A Puff of Smoke

BLOW SMOKE: If people blow smoke, they exaggerate or say things that are not true, usually to make themselves look better.

SMOKE LIKE A CHIMNEY: Someone who smokes very heavily smokes like a chimney.

END IN SMOKE: If something ends in smoke, it produces no concrete or positive result.

HOLY SMOKE!: This is a way of expressing surprise: "Holy smoke! Look at all of those geese!"

NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE: When people suspect something, there is normally a good reason for the suspicion, even if there is no concrete evidence.

The land of NO opportunities

Just minutes ago I was confirmed once again that romania is the land where the more incompetent you are, the more you suck up to the right worthless people in higher positions, the better for you. And what's funny is that most people comply with this, partly because they are too weak to say no, partly because they drool over a piece of that ugly cheese called "power", they desperately wish for their 15 seconds of fame (15 minutes will be way too much for such people). Plus, worthless people like being surrounded by other worthless people, but I guess that goes without saying...

M is for MIRACLE

We still have no clue how to appreciate an artist when he/she is performing. We have no idea what common sense and tolerance mean. We don't even have to get stupid... we are already there and I am ashamed we will never change. For the better.
UPDATE: This is us, seen by the international press.

Fun & Games

ITHACA

An exquisite poem about our journey, written by Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis.

As you set out for Ithaca
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - don’t be afraid of them:
you’ ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon - you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

The complete version of the poem, here.

51

UPDATE: BANNER FROM THE 15TH OF AUGUST, POLAND SHOW, BLOODY FANTASTIC!

Fighting for Slavery

As you surely know, people are still fighting for democracy in Afghanistan. Is it working? Not really! American journalists found out a law which practically legalizes rape.
Months ago, there was this law that refused to acknowledge the right of a woman to refuse sex to her husband. Under mounting pressure, President Karzai ordered a review of the legislation. After some deliberation, the law was then sent back to Parliament with a clause stating that husbands had the right to withhold food if their wives refused to have sex with them. The law also allows rapists to marry their victims to absolve their crimes.
Article 132 of the law says, “As long as the husband is not traveling, he has the right to have sexual intercourse with his wife every fourth night. Unless the wife is ill or has any kind of illness that intercourse could aggravate, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband.”


This law grants guardianship of children exclusively to their fathers and grandfathers. It requires women to get permission from their husbands to work.
These kinds of barbaric laws were supposed to have been relegated to the past with the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, yet president Karzai has revived them and given them his official stamp of approval. Many women activists have accused Karzai of abandoning his previous moderate views on women's rights to help him secure votes in the presidential election, due this month.
Even if Amnesty International has released a serious statement claiming that the law is a violation of human rights, it seems little can be done in order to really acknowledge and respect women's rights in this country, for which even Romania is fighting.

Something to Remember

Something to Remember is a collection of Madonna's greatest ballads, including songs from soundtracks, tracks which had not previously appeared on any of her albums and three new recordings.
The song which gives its name to the album, "Something to Remember", was included on the 1990 studio album I'm Breathless and appears on the compilation as track 9. The Japanese version of the album contained the bonus track, "La Isla Bonita", the South America and Spanish versions had "Verás", a Spanish version of "You'll See".

Here's my favorite track on the album, Take a Bow, which of course, first appeared on the 1994 album, "Bedtime Stories". Remixed. Probably revised :)


Madonna - Take a Bow Remix
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Art for M's sake

The Power of Madonna

Helsinki, 6th of August

boc & EUROPASS

High school students are expected, with next year, to be able to get the Europass aka a European certificate attesting your skills in a foreign language. Of course, no one says anything about the level of linguistic competences you have to possess in order to get it... so, I definitely and naively wonder, would prime minister boc's English qualify for Europass?

P.S. I need a paper bag in order to puke...
P.P.S. The recipe of the day presents alligator tail with cream and whiskey... I have the cream and whiskey, anyone got the alligator? :)