Moving

This blog has moved to froutopia.wordpress.com. See you there!

We're natives, not Africans

I have to thank the boys at the e-e-e for amusing us in the middle of exams. I was getting worried, thinking they had forgotten us and to tell you the truth I missed my weekly update in my inbox.

I missed the scientific data supporting the "native" theory. Fools all of you who believe the Indo-European theory. Greeks were in Greece 11 million years ago. The human race began its journey in the Aegean (where else did you think?). There is evidence, but oh the evil powers hide the truth from the people.

Ah, nothing more refreshing than reading such articles. The world would truly be very dull without these.

edit: I've just visited the e-e-e site and saw that they're shutting it down.

Alzheimer's Test

Read once the following test and count the "F's":

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

How many did you find?

Archaeology quiz

The owner of this blog would like to thank those few faithful readers that check daily for updates (you should have figured by now that daily posts are a rare phenomenon) by organizing a quiz. People who know have seen Maria's face will be excluded from the competition. The answer and the winner(s) will be announced tomorrow evening. Oh, yes the winner gets nothing. Maria is a poor student, what did you expect? On with the quiz.

Photo clues:

Photo 1: What's a hen-house doing inside an archaeological site? Hmm, is it really a hen-house? Let's have a closer look...

Photo 2: Wow! There are ancient items in there?! Shouldn't they be kept in a protected environment? I can definitely see a statue ... but there's something funny with the floor.

Photo 3: I know what's wrong with the floor, it's a mosaic, a bit dusty though.

Want more?

Photos 4 and 5: Well, look on the bright side. Some got wooden shelves.

Bonus clue: The museum at the site has a sign informing the guests of the return of ~270 exhibits that were stolen in the 1990s.

That's it! See you tomorrow, same blog, same time.

Update:

And the answer is ... Ancient Corinth.

Επειδή υπάρχουν κάποια πράγματα που όσο κι αν προσπαθείς δεν γράφονται στα Αγγλικά.

Ακολουθεί e-mail που στάλθηκε πριν από λίγες ώρες σε λίστα προπτυχιακών φοιτητών. Δώστε ιδιαίτερη προσοχή στην πρωτότυπη Greeklish ορθογραφία.

Subject: PASP-***,EFXARISTOUME!
Meta th lhxh ths eklogikhs diadikasias h P.A.S.P *** anadixthike prwth dinamh sto tmhma mas.Ola ta melh ths (Ποια μέλη; Αυτά που δεν πατάνε σε όλες εκείνες τις συνελεύσεις που δε γίνονται λόγω έλλειψης απαρτίας;) tha thelame na efxaristhsoume:

1.Olous tous foithtes tou tmhmatos mas. (Εγώ πάλι θέλω να τους πλακώσω στις ανάποδες, αλλά μάλλον δεν επιτρέπεται. Κρίμα κι άδικο)

2.Thn eforeftikh epitroph gia thn amerolipsia sthn eklogikh diadikasia. (Ναι, στα πέντε χρονάκια που είμαι εδώ ποτέ δε θυμάμαι να είχαμε αμφισβητήσεις αποτελεσμάτων. ΠΑΣΠ και ΔΑΣΠ πάντα τα έβρισκαν. Όλα κι όλα, η αλήθεια να λέγεται.)

3.Tis oipoloipes parataxeis gia ton swsto eklogiko agwna. (Βέβαια, πάνω απ'όλα έχουμε ένα επίπεδο, εμείς εδώ κάτω)

4.Olous osous mas sthrixan se afth mas thn prospatheia. (Βλέπε (1))

H nikh mas apotelei kinhtro kai dinamh gia swsth kai syllogikh douleia! (Όπα! Πώς τα λες έτσι αυτά; Πρέπει να ειδοποιείς τον αθώο κοσμάκι που τα διαβάζει)

P.A.S.P. ***

Λοιπόν, κι εγώ θέλω να ευχαριστήσω την ΠΑΣΠ που φέρνει ξανά το γέλιο στη ζωή του φοιτητή.
Επίσης θέλω να ευχαριστήσω όλες τις παρατάξεις που για 2-3 βδομάδες έφεραν τα σκυλάδικα μέσα στο πανεπιστήμιο, διοργάνωσαν διαγωνισμούς (ως γνωστόν η προεκλογική περίοδος ξεκινά με την ημερίδα μπιρίμπας και ταβλιού) και γέμισαν όλους τους τοίχους για άλλη μια φορά με αφίσες. Μπορεί να μην πρότειναν κάτι ουσιαστικό, άλλα βρε παιδί μου μας έδειξαν τι είναι φοιτητικές εκλογές και φοιτητικό κίνημα. Άντε και του χρόνου με υγεία!

World eBook Library Consortia

This will be lost on non-Greek speakers, but I just had to share.

From World EBook Library a phrase

in French:

Cliquetez ici pour s'inscrire votre établissement en tant que membre.

in German:

Klicken Sie hier , um Ihre Anstalt als Mitglied einzuschreiben.

in Greek:

Χτυπήστε εδώ για να εγγράψετε το όργανο σας ως μέλος.

I may have a naughty mind, but "όργανο"?! I don't know German so I can't judge the German word, but the French looks right. And what about "χτυπήστε"? Why should I hit/beat the link? In other languages click is good enough, but apparently not in Greek. Heaven forbid we use a word produced from a sound, a word that's not Greek. As it is I spent a good five minutes laughing.

The ESC cocktail

Once again Greece has come up with a fresh and original suggestion for the night of the 21st May. The recipe is quite easy to make and the success is guaranteed according to Greek officials.

Ingredients:
1/5 of R 'n B [1]
1/5 notes of lyra [2]
1/100 of inspiration
1/1000 of actual talent
+ secret ingredients [3]

Shake (shake, shake, shake, shake, shake it mi amor...) it well and add to the mix a good looking singer. Served at Eurovision song contests and clubs mostly, but appropriate for other cases as well. If conserved, can be drinkable up to 1 year after production. Please do not offer it to Cretans, they have violent allergic reactions due to the notes of the lyra.

Author's notes:
[1]+[2]: According to the composer it's a mix of R 'n B and Cretan sousta!
[3]: Secret ingredients are not to be revealed. However people who have tasted it have recognized a 50%-60% of recycled modern pop music.

VIPs

This blog has had some famous visitors in the past, among them the FBI and NATO who honoured with their brief presence my humble home very early. Yesterday I had another VIP visit, this time from a branch of the Greek government. They were particularly interested in my post about the fake banknote and I think it's my duty to inform them that there has been an update. I showed the banknote to my bank and according to a cashier there is nothing wrong with it. The different signature is to be expected since the ECB has a new president. As simple as that. No missprint (sorry Anthony), no police, no conspiracy. Besides this would be in contrast to the subtitle of my profile, "A student leading a boring life". Sorry folks nothing adventurous in this home.

A morning walk

You know, Knossos isn't really what textbooks showed us. The more I see it the less impressed I am by this legend of my childhood. Needless to say Sir Evans has sunk further in my esteem.

Miserable

miserable[noun]: a blogger in a pitiable state; Maria, a blogger who has nothing to complain

An administrator gives solutions to your problems, a bank is right and you're wrong and there's nothing you can do but to concede defeat. Everything is right, there's nothing to rant, how is that possible? You can't even hide from test results.

You Are a Pundit Blogger!

Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read. Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few.

What kind of blogger are you?

A few months ago I was a snarky blogger and now I'm this? I want my bitchy personna back!