Happy pets

Guess who is happy that the garden looks and feels like the jungle...




Guess who is happy that we let the dogs out:

Two lovers

If you want to see how one of the most interesting topics of our times is not given justice, actually is destroyed in a movie, you can check out Two Lovers.
The story of a clinically depressed person who is seeking to get hold of life through begging for the love of an equally pathetic individual - emotionally unavailable (she is also clinged to an emotionally unavailable married guy) and his adventures
Gwyneth Paltrow and Isabella Rosellini were very good and kept to themselves the only thing that can get a positive review in this movie.
The story, the script, the direction, the acting from Phoenix - all it was pathetic. BTW, someone should have told Joaquin that he is not playing a drug addict, but a clinically depressed person. There is a big difference. I guess he must have been too drugged to notice.
Definitely the worst movie that I saw in years
Please, do not go and see it - don't even rent it on DVD

Stray cats

I believe that the fattest stray cats in the world are the ones lucky to live in my neighborhood. Unfortunately they do not allow me to catch them and provide proper medical care so their life span unfortunately is not higher than three years on average, typical average of a stray animal

However, I must say that they have the fattest bellies that I have ever seen in a stray animal. Not to mention that they all wait for me at night when I come home from work. They wait at the entrance of the building howling impatiently for food and giving me the sad angry look for being late.

In the picture you can see Grizoulis sleeping on his bed at my terrace. He is about 13 months old, and I 've known him since he was a few days old. When he was younger he would let me touch him but not any more. He does play with Zizou and Klelia
I have seen him teach his offsprings to cross the road and beware of cars. His wife is a black/yellow/grey cat and they have two cats - both male I think but I am not sure.
His wife is pregnant again so pretty soon the Grey familly will grow.

Spring is almost here

In Greece we are almost out of seasons. There is usually one main season, summer and then there is a bit chilly and a bit of cold weather. The winter lasts approximately 2 months and it is mild really, and then we are blessed with about one month of spring before the summer starts. It has always been my favorite period but it never lasts long - not in Athens anyways
There is one infallible symptom that spring is on its way and that is the blossoming of the almond tree. I noticed this year most other flowers have started to blossom as well


The pictures are from the jungle that used to be my garden and needs some grooming - will get it done next weekend hopefully
Till then enjoy some spring essence

Country house for sale

My family is selling a lovely country house 19klm north of Nemea (100klm from Athens), the land of xynomavro vine variety.
In the ancient times, a Lion was terrorising the city but Hercules killed it. In fact it was the first of his twelve labors http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/lion.html.

The house is a lovely villa on 650m altitude, with a marvellous view of the valley. The main house and the guest house together make up a surface more than 150 sq meters with a marvellous garden around it.
The main house has two bedrooms, one with ensuite bathroom, large kitchen, dining and living room. The guesthouse is a fully autonomous guesthouse with its own kitchen and bathroom with two single beds-
Other facilities include satellite TV, BBQ outdoor terrace, 2-car garage with roof, airconditioning, fireplace, autonomous heating, and in general everything that is required for a very relaxed stay.
The highlight is a huge oak tree that in the summer provides refreshing shade for after sun afternoons. The sea is half an hour away and there are many different choices at this distance (Nafplio, Xylokastro, Kiato)
The village Bozika where the house is located is only 20 min car drive from other very picturesque villages in the area and lake Stylida where in the summer cultural festivals take place.
In fact the location of the village in Korinthia is considered one of the prettiest landscapes of continental Greece.
Selling price is extremely low regarding property value. Fantastic value for money. If you - or someone you know - are interested please contact me (zeta.tsatsani@gmail.com) and I will let you know more details

Friends

Klelia's new pics

Why dog is superior to man

And it definitely proves that there is intelligence and feelings in animals, two qualities close to extinction in humans

Life without limits

Everybody at some stage in their life will go through a very bad period where things go really really really bad for them. Sometimes we just give up. Well when we think of Nick Vujicic, a 24-year old australian who was born without limps, and now travels across the world with his team to preach strength, we should really take example. Hallo scriptwriters, if you are looking for a truly unique story, come here:

Slumdog millionaire

The movie was brilliant. Fullstop. The horror of poverty was depicted so clearly that it was impossible to tolerate. Even as a viewer -let alone a bystander, but that's another story. However, this is not where the movie brilliancy was. Poverty has been shown in many movies many times and if one has to gain top prize for it, this must be the brazilian movie 'The City of God'.
In Slumdog millionaire, the brilliancy had a name. Danny Boyle. What a remarkable work has this man given us!! The story of modern India, this great country with this remarkable culture who suffers its dark side. For poverty is worse when it takes place into the world's most racist environment - the cast society. That part of it, although never directly addressed it was present throughout the movie as an accepted part of life. Every time Jamal answered correctly, the game host would remind him what a low life he is by reminding everybody his low-paying blue collar job. The cast society would not expect a slumdog (a better term would be a teenager from the slums) to know the answers of the game and he was taken to the police for interrogation. That's when the other two stories unfold. That of India's nightmare and of Jamal's destiny to happiness. At the same time relationships unfold and grow and make destiny.
Despite the fact that the film was filmed and the story was all about India, it shouted out besides British humor (the autograph scene) the kingdom's aesthetics. Of the alternative kind. Of the kind of innovation in art that is so expected by Brit artists. Of any art. What Danny Boyle proved is that his art reach is depthless. Of course his entire team of hard working illuminated colleagues who sweat alongside with Danny behind the cameras absolutely must have at least a touch of genius. Yet, it was obvious that the entire movie was the vision of a man who gave part of himself in every aspect of it. Besides direction that was so innovative by going back to basics, so was photography and editing. Every minute in the movie had a cliffhanger, shot from an anortodox angle, and the constantly moving light gave a whole new dimension into every single frame. Let's not forget the music which was more the sound of India if anything else. The colorful light of Bombay darkened and tones narrowed around grey everytime the camera went close to the gloomy life of the protagonists.
It is really amazing what a fraction of the money usually available can produce if given to the hands of an artistic genius who can tell three different stories in one. In a captivating manner as well. Let alone if given to the hands of a team of geniuses. And if these employ all these little 5-year old geniuses. These children who played in the movie - and they were so many of them - were absolutely leaving all of us breathless.
Very powerful movie. Personally I preferred the emotion I got out of Benjamin Button (remember all that crying?), but this movie absolutely was worth its 8 academy awards. Most well deserved!