Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Summer in Greece

Last summer, I drew your attention to one singer called Arash, who got zero marks for fashion but full marks for effort and his naff song Boro Boro. Arash has since grown up and now makes swish videos, smooth songs and has gaggles of babes around him, making one think "Boy done good."

But lest we worry about what happened to the cheese shaped hole left behind by the now grown-up Arash, I bring you a song called Summer in Greece by George Mazonakis, with truly terrible lyrics like:

I like your country very much
I like the way you people touch

Surrender to your victory
I like your country's history

What the HELL??!! I knew Greek pop has its blonde moments, but this song is so bad I get nausea every time I hear it.

Today's entry is also dedicated to the other things about Athens that get on my nerves, just for the sake of balance because generally I quite like it here:
  1. Post offices and banks closing at 2:00 in the afternoon, boo!
  2. Parcels not being delivered to your door and you having to go get them from the post office before 2.00.
  3. Taxi drivers
  4. Footpaths which are barely big enough to walk on
  5. People who park on said footpaths forcing you to walk in the road, where you could be hit by afore mentioned taxi drivers
  6. Scary Greek women who present the news done up like glamour models
  7. Greasy Greek boys who whistle and make kissing noises
  8. Greek disregard for any sort of authority (this is a country of egocentrics)
  9. Mysterious lack of fresh coriander - the seeds are easy enough to come by
  10. Enthusiastically renting the latest foreign cinema offering to discover there is only one subtitle option - Greek

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read number 4 and thought by myself "Footpaths? You should mention that they are blocked by parked cars/bikes anyway!" just to discover that's what you have in number 5 :-)

Well done, glad you're back at writing!

Anonymous said...

hey there! at first i feel the need to say WOW THIS IS SUCH A GREAT BLOG... i found it by accident and it was so funny and interresting that I continued reading and forgot what I was actually searching! Its always nice to see how foreigners see Greece... How can someone really compare the beauty of London with the uglyness of Athens is still a mystery to this greek though! I think someone has to start a life-exchange program (give me your job and your appartment and I'll give you mine... partner exchange possible but not mandatory) and I would for sure go to London for some months and at last get to visit all the nice places you've got there, although i must admit that even though i am a regular airplane user, flights to London just got soooo much more interresting this august after the planned bombings (a.k.a 1000-ways-to-blow-your-head-off-while-you-are-on-air-reading-your-favourite-book expirience brought to you by British Airways)... GREAT BLOG KEEP IT THAT WAY AND CAN'T WAIT TO READ MORE NEWS! btw... THE SONG IS TRULLY AWFUL! Oh I just remembered... i was searching the stupid lyrics of it for a friend on the net and thats how I landed here... such a silly song can still eventually be the road to a nice funny blog! KALA NA PERNAS!

Anonymous said...

Keep talking shit about Greece. How are you even going to compare London to Athens honestly. The song may be corny, so you dont have to listen to it. You act like other cultures havnt had bad songs.

Anonymous said...

Actually I think its a really cute song, and I think its horrible how you put Greece down so much!
You dont like it, then please dont go there again.

And the fact that the female presenters doll themselves up is something called taste and fashion. Maybe you dont fix your self up so much and have a problem with people who fix themselves up.

Like the UK Eurovision songs with girls who are dressed like stupid school-girls are actually any better?
If Greek people had such bad taste in music, lyrics and fashion then:
1. They would not have won the Eurovision song contest last year
2.Would not be considered as one of the top fashion countries in the world.

Face it: There really is life after the US and UK.

Atleast people in Greece are close to eachother and follow their religions and beliefs.
Im really dissapointed in what you wrote and the way you put other people countries down.

You dont like Greece, then please avoid visiting it, writing about it and talking about it, and let us enjoy our warm summers on our white sandy crystal clear beaches, and have our coffee's on the beachfront watching the sunset. You can freeze your ass off in gloomy London if that is what makes you happy!

And Niko, I am very dissapointed that you would agree what someone had to say about your country. What kind of patriot are you?

Anonymous said...

ehhh... guys ... I really think you should really read the things I wrote again... am I entitled as a full blooded greek who adores his country NOT to like a specific song? I think I am.. and trust me .. I REALLY like elena paparizou and i really believe that we have a great taste in many many things.. NOT in architecture... and allow me to have my opinion! That doesn't mean i will move to London cause in fact i hate the weather there... but I am sure british people will not be mad if I complain about the weather...they wont start telling me how imoprtant their country is because they did this and that just because i complained about a silly thing... I know very well there is life after US and the UK ... and I dont know if my cypriot lebanese friend understood what i wrote but i really dont put greece down... i am aware that we have great beaches i love frappe I love the sun , I adore my greek friends ... I just happen to like a different architecture that the one you see in omonoia and I also happen not to like the song i mentioned... and I avoid both of them :) i like many other songs and many other places in greece though so no need to panic.. i am not an Anthellinas.. Oh and something else... no need for anyone to be dissapointed if they dont do or say what our ears want to hear... just avoid those people and blogs (my suggestion searchy in google for "greece-is-only-fantastic blogs" there are many! have a great day! Nikos

Anonymous said...

did I mention I live for the last 5 years in Athens ? and i love it here...

Anonymous said...

I watched video clip for the first time today and I thought it was wonderful. It presents the greek lifestyle and people just as they are. Relaxed, hospitable and great to be with.

Anonymous said...

Are you sure you are not the scruffy american? This sure sounds like his column re-invented.

Anonymous said...

I am reading this two years after you wrote it, and I'm very sorry that no Greek has showed up all this time to say this, to the above commenters:

Δεν κόβετε τις κλαπαρχιδιές λέω ΄γω σκατοφασιστάκια; Η κοπέλλα έχει ξεσκιστεί να λέει τί γαμάτη που είναι η ζωή στην Αθήνα, τί τέλειος ο καιρός, τί καραστυλάτες γκομενάρες οι Ελληνίδες, τί έξω καρδιά που ζούνε τη ζωή τους οι Έλληνες και στην τελική, γύρισε γιατί ερωτεύτηκε έναν Έλληνα. Και σας μάρανε που έκραξε τις ψόφιες γάτες που νιαουρίζουνε στα νέα των εννέα, και τα ζα που νομίζουνε οτι τραγουδάνε στα μπουζούκια; Ε, γύρευε τι μπουρτζόβλαχοι/ες του κερατά θα είσαστε. Ού να μου χαθείτε που θέλετε και ίντερνετ. Ρε ούστ, άντε πίσω στο μαντρί να γαργαλάτε τα γίδια. Ούστ. Μπρρρρτ!!!!

Α και δε μου λες εσύ κυρά Kυπριώτισσα- Λιβανέζα... πού γινήκατε έτσι ξαφνικά οι Κύπριοι να προστατεύτε την εθνική υπερηφάνεια της Ελλάδας; Δεν είμαστε δυο λαοί και χαιρόμαστε πολύ κι οι δυο; Άντε τώρα μη βγάλω τα βιβλία της ιστορίας και σου πώ εγώ, πού μου κονόμησες και συμπάθεια για τους Έλληνες έτσι ξαφνικά. Κάργια. Άντε.

And you lady, yeah, you of the blog. This is the funniest, most refreshing bit of blogging I've read in a long, long while. I am proud that you find so many beautiful things to say about my country- I am currently living and studying in the UK and you put me to shame that I can't find as many to say about it. You remind me that love for ones country is not the same as hate for everyone else's. I must work harder to be as open minded as you. For my own sake.

I'd link back to my blog, but at this point I'm embroiled in a bitter, ugly flamewar and I don't want any sane and reasonable person to see it and judge me based on that. It's also about stuff you don't seem to have anything to do with, so, later, maybe. Until then,

Νά'σαι καλά και σ' ευχαριστώ για τα καλά σου λόγια.

Στάσσα.

GeekGoddess said...

Oops! Kopela, it seems you've ended up in the middle of a male Greek verbal fist fight! But don't worry; it's only because some people don't have the ability to think objectively when it comes to their country and can't hack other people's fair criticisms (we Greeks call it patriotism and it's mandatory for every citizen). For what it's worth, I agree with anonymous and I support you 100%. You have more guts than 95% of the male species in Greece and 99% of the ones in Athens. I envy you. GIVE 'EM HELL KOPELA MOU!!! ANTE KAI STIS XARES SOU!! (I hate the song too). ;-)
-GG.

Anonymous said...

Come on i agree with most of your comments about life in Athens and about taxi drivers' and Greek boys' behaviour but dear i think u must think twice before u talk about beauty and the fashion sense of Greek women because Brittish women are lacking very much in appearance and i think their fashion sense is horrible!!So do the German and most north women..I think they wear the first thing they see in their wardrobe and they dont seem to be any feminine at all!!Thay dress as if they are gonna clean up the garden !!!Greek women are much more elegant and with a way better taste.