Modern living - an antiutopia?

Most of the city of Kyiv is not a very comfortable place to live. People reside in high-rise apartment blocks.


Some time ago I visited my friend (AKA Miner), at his place. He lives with his family at the 12th floor.

We had a walk in the neighbourhood, talking about the prospects of humanity.



And about the impact of such urban environment on human beings. We stood in front of the tallest residential building in Kyiv (35 floors) and I felt that living in shade of such gigantic constructions, people might get used with a thought that they are really tiny, minscule and easily neglectable.



Can you tell the last picture is taken from the height of the 12th floor? One might think that some demonic forces stand behind such city-building concepts, but it is a simple human stupidity.

How to fight depression

They say exercise is the best way to fight clinical depression. So I got me a bike.



I followed a path in the woods to check my new bike's performance. The bike proved great indeed, but the rider certainly needs some practice. I almost fainted after the first few meters.



I came across this cute little lazy creature that humans call turtle. And then, another one. No I mean really, when was the last time you saw two turtles in one day?



And this is a panoramic view of my neighborhood, from the nearby woods. I promise to myself I'll do it more often.

First swim of the year

Beach umbrellas are like flying saucers.



Thistle makes great thistle-pie.



May the 25th is the first summer day.

Summer is here....

(...but maybe for some of us the heart is still in winter!)

Bird invasion

(or I think I’ve kept the eggs in the kitchen for toooo long)

Today I woke up by some strange noises coming from the kitchen. I decided to check it out and I realized I had two early morning visitors.



It seems that my balcony is not enough for them, so these f%&^ing birds had to take a shit on my refrigerator as well.

Enough!!!

This post is a challenge to the scientific community to invent something that can replace pigeons…even though I’m pretty sure that these dumb-flying-rats are pretty useless.

Marketing vs reality

Alcohol after effects in marketing.


Alcohol after effects in reality.

A big thanks to all my good friends for surviving my birthday night.

Happy Birthday, Gerasimidis!

Nothing is still happening

Summer is on it's way...

...and we are after it!

The other day we spent a few hours on the beach. The water was a bit cold for our taste so we didn't bother getting in. However, we loved the sun and we still consider it as a... good start for the summer period.



Regarding the beach, it may not be a tropical one but, given that it's only a 20 min drive from the city center, it's not a bad choice to spend the afternoon, enjoying the sun and the magnificent view of the city, along with a traditional frappé iced-coffee.

Gasoline

Last night I was told by the administrator of the blog that ‘the media team’ behind it was not happy about my productivity so far. On top of that, the co-creator of the blog also made that point, first thing in the morning, by using the ‘m’ word. So…after making that horrible intro for my first stupid post...here I go!

On my way to work today, despite the fact that I only had 4 hours of sleep last night, I was in the mood to take some silly pictures. I guess there was something in the sunlight that made me want to do that. Any way…



As I reached the ‘busiest’ side of the area where the office is, I realized that the tank-car and freight-truck owners’ strike was over and the situation on the streets was once more normalized.





Well…I suppose that after all gasoline makes the cars go slower.

P.S this brief post was composed while I was at work so…this one goes to all of you lazy-ass employees out there!

Laying in the sand

Yesterday I went to the beach with a good friend. While I was lazily drinking my coffee laying in the sand, he kept himself busy by collecting litter from the beach.



I urge you, next time you are about to forward an email about environmental issues, ask yourself; "Have I ever done anything more than clicks?"



Filling a big plastic bag with litter may take 15 minutes of your time. Just like all things that really matter. 15 minutes.

Thessaloniki night out

Zita Swoon is a band from Antwerp, Belgium that tours around Europe in their custom-made tour van. They call this series of concerts the "band in a box" tour. And yesterday they stopped their van in Thessaloniki, Greece.



The gig took place in an open square at a central point in Thessaloniki, and it was free for anyone to attend. Good music and lots of people added to the good mood of the night.

Here is one of my favourite Zita Swoon songs:
boomp3.com

Update 24/5:

Here is a video from that night that I found today at YouTube. Totally worth of your time!





After the concert we went for an extra drink to a place that operates as a meat market during day, but as an indie bar area during night. If you don't mind the smell, I guess it's kind of cool!

GogolFest art festival

Yesterday I visited arts festival Gogol Fest venue .


















(Bread)


(Wide open gasoline canisters)


Dance of Shiva




The basement part of the gallery. Very cold! Renovation not finished yet :(

A fast trip to Athens

On Monday I had to make a fast trip to Athens, for a couple of Tuesday morning business appointments.

Since I didn't have to carry any heavy gear with me, I chose to travel by the fast train. And since my boss suggested so, I traveled - for the first time in my life - first class.

I have reached the following conclusions.

In Greek fast trains:

7 out of 7 first class passengers that you may travel in the same cabin with are men.
3 out of 7 male first class passengers are extremely talkative.
2 out of 7 can actually prove interesting to talk to. The rest can only talk about business and women in an uninspiring way.
1 out of 7 male first class passengers works in the public sector.

I am afraid that modern trains are faster, cleaner, but less fun.

Just amazing

Separatism in Europe

Just came across this interesting map of separatist movements in Europe.



http://www.ljplus.ru/img4/g/u/guzj/5438.gif

Neighborhood of my childhood is changing

Today I visited neighborhood where I grew up - called Bereznyaky, in Kyiv, Ukraine. The weather was very good, so I took some pictures with my phone.

Connecting the world

...is sometimes a hard work!


Network cable over the street...



through the balcony...


and into the building...


junction 1


junction 2


into the laptop...


and streaming to the world!


How did YOU spend your Saturday?