cute as her , I would like to vote every weekend yessir:) Oh, come on you male rascals out there, you know I got a point:)

So let me expand on how national elections in Greece feel like (dont faint just yet, I am sure I can top the above scary comment with an all out horrific one... have faith...LOL). So, in Greece we got two main political parties (names are not important since they are cheesy as hell so I will just go with colours for a more light effect...oh I am such a good host, lol) that rule the country. The Blues and the Greens. The Blues are the equivalent of Republicans in the US and the Greens the equivalent of Democrats. Scary isnt it? All countries of the world seem to have the same two parties ruling them.... creepy... There is also a Red party which is as evolving in its viewpoints as stagnant water. There is an Orange party that is lately trying to be the "cool one" to lure the young voters and then there is the "Living on past laurels party" with the name of it being pretty much selfexplanatory, LOL. Oh, yeah lately there is also a party that is led by a dwarf (well he is not really a dwarf but I wish he was, because maybe those couple of less inches of height could have given him a better perspective on things, instead of the BS he is saying now, LOL).

Out of the 6 political parties I have mentioned the first 4 parties were represented in the previous parliament while the other two will try to "squeeze their way in" with limited chances of succeeding. Of course since this Greece and I am one of the most sane/insane citizens of it(it is a matter of individual perspective,lol) I could be wrong, LOL. The big parties are really good fun these days, moving around their "ideologies" like rearranging furniture. The Greens started as a party in the centre/left wing section but currently have moved towards the centre right wing. The Blues were the original right wing/centre party but have moved more towards the centre. The Reds are supposedly left wing but sometimes they have really ecstatic right wing tendencies and modes of operation. It is truely surreal. Everyone seems to have an identity crisis that makes my own look like child's play:)

The Blues... The initials stand for "New Democracy" , cant quite figure out what was wrong with the old one though:)

So how about the people of Greece then? What are their criteria for voting something, you might ask puzzled or bemused (these two concepts are not mutually exclusive by the way, lol). This is where the good stuff begins. There was a time when things were clear you know, a time when ideologies counted for something. A time when the Greens operated with their core value being "the fellow man" and when Blues were all about financial evolution even if it was at the expense of man as a unit. So people depending on what camp they were on, they were voting based on the above principles. In Greece, family tradition played a crucial role in what future generations voted(still does to some extent). You see, politicians and voters have a 'personal' relationship of sorts in Greece. Politicians promise certain jobs in the public sector to voters and voters vote like sheeps to the slaughter.This 'trusting' relationship between politicians and people is called in broad terms a "rousfeti". A "rousfeti" is an informal agreement of sorts that stands for "If I get elected, I wont forget who voted for me you will get a job my dear voter...or whatever else you please". Yep, those are the rules of engagement in greek politics not per se but still to some extent. Oh, our long gone ancestors, the founders of democracy, would be so proud of us I am sure.... The thought alone brings a tear of joy to my eyes:). Their democracy wasnt perfect either I have to say, since in Athens(where it all started you democracy lovers around the world) non-Athenians were slaves or non-voting citizens and women did not vote either (Bummer!). But it was a start you know,in an era of Kings and Queens and tyranic oppressors of sorts, so eat your hearts out you other nations, it all started here in Greece during the 5th Century B.C. and there is nothing you can do about it, muhahahaha (Oh, dont cry now, I was only joking... see I'll make a funny face now...oh come on smile... LOL).

The Greens... the initials stand for : "Panhellenic ('hellenic' means 'greek') Socialistic Movement". Phew! What a mouthful! I am tired:)

Nowadays, younger people ( I am 28 heading irreversibly to 29, lol. Oh glorious 29 I am coming for you , you sucker, lol)) have total disregard for elections. They dont give a toss who is elected, what he does, if he does anything, it is all about mobile phones, game consoles, sex infused dreams/practices and I-Poding their existence into every day. However, all is not lost. For one, I am Greek which is a credit to my country of course, since I am probably its best export at the moment after olive oil and feta cheese (dont fuck with feta cheese, it is awesome, lol). So, yeah while DP is alive and kicking Greece has a chance of either being blown to smitherins or reaching great heights of magnificence. We both know the former is a more realistic option with me :)

The Reds, the initials stand for "Communistic Party of Greece".Yep, as you can see the 'USSR dress sense' hasnt evaded some people or their logos:)

Let's finish this on a high note. Regardless of my excess mumbling so far down the post which as always is exaggerated to death (yep, I love being over the top, it is what I do best, just check the dynamite on my header top left, LOL), national elections is an important thing here in Greece. You see regardless if some people are misled or put personal gain up front (who doesnt to some extent...) they do respect the process. I see UK for example where around 50% of the voters vote. I mean this is ridiculous! What kind of government is that , that is elected by half the nation's voters! I think that is a serious weakness in any modern democracy. In Greece people vote because it is something embedded in their core, it comes as natural as taking a leak or eating your favourite snack. It is part of our collective DNA. Maybe we are flawed in our motivation and questionable on our choices but noone can blame us for not wholeheartidly and massively supporting what is essentially the core of the democratic ideal, voting.People were tortured, killed and fought , not so long ago, for us to have this right and privilege and it would be like digging out their graves if we didnt participate in the process to honour their sacrifice and hardships.

These people used to be Orange but now they went apparently multi-coloured:) The initials stand for "Coalition of Radical Left Wing" (I have to admit that the english translation makes it sound way cooler than the greek version, lol)

The initials stand for "Laic Orthodox Alert" (yes "alert" as in "a fire alert" I kid you not, who comes up with these names anyway, geez...). This word 'ΛΑΟΣ' means "people" in the collective "citizens of a nation" sense. Just a little extra info for you:)



Ok, ok I dont have a clue what the logo of this party looks like. The party is called "Democratic Renaissance (I kid you not, LOL) of Citizens". Since its leader is "almost" a dwarf height wise, I chose a killer dwarf as its logo (I am sure it looks way cooler than whatever pesky logo they are using, LOL)

You know, maybe I should give a shot at getting elected. Maybe I should create my own political party named "Insanity Infused Salvation". Then maybe not... the nation is not ready for me just yet, poor suckers they can't handle me( I am so full of BS, it is unbelievable,lol).So I would like to grasp this opportunity to quit from my political career. Oh, yeah, now I remember, I never had one, bummer:)



And then there could have been....

The "Insanity Infused Salvation" party created by Deadpoolite. Heads off... ahem... I meant heads up my wannabe voters, our time will come eventually one wacky joke at a time:) Patience...


P.S. I had tremendous fun writing this post and I hope you enjoyed it as well:)


Take care!

Keeping the eye on the long term goal...

Did you ever have a long term goal? An idea of where you want to be in 5-8 years time with your career and life? For me it has been anything but a smooth ride so far. I made decisions sometimes with the wrong criteria which felt right at the time... Sometimes, logic did not prevail or circumstance forced me to take a detour. I doubted about my commitment to the long term goal, several times... I doubted I am willing of reaching it anymore (because I know I am capable to do so, it is a matter of persistence and exploiting existing skills to the fullest).These past few days the time finally came to make an important decision about my life. Am I still rooting for the long term goal or I will be satisfied with "the next best thing"?

The weight of expectation and occassional self doubt can get unbearable sometimes, even for good old DP:)

This decision really has torn me apart I have to say. You see there is something I have to do here in Greece that is not dictated by need or desire but it is a necessity enforced by stupid legislation. It is going to slow me down but I need to get it off my back(more on that in a future post). I tried to fool myself that the long term goal was not important anymore that I could go around things, so that things would get better before they get worse. But then I realised that I don't HAVE a long term goal... I AM the long term goal! I just won't be able to face myself in the mirror if I dont give it my best shot, even if that means that 2008 will be pretty much a "dead year" for me. What scared me even more is that, eventually, if I don't pursue the long term goal with all my strength then there will come a time where any unfortunate soulmate by my side will face the repercussions of my decision. Transferring the blame to someone else is always the easy way out but I am not that kind of man and I dont want to ever be that kind of man! Thus, I am relieved by one thing and one thing only: I am still hungry to reach the longterm goal and still crave to do so with all my power. I had second thoughts about it in recent years and certain unexpected adversities made me lose sight of it for a while. But now I realise it has always been at the back of my mind. Finally, I can look myself in the mirror again and KNOW that I made my decision with the right criteria. For an intelligent fellow, like I consider myself to be, it took me too long to realise. You see, my decisions in the recent couple of years were clouded by sentiment a lot of the time which is not a realistic take on life. A noble more intimate approach maybe but not a realistic one...

I know I am not being specific about this but I will probably be, if I wish to do so at all , in future posts. Just wanted to share this with you and get it off my chest.

Thanks for reading friends!

P.S. : Man, I can be so deep sometimes I scare myself LOL!

Yep, a smile of content just lit my face:).
It has been a while since I had one of those...

Who is the thug?

You know sometimes with blogging you have to go back to basics. You have to remember what made you start blogging in the first place. Were you bored out of your mind? Did you have an inherent need to ridicule yourself in front of a reading audience, did you just want to have some fun (regardless of what one considers “fun”). So now, as things become more and more complicated in my real life where does that leave my blogging addiction? I don’t have the answer to that but all I know is that the reason I founded this blog was to have fun. Have fun by exercising some sort of vitriolic, wacky, self sarcastic sense of humour towards things I like, things that catch my interest, things that are absolutely over the top to the point of infinitely ridiculous. In that mould, today I am in the mood to take the piss out of something and that always feels liberating. The unfortunate victim of my verbal mayhem will be the new guy playing James Bond, the infamous Daniel Craig.

Oh 007 where art thou? Who is this imposter in your place...? Pierce! Come back to the world of uber tight tuxedos and miniature handguns...please:)

To spice things up, I’ll present my reaction when I learned that this guy is going to play the role of James Bond(way before the actually movie was made) and then my reaction after I watched the actual movie. So take your popcorn, clear your brains of any meaningful thoughts, set your sense of logic into stand by…If you have done all of the above successfully(by the way this blog doesn’t take any responsibility for any temporary of permanent brain damage caused to its readers…), get ready to indulge into the reading of another pointless attempt of Deadpoolite to tear apart pop culture(you know usually an introduction to a blog entry has to motivate readers to READ ON, not banish one’s blog into oblivion…Maybe I have to become uber clichéd to lure the masses instead… nahhh too boring, lol).

Deadpoolite... Wacky Deadpoolite... At your blogging service ladies and gentlemen:)

So I remember the infamous day when I read the grave news on the net. Pierce Brosnan was to be "Mr. 007" no more… “Surely” I thought, "if the producers have the balls to replace the guy who has arguably been the best Bond since Sean Connery his replacement has to be some extremely cool and charming guy". Then, I read on… the name of the new actor incarnating Bond was Daniel Craig. My first reaction was “Who?”, then I saw the picture of the guy and the PC screen flickered violently for a brief moment(the spirits of bad casting choice had awakened it seems...). Surely this cant be… this must be a typo… some raving stupid rumour spreading on the net as usual. Then I checked another movie site and another... Nope it wasnt a bad dream... that was certainly the guy who would be James Bond, Daniel Craig. At that exact moment my good friend Alan( I was trespassing on his PC you see, lol) came into the room. He saw the picture of Daniel Craig and he said: "Who is the thug?". Never truer words have been spoken... Being the movie buff that I am I tried to recall some movies where I had seen Daniel Craig in, even if he was as verbal as a garden stool in them. I tried, I really tried. I remembered there was a movie where he played the bastard gigolo of sorts (havent watched it but someone I know has... poor sucker...lol), in another one I've read that he was playing an uber gay guy. Furthermore, I've seen the trailer of a third one called 'Layer Cake' (no it is not about the fine art of bakery, it is a gangster movie, lol). The only movie I have watched him from start to finish in (yeah I am mazochistic like that, it makes my world a better place,ha,ha,ha) was 'Munich' in which he played a dodgy British /Israeli guy (what a stretch for his acting then... he is British...) and he was probably the most indifferent member of the whole cast. And this guy was to be the next Bond...I still couldnt believe it. The following dialogue between myself and Alan ensued(OK, not really but it totally reflects our sentiments on the day...)

Alan: So who is the thug?
DP: Do you have a heart condition?
Alan: Nope, unless you count extreme coolness as a disease of sorts:)
DP: You are so full of BS , you can flood the room you know...
Alan: So who is the thug then?
DP: He is the new James Bond!
Alan: Are they shooting it as a parody?
DP: More like a tragedy waiting to happen...
Alan: So he is definitely the new 007, I guess they want to kill off the property...
DP: Guess so...
Alan: Dude, he is such a thug isnt he?
DP: Yep he was born to be one and he will always be one....just look at his face... He looks like he is the punch bag of Rocky Balboa...
Alan: And that is the understatement of the year...


In the process I discovered a site made by Bond afficionados who were objecting to Daniel Craig's choice as James Bond. They were totally pushing the envelope with the issue but it was a funny place to hung out for a while. I wonder if it is still on-line...


Does he stick out like a sore thumb or what... I mean even Timothy Dalton looks cooler... More of this at : http://www.danielcraigisnotbond.com/ .
Enjoy:)


So here we are today having watched the new movie a few weeks back... Do I still believe he is a crap choice to play Bond? I have to say that I dont care about great box office numbers, James Bond is such a huge franchise, Danny De Vito could play him and he would still bring lots of money in, LOL. Thus, the argument that "Daniel Thaig" is suitable for the role is as valid as the argument that I am totally sane...Utter BS:) Ok, on with the festivities then. Casino Royale is a great action movie, it is good fun, it has a griddy sense of danger and violence. So, a guy like me should be in 'macho men heaven' if such a place truely exists, just by watching it... right? Well, all is good, until Daniel Craig's close up face shots come in play. He looks like a thug, he looks like a henchman, like a deranged psychopathic hitman of sorts, like a cross dressing inmate of celebrity big brother at best. He looks like anyone else BUT Bond! No amount of bicep power and glittering tuxedo can convince me otherwise. When Daniel Craig tries to play it cool , he plays it "constipation infused cool". He just doesn have it... he is trying...he is sweating... he is smirking... he raises his eyebrow and tightens the upper lip. He makes an attempt to transform into a believable Bond but he just doesnt have IT. I mean I dont think he could flirt, in his Bond persona, with a woman successfully even if his life depended on it. Because Daniel definitely reads my blog (maybe in an alternate universe, lol) I dont want to leave him on a low. I dont want him to go and jump from a high cliff just because DP said so... Behind his bummish doofus appearence hides a sensitive man, a man that "outcockneys the cockniest" among us. In that respect, I present you the best Daniel Craig mugshot known to man! It is the photoshopped image that outphotoshops the most photoshopped images in existence. So, Daniel smile... you may not be Bond per se but this has been a "bonding" (sorry couldnt resist the pun, guilty as charged, LOL) experience with your zero membered fan base.Cherish the moment... Take it on the chin Daniel... it wont be the first time as your face so eloquently "states"...


Presenting you with Bond's ArchNemesis' number one henchman... Wait a minute... this cant be... this is Bond? NOOOOOOO!!!! Movie gods have mercy on us....:) "When Bond went thug or when thug went Bond..." Either way it sucks... Shoot(cinematically not literally ha,ha,ha) the guy from a bird's eye view distance only and you've got something good going on...:) By the way this is him on a good day... This is probably his best photoshopped mugshot ever, so give him a pat on the back then for a job well done:)



If reinventing a franchise, that didnt need reinvention to begin with, means casting on the lead role a guy who looks like he just escaped from a sanitarium and mutters one liners like : "I am aware that 00 agents have a limited life expectancy" with the coolness and acting ability of an ice block, then all credit to them. Welcome agent ThugBond! I am sure you are here to stay...

Another "tearing apart pop culture" mission successfully completed. Life is so much fun in the little blog universe of agent DP, isn't it:)

Till next time, take care fellow blogging accomplices!


P.S. A little something for the road.... enjoy!



The theme song to end all theme songs :)

Not a bad idea, not a bad idea at all...

I am going to share something with you. A secret of sorts... This wasn't really something I came up with but an idea that my mother had. For some uncanny reason she finds this blogging adventure I have embarked in during these past few months quite exciting. She reads some texts in the greek blog and she finds particularly intriguing that her son communicates with people from all around the world while his writing has some luring effect to people from various ethnic backgrounds. Personally, it feels quite natural to have this sort of "interacial neighbourhood" to interact with day in day out because I lived in London for 5 years or so, thus I am used to such a diversity of communication. Still, blogging has made the experience more creative and interesting, plus it seems that most people are more easily "themselves" while blogging, without the hypocrisies and conventional behaviours they employ in their every day lives.Anyway I am getting slightly off-topic now so let me restart...

How can you NOT love this woman! LOL. Helena Paparizou, first place, Eurovision song contest 2005. Just a "greek appetizer" to begin with :) Enjoy!


I noticed that the post about Greece had some really great reception by the readers of this blog. Maybe not in the number of comments it gathered but in the enthusiastic reception of sorts it had. It is a little known fact that in the worldwide scale modern Greece is a bit of an unknown quantity to be honest. Some people don't even know where it is I am sure. From your comments, I realised that what may seem ordinary to me because it is my life and part of my upbringing may seem interesting to other people since it brings them in contact with a culture and mentality they are not well aware of, if at all. Thus, I kinda of thought that now and then I could infuse this blog with a bit more of greek related things in the sense that it will give you a "window" into the psyche of the nation plus it can be "an informative jolt of all things greek" for anyone that is curious to know more. I won't be writing such posts on regular basis just now and then, but they will provide a good insight on how Greeks perceive the world around them, some greek every day habits and favourite past times, some cool places for one to visit etc. Anything greek related goes really :). I have to warn you that I dont consider myself to be 'an average greek person' in the sense that I have lived outside the borders of my country and have broadened my horizons as many other of my compatriots (e.g. for example my friend itelli) have as well. Thus, I may appear to be a bit too forward and kinda of harsh sometimes with my viewpoints. Still, if I wasn't, I wouldt be Deadpoolite but any random Greek "malakas" so to speak, LOL!




In that respect, my mom had a great idea, I think, about a first handful of posts in this topic area. She told me : "Dont you think that it would be interesting to showcase to your readers what Greeks think of the treatment of some of the most priced pieces of their ancient heritage mythology and history by pop culture?". Essentially, this means that I am going to provide some insight on how we perceive this transition of our ancestors creations and achievements or even modern greek life, onto popular media like the silver screen or TV and how "loyal" those transitions are to the original material they derived from. I won't bore you with many meaningless details, besides I don't know all about the origins of all greek myths and historical facts but I am going to give it a shot.

For that purpose I am going to create a new topic area/label under the name of "It's all Greek to me...". Essentially this is going to be more of an informative humour infused topic area about the country compared to the already existing label "Dissecting modern Greece pass me my scalpel please" which is more of a case of "DP taking the piss at his daily life within the madness of modern greek society, pulling no punches in the process, LOL".




Let's slice those misconceptions about Greece in half... Off with the heads of the interlopers and the sycophants I say!!! LOL



Anyway I hope I find the time to do this idea justice sooner rather than later because I realise that for you this concept forms a bit of an uncharted terrirory and that is always exciting. So, then, big hug to my mom for such an original idea (after all she gave birth to me she can't be all that bad and unoriginal right? LOL) and on with the festivities in this blog:)



When you think that Helena Paparizou can't possibly get any hotter... She goes to the 2006 Eurovision song contest to sing during the voting, as the winner of the previous year's contest... By default, all hell breaks loose:)


Take care and talk to ya soon!

Live your myth in Greece…6 blogtastic things about my country...

I have to be honest with you guys I did not intend to write such a post about my country, Greece, at least not at present. However, my friend Zhu asked me to do so and if there is one thing I have come to terms with in this eight month blogging adventure of mine is that there is nothing ‘blogging related’ that Zhu would ask me to do and I would say ‘no’. Yep, I like her a lot, she is just all about positive vibes so this is for her really(oh, who am I kidding I am having fun with this ,heh). Just don’t get any ideas that I would be positive on doing the chicken dance wearing my underpants on my head, post it on Youtube and embed it in the blog. So yeah , ALMOST anything goes, LOL!

The hill of Acropolis in Athens with the temple of Parthenon at the top. The eternal symbol of Greece.

1) If there is one thing that all Mediterranean nations have in common is that they have great cuisine. What I have noticed in other countries either in Europe or further away is that they base a lot of their recipes on spices and thick gravies just to make the food look cool and cover its other inadequacies. It is no secret that the basic constituent of all Mediterranean cuisine is olive oil which must surely be one of the top five essential food constituents (I would place it at the top actually) worldwide. So, yeah I wont be showering you with pictures of foodstuff or names of greek foods that rock because blogging about it just doesn’t do it justice. But trust me on this, if you are a lover of good food, you owe it to yourself to have a go at greek cuisine whether you come to the country or not. Just punch in a couple of extra holes in your belt before you do because greek food is too tasty and you will be lured into excesses because of it.

Greek ... Food...Awesome...Yep, that sums it up alright:)

2) Greeks as all people have specific characteristics which I think would be interesting to convey to you especially for the people among you that have never met one up close and personal. By default Greeks talk a lot, talk loud, laugh a lot, swear a lot and generally are very outgoing. They go out a lot regardless if it is a weekday or a weekend and their second priority after having the essentials to live is to have a good time all the time if possible. On the downside it isn’t unheard of for greek people to claim to know something just to appear knowledgeable and they whine about their daily lives more often than not. One particularly interesting trait of my race is that we are last minute people in almost everything, however it is very rare that we fail on something:). It all comes down to one little word ‘filotimo’. When a deadline approaches and not as much work as should have been done has been done, ‘filotimo’ kicks in. Under the influence of this concept, Greeks will work harder than humanly possible to meet the deadline and finish the project on time. Rarely Greeks fail when doing that but it is a more stressful way of doing things than being organised, lol. Essentially ‘filotimo’ could be translated very vaguely as the inherent need of each Greek to do the best job at what he does and take great pride in doing it being motivated by the fear of being ridiculed if not doing it at all or if doing it badly. Yep, we are suckers for a good incentive to do things you see, LOL!

The day when the Olympic Games returned back home... Shivers run down my spine just thinking about it... Can't wait to see what China, another nation with great history, has cooked up for the 2008 Olympic games, only one year to go...:)

3)Now for the heroic readers that have reached this far down this blog entry there are a couple of useful pointers that, if you are aware of, you’ ll be fully prepared to enjoy your stay in this country. Just trust me and go with the flow on this one. To begin with, one aspect that always scares the shit out of people that visit Greece is the driving mentality of the nation. No, no, no you misunderstood I am not talking about a bunch of extremely motivated people, I am talking about how one drives his car and behaves in the streets. Forget about zebra crossings and sticking to them to cross roads as a pedestrian. This just wont do the trick in Greece. In Greece cars don’t stop before them so that pedestrians can cross, therefore be careful unless your ultimate ambition in life is to become embedded on the asphalt of the road. Furthermore, car overtaking at improper road spots is not an uncommon driving skill in Greece. Hey, I am only doing you a favour here... Oh, well at least we don’t drive on pavements like Portuguese drivers do, Mark Twain said that so I believe him, lol. Another overrated commodity in Greece is making queues waiting for things to happen or some sort of service. As I have said in the past “Greeks only make queues if they are having their passports checked or ride on escalators simply because the space is too narrow not too”, LOL. Ok, ok I am exaggerating a lot here just don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a queue somewhere there was supposed to be one…it happens sometimes.

Another day driving in Greece and trying to survive to tell the tale:) Yeah, I know, I know... I am a riot sometimes:)

4)If there is one word that makes modern Greece go around , it must be the word ‘malakas’ (emphasis on ‘la’ when pronouncing). I swear to every god imaginable that if I had a Euro for every time I heard foreigners saying the word ‘malakas’ outside the greek borders or within the country, as a greeting of sorts, I would have been a bloody millionaire by now! I understand that it is really easy to pronounce and has a nice funny ring to the ear for the non-Greeks so that is why for a lot of foreigners use it. Come to think of it, it probably is the first (and sometimes the last) greek word they learn speaking in greek! So what does it really mean… hmm… the origin of the word is a bit ‘too sticky’ shall we say so I’ll just move along on coaching you about how to use this word (although not using it is more politically correct but where is the fun in that,lol). So, what does ‘malakas’ mean? Well, this must be the most multipurpose word in the history of human linguistics, I kid you not ha,ha,ha! Now, if you go around in Greece and say ‘hi malakas’ to the first person you see on the street he’ll probably punch you in the face so don’t do that unless you get a kick out of replacing all your teeth by a dentist. However, if you know someone really well and you tell him ‘hi malakas’ he wont be insulted, it would just be considered a greeting of sorts. Crazy isn’t it? Just don’t use it too often. A lot of times walking in Greece you are going to hear people talking saying : “Malakas this and malakas that… and more malakas…. And even more malakas…. And so on and so forth”. Do not indulge into the groove and start using it too much yourselves, it is more of an inbred lingo than something foreigners say to natives. So unless you are the bastard child of Bruce Lee and you are ace in martial arts stay away from using ‘malakas’ referring to people you don’t know or you’ll probably get ‘taken down with extreme prejudice’ as I say (just joking,heh). Still, I can tell you are now officially intrigued, so from now on you are going to ‘malaka’ your way harmlessly out of everything in your countries of residence, saying it out loud all the time… After all it has a nice ring to it, be warned though that a lot of foreigners that have interacted with Greeks know it, lol.

Did you just call me 'malakas'? Oh you scum, you are soooo dead, LOL!!! (Not the type of music I am fond of but this vid is so over the top I couldnt ressist, ha,ha,ha)

5)Greece has so many diverse things for a tourist to see it is beyond belief. It is not just the islands, or just the mountains, or just the forests (yep, we got plenty left,lol) , or just the nightlife. It is a really interesting and very beautiful place. The weather is absolutely amazing albeit a bit hotter during summer these past couple of years. A problem ‘us’ Greeks have when going abroad especially in northern regions is the lack of contact with the warmth of the greek sun. For Greeks the sun means life and not getting enough of it really makes us grumpy sometimes,lol. French say that ‘Greece is the country touched by God’ regarding its natural beauty and I am not going to argue with that,lol. And don’t get me started on the astonishing remnants of greek ancient civilization…

It really took me a lot of time to choose this video since there were a lot of ridiculously tacky ones on youtube. This one however has the vibe I was looking for... Nuff said, enjoy:)

6)Now time for a couple of totally unrelated random facts about the country:

Greece has the second highest accumulated seismic activity load and occurrence of earthquakes in the world second only to Japan. Yep, it is true and it has a great deal to do with its position on the map and the convergence of Europe and Asia on a subterranean level. Still, don’t tie your knickers on a knot just yet. The vast majority of the earthquakes happen at sea so no harm done really. I have to say it was really funny when I went to the London Natural History Museum and they had some sort of earthquake simulator there to show people what ‘an earthquake feels like’. It just felt so surreal to someone that comes from a country that is ‘shaking groovily’ because of earthquakes now and then to stand in front of an ‘earthquake simulator’ and watch other people interact with it in awe, lol.

When tolerably sized earthquakes hit the country from time to time our attitude towards them is depicted by the above song, LOL. We are used to them you see:). If earthquakes rank too high in the Richter scale, we piss our pants from fear like all people around the world do, LOL!

Another cool fact is that Greece is currently the European Champion in both football and basketball(it also ranks second in the world in basketball). Not bad for an 11,000,000 people country e? Heh!

Anyway, I could add more stuff to this already ‘too long’ post but I think I am tiring people out so I’ ll just stop now. I hope it shows that I tried to present various aspects of modern Greece in a fun and easy to read way. Who knows maybe I raised your interest enough to even visit the place or google it up.Above all else modern Greece is a beautiful and fun country, give it a shot, you never know, you may actually like it!

I really liked this vid for some reason, so I decided to post it here as well, enjoy:)

P.S. 1 Oh, you owe me so many cookies now Zhu it is unbelievable…Start baking like there is no tomorrow girl ha,ha,ha. Sorry, folks a little inside joke there between me and my friend Zhu.

P.S. 2 The title of this post ‘Live your myth in Greece’ is the moto of the latest advertising campaign promoting our tourism abroad. Personally, I find it a bit cheesy and tacky but at the other end of the spectrum if does have a nice cool ring to it, so that is why I used it as a header of sorts for this post.

Till next time, take care!