Look what I’ve found!

http://nocturnalencounters.blogspot.gr/
This blog was my first blog ever. 

Rebirth of a blog !

When I started blogging around 10years ago, I was interested in sharing news and bits from around the net. Later on, blogging became a little more personal, and finally, I started a Greek blog about my hometown and all the problems or facts about Psakoudia.

The births of my two lovely sons in the past 5 years changed my life, my routine. Additionally, 140 characters of a tweet or a photo, seemed more than enough to explain certain situations, and/or saved me a lot of time and energy.

Blogging was always a part of my digital life, and I quite miss it!

Quantity, quality and speed of news sharing via Twitter or Facebook have changed the news agencies. Anyone can become a part of it. Anyone can become a journo.

Always check twice before you share any news.

And do not share just for more likes or clicks!

Festive season’s bits around the world

– Christmas stockings for newbornsSouthern California hospitals are spreading holiday cheer for new parents by delivering newborns in giant Christmas stockings.

The bright red stockings were provided this week for babies born at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports (http://bit.ly/1c3zlYE ) it’s a half-century-old tradition.

The Redlands Community Hospital has been handing out stockings to parents of infants born this month.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports the tradition began in 1930, but lapsed before it was revived in 2005.

This year, 16 volunteers made 250 fleece stockings during a daylong sewing bee.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

–Who is Santa anyway?
Seriously, who thought a fat, bearded man who flies around in a sleigh and carries a big bag of who-knows-what was a good idea?

-A reindeer in Sweden…and a study of its eye color !
via

Wikimedia Commons

Winter in the Arctic is grim—day and night blur together for 24 hour stints without sunlight. Reindeer manage to survive these gloomy weeks thanks to a peculiar adaptation. As the days grow darker, reindeer’s eyes turn from gold to blue.

A study published earlier this year in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal explained the science behind reindeers’ changing eyes. The color change happens in the tepetum lucid, which is the layer of tissue in the eye that reflects visible light back through the retina. This is the same component of the eye that makes cats’ and dogs’ eyes seem to glow in the dark.

In the summer when days and nights are marked by nearly constant brightness, the eye tissue is tinged gold, which is common for ungulates such as reindeers. But once the darkness of winter hits, reindeer eyes change their hue to blue. The change of color is also associated with a reduction in light reflected, and an increase in captured light. The increased retinal sensitivity comes at a cost, though—the acuity of the reindeers sight is reduced, meaning the sharpness or clearness of what is seen is lower. But, just having the ability to see—no matter how blurry—could help the reindeer spot predators, or lead the way for Santa and his sleigh.

It ‘s been a while…

I haven’t updated this blog for more than 2 years, and even though I think I have to apologize for this, at the same time It feels so right that I spent these two years contemplating on the essence of keeping a blog.
By the end of 2010, I had a Facebook and a twitter account, by 2012 I ‘ve been using Eyem and Instagram… Too much to cope!

Once again the blog is going to be fed by random news, bits and pieces from around the globe, the net, the social network or even our neighborhood …
Take care and enjoy.
The following photos are just a sample of daily life moments …

you must be kidding us…

Since the Lehman Brothers collapse, Europe and Euro-zone were safe enough and there was no Greek problem to be mentioned.

Until the  day the three big credit agencies started to downgrade Greece’s ratings to “junk”.

Afterwards, IMF and E.U  “vultures” were happy enough to lend us “some” money, in order Greece not to “default”.

Greeks started to cut back , pension cuts, wage cuts,  and more cuts were introduced…

The Merkozy pair is more interested into the future elections, than to save Greece (even though we, Greeks, buy fighter jets and naval ships from France and Leopard fighter tanks and submarines from Germany and many more)

Merkel, Schauble, Sarkozy, Junker, Frieden and others are draining Greeks just for fun. They just don’t give a s&#t about Greece, they even want to drive Greeks to the exit of Euro Zone…

They want more and more …

Please give us some space , let us breath, give us a brake.

We are trying our best,  everyone!

in return, we get nothing but harsh words, obnoxious attitude toward the Greek people

When I saw Schauble talking to the Portuguese Fin.Minister, he remind me of a King who is kind enough to give some petty cash to his servant. I could understand how Schauble and other European Fin.Ministers treated Ev.Venizelos, the Greek Fin.Minister.

Schauble

Frieden

Merkel

Rehn

Sorry, but being in The E.U or the Euro Zone means to be equal among equals. To ask for help and to get help. Not to be humiliated just for the shake of it .

This is too much.

I don’t think that in the last couple of years, Greece became the “black sheep” country that everyone spit on nowadays …

It is toooo much !

It’s time to blog…from heart

After a terrific summer, life is not going to be the same again for us- and we love it! and the reason is… Our baby boy is the reason.

two very angry cats …

sometimes they can be very aggressive to one another (especially when they are being territorial)

this is certainly no "purring" cats ... they're more like "Meawwwing" ...

To Panic or Not To Panic ?

it’s been almost 20 days since the earthquake hit Japan, and they are still counting bodies…in addition the nuclear disaster which hit the Fukushima region on the 11th of March will continue to release radioactive material in the atmosphere, soil, freshwater and seawater for months or even years.

Up to now we know almost nothing solid for the disaster, and the only information which is available to the scientists, has been gathered either by unmanned planes (drones) or by scientific models for nuclear disasters.

the following photos were taken by the Japan Air Photo Services Co.

Reactor #3

Reactor #4

radioactive steam from reactors #2 and #3

Live coverage of Libya Crisis by Al Jazeera English

Al Jazeera English: Live Stream – Watch Now – Al Jazeera English.

Earthquake & Tsunami hit Japan with uncertain consequences

Yesterday, around 14.45, a massive earthquake rocked  N.Japan for a minute or so…

The Earthquake had a massive 8.9  magnitude in R scale and triggered a Tsunami wave that hit the East coast of Japan in less than a quarter of an hour…

this is a video that still gives me goosebumps

there are numerous videos that are showing the affected zone being overwhelmed by the biblical destruction force of the huge wave.

There is an official count of human loss of around 1,500 people, but unfortunately there are thousands of people missing.

In addition, there were fears yesterday – which today became reality- of dysfunctions on the Nuclear plant near the epicentre of the quake. Dysfunctions which translates into a huge explosion in the early hours of  Saturday…

fingers crossed,

Our thoughts are with the  people of Japan