The Years Of Innocence

My city

 In the year 1888 my grandfather born in Athens, same as later on my father, my mother and me. We all born in this historical city. When I was a young boy in my school holidays I didn't have a place to go like the rest of my schoolmates. Athens, although capital for many years now, was planned for limited population due to its natural formation surrounded by three mountains and the Mediterranean sea on the south. In the contrary though the last decades, just after the second world war, enthusiastic people who have come to live, for a better life, were a lot. It was the reason of tremendous traffic, pollution a few years ago and a mentality that didn't match to the capital of the mother of civilization.

It was obvious that the city could not handle so many individuals and I mean mainly greeks from the nearby cities and villages. Everyone is welcome though but the problem is the mentality and that the city was not planned for so much population living comfortably in the place.

Resume till now. Most people from villages are dreaming and consider significant to civilisation to build with cement. Enough is the answer. What we really need is green, so is exactly the opposite. If you want to build, build your village that is needed it. I say that because I see politicians coming from villages and decide to build squares. Who told them we need that? We need parks with trees in big cities, order to the craziness and quality, not cement squares. Your village needs that to be developed. By the way many who come from the mountains the first model outside their family is sheep and unfortunately the only time they react is when the food is missing.

Later on the city was invaded by more groups of people either european due to community or asians and middle eastern others for the same reasons and others because the wars in their countries too.
 
Regarding international migration I am surprised how the new countries like Canada, Australia and USA which consist almost 100% by immigrants, with a big percentage of heavy backgrounds, fighting today migration. Maybe they know better. What I have noticed is that the older ones are getting a step forward usually replaced by the new ones regarding working positions, living neighbourhoods and standards of life.

Foreigners had a completely different opinion about Athens since as tourists had mainly been informed to visit the old town of Plaka near Acropolis make some souvenirs shopping in Monastiraki near by after their short visit from the airport of Glyfada, then much closer to the center by the one today, E. Venizelos. That was their stop before the islands. Up to these years the rest of Athens had managed to be compared to Monte-Carlo as far as I was remembering the status of living of many families in really reach areas like Kolonaki, in the North suburbs of Palaio Psihiko, Filothei, Ecali and Vouliagmeni, Lagonissi near the sea in the South part of Attika. Even before my years I see pictures of the center of Athens with all men dressed in black tie and a hat. People were mostly conservative, social and friendly and the entertainment was up to the morning hours all days of week.

Then the other invasion came to Greece, political this time, called PASOK under its leader A. Papandreou which was one of the serious reasons for the beginning of downfall of Greece.  Having this special feeling those were the years I left Greece as well. Later on his son G. Papandreou continued what his father had started to completely this family be the main reason of Greece destruction and for the economical depression  which followed for some years later on. People I speak with believe that Greece even during dictatorship years, under G. Papadopoulos, was under better development, more successful industrially and finally could stand then in its own feet.  They also felt more proud with glamorous and distinctive personalities who had a lot of guts and glorified Greece like A. Onassis, M. Callas, King Konstantinos, K. Karamanlis and many other recent to name here, but many other greeks are unfortunately attracted by misery in our days. For sure it would not be the same mentality during the glorious years of Alexander the Great when Greece was expanded from today position of Europe up to India on the East. According to me greek people are very naive to understand what is going on,  or they really do not want to be involved seriously and again as a joke I have said that they should not all vote because they are not mature enough.

So today, isolate these strange creatures, and they will extinguish by themselves, the ones who declare pseudo-ideas-believers that their only real project is to delay the progression and develop of Greece to become even more important that was always famous for.

I will never forget the conversation I had with the witty Vassilis Tsilichristos about this psychological part. Vassilis was the owner of the clubs under the name Mercedes even more than 2,000 people capacity the biggest ones in the summer time by the beach. He really liked me and this was obvious since I had never payed for a drink there. I liked him too, we became friends and I was a very frequent visitor those years. I had helped him also when he started with the small Mercedes in Glyfada confusing him dimming the lights. One day he said to me, Dimitri I want to ask you something. He knew how picky I was. He said to me every night the club is full but on that end -he walked me there- behind the bar is the spot that all freaks wearing black with strange hair are gathered all together and except giving a bad impression I personally don't like that at all. Can you advise me about a solution how to clear this spot? I said how can I know, maybe by changing it to dining area? No, he said I don't want food. Sometime later I asked him how is with his problem there and he answered me like: Oh, there is no problem any more I placed a huge white light there and they disappeared like cockroaches. He was always smart, he realised that these particular kind of dark people and underground music fans the only thing they would hate it would be the light, simple as that. That was him that all of his stuff would try to, unsuccessfully of coarse, open later similar clubs.

Regardless to say that I am not from another planet, I know that there are very serious problems in life, but someone has to face those as a problem as well and solve them in order to be really happy and content.

Strikes were taking place with the main scope a piece of bread today, not ideas, not on future bases. Others for securing for lifetime public positions and be paid by the country in a few words from the taxes of the ones who were really working. Happened one day to leave my dentist near the area they were gathered and I believe they were right to shout and complain because looking to them from closer these people in the streets it would be very difficult for a serious businessman to employ them in his private company. The good thing would be all of them to try to be in a spirit that all the country to forward in front and not only think of today. It was the years under turkish occupancy that comparing to greek level they could be easily considered as barbarians and kept the development of our civilization, at that time, back especially those years when the rest of Europe was reborn through Renaissance.

Soulis SA

Match earlier than those years cousins Soulis, like brothers, but with completely opposite characters each other, and that was the key of the success undertaking one the sales the other the technical section, for the famous later Soulis SA or Soulis AE in greek business terminology, were the founders. Their names were Anastasios D. Soulis and Anastasios G. Soulis, sons of Dimitri and George brothers. The company started producing heating elements such as radiators and boilers together with all central heating services and within a few years adding the activity of Aluminium extruded profiles in 80s once reached the top 3 of greek industries together with Petzetakis Plastics, Motor Oil and Peiraiki Patraiki textiles regarding turnover. It reached the point of 2,000 employees most of them in three swifts per day in the 3 plants of modern and heavy industries in Lamia, 200 kilometers north of Athens. Three huge presses for extrusion, one unit for anodizing, another for automatic production of radiators and burners together with boilers and other smaller products in Athens factory, in Rouf industrial area of Attica.

My father was telling me I hate coffee places. You passed by and you hear them saying, lying in one chair and smoking: If I had money you know what could I do?” submeaning that ideas are good but someone has to work as well. The true was that I had rarely seen my father after the age of 5, he was working till late every night. I have the feeling that I recently am on the same track as him on that. He was one of these boys of fourteen without shoes during the war selling cigarettes but he had never smoked one.

During 60s and 90s everybody knew us or almost all since half of their hot water boilers for shower were ours and the other half from our competitor Elco, who later on was accused for murdering his secretary with whom he had a love affair and the competition was not that tough after that.
Even the ones there were not one of the two they were still been produced by us with different stickers and more expensive prices, same units, ordered by competitors such as AEG. They were produced in our factory too.

I remember the story with the first extrusion press, the size of a small house. They were all tailor made in Farrel co, Rochester, USA, not far from New York and for that particular one was a term in the contract that someone from our company when everything was ready to be shipped had to visit and check a few simple things and sign for shipping. So my father sent me when I was 16 years old to do that with a polite hospitality from the foreign company of 15 days staying in New York Hilton for free. I remember the song Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci all in fashion that time and me as the song mentions about the greater dancer in Studio 54 and my connections to be there. Later on I asked from my father an additional 15 days. He was lucky that my visa was running out at that time.

The factory was very near Niagara waterfalls I had to visit with a person from the company who became a tourist guide for me and I was really impressed by the tones of water falling down not far from our boat. I also was impressed from New York, first time by myself the high-rises and the taxi driving speed that's why I have these pictures I took then together with something else. I will never forget something was like a mystery for me. I started my trip from Greece just before the sun would rise and that sunrise never ended during all the way of travelling from Europe to USA. I had to watch a romantic sunrise almost for 7 hours by myself so I had to take at least one picture.

The next time I was impressed so much by natural phenomena was in Reykjavik, Iceland twice. The fact that they really live six months almost at night and six months almost at day time and the hot geysers useful for therme just there in the snow. I know they are many other areas with both of them, but the first time is always more impressive, same with the colours and heat of impressive for me tropics.

My father was one of the main reasons my life was interesting since we were always fighting in everything but recently I realised that in the end he was always letting me win. I remembered that also from the times we were pretending fighting each other, he was doing the same giving me some confidence since he had never congratulated me for anything, but he was the one who has learned me a lot of things like swimming, driving, fighting, hunting, filming in 8mm camera, sketching, flying a kite, saving and many other serious supplies called advises for success many difficult to explain and more difficult to follow and some principals that I believe I haven't betrayed.

He would checked me fighting for something, in the end he would always covering me especially if that had to do with money, same as all members of the family. He never wanted us to have these kind of problems. He had never let anyone down regarding his protection. Finally he was always in front. We had some really bad times as well that I have never forgot like what I heard when a small ball I was playing hit him in the eye when I was about 8 years old. He was a boxer when he was younger and one time he used this qualification on me with a sadden hit that I still have a small mark in my upper lip, when he heard the voice of Ilias Psinakis ringing the bell waiting for me downstairs. He didn't like him as a friend of mine. That time I was 19 and the times I had a small fight with Alexia who also didn't like each other then we were going out with his group of people. I was very surprised later on when both of my parents admiring Ilias watching him in the television and telling me how clever he was in his humour which I found all this provocative. They were always some contradictions anyway.

In middle 80s I became the export manager of this family industry the era when the control of the company was still under the two Anastasios, one of them who was my father. Here I want to mention the necessity of the help of the country in two ways if this is possible. The first is the export benefit from the country that can make the goods competitive to other markets, as it was happening those years and at the same time establishing high import taxes in goods we already have in Greece and want to protect our production by making this import inappropriate. We were exporting more than 1500 tones aluminium profile in bars every month, raw or anodised. This was the factory in Lamia.

I used to drive my father some Tuesdays there. One time while we were five minutes away of it he asked me to stop the car there. He turned and looked back to the factory admiring it. I didn't know what to say, then he turned to me and told me see these trees around the factory, when we planted them were like toothsticks, see how strong and green are now. After all the stress of the day he left happy because of it.

My uncle was driving me for a month time every year during summer school holidays, from Kineta to the Athens factory, in order me to work there and learn something. In his car in this one hour drive we were only listening Hatzis songs. When we were approaching to the gate he was telling me smiling and softly let's close it now because they will make fun of us. That was him. He only wanted as a personnel manager, as well he was, to show his strict part of him. He was not like that. They say don't be afraid of a barking dog. 

Those were the years when the banks were helping us completing even some of the export documents in the contrary of their today attitude. Yes, they were acting like our secretaries. Today banks are looking which is the best way to get your money. We exported almost everywhere near, including Austria, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, UK, Holland, Malta, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen even USA. We were exporting aluminium though something we were not as much known in Greece where we were famous in heating. There, in export department, were staring Gianna Randou the sister of the well known actress married Vassilis Papakonstantinou the famous pop singer, my schoolmate Theodore Zaros today famous for his Zarossa Limited Import co from China, together with Helen from Australia, difficult to remember her last name, Stella and many others. Later on in the exports came Danai the daughter of the other owner, my cousin, that together with Natasha took over the exports when me and my father left the company and her father passed away, so together with my brother took over the whole company around the year 2000.

Danai would write a book later on for her own father, under the name To Schisimo (The Tearing) where she will explain in her own way how much strict her own father was to her eyes. Additionally I am very sure she been hurt a lot due to the fact that her father left her and her mother Kyra for another younger woman regardless how tough personality he was. Both owners who change between presidency and vice presidency every now and then for typical reasons were strong personalities, capable enough to lead the company the critical years of expanding, difficult years and under a lot of stress. The one with serious heart problems, the reason he also died from and the reason he changed his philosophy of life the last of his years knowing that, regarding extreme socializing and entertaining, and the other with stomach serious problems, he finally died in the age of 89. I was surprised first when I found out that during almost 10 to 13 years, the peak ones, 5 managers passed away in young ages between thirties and fifties including accounting manager lady, cost evaluation manager, client solvent secret services manager, factory personnel responsible and another in my mind came the pressure of work. It looked like a passion everyone had for work. Every morning at the same time my father entering the offices choosing the long way through all offices of sales department, accounting, cashier, management, export and import department with a big smile in his face saying good morning to everyone before going to his office in the first floor. One day he took me with him when I was in school and ask me to do the same advising me that this was the only way that you can succeed. I was so shy. My father was saying five good mornings  and I was mumbling one hiding behind his back. Even later on I could never say more than four five good mornings to the people around me I believed the rest were for the people who created this company. Almost all employees used to love their work, the company, the growth. They were many who met there and got married.

I remember our first factory ever, was not a big one in Kassandras street, where many clubs are located today, near the train and Iera odos, where is really impossible for me to go today there in the area and have fun. It is still there and always the smell in my nose of steel and the dark grease, the one I was watching on the gloves and the faces of our workers when they warmly speaking to me, been happy, showing their nice emotions towards me, when I was a very young boy.

There was the place I was export manager for 5 successful years of my life and that was the place I was spending one month every summer of my school holidays to even learn how to fix cables in the water heaters and other similar work when I was a boy to learn all positions.
Some people together with my mother said that the years I was in Soulis SA were the most fertile and successful years for the company which I still don't know if it was a compliment, true or coincidence.

I should, for sure, refer to this company because I feel is the one that grew me up, educated me as well and helped me to be in a big degree what I am today.

Crayon Models

I continue what it was not allowed to have in parallel with my other job by my father who asked me to choose although my plan was different to have both. So I became the manager of my own company in 1985 a model agency on the first floor of the famous for fashion activities, specially those years, Kolonaki Square in the number 21 right above the square. The name of the model agency was Crayon and was one of the six agencies that consisting S.A.M.E the official union of all greek model agencies these years together with Unique, Model's One, Pro, Elena's and Athens models.

The years were full of magazine shootings for editorials and covers, tv commercials and fashion shows all very well paid.
The fashion industry was very strong then and all models around the world were eager to come and have some tearsheets in their portfolios by photographers of our market in order to help them in their career. That time I had three big rent apartments and plenty of hotel rooms especially for the new comers on regular bases.

The only problem with such a job is that models are human beings not boxes that can wait for you to negotiate. Some of them are not patient at all they need money today, others want only sophisticated and prestigious works, others complain that you promote another model more than them, others just want to be with their boyfriends. Nothing can be sure as well till the job is done. They are professionals as much as they can but not sealed boxes.

We used to represent models mainly through our cooperation with the best model agencies around the world, the most famous european and international model agencies from countries such as Italy, France, Spain, UK, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway, South Africa and even Australia and USA especially the time I was ready to represent Elite models. An unforgettable within many others event of our company, and having to do with Elite, was when together with fashion designer Sylia Chritharioti had brought Iman the famous model direct from LA for their fashion show just a few days before she got married with David Bowie with whom stayed together until the last day of his life. Next to that was Marpessa (picture on the top right, in Sylia's show) I had very good models that I was exclusively worked with by contracts. Between them Sarah Muthwill, Elena Casanellas and many others. Women that sometimes I even didn't know were approaching me asking from where is Sarah (picture on top on the left for La Repubblica) They couldn'’t believe that a woman with such a beauty could exist down to earth -and I can add also with all meaning of the sentence as well- I always knew what beauty means, not only in Greece but all over, that is why I have been to Italy at least 4 times to be sure she will come and I was more than right .

Opening Crayon agency a lot of new faces should start with at least a few new pictures. That time were a lot of specialised in model portfolios photographers around from Greece and from a lot of other countries who used to offer to work but not in a budget way. This was the time I even got more experience since as an agency we were offering these first pictures for free till we decide about a model and then deduct the cost from the the ones we decided to cooperate with. For the rest we had to say thank you and sometimes giving them a picture for present. We had frequent evenings per week scheduled for these sessions. The first need was basically portraits that’s why I had mainly focused and here you can see the results in my first professional portfolio as a photographer which is full of portraits and specialisation to that through various methods. Most evenings makeup artists and hairdressers were visiting the agency.

I was very interested to know myself if this model was good for the work to the point that some times people were surprised by that. The truth was I was working from the morning till the night. Many were the times that also something was missing from the models that were coming from another country for their portfolio, for example swimming suits by the sea.

The following pictures are the ones which were composing my first professional portfolio as a photographer -the one I had to show to models to get their approval on doing pictures- for their own portfolios mainly based and aimed to portraits, beauty and some swimming suits.
I had to make that, the same way they had their own portfolios, same way make-up artist and other photographers were carrying their portfolios here and there, from agency to agency and the surrounding places.

From here you can have an idea for the way I was trying to help as well and here are some pages from my personal first compulsory professional portfolio including my first published picture to Max magazine for our models promotion they were doing for a few issues regarding all greek model agencies presenting one model from each one of them every time. This first portfolio was all made by our models, the ones from Crayon, aiming future ones of the agency.

Tropical resort development and travelling

Six years surrounded by four walls were enough for me to start dreaming palm trees so the idea of making a resort, nothing very special, natural style hunts for backpackers, grew in my mind. I closed the agency and started travelling around Equator line in countries with 12 months summer, that was what I wanted.
Fiji, Cook, Queensland, Thailand, Moorea, Bora-Bora and the rest Polynesia and Pacific, Bahamas, British Virgin, Eleuthera, Grenada and other Caribbean, Cayman, Small Cayman, Seychelles, several islands in Maldives where the Ministry of Tourism proposed me to build a ship to connect all islands, because they would lease after 2 or 3 years the next group of islands. It was not what I wanted. In most places I had to either lease or cooperate with a local as a term. Nowhere was as I was imaging it concerning investment. This was the era collecting all tropical pictures.
I did that research with Stephanie from Germany. Then I realised how squared are these people in their mind. She was complaining in advance if something would happen to her, regarding health, what could we do there where we were. I would need an helicopter to take me to a bigger city with an airport and from there fly to a normal city with hospital if not Europe, she was complaining all time. And if we make children here where they go to school and which will be their friends, she was worrying. She influenced me a lot and disappointed me at the same time. Three years after I realised that this project was not for me. I had a partner in Texas where for a while with the help of some mexicans we transformed resorts in to tropical ones.
In the mean time I was travelling and taking pictures as well. The new destinations were Scandinavia and central Europe.
Then I learned that Stephanie with whom we had split went back to her work the one she was worried she would not be welcome, in Santorini and driving to the airport to pick up some german tourists had an accident and was wearing for a long time a collar. When we were travelling together nothing had happened to her. She was all right after a while without the need of the helicopter.

Maybe the project with the resort was shipwrecked but with all these opportunities I had the chance to travel everywhere I was dreaming of since I was a little boy and at the same time I had the chance to realise that I am in this same world in every destination I had been. Same characteristics, regardless how far it was, how it looked betraying the creator and the creatures you can always stay with the same question mark of why as long as you can travel.
If the place is quite something else will be missed, if the place is secure something else would go wrong because of that, if the place is civilised then again something else would be the problem, when the place is beautiful something else will be missing and so on.
I don't speak about these people who would tell you find inside you peace and paradise and all these nonsense who are trying to impress you or sell to you drugs.

I speak realistically about travelling as a research. Off coarse when you travel you also have the opportunity to travel inside you as well but this is a completely other thing.

There is a silent balance in most things uncovering the fair and the unfair. To give an example I was leaving for a business trip in Ritz Carlton in Paris where I felt beautiful in my salmon colour room but I was sure something was missing. The price was extremely expensive, I am sure it was overpassing the 500 euros but I needed that address. So I confirmed through the breakfast hour and the health club that I was almost alone in the hotel that night. I can compare another night living in Moorea camping and sharing the room with another 3 travellers paying about 25 euros per night having dinner with all residents in the covered area with the dining tables next to the cooking facilities. The place was packed, something like 50 people which was full coverage of the hostel and the place similar to paradise.
This is confirming what I was writing above about balance in life. Something is there, something is missing in the other place.
I believe this balance exists everywhere so people must not complain a lot in case they do.
The colours of the tropics are fantastic shades of turquoise but you don't dare to go far from the beach because maybe you get face to face with a crazy shark, in the contrary the waters in Mediterranean are safer with a lot of people and activity on the beach with the sand to be darker, pebbles or sharp rocks. I wanted to be in these places scuba diving instructor but I was scared, to say the truth, of just the case that a shark could go crazy. I have met dogs not very often in the surface that bark you like something is very wrong. It is another world, maybe comparing to moon walking, been under the water. Silence, weightless, mystery, although when I was young boy I was specialist fishing octopuses, almost 10 every day. The difficult part is more the preparation before eating in order to be soft. I love the sea, my sign is fish as well. It was my group of friends of Kineta Thanasis, Elvira, Maria, Poly, Christina, Danai and my brother the reason I had a healthy and fit body all time when young. We were swimming, play olympic sports, football and many times our team AOK was fighting against the opposite team there of Ilias, Vangelis, George and Spiros. They were nights playing music with guitars and singing so we could have audience our relatives to see us. Really nice years. Then me as the oldest one and captain for that reason I unfortunately left them starting smoking, drinking been out in Athens with other friends been impressed by this life for many years before I travelled. So everybody lost each other, maybe I was not so much caring then and finally not as much good chief because of that. I lost contact with AOK, with my grandmother, with my new friends when I started travelling and coming back I was almost alone. Everything had really changed. Thirty and more years later is normal to all have families and taking care of them. No more teams for me.

Influences - Personalities

Except all people I have mentioned and some others I will do soon I want to refer to some very special cases in my life here. My parents were travelling abroad together a lot leaving me to stay with my grandmother and grandfather in their house. Anyway that made good to my mother who was spending hours and hours feeling bored browsing through home fashion magazines and talking on the phone.
With my grandmother Lilly we were going on very well. She was a sweet young grandmother about 45 years of age when I was 6, not very tall, plump, voluptuous and they all calling her saint. My grandfather was leaving her alone going to his factory all day, the Casino all night so she needed company.
We were doing everything together. We went shopping, paying the bills in the mornings, going to the parks, the zoo, we were cooking, we were singing, play games, she was one of the kind who knew me well and believed so much in me. She mentions that also in one of her letters to me later on.

Unfortunately my other grandmother from the part of my father was in bed unable to communicate for 10 years due to a stroke. My parents were abroad on a trip again when someone called to inform her death. The only person who could answer the phone was my grandmother. She shocked, and strange, she shocked so much that the same night my other grandmother passed away a stroke hit my grandmother Lilly. She also spent 10 years in bed unable to communicate with anyone.

Through all my life till now the only person that was somehow the closest to her character and managed to remind me many times of her was Vivienne, an angel from Queensland, or that is what I thought, that I made a mistake to lose her when I was 35 and she was 19. Some people who have met her were telling me she would change anyway, that she was like that only because she was young. I was sending letters after our separation trying to show her that I've been regretted, but they were hidden by her parents because she would be married soon, as I later on figured out.
When I met her later through struggling efforts she was married and already divorced with 2 children something that confirmed in my mind that Vivienne with 2 children and especially through another man as father, would never be the one I knew with no children at all and me, only me for her.

Many speak about democracy. I don't think that they can if respect does not exist for the fellow citizen. It should at least exist the coercive respect which means the observance of tough laws in order to exist this respect, since someone is not able or mature enough to handle the freedom that is given to them and not in the position either because is unable or week to have under control over those who molest or interfere democracy.

They should be severe penalties and to do apply to persons, who for example do not respect public property or personal property of individuals vandalizing them. Those who write messages and others who appear as artists painting the walls calling it graffiti. For all who bother by the noise of their machines either are cars or motorbikes, pruning ones, even car honk.

I understand people been upset and here I will repeat that I am not from another planet but that doesn't mean that I am cheap as well.
Many things are true. Starting from athletes who voted for WADA antidoping to be where is based and consist by who is consist to be the ones to judge this or other national team? Me no. I am wondering how many dream teams have they seriously checked. Why not this organisation to be consist by kenyans for example who have proved they need nothing to finish a marathon. Who gave the right to Standard and Poor to set and indicate prices of commodities, funds and shares levels same as Moody's? Who are UN, IMF, why the International Justice is based in Hague, why the bank privacy is in Switzerland, who gives the right or not for countries to be tax heavens or not and finally who is able to judge who is going to have or not a nuclear bomb? Going down to the streets and create damages is very primitive way and not the answer, it is just an extinction. The answer will be targeting the correct individuals and not naive victims, same as children to their parents. This is not called revolution but still a kindergarten stage since we are in the era of mind.

I cannot stand hypocrisy, it is driving me crazy and unfortunately I have this skill to feel it immediately although people would think I don't.

I don't express it though but I feel sad and people would think I am moody without reason since I usually it is difficult for me to hide. For example they are people or even organisations who declare protection to animals such as dogs and cuts. Most of them together with so many others gobble in bulk calves, pigs, little chickens which are been sacrificed by thousands daily and people who stare at you strange because you said to their dog to move away or to stop barking in a not polite way. There is a lot of data presenting with protagonist chickens that the number of animals slaughtered per year reach the astronomic 65 billion items or to make it more clear souls. In deeper analysis the records for 2014 were chickens 62 billion, pigs 1,5 billion, turkeys 649 million, sheep 545 million, goats 444 million and cattle 301 million, provided only by the org under the name ourwordindata. They should be a lot of unofficial numbers as well and please note that here is not included any fish tonnage. All that for 7 billion total population on earth. We must decide as a society. We cannot be selective. Discriminations? We are either sensitive or not.

We must think more before we act how much we harm around. They are brainless people who secure their houses and their cars with alarm, they are leaving far and this annoying endlessly. For exhaust pipes of untuned cars and bikes which pollute from the streets the whole town. Again for cars and bikes which are using parts of pavements which are only for pedestrians. They are dangerous for pedestrians and also can destroy their shapes. Bicycles, motorbikes, cars which pass with red traffic light and often appear so dangerous to pedestrians. It should be taken place better training to children and dogs in order to not bother by barking and crying accordingly, but if they do it to be something serious. They are so many of these stupid animals feeling obliged to their bosses, for feeding them, are barking without a reason during the day and when the real need comes at night they don't want to be bothered because they sleep that time and do not work over-hours. Anyway most of the time are barking other dogs. Itinerant salesmen and services should not appear in traffic lights and pavements bothering for windows cleaning and goods sales they should be persecuted. They are coffee places that play at night music and they are just designed to sell coffee and not equipped with isolation. All that rudeness against all those people who want to relax and want to offer something much more serious than all these and anyway we must respect everyone. They are even people who open their mouth and make a show of their complexes through gossip or hatred only because they connect all what they see around them and to other people with their own ego. People should not compare and compete each other but respect each other.

I remember in USA when a patrol found an offence was calling for support other police cars as well, depending on the severity, and all together 2-3 were there usually on the side of the street stopped with all lights on, something like a party of blue, red and white strong strobing lights. Prisons should be build. Prisons, public services and administrative centers have to be moved out of town in a distance something like Sounio, that metro should reach there as well, or Thiva, Lavrio or even with bridges to nearby islands like Salamina or others. The New Town should be equipped by skyscrapers and at the same time to be an hour, an hour and a half far from the old historical center. That is a healthy future plan for Athens giving everyone the normal space to create.

Still today it is sad, there are also poor or ugly workmanship in many buildings, abandoned, not refreshed for many years, unpainted, some destroyed with owners only taking care about the interior without thinking what kind of bad impression give to the city as a unit. These home and building owners should get expensive tickets for not taking care about the surrounding and the influence to passengers who see all that dirt and confusion same as to companies with unserious or quick made, ugly signs in the streets representing for sure their unserious as well business. Both the state and the citizens should be responsible for the pavements to be tidy with the rubbish bins in their position and everything clean and perfect order and flowers as well. That is the nice feeling  a person of any age should have by taking a walk out to the city of Athens from now on.

Your home is not only what is locked behind your door, it is all the way to walk there. Don't allow anybody to bother the piece and the beauty of your home. Call immediately the police, or any other responsible service. That is what you have to do, regardless to say that you are the first one who will respect all that. 

A country that maintains loose laws it does not called friendly in the contrary finally ends up to the most unfriendly and ugly to the normal majority of people and maybe attracted only to the ones who create troubles. In the end and after a lot of tolerance and time the country can easily become degraded in a few words a second class one, just because is lucking of tough laws, leaving space to the rest of the countries that they don't worth it, to overpass it. It slowly becomes the center of illegal and attracts all of the kind and makes even the ones they were not really wanted to be illegal. If is that what you want for your country to be continue be polite and tolerate with all the vandalists the freaks and hide the illegal ones. When I was in the USA and using a taxi almost every time the driver was calling the police for whatever strange thing he saw on the streets. Young people who specially spend time on the net should not allow negative pictures and comments usually fake against their country interests. I confuse people at this stage with some out of topic complains, but the only reason for that is, believe it, the need for improvement. Also, the ideal Athens, and my dream, would be simply by moving the business, ministries, hospitals, everything an hour out of it, to an area such as Lavrio, Thiva or whatever with new high rises that are not allowed correctly in Athens till now for hiding Acropolis. The new city, from the beginning! Even Colombia has high rises!

The schools I have passed by when I was teenager, was not Moraitis with the touchy ones, neither American College, which was not mixed sex then, with the boring bachelors - lets gather all together before marriage - american model and mentality guys, although later on my university was Pierce Deree, at the nearby location, but for business administration, mixed and not school. My school mainly was Ziridis a really high standard balanced high school next to Aidonopoulou school and in front of the gernan school in Marousi where Media Markt is today. I was proud for the schools I have been. Hatzidakis in gymnasium till the fifth grade, Ziridis till 2nd grade of high school, graduated Panagiotopoulos high school in Psihiko and I still have friends and keep contacts with a lot of people from all of them.

In the 4rth grade of elementary school, I should be around 10 years of age and we were friends with the son of our famous singer Xylouris. The figure they have deified the left boys here in Greece because they have to deified some figures. So one day I had a fight with his son and two days later he told me I spoke with my father and he wants to speak to you, so don't go up to the class after the last brake he asked us to wait for him in the yard. Indeed a black dressed skinny man flexible with deer movement and long curly hair jumped on top of the fence. His eyes were shining. He was wearing narrow stretched bell shape trousers with black narrow shirt opened a lot in front. He looks with the eye of the crazy man at milos. It is a round platform that is centered in the ground and turns around with one foot while you are up there. He tells me come to play. His son got ready to come up as well, he tells him not you. I was already up there. He started turning this milo like demoniac, I thought it would split in two pieces and it would fly. I had never seen such a speed on this machine and such a noise. Everything around were blurry, I started to feel dizzy and start shouting to stop it but he was continuing harder. I was only listening their laughs like in a nightmare and at the same time my hands didn't have enough power any more to hold on the platform handles. I had lying down and holding like that, I was crying until I finally decided since he was not stopping to leave my hands and abandon the game. Falling to the ground, it was soil, I wounded both of my knees, I remember, tearing at that point my trousers. Stopping it he told me don't say what happened to anyone because anyway nobody would believe you because everyone knows I am hiding in the mountains of Krete. I was feeling pain and at the same time I was feeling shy that I wouldn't know what to say to my parents. Actually I learned later that dictatorship was after him that time, but I have never said to anybody what happened that day, even to my grandmother how exactly happened that I immediately went after school to her since the school was not far from there. Neither to my parents I ever said this event. This is the first time that I refer to it after so many years and the reason that I write all these is for the younger to learn who are the people-bubbles that present them even as idols taken from movies pseudo-dummies of ideas, heroes without any value just able for bulling children of 9 to 10 years old because they embarrassed their sonny boy.

People should double and triple think what impels and media pronounce and must always have doubts.

Recent days

So I had to travel for aluminium, models and tropical resort. People ask me what did I like the best. The correct answer is that each place had the same number of advantages and on the other hand same disadvantages. Through all that I feel lucky that I had the opportunity to socialize with people from almost everywhere, at least I was interested in. Now I decided to settle down back to my country again and taking pictures in a whole different way.

You will not find me supporting majorities and what most people do with social media. I have tried them since the first day they opened. I prefer thinking of mind.
So you will not find me in facebook, it is one of the social media together with youtube I used to had since they opened and before been famous, with a different profile name and I refused completely facebook. I hated it. Is one of these social media that they push you to be a member to watch other members profiles. That time used to be real free social net communities that I preferred which did't require this, such as hi5, myspace, bebo, hyves, odoklassniki, vk, that did't blackmail you to watch them.

Youtube, I like it and I opened another one recently under my last name, but really who has a profile name with youtube with only three letters as a member? My first profile which I still have was 3 letters youtube rare enough and is still on with these cartoons. If you want I can give you the address to check it out.

You can see my new youtube page BY PRESSING HERE

I passed through all that, the ones I hear and read people want and for many has become scope of life, in my very early years, one of the reasons I had so many enemies and gossip against me. I mean driving Porsche and Ferraris and golden Rolexes and four digit number of women, topics that are not interest me, provoke me or making plans for them. In the contrary I would like to believe that I have reached another level by now following it and improving it as much as I can.

In all my life I was like that kind of different. Some people said you change because of travelling. I say because I was different I had to travel and I was justified. Travelling around the world though and specially so much time like me is not a big deal I can admit and if someone doesn't have the luxury to do it I would not recommend it. The real good about it is that you can really face a few things from closer such as ideas and trends but I believe that someone without moving from a small village equipped with today’s technology strong imagination, passion, creativity and using his brains can obtain the same results. So travelling helps but is not really a necessity. Many people ask me what was the best country to visit. There is not such an answer, it is only what you are looking for.

What I believe I have gained is mainly regarding architecture and decoration ideas. I have already taken pictures of to maintain my places and the conclusion in my mind about humanity that all around the globe all people are and act pretty much the same. As I made clear above about following a stream you will not find me supporting majorities and what most people do with common mind and common attitude, maybe I like to support the weak, maybe I like to stay away from mazes and their ‘safe’ way of living. I find this boring and sometimes I can not handle the kind of pride people show up just by choosing to belong somewhere. I have to admit though that I recently have missed the ordinary life thinking that boredom can finally, but finally, offer some security, order and stability.

This one is not together with the other publications because there is no picture with it and maybe it is better like that since it makes it timeless. It comes from Lifo press
through its reference to 80s under the title: Telika perasame omorfa (20.11.2011 Evi Fetsi)

I am thankful to Lifo article by remembering the past and flattering me with compliments about looks, but the years have passed and they will never come back again. This can be for the records. Even if I feel the same person today I know that in the eyes of others around I have changed.