Wednesday, 30 May 2007

Thing #87: Learn to use long words

I am Greek. And Greeks are used to long words. In fact their names are usually very Greek and make everyone say: that's Greek to me. That's what Xenophon Zolotas (economist and prime minister) (warned you about the names!) stated in one of his historical speeches:

"I always wished to address this Assembly in Greek, but realized that it would have been indeed "Greek" to all present in this room. I found out, however, that I could make my address in Greek which would still be English to everybody. With your permission, Mr. Chairman, l shall do it now, using with the exception of articles and prepositions, only Greek words."

And then we went on..

"Kyrie, I eulogize the archons of the Panethnic Numismatic Thesaurus and the Ecumenical Trapeza for the orthodoxy of their axioms, methods and policies, although there is an episode of cacophony of the Trapeza with Hellas. With enthusiasm we dialogue and synagonize at the synods of our didymous organizations in which polymorphous economic ideas and dogmas are analyzed and synthesized. Our critical problems such as the numismatic plethora generate some agony and melancholy. This phenomenon is characteristic of our epoch. But, to my thesis, we have the dynamism to program therapeutic practices as a prophylaxis from chaos and catastrophe. In parallel, a Panethnic unhypocritical economic synergy and harmonization in a democratic climate is basic. I apologize for my eccentric monologue. I emphasize my euharistia to you, Kyrie to the eugenic and generous American Ethnos and to the organizes and protagonists of his Amphictyony and the gastronomic symposia".

Being able to read and actually understand what he is talking about qualifies me for Thing #87.

Monday, 28 May 2007

Things to do for 3 years!

It's now 5 months since I started going through the list and I have completed 14 Things. With this rate it will take me 3 years to complete the entire list, which is a good thing (ironic isn't it?) because it means I will have something to do for some time. If nothing else, the list and my adventures provides a good source of topics for discussion over a top: "so, how come with your fitness levels you managed to survive the stairs thing?"

Thing #46: Go as fast as you can (done!)

I think I flew once with a Boeing 747 which has operational speeds of over 1000 km/h. That's fast! However as I can not really recall whether it was a 747, I will consider flying with a MD-11 a few days ago as the closest thing to flying as fast as I can. The MD-11 has a speed of about 945 km/h. Both airplanes are very easy to spot. The 747 is massive, you just can not miss it! The MD-11 is a three-engine medium to long-range wide body airliner, with two engines mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stabilizer. For example, click here for a photo of a FedEx MD-11 or the one below.

Of course, the above speeds are nowhere close to those of the Orbiter Specifications (for Endeavour, OV-105) which has a speed of 27,875 km/h but this will do for now! Speaking of which, did you know that the Boeing 747 is used to transport the Space Shuttle? Check it out!

Saturday, 26 May 2007

How much does Wired cost in Canada?

And the answer is CAN$5.99, which is still cheaper than it is in the UK. And you can buy the June issue in the third week of May. And there are many of them available to choose from (hm... but they are all the same, aren't they?). Anyway, I got a few to read while going there to find out how much it costs to buy Wired, but ended up adding one more to the collection of unread Wired magazines.

Friday, 18 May 2007

The problem with collections

In a previous post I mentioned I had a collection of unread Wired magazine. Well, I decided to start reading them, which would have meant that I would not have a collection of unread Wired magazines anymore. So, I put them in chronological order only to find that I was missing one! It's like you are about to complete a puzzle and then you find out that one piece is missing. Even worse (and you can blame Murphy for this), this piece is ALWAYS in the middle of the puzzle.

Friday, 11 May 2007

Links are good!

I just found out that the book's official web site has add a linked to my site. Thanks! :)

http://www.101thingstodo.co.uk/kids/Gallery.htm

If you have a blog or personal web site, why not add a link here too?

Thursday, 10 May 2007

Thing #32: Visit...

"There are thousands of amazing sites to visit around the world..." and it's good to see that I have already visited those required for this Thing to be completed:
  • safari park (the nearest safari park is a few thousand km aways, so a zoo will do for this)
  • carnival (got the t-shirt)
  • castle (no knights there, but still...)
  • theme park (A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away...)
  • a farm (mooouOOOOO)
  • an aquarium (ohh... there's a fish, and another one, and another one... etc)
  • the countryside (I almost live there)
  • another country (done)
  • your capital city (done)

So I guess I can claim this Thing is now completed!

It would have been soooo much better, if I had to show you a video clip like the one below:

Saturday, 5 May 2007

Thing #25: Start a collection

Collecting things is an addiction that can become easily become obsession. You buy a couple of things that you really like and then you need to have the rest of them. Then, the whole universe conspires against you in order to miss or not find the last thing that will complete the collection!

Anyway, for this Thing I put forward my collection of... unread Wired magazines. I have now 12 issues that I have not managed to read due to other committemments (i.e. work). Still, every month I make sure I pay the -now regular- visit to the local newsagent.

You may wonder why don't I just subscribe? Well a subscription in the States costs $20 for two years (no this is not a typo), while in the UK a subscription for one year costs £59.64! WHY? And if you think this is due to the magazine travelling over the big pond called Atlantic Ocean, well think again. The yearly subscription in the UK costs about 25% more than buying 12 individual issues from the newsagent!
And if you thought that only applied to one magazine's subscription rates, then think again! Read this review in PCPro about IT related prices.

Sunday, 29 April 2007

Thing #72: See your music idol perform live

When I was younger, much younger, I used to listen to Bryan Adams a lot. I had a poster of him on my door, I bought his on tapes and CDs (they had started becoming mainstream) and generally tried to follow his career (remember this is pre-web era!). So I guess Bryan Adams was my music idol back then.

When I found out he was coming to our city guess what I did! I went and saw him perform live, which is very handy, because it means I have fulfiled Thing #72!

Check out the videos below:



Thursday, 19 April 2007

Thing #70: Spend Christmas in another country

Hm... what's the definition of 'another country'? I live in the UK, but I was not born here. So technically, 'another country' could be considered as any country other my native one. Hence, spending Christmas in the UK qualifies me for this Thing.

On the other hand, this is not really exciting as I have been doing this for... well, for ever! As such for this Thing to be completed, I will consider my trip to China a couple of years ago for Christmas and New Year's Eve.



A photo from the New Year's Eve party!

Saturday, 14 April 2007

Thing #43: Make a difference - Do something charitable

Dear reader,

This is YOUR opportunity to do something before you're old and boring!

Help me raise £250 pounds for BBC Children's in need charity and not only become of history (i.e. of this blog) but also of the future (i.e. help children in need). Every single penny you give will be used to support disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

To donate click here!

Saturday, 7 April 2007

Task #14: See a ghost (done!)

You may wonder why I have not updated the blog for so long. Well, I was undercover looking for ghosts! It takes some time to spot one you know. And I did spot on! I even caught it on camera, but this is not for the light-hearted!

Saturday, 17 March 2007

Thing #9: Done

10000 points, a round number, a good number! And guess what? This is my XP in Enemy Territory! I know it's only a game but the achievement under the circumstances and the relief for completing this task (especially as this was my second attempt due to a server crash) can not be described.
Now a veteran I can look back at my days of action just wish that for the near future I will not need a medic!

Thursday, 8 March 2007

Thing #27: Done!

I may have been very unlucky with the server crashing and losing all my XP but... I have been very lucky with this one. A friend of mine stayed over at my place yesterday and before going to sleep we agree to get up around 8. In the morning, we were about to leave the house when he said: do you know that the clock in the room is one hour slow?!? I woke up at 7 thinking it was actually 8! That made my day as it meant thing #27: turn back time was now officially completed!