I’m getting a bit annoyed with some comments from Greek friends. Every single time that someone writes/says something negative about Greece, someone states: “When Greeks had civilisation, the rest of the world was living on trees!”. This is obviously not true. If you like history so much, try reading a book and find out why.. Also, you’re talking about Ancient Greek civilisation; the hint is in the name. Ancient. The fact that you find yourselves living in the same area that some great people lived ages ago, doesn’t mean anything.. Not saying that ancient greek civilisation wasn’t great! It was awesome BUT it has nothing to do with modern Greeks.

2. Tender Trap – Do You Want a Boyfriend?: Why? Heavenly. Indiepop.

3. Brett Anderson – Unsung: Why? Feels like a Suede song. We all love Suede, right?

4. Modeselektor feat. Thom Yorke – Shipwreck

5. M83 – Midnight City

6. Simon Bookish – Sea Song (Robert Wyatt cover)
Simon Bookish – Sea Song (Robert Wyatt cover)

7. DJ Shadow – Sad And Lonely

8. Dum Dum Girls – Bedroom Eyes

9. Mona – Listen To Your Love

10. Veronica Falls – Found Love in a Graveyard

11. Richard Wagner – Tristan und Isolde, Prelude

Let’s go back to the little slip of the tongue. That is the answer. Well, that slip of the imaginary tongue obviously doesn’t work in text. I’m sure it would work if I was saying that. I’m so sure that I can smile about it. Why you may ask? Well, it’s never going to happen, isn’t it? And that is a very reassuring thought. For me, not for you in  any case. So goodnight.

If this has been a life changing experience for you, please leave a comment. Doesn’t have to be relevant, to be honest. Any kind of comment would be nice. You can even advertise your useless, overpriced products or look for a mate.

PS: To (still) water!

PS2: Please note that other types of water might not be suitable for vegetarians. Or they may contain nuts.

Back to the so-called Facebook era rant. Have you also joined the parade? Have you found all your old beloved classmates? All the people that hated you and all the people you hated? Your enemies, your traitors and your torturers? Good. Well done. Have you also pretended that you liked them? Do they pretend they like you? Excellent. You know how to play the “game”, my friend (or my enemy – doesn’t really matter nowadays. You can always add me on facebook.)

Then someday it happens. You wake up, turn on your computer, check your Facebook page (naturally), and what do you find? An old group photo from your long forgotten but unforgiven high-school years. What’s more? You are tagged. Yes, the present “you” is tagged in an old high school photo and you look – honestly – terrible. Worse than you do now as a matter of fact. Is it possible one may wonder. Of course it is. That’s not a valid reason to wonder.

Back to the photo. They all look so nice, with their old school trainers, baggy trousers and colourful shirts. And, oh my Gosh! What about the hair! The 90s haircuts! Of course, you didn’t have one. You didn’t need one. You only needed a total makeover. To be totally frank with you, I’m not sure if that’d help either. If the “high school- you” was a country, it’d definitely be Greece – or maybe Ireland.
Right. So you look around a bit. Go back to the photo page. Smile. Start wondering why you smiled. Stuck in a vicious circle of self-questioning. When you snap out of it – well you should! – you decide to hit the “like” button and perhaps smile again. In this facebook era, your reptilian brain wins.

PS: I don’t agree with stuff written in this post. I have no responsibility for my alter ego and I don’t hate my old classmates. However, I can sympathise with people that do.

1. Hot Chip – One Life Stand
2. LCD Soundsystem – This in Happening
3. Moto Boy – Lost in Call
4. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (II)
5. The Indelicates – Songs For Swinging Lovers
6. The Knife – Tomorrow, in a Year
7. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
8. jj –No 3
9. Belle and Sebastian – Belle & Sebastian Write About Love
10. The Drums – The Drums

My Favourite 2010 Songs

1. Moto Boy – The Heart Is A Rebel: OK, I still love the Smiths…

2. Patrick Wolf – Time Of My Life

3. The Indelicates – Savages: A bit pretentious? Perhaps, but who cares? How many modern artists write lyrics like these:

But we are ash, we are books
Coffee stained and overlooked
We are ornamental swords
Forged for the peace after the war
And the world has no need
Of the songs that we sang
We are savages, you and I
And we will hang, hang, hang

4. Chapel Club – Surfacing: 80′s is back. Wait a minute! It never went away! Thank BOD for that!

5. jj – My Life: It might be a cover, but it’s excellent.

6. Hot Chip – I Feel Better: Extra points for the video.

7. LCD Soundsystem – I Can Change

8. Belle & Sebastian – I Want The World To Stop

9. Vampire Weekend – Cousins

10. Caribou – Odessa

11. Club 8- Dancing With the Mentally Ill

12. The Drums – Best Friend

13. The Knife – Ebb Tide Explorer

14. The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio

15. Gorillaz – Glitter Freeze

16. Villagers – Becoming A Jackal: “I was a dreamer, staring at windows…”

17. The Divine Comedy – At The Indie Disco: Yes… That’s how it used to be…

We’ve got a table in the corner that is always ours
Under the poster of Morrissey with a bunch of flowers
We drink and talk about stupid stuff
Then hit the floor for Tainted love
You know I just can’t get enough
At the indie disco, the indie disco, at the indie disco yeah
Give us some Pixies and some Roses and some Valentines
Give us some Blur, and some Cure, and some Wannadies

17. Best Coast – When I’m With You

18. Crystal Castles – Celestica: That should have been in the top 10…

19. Bleu – B.O.S.T.O.N.: No studio version on youtube..

20. Marina And The Diamonds – Hollywood

- extra: Morrissey – Oh Phoney – from the remastered reissue of Bona Drag…

Who can make Hitler
seem like a bus conductor?
You do…

A few things I liked lately (not that anyone really cares):

1. “Sherlock”. Yes. I’m glad the money I had to pay for the TV licence didn’t go to waste. If you haven’t seen it, please do. It’s brilliant. Baker Street was my old neighbourhood (North Gower Street) and had the film crew (literally!) outside my flat twice this winter. I almost fell on a lamppost thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch. No one saw that, thankfully.

2. Not a great year for music. Hot Chip, The Knife, LCD Soundsystem, JJ, The Drums, The National, and Caribou released excellent albums though..

3. Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe by the Catalyst Theatre. Best performance of 2010 so far. The music was great too.

4. Getting the chance to be at the audience of QI. Jealous? I know you are. If only Stephen Fry had heard our question before the start of the show.. We were asking for Psychology trivia. He heard syphilis instead. What would Freud say? Sorry for that. Freud jokes are not funny.

5. Dirty Projectors at Barbican. Enough said.

Coming back to “Inception”… Seriously, what was original about it? Hmmmm… If you’re 10, you have a good excuse. Visit your local videostore, DVD store, or torrent site and start watching some older films. Some PROPER films with screenplays and all that. If you need movies that make your brain “work 100% (like some tweeps say)” try watching “Mulholland Drive”, or “Solaris”. Now, if you’re older, do the same. It’s like the whole Benjamin Button thing all over again. Good ideas, hideous writing… The next sentence contains spoilers. You can stop reading now, if you’re planning to watch “Inception” – please don’t. What can be more pretentious than the last scene in “Inception”? This is childish (and pretentious). The perfect Hollywood success recipe: make a movie that seems complex, and deep, but keep it simple, so that people will make sense of it. They’ll leave feeling clever(er) – like they’ve solved a riddle or something. Thus, they’ll end up adoring your movie.

Unfortunately, the financial crisis didn’t generate any great ideas. People have become so numb and dumb… TV is so much better than Hollywood. Dr Who, Sherlock, The IT Crowd, The Big Bang Theory (…) and guess what? You can catch them on repeat on iplayers and watch them on your own without all those annoying people chewing pop-corn in your ear!

PS1: ART isn’t about solving riddles.
PS2: Go watch Sherlock.
PS3: forgot what it was…

Luckily(?), not everyone is like that – even though they are hard to find, there are some people wanting more from life. They want time travel, mystery, adventure, big entrance scenes, music.. Well, I guess we were the ones that read a lot as children, the ones that dreamt a lot, the ones that still daydream. But the reason why we did that is obvious; life is boring. That’s why you – or shall I say we?- got art. The idiots have reality TV. What’s more boring than that? Who wants to see their pathetic neighbours on the small screen? What’s the point?

Anyway, I’m off to the pub to meet the Doctor and Arthur Dent. He promised to bring some Vogon poetry. Sherlock and Watson will join us later. Coming?

Here’s one of my favourite videos by Firth. The guy is a genius. If you like Lynch, surrealism and dark comedy you’ll probably like it too.