remember?

when you feel as if you're suffocating
in a world that's out of sorts
with a heart threatening to explode
like a haunting fear so carefully oppressed
remember to breathe;
it is your right and your blessing at once
like light and love and childish playfulness,
like sobbing and yelping and the dive into dark thoughts
it is your gift and your right.
Appreciate it, and use it as your weapon,
like a magician plunge your hand into your bag of tricks
and regenerate the illusion
and the truth of your power.
Remember to breathe,
and remember to smile.
We shouldn't forget as we grow older,
but we do

Smiling to the tunes... Welcome to the future of music!

Το παρακατω κειμενο ειναι του Stan Schroeder, απο το Mashable! Διαβαστε το (10 γραμμες ειναι, και πραγματικα εχει ενδιαφερον) και δειτε οπως-και-δηποτε (!) το video... Εμενα τουλαχιστον μου εβγαλε ενα τεραστιο χαμογελο ΑΥΤΗ η μουσικη...

This time, it’s not a hyperbole. Israeli musician Kutiman has taken hundreds of YouTube samples - often non-musical ones - and turned them into an album that’s awesome on so many levels that it leaves you stunned. First of all, the music is good; really good, especially if you’re a fan of Ninja Tune’s catalog. Secondly, it’s amazing to see all those unrelated YouTube bits and pieces fit together so perfectly. Kutiman, whose self-titled debut received high praise from sites such as Pitchfork Magazine, proves that any sound can be music if you know what to do with it.

Finally, the album is interesting from the perspective of distribution. It is freely available at thru-you.com; it is released in the form of 7 songs which are at the same time all singles and videos. The videos can be freely embedded and shared everywhere. No record labels, no distribution costs, almost no production costs. Welcome to the future of music.

Check out the first song from the album below.

Smiling pictures found online...

Seeing Athens smile

By Alexia Amvrazi

THERE are certain things that I can guarantee would make many, if not most Athenians smile a whole lot longer and a whole lot more. Being aware of them can be frustrating and dark, because they’re so obvious and simple and yet so challengingly resistant about materializing. On the other hand, mere awareness has the sheer force to make a seed to pop and blossom, and for a dream to continue to unfold into reality. Creative visualization, the art of visualizing your wishes into manifestation, has been proven to work by leading scientists, head doctors, poets and spiritual gurus alike. You can write down or draw your dream, including as many details as possible, and whilst conceptualizing it, repeat to yourself that you’re looking at something that is already happening, not a long-distant fantasy. Smile-worthy Athens is a technicolor reality, and it looks something like this.

1. Something’s missing & it’s nice…There are no cars or motorbikes parked (or moving around!) on the pavement, on the sides of tiny roads or in green spaces. In fact there are very few cars at all, because numerous underground parking spaces have been built around the city and there’s now a London-style congestion charge that gets people off their lazy derriers and onto the metro instead. Drives to the kiosk for crisps are automatically reduced, while taxi fares remain the same while taxi vehicle numbers do not increase.

2. Slicing the tape: Public servants are human-friendly, communicative, very obliging, speedy, fair, efficient and compassionate. There are lots of comfy sofas and chairs and free coffee and cool magazines for those who wait to be served (not longer than 10 minutes). Visits to tax offices, immigration services, etc are now extremely rare because everything can be done easily and accessibly online from the comfort of your desk, and with free wi-fi everywhere in Athens, it’s a piece of cake. Also, the 24 hour public services hotline for even the most cringesomely stupid questions is amazingly top rate.

3. I see trees of green, red roses too…: There is lush greenery everywhere! Huge parks, scenic walkways, flowers and trees lining the streets, all kept in perfect condition by the municipalities, and totally unpolluted. You can practically walk to work on a park-to-park shortcut, and arrive at your desk with a flower or fresh herb in your hand (or hair – peace, brother!). Looking up whilst walking in the city keeps the green vision going; every balcony and rooftop is a small or tiny green haven, overgrown with beautiful Mediterranean flowers and plants.

4. One out of ten: There are no ghettos in Athens. Immigrants and migrants have clean, dignified accommodation and are welcomed to live amongst us as new citizens planning their positive new beginnings after a traumatic past. There is no ‘home’ for sex slavery or in-your-face prostitution, and drug addicts are not thrown onto the streets to rot in a cycle of self-destruction and made to wait for years in case they get onto the methadone list.

5. On the road again: Garbage trucks only appear in the hours when 80% of the city snores, and garbage employees would never consider going on strike to get their demands met. The contents of blue recycle bins are always efficiently gathered and recycled, and every citizen uses them, even those who are decidedly ignorant and/or lazy. Strikes and protests never clog up the city. Public transport (all electric) is always on time and always airy, comfortable and clean. There are bicycle lanes throughout the city (including all the park shortcuts of course) and drivers truly respect the safety and rights of cyclists. Bikes are allowed on the HSAP railway and on the metro. Instead of giving monetary or tax incentives for the public to buy more cars, the government bans petrol-fuelled vehicles and urges and helps drivers to buy green cars and circulate only with those in the city centre.

6. Being able:
All those thousands of disabled individuals who are locked away in their homes, unwilling and unable to circulate freely and safely and happily through their city are out and about doing just that. Full respect and consideration are given to the physically challenged in public and private buildings and places, while paths for the blind don’t lead into kiosks or brick walls.

7. People smile and laugh with each other,

as common practice. When you smile at or receive a smile from someone you’ve bumped into, you are immediately brushing the slightly annoying incident aside, rather than dwelling

on it and consequently setting off on a whole journey of nagging thoughts. I am tired of being faced with people’s suspicion or what looks like disdain when I’m smiley in my look or chat. My smile just wants to be!

8. Women are not portrayed as sex objects W by the media and advertising campaigns. Greek women don’t accept the term that to work on TV they have to flash their never-ending cleavage from morning to night. Young women raised on the post-war principle that in order to ‘go places’ metaphorically and literally they need to snag a wealthy man by playing bimbo or “gatoula” (little cat) with the sealed mouth and giant eye and ear reject such a formula and take their individuality and survival into their own hands. Also, Greek women support each other in the face of the blatant sexism of a overly macho society rather than bitchin and competing. PR women don’t have deep, gravelly, manly voices and walking into a party doesn’t involved being given the head to toe killer look by fellow females alarmed that you’re ready to gorge yourself on their lover.

send us YOUR smile map!

We all follow the same map when it comes to getting from A to Z in our urban jungle, but what about when it comes to smiling? Every person has a very individual smile map of Athens, and
we invite you to share your top 10 smiling spots
and a few lines expressing the reason why they make you smile!

http://smileathens.blogspot.com/2009/02/smile-map-of-athens.html

Όλοι μας ακλουθούμε τον ίδιο χάρτη όταν θέλουμε να κινηθούμε από το Α στο Ω μέρος της πόλης μας, αλλά ποιον χάρτη ακλουθούμε όταν θέλουμε να χαμογελάσουμε? Ο καθένας μας έχει το δικό του προσωπικό χάρτη τις Αθήνας, και
σε προσκαλούμε να μοιράσεις μαζί μας τα 10 Top Smile σημεία σου
και μερικές γραμμές περιγράφοντας τους λόγους για τους οποίους σε κάνουν να χαμογελάς!

World Smile Day

It may be early days, but did you know about World Smile Day? It takes place every year, on the first Friday in October, so this year it's on the 2nd of October 2009... So we are already brainstorming for something big to take place here in Athens! Feel free to post your ideas in the comment section. ( image from http://flickr.com/photos/39614376@N00/2853243956/)

Smile Map of Athens

By Alexia Amvrazi

It’s true, despite all the noise, chaos, general bad manners, earth-shatteringly high prices and pollution, there are days – or rich, overflowingly bright moments – when Athens makes me profoundly smile, with my heart. And similarly there are certain places that I can guarantee will make my cells shimmy in sometimes an almost unbearably happy frenzy, a joy reminiscent of the sound of Edith Piaf’s expansive voice resonating ‘La Vie En Rose’ through every corner of my body, or like Julie Andrews on a hill throwing her arms up into the air and explosively singing The Sound of Music, or like the insane spiral of heightening speed in the Syrtaki dance fuelled by panygiri wine. Of course these ‘happy places’ are a very subjective experience - the place where I feel happy and alive may be the very same place where someone else might have broken their leg, or worse, their heart. And that’s the interesting thing about this section of smileathens, how much each contributor’s Smile Map can vary, or even how the same places might be chosen for very different reasons. When I moved to Athens in 1982 I lived in the northern suburb of Kifissia, which I still visit regularly since my parents live there, so I shall begin my map that-aways...


1. ☺ The “green patch” on the right hand side along the Kifissias Avenue, just before entering Kiffisia. This is the point where the air temperature drops by around two to three degrees Celsius. Regardless of the season this freshness always feels elating somehow.





2. ☺ Varsos in Kifissia. Varsos is a classic. Just the overwhelming smell of tsoureki and cream, the endless display of meringues, chocolates and tiny pink icing-covered sweets is enough to bring a smile to one’s face, not to mention the general feeling of chaos, the ancient décor (and waiting staff) that keep my teenage memories of skipping morning classes to smoke and drink frappe with fellow schoolmates firmly intact. Also, the famous Varsos stuffed croissant, filled with chocolate and nuts, which a few years ago was hilariously advertised on a piece of A4 paper with a felt pen scribbling that wrote: “these are the very croissants that Prince Charles and Camilla ordered whilst staying in their yacht in Greece recently”. I hope Varsos never changes!

3. ☺ Thisseio. After searching for a long time, and I mean a long time, (and creeping out the residents of the Apostolou Pavlou / Dyonissiou Aeropagitou walkway by perambulating through their neighbourhood looking haunted by my desire to find a home there) I finally moved to Thisseio. There’s a lot that makes me smile about that place: its old-worldliness, the way renovated neoclassical buildings blend with ancient structures, the excruciatingly slow-service organic grocery store on Eptahalkou St, the parks where dog walkers chat and children play til way past midnight, Paionia tea shop on Amfyktionis St, the golden orange resort-type atmosphere during summer twilight that transports you far, far from Athens. And of course the above-mentioned pedestrian, baby carriage, and cyclist-friendly walkways that embrace the Acropolis, as well as Philopappou hill with its lush greenery, various forms of wildlife and glorious views.


4. ☺ Kostas souvlaki on Adrianou St in Plaka. This hole in the wall joint has been serving souvlakia to Athenians and visitors since the late 1940s, and celebrates the fact that its style and standards have remained the same. Quality meat, non-greasy pitta bread, thick creamy yogurt, hot green pepper, lots of finely chopped parsley and a big pinch of loving care make this souvlaki the best I’ve ever had, the type that my grandfather was thinking of when telling me 10 years ago that “you can no longer find a real souvlaki in this city.” Kostas’ grandson has taken the reins, and continues with the same, slow style of preparation; a bit of chat with the regulars, who sit on stools and sip tsipouro, careful chopping, grilling and slicing, and as on my first visit I stood tapping my foot impatiently and looked up, I saw a smile-inducing sign that writes: “Oxi Anxos”, or “no stress” which explained it all. My sense of loyalty and respect for Kostas’ was set for life.

5. ☺ Café Boheme on 36 Omirou St. There is no doubt that if it weren’t for its owners Cassie Wagstaffe and Mimis Manolakis this would be just another trendy, high quality, bar/restaurant. Cassie is the ‘hostess with the mostest’, always organizing fun, creatively themed nights, making decorations and concocting quirky cocktails and decadent desserts alike with boundless enthusiasm, while truly being on a mission to introduce customers to each other, to create a big world of smiling friendship! After many years without a steady hangout (my previous two were margarita lunapark Toy Café in Karitsi Sq and people-watching paradise Morfes in Thisseio), Café Boheme feels like my friend’s house instead of a bar-restaurant, and there I have met wonderful foreigners and Greeks, danced on the table without morning-after shame, performed with a jazz band and dressed up in various laughable attires.

6. ☺ Panepistimiou St. From its first corner with Omonia, where the Loumidis coffee store is located, its pungent aroma filling my nostrils with the varieties of Elliniko, filtrou and espresso, to its very end at Syntagma Sq, I enjoy Panepistimiou St and it makes me feel happy. Unlike 98% of Athens, it has large and wide pavements, and is studded with beautiful buildings such as Athens Academy of Sciences (with its stunning statue of Athena in the sky), the Athens University and the National library, as well as the 6 storey Eleftheroudakis bookstore, perfect for cheering oneself up in on a dull day. It’s also the street where my grandmother’s family home once was (today it is the National Bank) so I also feel a sweet nostalgia for the days that were, imagining my grandmother strolling along there as a young girl in the 1930s, and hanging out at Zonars café with her friends, which apparently was the place to flirt.

7. ☺ Lycabettus’ St George church at sunset. Now I live near Lycabettus Hill, and although I have enjoyed lengthy walks there with my husband and our dog, the classic night drives to take in the glittery cityscapes and summer night uphill treks to the theatre, I had never walked up to St George church at sunset. Upon reaching the top one winter evening my heart sang, as I stood absolutely mesmerized by the engulfing colours of the sky – lavender, red, orange, pink, yellow, blue – in a sweet, wistful silence. We stood there for a long while, staring out at the city we think we know so well but manage to observe from afar so rarely, as it slowly lit up and the day turned gently into night. Pure bliss.


8.☺ The kafeneion down the road from my house. Just one of those basically furnished old coffee shops with strip lighting, a TV, yucky toilet and an old gas heater, overpopulated by men, yet having first gone there in good faith (gut instinct?) I feel appropriately rewarded: I discovered that not only are the owners extremely friendly and smiley and welcoming, not only can I spend hours playing my favourite sport (backgammon), but that they also serve the yummiest home-style food – from fresh whitebait to perfectly done eggs and homemade chips, pikilies not made up of foul fried stuff and bad meats but juicy olives, quality salamis and hams, crispy kalamari… The kind of place I happily go back to knowing that I’ll feel right at home.


9. ☺ My laiki. Every Tuesday we set off to buy fresh fish, vegetables, flowers and fruits from the market that sprawls noisily down the street from 7am to 3pm. Although we always set off determined to not buy too much because there are still those beetroots and lettuces and radishes and lemons on the verge of rotting in the fridge, we always return armed with a plethora of fresh produce that inspires so many recipes and visions of delicious, healthy, happy moments. There’s the fishmonger who knows us by now and won’t dare offer anything but the freshest (unfarmed) fish, which he also cleans for us, and then there’s my favourite, the gourmet laiki-seller man, who sells amazing varieties of Greek mushrooms, truffles and truffle pasta, offering wonderful recipe ideas for everything you pick up, such as the chestnutty red French potatoes “to be eaten steamed and salted with a pungent creamy cheese”.


10. ☺ Rafina port. It has to be said, that one of the greatest joys of Athens is being able to leave it and hop to lovely nearby places on the mainland and the islands. I smile when I think of Rafina port, not only because it reminds me of the few nerve-racking times we literally leapt super-hero like onto the boat to Andros because of tardiness, but also because unlike the horrendously polluted, noisy, grey and overpopulated Piraeus port, Rafina is almost quaint. You can arrive there earlier and enjoy some fresh fish mezedes with some ouzo right in front of the sea after picking up your tickets and then get onto the boat in a leisurely style; something like commencing your holiday way before arriving at your destination, and that can’t be a bad thing.