So I survived another valentine's day as a single guy, some doors have finally been closed while some new interesting onese seem to open and probably I made peace with myself on some sentimental issues.
Not bad for a week, let's see what the next one will bring
Not bad for a week, let's see what the next one will bring
Soooooooooo....
Finally I finished an annoying hip hop production I accepted a month or so ago, which I can assure was the first and last. I'm amazed with my endurance for managing to avoid laughing while that loser recorded those pseudo tough gangsta shit he called rhymes. But from every experience comes a lesson and this time that was: "Don't talk music while you're at nightclub, because you can't hear a thing and answer randomly and because you're drunk for sure"
But that's done and is a thing of the past now, time to look forward and definitely seeing a talentless poseur getting his shit together made me want to put some order over my stuff which I've neglected for some years now. Hopefully other people involved in those will share this need to get something done properly this time around.
As for other news, apparently I got some sort of real job this time around since I finally caved in about the subject of teaching and got accepted in a private language school for english and greek lessons. For now I got like 8 students to take care off and this school acts more like a pimp, but whatever since I'll make some decent money and work pretty much 16 hours a week. Hopefully I'll do good, I haven't taught many times and despite those few succesful cases I feel some anxiety.
Finally I finished an annoying hip hop production I accepted a month or so ago, which I can assure was the first and last. I'm amazed with my endurance for managing to avoid laughing while that loser recorded those pseudo tough gangsta shit he called rhymes. But from every experience comes a lesson and this time that was: "Don't talk music while you're at nightclub, because you can't hear a thing and answer randomly and because you're drunk for sure"
But that's done and is a thing of the past now, time to look forward and definitely seeing a talentless poseur getting his shit together made me want to put some order over my stuff which I've neglected for some years now. Hopefully other people involved in those will share this need to get something done properly this time around.
As for other news, apparently I got some sort of real job this time around since I finally caved in about the subject of teaching and got accepted in a private language school for english and greek lessons. For now I got like 8 students to take care off and this school acts more like a pimp, but whatever since I'll make some decent money and work pretty much 16 hours a week. Hopefully I'll do good, I haven't taught many times and despite those few succesful cases I feel some anxiety.
Making noise, going against myself and enjoying road trips under horrible conditions. That's my week, nice way to start February too. So far 2009 sucks as bad as 2008
Ok new blog
Apparently my house has been overtaken by gremlins. Not that I saw one but for the past few months my home appliances have been going crazy or just break down for no good reason at all. The last victim of this streak of bad luck has been my washing machine, or should I say washing machineS. Yup cause for the past two weeks I've been also trying to buy one, since it's cheaper than fixing the broken one, and for two times in a row and with a good wait in between I receive one that as soon as they install it it breaks down. Ok with one it can happen, but two? Shit luck! Hopefully the third one, which once again I'll have to wait for like a week, will actually work instead of flooding my bathroom.
Oh well, maybe I should be looking for an electronic exorcist or something before my pcs get affected too losing countless of GBs of guitar demos, holiday pics and 80's porn.
Nothing else really, still looking for a real job with the same kind of luck I mentioned earlier.
Apparently my house has been overtaken by gremlins. Not that I saw one but for the past few months my home appliances have been going crazy or just break down for no good reason at all. The last victim of this streak of bad luck has been my washing machine, or should I say washing machineS. Yup cause for the past two weeks I've been also trying to buy one, since it's cheaper than fixing the broken one, and for two times in a row and with a good wait in between I receive one that as soon as they install it it breaks down. Ok with one it can happen, but two? Shit luck! Hopefully the third one, which once again I'll have to wait for like a week, will actually work instead of flooding my bathroom.
Oh well, maybe I should be looking for an electronic exorcist or something before my pcs get affected too losing countless of GBs of guitar demos, holiday pics and 80's porn.
Nothing else really, still looking for a real job with the same kind of luck I mentioned earlier.
Woo hoo I'm back!
The old account got fixed and I don't have to go around with a tag under my pic that says "Member since 2009".
The old account got fixed and I don't have to go around with a tag under my pic that says "Member since 2009".
Things are not well
As I'm writing this I often look at my tv watching videos of my neighborhood in Athens becoming a battle zone, my family and some close friends are still living there and it all adds to my ever increasing concern that started as soon as these riots begun. It's nothing new, I grew up seeing street battles like that but for the first time the police isn't that violent barrier between an angry crowd and the state but they are the face of the enemy and since the murder of that teenage boy last saturday they keep showing their ineptitude with each passing minute.
I'm enraged to an extent I haven't been in a long time and my feelings towards law enforcement are shifting even more towards hate from the distrust I've had from growing up in Athens, Istanbul and the last decade random cities in Italy.
In every place I seem to move many things change except that the protectors of these societies are jaded, fascistic, power hungry and ignorant individuals who abuse a uniform that should rapresent security and peace for their own personal, in a lack of a better word, perversion. I'm sick of it, really. I'm sick of going to places where both junkie thugs and police forces co-exist hoping that if something has to go wrong it will be with a junkie that will just rob me. I'm sick of hearing about these protectors not able to do a simple thing like patroling without tragicaly fucking up everything. I'm sick of those individuals that act like cowards putting down innocent and unarmed citizens and running away from dangerous mobs or powerful figures.
Since the riots have started I expected these monsters would at least behave instead photos and videos keep coming of them taunting, pointing lethal weapons and shooting randomly, not towards hooligans but against students and teachers protesting this violence. Bravo pigs! And when the angry hooligans come? Let them burn everything so people will be more pissed off towards them rather than the police force. Awesome plan that is! I definitely don't endorse those hooligans, I would if instead of burning shops and cars they'd assault police stations, but whatever those stupid kids do it will never be as severe as the actions of those supposedly trained and responsible officers. What saddens me the more is that the same things going on back home could happen here too if people were more hot headed, something that thankfully doesn't happen. Just a year ago a similar situation occured here where a cop shot a soccer fan for no good reason in the middle of a highway, just because he wanted to try out his handgun. Thankfully people didn't rush on the streets in anger, not because such reaction would be wrong but because it never resolves anything, as soon as the dust settles a few useless heads roll and it's all back to business till next time. But seriously wherever I go cops are the same, even in their wonderful excuse "With the low salary I get what do you expect?". What the fuck of an excuse is that? Even I take 400 euros to drive around some people, would that justify me driving recklessly a dangerous vehicle and putting someone in danger? If you think this job is too dangerous for the money, get the fuck out! There are many less dangerous jobs out there! But hey, becoming a street cleaner doesn't give you a uniform that allows you to pick up hookers for free blowjobs under the threat of handcuffs or bullying teenagers for the fun of it. In all of these countries I lived I have similar stories of pointless and scary encounters with cops and I'm afraid that if I'll ever have a child he'll end up having similar stories to tell as soon as he becomes old enough to be branded as a thug in case something goes wrong during a bullying session.
I think I'll stop now and just hope my family and friend will be ok, what else can I hope for? Nothing will change.
As I'm writing this I often look at my tv watching videos of my neighborhood in Athens becoming a battle zone, my family and some close friends are still living there and it all adds to my ever increasing concern that started as soon as these riots begun. It's nothing new, I grew up seeing street battles like that but for the first time the police isn't that violent barrier between an angry crowd and the state but they are the face of the enemy and since the murder of that teenage boy last saturday they keep showing their ineptitude with each passing minute.
I'm enraged to an extent I haven't been in a long time and my feelings towards law enforcement are shifting even more towards hate from the distrust I've had from growing up in Athens, Istanbul and the last decade random cities in Italy.
In every place I seem to move many things change except that the protectors of these societies are jaded, fascistic, power hungry and ignorant individuals who abuse a uniform that should rapresent security and peace for their own personal, in a lack of a better word, perversion. I'm sick of it, really. I'm sick of going to places where both junkie thugs and police forces co-exist hoping that if something has to go wrong it will be with a junkie that will just rob me. I'm sick of hearing about these protectors not able to do a simple thing like patroling without tragicaly fucking up everything. I'm sick of those individuals that act like cowards putting down innocent and unarmed citizens and running away from dangerous mobs or powerful figures.
Since the riots have started I expected these monsters would at least behave instead photos and videos keep coming of them taunting, pointing lethal weapons and shooting randomly, not towards hooligans but against students and teachers protesting this violence. Bravo pigs! And when the angry hooligans come? Let them burn everything so people will be more pissed off towards them rather than the police force. Awesome plan that is! I definitely don't endorse those hooligans, I would if instead of burning shops and cars they'd assault police stations, but whatever those stupid kids do it will never be as severe as the actions of those supposedly trained and responsible officers. What saddens me the more is that the same things going on back home could happen here too if people were more hot headed, something that thankfully doesn't happen. Just a year ago a similar situation occured here where a cop shot a soccer fan for no good reason in the middle of a highway, just because he wanted to try out his handgun. Thankfully people didn't rush on the streets in anger, not because such reaction would be wrong but because it never resolves anything, as soon as the dust settles a few useless heads roll and it's all back to business till next time. But seriously wherever I go cops are the same, even in their wonderful excuse "With the low salary I get what do you expect?". What the fuck of an excuse is that? Even I take 400 euros to drive around some people, would that justify me driving recklessly a dangerous vehicle and putting someone in danger? If you think this job is too dangerous for the money, get the fuck out! There are many less dangerous jobs out there! But hey, becoming a street cleaner doesn't give you a uniform that allows you to pick up hookers for free blowjobs under the threat of handcuffs or bullying teenagers for the fun of it. In all of these countries I lived I have similar stories of pointless and scary encounters with cops and I'm afraid that if I'll ever have a child he'll end up having similar stories to tell as soon as he becomes old enough to be branded as a thug in case something goes wrong during a bullying session.
I think I'll stop now and just hope my family and friend will be ok, what else can I hope for? Nothing will change.
Time to change this blog and since time to spend here is almost non existent these days I might as well do it now even if I don't have anything interesting to say, so I guess this will be one of those "ranting about nothing" kind of blogs.
Well I love driving, I always did and, despite I don't use my car quite often for everyday purposes due to practical reasons, I still get kind of excited when I have to do a long drive. These past few days I had the luck to indulge in some interesting night trips for clubbing purposes, basically two birthdays in places outside Bologna, and to say the conditions where perfect is quite an understatement. Clear and star filled night skies, dry cold weather and some wind to keep any clouds moving; so no fog or sudden showers, both common in this area and time of the year. Given this and some practical reasons too I opted to avoid the highway for these trips and take some country roads instead, which turned out to be such a good idea. Most of these roads are in a surprisingly good condition but a offer a few curvey spots that keep you on your toes and make the whole experience fun, after all if driving through a straight highway at 5:00 AM can be tedious and therefor dangerous too. These two days definitely made me appreciate more the place I live in now since I can compare the enjoyment to taking a seaside night drive in Athens, with the exception that in this case traffic was pretty much non existent almost making me feel like I was the king of the road. Quite funny all this, since one of the things I usually admit to hate here is that cities of the area become pretty much deserted after 23:00, but I really enjoyed this aspect when it came to driving. Definitely not having to watch out for any other cars and all the variables night time brings in this (like is this guy drunk or does he know where he is going, will have signal turning or just go for it at the last minute) made me appreciate the surroundings more be it bright industrial areas, small countryside towns, farms or small hills. Hopefully the weather will remain like these days for a bit more since I definitely wouldn't mind repeating the experience soon.
Well I love driving, I always did and, despite I don't use my car quite often for everyday purposes due to practical reasons, I still get kind of excited when I have to do a long drive. These past few days I had the luck to indulge in some interesting night trips for clubbing purposes, basically two birthdays in places outside Bologna, and to say the conditions where perfect is quite an understatement. Clear and star filled night skies, dry cold weather and some wind to keep any clouds moving; so no fog or sudden showers, both common in this area and time of the year. Given this and some practical reasons too I opted to avoid the highway for these trips and take some country roads instead, which turned out to be such a good idea. Most of these roads are in a surprisingly good condition but a offer a few curvey spots that keep you on your toes and make the whole experience fun, after all if driving through a straight highway at 5:00 AM can be tedious and therefor dangerous too. These two days definitely made me appreciate more the place I live in now since I can compare the enjoyment to taking a seaside night drive in Athens, with the exception that in this case traffic was pretty much non existent almost making me feel like I was the king of the road. Quite funny all this, since one of the things I usually admit to hate here is that cities of the area become pretty much deserted after 23:00, but I really enjoyed this aspect when it came to driving. Definitely not having to watch out for any other cars and all the variables night time brings in this (like is this guy drunk or does he know where he is going, will have signal turning or just go for it at the last minute) made me appreciate the surroundings more be it bright industrial areas, small countryside towns, farms or small hills. Hopefully the weather will remain like these days for a bit more since I definitely wouldn't mind repeating the experience soon.
Update time!
Still nothing of any importance or substance to report, but once again I was sick of the previous blog.
Halloween was quite interesting this year, mostly because any attempt to reach clubs or parties failed after a sequence of closed roads, accidents, extreme fog, cops and lack of parking, so I settled for a disco where a few friends of mine had gone. Not that it was interesting or whatever but I enjoyed going in dressed like a fuckup with the excuse that there was not dress code for halloween, plus I pretty much stayed there just 20 minutes for a drink and to say hi to anyone I knew since yesterday I had to deal with tour riders and swedish metal bands since 11:00 and it's not something fun to do while sleepy or hang over(or both).
Other than that work went well and next week we get some more so I'm quite happy, more money in my pocket and I start feeling less useless than the last couple of months.
Here's a funny pic from yesterday
Some idiot friday night decided to avoid the rain and park really near the venue since there was a spot everyone apparently avoided, obviously caring more about an expensive hairdo rather than why such a good parking spot was still available. The next day the idiot girl comes with her idiot parents and the rest was captured in an unfortunately crappy video (damn cell phone cam) that included broken ropes and bumpers and two other cars stuck in the mud untill some genius thought that after three hours of catastrophic attemps it was wise to call a car towing service.
Fun stuff ....
Still nothing of any importance or substance to report, but once again I was sick of the previous blog.
Halloween was quite interesting this year, mostly because any attempt to reach clubs or parties failed after a sequence of closed roads, accidents, extreme fog, cops and lack of parking, so I settled for a disco where a few friends of mine had gone. Not that it was interesting or whatever but I enjoyed going in dressed like a fuckup with the excuse that there was not dress code for halloween, plus I pretty much stayed there just 20 minutes for a drink and to say hi to anyone I knew since yesterday I had to deal with tour riders and swedish metal bands since 11:00 and it's not something fun to do while sleepy or hang over(or both).
Other than that work went well and next week we get some more so I'm quite happy, more money in my pocket and I start feeling less useless than the last couple of months.
Here's a funny pic from yesterday
Some idiot friday night decided to avoid the rain and park really near the venue since there was a spot everyone apparently avoided, obviously caring more about an expensive hairdo rather than why such a good parking spot was still available. The next day the idiot girl comes with her idiot parents and the rest was captured in an unfortunately crappy video (damn cell phone cam) that included broken ropes and bumpers and two other cars stuck in the mud untill some genius thought that after three hours of catastrophic attemps it was wise to call a car towing service.
Fun stuff ....
Ok now, let's update this thing.
Still nothing much to say really, the job hunt goes on with minimum results because either I'm too inexperienced or they are afraid my university degree makes me to ambitious and I might drop them to become a teacher (like I'm even thinking about it), so in the meantime I accepted the sidejob as interpreter and jack of all trades for some local concerts and I start this friday with a Paul Gilbert gig. That should be easy, I hear the guy is a bit of an oddball yet quite easygoing.
Other than that I started again messing with photoshop after about four years of just using it to fix my holiday pics; not that I have any big artistic plans or whatever, there are enough mediocre digital artists out there for me to increase their number, it's just that it used to be fun and right now I need something to fill the spare time my studies left since they ended. One thing's for sure though, I won't be rejoining deviantart! Great site that was untill like all things web became popular and full of not only of crappy users, that think downloading photoshop and making a few lens flares in a black backround is high art, but also assholes that download pictures and make t-shirts or flyers with them. Sure they tried to deal with it but from what I saw recently nothing changed and despite seeing my pictures on flyers is flattering at first, then I think some dude not only got payed for stealing my work but will probably get some extra jobs by saying he did it...that kind of pisses me off you know. So probably I'll get my shit together and do a personal website, maybe considering how Murphy's Law kicks in easily in my life as soon as I get deep into it I'll find a job that will indefinitely delay it. If not I'll end up with a decent site to use as some sort of artsy blog where I'll put my rants, photoshop works and unused music.
So that's it. Now I think I'll go rest my lazy ass on my couch and watch "The Big Lebowski" on TV, for once my satellite pay per view shows something decent. I was beginning to feel cheated since I pay like 30 euros a month and all I watch is englishmen blowing microwave ovens on the discovery channel. Not that this movie is anything worth paying pay per view for, but whatever...they don't show it that often and it's far better than anything else I've seen lately.
Take care everybody
Still nothing much to say really, the job hunt goes on with minimum results because either I'm too inexperienced or they are afraid my university degree makes me to ambitious and I might drop them to become a teacher (like I'm even thinking about it), so in the meantime I accepted the sidejob as interpreter and jack of all trades for some local concerts and I start this friday with a Paul Gilbert gig. That should be easy, I hear the guy is a bit of an oddball yet quite easygoing.
Other than that I started again messing with photoshop after about four years of just using it to fix my holiday pics; not that I have any big artistic plans or whatever, there are enough mediocre digital artists out there for me to increase their number, it's just that it used to be fun and right now I need something to fill the spare time my studies left since they ended. One thing's for sure though, I won't be rejoining deviantart! Great site that was untill like all things web became popular and full of not only of crappy users, that think downloading photoshop and making a few lens flares in a black backround is high art, but also assholes that download pictures and make t-shirts or flyers with them. Sure they tried to deal with it but from what I saw recently nothing changed and despite seeing my pictures on flyers is flattering at first, then I think some dude not only got payed for stealing my work but will probably get some extra jobs by saying he did it...that kind of pisses me off you know. So probably I'll get my shit together and do a personal website, maybe considering how Murphy's Law kicks in easily in my life as soon as I get deep into it I'll find a job that will indefinitely delay it. If not I'll end up with a decent site to use as some sort of artsy blog where I'll put my rants, photoshop works and unused music.
So that's it. Now I think I'll go rest my lazy ass on my couch and watch "The Big Lebowski" on TV, for once my satellite pay per view shows something decent. I was beginning to feel cheated since I pay like 30 euros a month and all I watch is englishmen blowing microwave ovens on the discovery channel. Not that this movie is anything worth paying pay per view for, but whatever...they don't show it that often and it's far better than anything else I've seen lately.
Take care everybody
