To protest the Greek government's policies on pension rights, privatisation and the Siemens and Zaxolpoulos scandals (see here and here) that have rocked the country over the last few weeks.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Quote of the day
Student a: But I don't know how to download stuff on the internet.
Me: Oh come on, it's easy. Then again, I've been using computers since I was 13.
Student b (in all seriousness): Υπηρχαν υπολογιστες τοτε; (Did they have computers then?)
Me: Oh come on, it's easy. Then again, I've been using computers since I was 13.
Student b (in all seriousness): Υπηρχαν υπολογιστες τοτε; (Did they have computers then?)
Monday, February 11, 2008
Foollllliisssshhhhh
What was I thinking? To expect to travel so far and not see an accident!!! How naive could I have been? Yep, the two serious crashes on the ring road are yet more testimony to a toxic mixture of inflated egos, aggression and a level of impulse control we usually associate with toddlers.
A Year of Driving Dangerously
I'm off to work in five minutes.I was just wondering if I'll manage to get from one end of the city to the other without witnessing an accident. If the past month is anything to go by, the answer is most definitely no.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
Shooting up
I saw the one guy inject the other in the ankle then coming back and hour later the other one was injecting his friend in the neck. All this on the steps of a church in the heart of the city. Just metres away from hundreds of people waiting for their bus home.
Immediately afterwards I wandered passed a couple, students most probably, talking and looking at each other in a way that left me with very little doubt that they were very much in love.
Love in all its forms?
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Stapa
What are the odds against that. I bumped into Stavros, one of my Flickr friends whilst walking through the centre of the city. No big deal, until you realise that Stavros lives in Germany.
www.flickr.com/photos/stavro/
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Hooligans
I've been looking through my photos with view to putting on an exhibition. Of all the pictures and all the tragic situations I've covered this is the one that brings back the worse memories. Minutes after I took this I was beaten badly enough that to be hospitalised and then arrested by the MAT (Greek riot police) simply for taking pictures during a peaceful demonstration (click here for more details).
Today in Athens members of the far right organisation Xrysi Avgi (I will not link to these b#st#rds)fought with left wing organisations. The TV has shown again and again these far right thugs joining the riot police in order to beat their "opponents".
If that wasn't enough there were pictures of the MAT beating bystanders even after the situation had calmed down (see here for the video).
Once again I see the representatives of the police unions saying that that they did nothing wrong. Whilst eye witnesses describe how the police handed out weapons and tear gas to the far right demonstrators.
School Award Ceremony
It's that time of year again. Time for me to put on a suit and pretend to be a fine, upstanding member of the community. Don't worry, it wasn't a court appearance, but rather the school's annual award ceremony. In between giving a speech and congratulating my hard working students I managed to take a few photos.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
Another day, another accident
I knew it was too good to be true. Once again rushing from one end of the city to the other today I was pleasantly surprised not to be caught up in another traffic jam on the ring road caused by an accident. I can't remember the last time that happened.
But, of course this wasn't to last, coming back along the same road I instantly hit a long tail back As I inched along I saw another accident on one of the side roads. A head on collision which must have just happened as both drivers were still screaming into their mobile phone, pausing briefly only to yell at each other. However, that wasn't the cause of the delay. Most of the ring road was thrown into grid - lock by another unconnected accident in which a lorry and a couple of passenger cars had collided.
Just please don't call these things accidents. These are the products of finely tuned, high performance human folly. When you bolt along at twice the permitted speed limit while;
Chatting on your mobile/picking your nose/texting your girlfriend/searching for a better radio station/using rude hand gestures to show your contempt for those drivers who don't feel the need to joining you in your suicide attempt/practicing your chicane handling skills,
And you crash, this is not an accident, it's probability telling you you're time is up.
But, of course this wasn't to last, coming back along the same road I instantly hit a long tail back As I inched along I saw another accident on one of the side roads. A head on collision which must have just happened as both drivers were still screaming into their mobile phone, pausing briefly only to yell at each other. However, that wasn't the cause of the delay. Most of the ring road was thrown into grid - lock by another unconnected accident in which a lorry and a couple of passenger cars had collided.
Just please don't call these things accidents. These are the products of finely tuned, high performance human folly. When you bolt along at twice the permitted speed limit while;
Chatting on your mobile/picking your nose/texting your girlfriend/searching for a better radio station/using rude hand gestures to show your contempt for those drivers who don't feel the need to joining you in your suicide attempt/practicing your chicane handling skills,
And you crash, this is not an accident, it's probability telling you you're time is up.
The Dude Abides
"I'm the Dude.
So that's what you call me. That, or Duder. His Dudeness. Or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing--"
Street preaching
Actually, this guy's message was political rather than religious. He was berating the present government , a sentiment that many of those who walked passed him on Tsimiski St agreed with.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
I'm just dying to get there
You'd think that if it was blowing a gale while driving you'd;
Not barrel along at twice the speed limit.
Chatter endlessly on your cell/mobile.
Decide today wasn't the best time to zig zag through traffic in homage to Mad Max/ The Fast and the Furious:Tokyo Drift.
Nope, I didn't think so either.
I think it comes as no surprise to find out that while the number of traffic accidents through out Greece has dropped by 5% in the last few years, there has been a 68% increase in Thessaloniki.
Still, what do you expect when the only time you see traffic cops is when they write parking tickets or come to direct traffic after a crash.
Last week I saw six accidents while going from lesson to lesson. This week just two. Still, it's only Monday.
Not barrel along at twice the speed limit.
Chatter endlessly on your cell/mobile.
Decide today wasn't the best time to zig zag through traffic in homage to Mad Max/ The Fast and the Furious:Tokyo Drift.
Nope, I didn't think so either.
I think it comes as no surprise to find out that while the number of traffic accidents through out Greece has dropped by 5% in the last few years, there has been a 68% increase in Thessaloniki.Still, what do you expect when the only time you see traffic cops is when they write parking tickets or come to direct traffic after a crash.
Last week I saw six accidents while going from lesson to lesson. This week just two. Still, it's only Monday.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Junkie Redemption
I'm currently going through all my old pictures with a view to collecting the best ones for an exhibition I want to put on. This means shifting through thousands of photos in order to see if there is anything worth showing others.
I came across this image that I took last year the day after I bought my camera.. It is a guy drugged out of his head sitting on the steps of a church in the centre, I saw him tottering up and down and thought that I had to do something otherwise he'd slip and do some serious harm to himself so I approached him and got him to sit down and drink some water.
Afterwards I asked if I could take his picture.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Cry for help
I had an hour to kill between lessons and for some reason I decided to see where the Fates would take me and I came across a huge warehouse complex that had been abandoned even before it had been finished. Trudging through the mud and dumped rubbish I took a lot of very boring pictures then noticing the time decided I had better make tracks if I wanted to be in school on time.
Just as was about to leave I saw this woman walking in my direction. I don't know why but something in me said that there was a good picture in this so I kept my camera turned on and went to my Vespa. Sure enough, she approached me and asked me to give her two Euros to buy heating oil.
Influenced by Don McCullin
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_McCullin
Uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ on 24 Jan 08, 11.25PM EET.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Street preaching
Actually, this guy's message was political rather than religious. He was berating the present government's scandal - ridden second term, a sentiment that many of those who walked passed him on Tsimiski St agreed with.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
So much heaven, so much hell
We think we're heroes, we think we're kings
We plan all kinds of fabulous things
Oh look how great we have become
Key in the door, the moment I've been longing for
Before my bag hit the floor
My adorable children rush up screaming for a kiss
And a story they're a gift to this world
My only claim to glory
I surely never knew sweeter days
Blows my mind like munitions
I'm amazed
So much heaven, so much hell
So much love, so much pain
So much more than I thought this world could ever contain
So much war, so much soul
One mans loss, another mans gold
So much more than I thought this world can ever hold
We're just children, we're just dust
We are small and we are lost
And we're nothing, nothing at all
One bomb, the whole block gone
Can't find me children and dust covers the sun
Everywhere is noise, panic and confusion
But to some another fun day in Babylon
I'm gonna bury my wife and dig up my gun
My life is done so now I got to kill someone
So much heaven, so much hell
So much love, so much pain
So much more than I thought this world could ever contain
So much war, so much soul
Moments lost, moments go
So much more than I thought this world could ever hold
So much more than I thought this world could ever hold
So much more than I thought this world could ever hold
So much heaven, so much hell
So much love, so much pain
So much more than I thought this world could ever contain
So much war, so much soul
Moments lost, moments go
So much more than I thought this world could ever hold
Bombs - Faithless
La Jetee
This image brought to mind Chris Marker's film, La Jetee.
``His is the story of a man, marked by an image from his childhood. The violent scene that upsets him, and whose meaning he was to grasp only years later, happened on the main jetty at Orly, the Paris airport, sometime before the outbreak of World War III.
Orly, Sunday. Parents used to take their children there to watch the departing planes.
On this particular Sunday, the child whose story we are telling was bound to remember the frozen sun, the setting at the end of the jetty, and a woman's face.
Nothing sorts out memories from ordinary moments. Later on they do claim remembrance when they show their scars. That face he had seen was to be the only peacetime image to survive the war. Had he really seen it? Or had he invented that tender moment to prop up the madness to come?
The sudden roar, the woman's gesture, the crumpling body, and the cries of the crowd on the jetty blurred by fear.
Later, he knew he had seen a man die."
For the rest of the script
www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/lajette.shtml
The $100 laptop Vs The World's Cheapest Car
I'm off sick today so I thought I'd write about an idea I've been using in class recently.
The basic idea is which is more likely to help improve people's lives in the developing world; OLPC's laptop or the new Tata Nano.
Lesson Plan
1 Ask students if they have heard anything about either the the world's cheapest car or the $100 dollar laptop. Get students to stand up and circulate so that they can consult anyone in the class.
2 Elicit answers from the class - Write their points on the board.
3 If students have access to the internet get them to research the two choices - strict time limit of 10 minutes should help to concentrate minds. Also to avoid students just mindlessly repeating what Wiki, CNN or the BBC say, make sure they knew that at the end of the 10 minutes they won't be able to look at the computers again so they'll have to take notes.
4 Students get into groups of 2-4 and share what they've found out.
If students do not have access to the net then print out articles from here and here and do the same i.e 10 minutes to take notes then retrieve the photocopies.
5 Divide the class into two groups. Assign each group either the car or the laptop.
6 Each group has to think of as many reasons why their choice would make a greater difference to people in, say India, Nigeria or Bolivia than the other sides choice.
If you feel that this is beyond their realm of experience then use the following prompts to get them started;
How practical is it?
How can you make money with this?
How would it change a family's life?
What about the effects on the environment?
Who is going to use it?
7 Divide the students once again into groups of 2-4 and get them to argue their point.
8 Finally, ask students about their own personal opinion of these two choices.
This exercise could be used as the starting point for a number of activities;
For/Against essay
A speech which could be videoed and put on the class blog/wiki via Youtube.
A Voicethread photoessay (in the style of a Magnum podcast).
A podcast or voice post using Snapvine.
Or they could discuss this issue with others across the world using Kantalk
The basic idea is which is more likely to help improve people's lives in the developing world; OLPC's laptop or the new Tata Nano.
Lesson Plan
1 Ask students if they have heard anything about either the the world's cheapest car or the $100 dollar laptop. Get students to stand up and circulate so that they can consult anyone in the class.
2 Elicit answers from the class - Write their points on the board.
3 If students have access to the internet get them to research the two choices - strict time limit of 10 minutes should help to concentrate minds. Also to avoid students just mindlessly repeating what Wiki, CNN or the BBC say, make sure they knew that at the end of the 10 minutes they won't be able to look at the computers again so they'll have to take notes.
4 Students get into groups of 2-4 and share what they've found out.
If students do not have access to the net then print out articles from here and here and do the same i.e 10 minutes to take notes then retrieve the photocopies.
5 Divide the class into two groups. Assign each group either the car or the laptop.
6 Each group has to think of as many reasons why their choice would make a greater difference to people in, say India, Nigeria or Bolivia than the other sides choice.
If you feel that this is beyond their realm of experience then use the following prompts to get them started;
How practical is it?
How can you make money with this?
How would it change a family's life?
What about the effects on the environment?
Who is going to use it?
7 Divide the students once again into groups of 2-4 and get them to argue their point.
8 Finally, ask students about their own personal opinion of these two choices.
This exercise could be used as the starting point for a number of activities;
For/Against essay
A speech which could be videoed and put on the class blog/wiki via Youtube.
A Voicethread photoessay (in the style of a Magnum podcast).
A podcast or voice post using Snapvine.
Or they could discuss this issue with others across the world using Kantalk
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Another kingdom
Spent a hour or so wandering through this place, an abandoned warehouse in the west of the city, occasionally getting the fright of my life as pigeons flew past. The place is full of weird and wonderful details.
Every empty building I enter is like another, forgotten kingdom.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Worshipping at our altar
Paying our respects to the ionised gods.
Our Father, who art in the ether,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy schedule come.
Thy will be done,
on TV as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily helping.
And forgive us our zapping,
As we forgive those who do not tune into us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from repeats.
[For thine are the ratings,
and the power, and the revenue,
for ever and ever.
Amen.]
Today's million
OK, I'm officially freaked out. I was just looking at various hit counters,video views and the like and it seems that over a million people have seen stuff I've put on the internet. Youtube videos, Flickr pics and blog posts seem to add up.
I really do not know how this happened.
I really do not know how this happened.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Aristotelous Square
Fog bound this morning. Strangely though, the top of the square was bathed in sunlight.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Extreme parking
The lack of car parking facilities in Thessaloniki has forced local drivers to take things into their own hands.
Actually, I was going home from a lesson when I saw this parked inside a local video store. The driver had left his car just up the hill from the place but the handbrake had failed letting it roll into the shop. Luckily, nobody was hurt.
Uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ on 15 Jan 08, 10.41PM EET.
Port worker's demonstration
Port workers in Greece are protesting government plans to privatise the industry.
Gatecrashing the party.
Tonight I gatecrashed some fancy do with lots of pols. I was going from lesson to lesson when I saw that there was a do in in the Velleidio conference centre. Parking the Vespa, I just took out my camera and strolled into the place and started taking pics.
It was yet another chance for the chattering classes to congratulate themselves on...what exactly? I haven't the faintest. Something to do with sport I think. Like they need an excuse?
However, unlike this bunch on self-serving blow hards I had work to do. So I missed all their wonderful speeches in praise of themselves.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sluicing the crap out of my ears
After hearing this particular member of the government's speech at the OKANA (an organisation the helps people deal with the effects of drug addiction) I just wanted to sluice out the bullshit from my ears. I'm constantly amazed by their self - love and total unwillingness to accept any responsibility for any mistakes, they or their party have made.
Instead, pol after pol droned on about how he has been trying to get more funding, but mysteriously they have all failed due to the "establishment" or "special interest groups."
I'm sick of them playing pass the buck whilst trying desperately to sell the idea of themselves as rebels fighting the system.
OKANA exhibition opening
During the soviet era Russian citizens had to get permission to have a gathering of more than four people. If things continue as they have been recently any gathering of more than four people in Thessaloniki will need to have the presence of Panayiotis Psomiadis, the publicity crazed head of the local prefecture.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Life on the streets
Life on the streets here is harder than I can possibly imagine.
I meet this guy in the summer as he was quietly drinking retsina under a tree in the centre. Then, by chance I bumped into him whilst I was taking pictures during a student demonstration.
Students demonstrations
Pictures from the Demonstration by TEI (technical institutes) over lack of funding for their branch of higher education and education in general in Greece. Often these places are seen by the government as a cheap dumping ground for young people wishing to study beyond high school. they lack facilities and the staff are paid abysmally (and often even that pittance is delayed for months on end).
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Manolis's story
Thankfully, some stories have a happy end. Last week I wrote about Manolis, a busker who I often bump into whilst taking pictures in the centre.The last time I saw him he was looking very depressed and nothing like his usual cheerful self, the reason being that he had been served a deportation notice that told him that that after ten years of legal residence in Greece he had 30 days to return to Albania. Luckily, I had on me the number of a lawyer who deals in such cases and Giorgos, despite being swamped with work this week was more than willing to help out.
Now instead of being summarily expelled from the country Manolis has a fighting chance to being able to stay in the country as his case will have to undergo judicial review which he has a good chance of winning.
Monday, January 07, 2008
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