How to call the police when you're old...

I receive various e-mails from friends in my inbox. This one made me laugh, and was forwarded to me by my good friend Helen. It says it is a true story, but it could be another urban myth, like so many others that are circulating.

HOW TO CALL THE POLICE WHEN YOU'RE OLD AND DON'T MOVE FAST ANYMORE.

George Phillips , an elderly man, from Meridian, Mississippi,was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were   people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?"
He said "No," but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me.

Then the police dispatcher said "All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available.."

George said, "Okay."

He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.

"Hello,I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed.. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I just shot and killed them both, the dogs are eating them right now." and he hung up.

Within five minutes, six Police Cars, a  SWAT Team,a Helicopter, two Fire Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Phillips' residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the Policemen said to George , "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"
George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

Religion and Free Expression

This article is a response to an event that happened to my 9 year old niece, who is attending a school in Athens Greece. Unfortunately, schools in Greece are not secular, and neither is the state secular. We still have a Ministry of Education and Religion, the constitution says that this is a christian country and part of our taxes go for the salaries of the greek orthodox priests! To explain a bit, even in state schools we have a class called "Religion", which actually is a propaganda for the Greek Orthodox religion.

When she chose the school that my niece is attending, nobody told her that it was a religious/faith school; it was understood that it was just a good school where religion was taught as part of the curriculum, just like in every other school. Nor was it in any way written anywhere that there would be any kind of religious problems or anything else religious except for the usual religious crap that all schools have to abide by.

My sister has explained to my niece that most of the things she is being told in the "Religion" class are myths and legends, and that they are not true; that there is no evidence for mystical resurrected zombies or parthenogenesis in humans...

Anyway, to continue with the story, my niece wanted to dress up for the annual school carnival party as a little devil girl, nothing frightening for other children. The owners of the school, though, forbade her the costume on religious grounds! They said that it is blasphemy to dress as such! Blasphemy again, the "protector" of religion from any kind of criticism, from logic, from critical thinking, from being human even, as it seems, from having fun! I wrote my ideas about blasphemy in a previous article in this blog, when I criticized the new blasphemy law of Ireland.

This is a clear fundamentalist attitude and as such my sister has complained but to no avail. Those people are set in their illogical, superstitious, irrational, dogmatic mind set, they have been lobotomized by religion and cannot think outside the box.

Of course, my sister's family will not be attending the school party; entrance per person was priced at 28 euros, and since my sister has 3 kids, you can understand how much these cost for a total of 5 persons.

One of the worst things is that they run a school which is supposed to give an education to children. But the worst of it all is the way they made a 9 year old child feel. My niece at this moment has been hurt, is feeling humiliated. All I can do, as her aunt, is to try and explain some things, but she does not understand why she cannot dress as a little devil in the school party; she does not yet understand religion and its implications.And right now she is wondering why she was forbidden to dress as a little devil, and she is angry at the school's owner.

Of course, the school will lose not just one student but three, as my sister has 3 children in all and none will be attending that particular school.

Children need to be free from such attitudes, they need to be free to think and express themselves; parents and the surrounding environment, have the responsibility to guide them and help them think logically, think critically, to use their empathy for other people, to be human.

How are children going to develop logic and critical thinking skills, when religion is superstitious and dogmatic? How are they going to be free and to express themselves, when religion limits that freedom? How are they going to learn to be responsible for their actions when religion teaches people to put responsibility to mythological beings (god and satan)? How are they going to learn to be human, to have empathy and to care for others when religion teaches them that they are sinners, and thus bad, and ugly? How are they going to be responsible citizens and be sensitive to major current events, when religion teaches "Have faith in God"? How are they going to consider themselves as an equal member of society, when religion teaches misogyny and racism?

Doctor Who - Christmas Special 2006 & Season 2 - David Tennant

In the previous article about the new Doctor Who series, I wrote that I had liked Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor, and that I had just started watching David Tennant's Doctor. To be honest, I think that David Tennant is brilliant in the role! I definitely think that he is the best Doctor up to now.

David Tennant starts as the Doctor in the last episode of Season 1, when the Doctor regenerates. The first Tennant episode is the Christmas Special of 2006. Initially, I was a bit unsure about Tennant's style, after the dark and grim Eccleston, but at the end of the Christmas Special, I knew that he was going to be a very good Doctor.


The Doctor has changed towards the better: he is more open, more humorous, he is more certain of  himself and his companions. In contrast with his predecessor, the new Doctor always gives a second chance to everyone, because he really believes in second chances. If they refuse, then tough luck for them: they will experience the wrath of a Timelord...

I loved the way David Tennant and Billie Piper related to each other in their roles. At first, it seemed like there was an awkwardness, like they did not know where the relationship was going. However, from the 3rd episode of the Season, "School Reunion" their relationship started to actually show, it showed its strength; it was a strong one but more discreet, I would say. The last scene of the season, definitely shows the strength and power of that relationship, and I was sorry to see Billie Piper go.

 


I thought that it was a big mistake to add the character of Mickey Smith into the team, and I was right. I don't think that the character of Mickey really worked; he was supposed to be a comic relief character, but this does not work for every show. Instead, he was an obstacle into the relationship between the Doctor and Rose. Mickey really showed his capabilities in the episode The Age of Steel, and I was glad to see him go. When he returns in the double episode for the finale, he is a much different Mickey Smith, not a comic relief character anymore, but someone who can really help. And that Mickey Smith I really liked, although I would not have him disrupt the Tennant-Piper duo under any circumstances. 

 

As far as the episodes go, I liked School reunion, and the reappearance of Sarah Jane Smith. I loved the dynamic between Sarah Jane and Rose, I thought they worked very well together. I almost choked from laughter when I saw Tennant as a teacher in the school in that episode [Wish my teachers had been as goodlooking and sexy as Tennant... I think many girls would definitely pay much more attention in class!] In this episode, Anthony Stewart Head is the main bad guy, who portrays the leader of some huge vampire bat-like creatures! If anyone remembers, Anthony Stewart Head was playing the character of Rupert Giles, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who was responsible for helping Buffy fight vampires and other creatures of the underworld.

The reappearance of the Cybermen was a good and strong double episode, but I must say that my favorite of the season, has to go to The Impossible Planet/The Satan's Pit. In this episode, we see the power of both characters, and how strong Rose Tyler is, how much more she could have given the series had she stayed.

The worst episode has to be Love & Monsters. It was supposed to be the comic relief episode of the season, but, I don't think it worked as well as expected. Add the fact that the main characters of the show, appear for a couple of minutes before the end...

The finale of the season is a double episode, featuring the Cybermen vs. the Dalek vs. everyone else. A sample dialogue between Cybermen and Dalek:

Dalek Sek: We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek. You are superior in only one respect.
Cyber-Leader 1: What is that?
Dalek Sek: You are better at dying.

The dialogues between the Cybermen and the Daleks were wonderful! Very cleverly written, and despite the humour in them, you can see that this is the way that a dialogue between such creatures would probably be.

The last scene of the season, where the Doctor says goodbye to Rose Tyler, is one of the most beautiful, strong and emotional scenes of both seasons. I cried at that scene, really cried, and every time I think about it, I still get tears in my eyes.

I love David Tennant as the Doctor! Truth to be told, he is tall, handsome and sexy. What's not to love?

Doctor Who 2005 - Season 1

I had bought the DVDs of the first new season of Doctor Who for a while now, but had not had time to watch it. I did in the last few days, and it was a blast! I had loved the show as a child, at least the few episodes they showed on greek national TV (just 2 national channels at the time!)

I am sorry that the season had just 13 episodes. It ended and I wanted more. More Eccleston, more Jack, more of everything! And I was sorry to see Eccleston leave at the end of the season. He is quite handsome!

I have loved the new Doctor Who, from the way it looks to the stories and the characters. Christopher Eccleston did a wonderful job as the new Doctor, the 9th Doctor. I was really happy when I heard that there would be a new series of Doctor Who, and was hoping for a good show, and I got more than that.

Eccleston's Doctor is handsome, I would say heroic, as most Doctors were; he is a caring individual, he cares about his traveling companion, Rose, and tries to spare her at the end of the season. He doesn't like to hide, and dashes in, sometimes, or better most times without a plan. The new Doctor is mysterious and charming, he is a Doctor for a new millennium, but also a Doctor that appeals to the older generations.

As for his companion, Rose, she is a young woman full of life, she is a human being first of all, and shows it all the time. She has no problem going to meet the unknown, and is taken on the ride of her life by the Doctor. There is also something more between the two, but it's not that explicit in the series, I don't know if there is the same chemistry with the 10th Doctor, David Tennant.

I loved the new look of the TARDIS in the interior. It looks like a real mumbo jumbo of a spaceship, of adaptations from the Doctor, since he is the last of the Timelords, the rest of them killed in the Time War. The Time War between the Daleks and the Timelords, had a very high cost for the Doctor, and in the series it shows. It is meant to be shown in the first season, so that we at least try and understand his own feelings and hurt. He says it was not his choice to live, and maybe there is something to discover in that mystery.

The Daleks are back in the series, in 3 episodes, and I thought those were the best episodes of the season. And finally, the Daleks have solved the stairs problem! How can you be one of the most feared races in the universe and not be able to go up a flight of stairs? Simple: no money for special effects in the old series! And this stairs problem was also an in-joke in the first of the Dalek episodes, from which the above photograph was taken.

And of course, I shouldn't forget, Captain Jack Harkness, the ex time agent turned con-man (or is he?) that Rose and the Doctor meet in one of their adventures. Not only do they meet him, but he becomes part of the crew for the rest of the season. But who is Jack? A 51st century man, a bisexual or better a pansexual, as he is a 51st century man, when mankind has reached to the stars and has met with various species. Jack doesn't hide his sexuality at all, he is who he is and is very comfortable with it. I applaud both the series producers and John Barrowman for this; the issue of one's sexuality is important, and in the show, it is portrayed in the right kind of light, without being vulgar. On the contrary, you almost immediately like Captain Jack Harkness and you don't even have to try. He is likeable, dashing, and charming!

And of course, Jack did get his own series (which I hope returns in 2010), named Torchwood. Well, I know what I will be watching after I finish with Doctor Who!

As far as the episodes go, my favorite are the 3 Dalek episodes. After that, the second episode, The End of the World is one of my favorites. The Doctor takes Rose into the future, 5 billion years into the future, at the time when the Earth will die, engulfed by a dying Sun, when he becomes a red giant. Mankind has gone to the stars and the Earth is just another rock in space... Will we ever be able to go to the stars?

And of course, Father's Day. Rose and the Doctor go back in time when Rose's father dies. Rose saves him and creates a time paradox. Time creatures attack to cleanse the Earth not only from the time paradox but from the human race as a whole.

A good season, this first one with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. I just started to watch the second season with David Tennant, and for the first few episodes, I like it. More when I finish the second season.

Woman

In the pale moonlight
on the cliffside
a white form
opening her arms
embracing the night
embracing the world
Waiting...

New Dawn

Rise from the darkness
Give the world a new day
New hope

The day breaks
the stars hide
the moon pales
and the sun is up on the sky.

Lovers

In the night
in the moonlight
two lovers
kissing
celebrating love
celebrating life

In the darkness
a man and a woman
holding each other
in the moonlight
and the stars shine on them

In the darkness
the pale moon lights the way
for love
for lovers everywhere
and the stars smile.

Elric of Melnibone

Eyes of fire
Skin of milk
Sword of life
Sword of doom

Sorcery his strength
Sword his vengeance
Blood of Chaos
Blood of Kings

Cymoril his love
Zarozinia his wife
Their deaths by his sword
his doom, his destiny

Fulfill his destiny
Sound the Horn
Chaos is gone
Earth reborn

The White Wolf dies
at the hands of his sword
"Farewell my friend
I was more evil than you ever were."

Knights of today

In my dreams
cities of old
cities in war
knights in shining armours
fighting dragons...

Knights of today
come not in shining armours
or holding magic swords;
dragons of today
come not spouting fire
or keeping riches in their hoards!

Knights of today
fight dragons of "tomorrow"...

Falling Star

A falling star
shining through the sky above:
a little child in a rainbow
watching the small star...
"Mommy a falling star..."
Make a wish
little child,
your dreams may come true
because the faeries from the stars
are down on Earth
this beautiful night!