l'automne

like it? then, by all means, click it!
embiggen in the dark

i went to paris, did a lot of exploring, and quite a lot of shooting, and, to protect my pictures, i saved them in both a netbook and an external disk. for my trip home, i put them in a cute little netbook bag, along with various cables and accessories, and our passports.

how's that for intelligence..?

so, when i arrived in athens airport and had collected our baggage, i promptly left the netbook in a chair and left.

i had just finished up with the weekly groceries when i realized it was gone.
and i panicked.

thankfully, mr.G kept his cool and called the airport... they connected him with airport police and -- oh, joy -- security had found the bag and collected it.

...............................................................


more paris

©2010 helen sotiriadis

two great jesus&mos...

loved both of these:

sell


why


click either to read at source.

on the cover of an e-magazine

on the current issue of debop.gr:



original image:

click!

©2010 helen sotiriadis

tim minchin: not perfect

it's where i spend the vast majority of my time

a picture of a picture of a picture of a picture of a picture of a picture of you

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oh no -- not another droste!
this one, i did manually.

photographer's block still blocks, so thank goodness for flowers and nixes.

i'm skipping town tomorrow but maybe i'll have something interesting to share when i get back next week. maybe.


©2010 helen sotiriadis

journalistic mythology

paul jay speaks at the labour college of canada, on the real news:

lack of belief in gods

"explaining the concept, refuting common objections and giving a number of reasons that atheists are sometimes 'fervent'."



via atheist movies

hypnolens

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because one droste spiral is never enough.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

star trek love boat

it's love!



thanks, demetrios.

a plug from pz myers

about the new greek collective blog in english, atheia!

wooohooo!

the poetry of science

the richard dawkins foundation for reason and science presents: "the poetry of science: discussions of the beauty of science."

'two of science's luminaries converse on the beauty of science. neil degrasse tyson, astrophysicist and host of nova and evolutionary biologist richard dawkins will explore the wonders of the cosmos and of life, its origins, its inspirations, and why science is not just an option, it is the only reality we possess.



via RDFRS

lolsimpsoncatholics

believers in non-existent beings believe that non-existent beings are believers too.

spiral-tuality l

estimated to be the farthest galaxy, UDFy-38135539.


L. Calcada / ESO
click to source


via cosmic log.

why 'atheia'

from atheia, the new greek collective blog in english:

'when we decided to launch a collective blog with an atheistic content, we sought a title. we concluded that most contributors did not define themselves as atheists, but free-thinkers, skeptics or secularists and viewed atheia as a result of their logical approach of the cosmos, a part of a more general philosophy or ideology. indeed, the term "atheia" wouldn’t even exist, if its opposite, belief in god, didn’t exist. so why bother with something that doesn’t exist? why bother publicly declaring that we do not believe in the existence of god?'

and

'the greek word "atheia" defines the lack of belief in god and in the supernatural.
no more, no less.'

the entire post here.
comments at aorati melani

LOLtribblekat

click to source
via blastr

nix over troubled water

like it? click it!
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this is a panorama created from 16 shots with my 50mm lens at f/1.4, stitched, in order to create a wide-angle image with a shallow depth of field.

in the park at kefalari in athens, greece, geotagged at flickr.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

plastered t-shirts transform yet another life

lucky xiao zhang!



you can get plastered too.

jessica jackley: poverty, money -- and love

link

café au lait

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coffee at kefalari, athens, greece -- well, actually we had other stuff, but it's still called coffee.
geotagged on flickr.


©2010 helen sotiriadis

benoit mandelbrot, 1924-2010

i was saddened to hear that the world had lost benoit mandelbrot yesterday... his was a precious mind.

this gif is a nice tribute:


please click to source
i no longer use the term rest in peace.  he's not resting.  he's gone.  but his work lingers and ripples through humanity.

found at dangerous minds via my friend, julia -- thank you.

speak, lord

click to source

at naked pastor. please click over to read his accompanying post.
via the friendly atheist

the 600 years

mapping during 600 years anniversary of the astrological tower clock situated at old town square in center of prague.



thanks, julia!

rain and roses

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i've had photographer's block all week... but yesterday morning the rosebush outside my apartment building looked gorgeous after a heavy rain.




































©2010 helen sotiriadis

males / females have equal math skills

on science daily:

'one portion of the new study looked systematically at 242 articles that assessed the math skills of 1,286,350 people, says chief author janet hyde, a professor of psychology and women's studies at the university of wisconsin-madison.

these studies, all published in english between 1990 and 2007, looked at people from grade school to college and beyond. a second portion of the new study examined the results of several large, long-term scientific studies, including the national assessment of educational progress.

in both cases, hyde says, the difference between the two sexes was so close as to be meaningless.'

more...

agemaps

time fusion.
more agemaps here.

philip roth on religion and god

'when the whole world doesn't believe in god, it will be a great place.'



check out the transcript and the relevant motivational poster at the perplexed observer, where i found this.

back to the future

then and now

hitchens brothers debate if civilization can survive without god

on youtube



writeup and clip on CNN

χωρίς θεό

translation: without god



via daylight atheism's focus on atheism in greece, and the newly-formed atheist union of greece. hop over for more information and a translation of the lyrics.

greta christina is angry

and here's why:

'i want to talk about atheists and anger.

this has been a hard piece to write, and it may be a hard one to read. i'm not going to be as polite and good-tempered as i usually am in this blog; this piece is about anger, and for once i'm going to fucking well let myself be angry.

but i think it's important. one of the most common criticisms lobbed at the newly-vocal atheist community is, "why do you have to be so angry?" so i want to talk about:

1. why atheists are angry;

2. why our anger is valid, valuable, and necessary;

and 3. why it's completely fucked-up to try to take our anger away from us.'

read on...

sam harris - robert wright debate

october 9, 2010 at the council for secular humanism

october oropos

like it? click it!
press 'L' to embiggen in the dark.

we had an aimless drive around the areas north of athens. it was the first day i had to take care and dress warmly, and the setting sun filtered through trees that are reluctantly dressing for autumn. we ended up at oropos, close to the port for the ferry that leads to eretria on evia island, where people enjoyed the beach and light, each in their own way.

fisherman at oropos



enjoying the sunset



easy lunches on the beach



hardly noticing the frequent ferry



this is geotagged on flickr.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

richard dawkins on bill maher, oct. 8, 2010

discussing clueless politicians, the greatest show on earth and evolution, religion, burqas and faith schools, and the out campaign.

on youtube.

i'm not a witch -- i'm you

space is awesome

:-)



via neil degrasse tyson

tumortown

photograph by jonas fredwall karlsson

'in tumortown you sometimes feel that you may expire from sheer advice.'

at vanity fair.

coffee at thission

like it? click it!
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the afternoon sun is still blazing bright but a cool tent-covered street is just the thing for some coffee, conversation with friends... and people-watching.

this is geotagged.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

moonwalk

NASA's restored footage montage of the apollo 11, digitally cleaned up:

google's john lennon doodle

in celebration of his 70th birthday.



video description:
'join us in celebrating john lennon's 70th birthday!
give peace a chance.'


the song is imagine.

imagine there's no heaven
it's easy if you try
no hell below us
above us only sky
imagine all the people
living for today

imagine there's no countries
it isn't hard to do
nothing to kill or die for
and no religion too
imagine all the people
living life in peace

you may say that i'm a dreamer
but i'm not the only one
i hope someday you'll join us
and the world will be as one

imagine no possessions
i wonder if you can
no need for greed or hunger
a brotherhood of man
imagine all the people
sharing all the world

you may say that i'm a dreamer
but i'm not the only one
i hope someday you'll join us
and the world will live as one

historians admit to inventing ancient greeks

'a group of leading historians held a press conference monday at the national geographic society to announce they had "entirely fabricated" ancient greece, a culture long thought to be the intellectual basis of western civilization.

the group acknowledged that the idea of a sophisticated, flourishing society existing in greece more than two millennia ago was a complete fiction created by a team of some two dozen historians, anthropologists, and classicists who worked nonstop between 1971 and 1974 to forge "greek" documents and artifacts.'

read the rest at the onion.

please don't eat the droste

like it? click it!
press 'L' to embiggen in the dark.

manipulative escheresque fun!
try it! you know you want to....

and, while you're at it, clap your brains off!

i used my invasion of the purple daisies: 99/365 that i shot last year.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

rachel maddow focuses on delaware

intro

christine o'donnell feels she must inform us that she's not a witch, and does a brilliant job of projecting:



[video via deep thoughts]

...and rachel comments on the video!

chris coons: delawareans need to meet candidates

after getting bounced from christine o'donnell's campaign headquarters

having found an o'donnell supporter to talk to... at the U of D, from PA, actually...

rachel talks to delawareans on the street

... and talks to local reporters about the absence of o'donnell's lack of campaigning beyond national coverage...

business as usual

click..
embiggen

i took a taxi to the center of athens last week for some errands, and the route took us through exarchia. at zoodochou pigis street, i glanced through my right window to see layers upon layers of posters -- a few for art and events, but most politically themed, vying for someone's -- anyone's -- attention.

exarchia is often a center of sorts for riots in athens, and although i'm very familiar with it from my days of attending the polytechnio, lately it looks more crowded, darker and graffiti-ed than i'm used to...

still, i'd rather wander around here -- and never mind people who say it's not safe [i say, bull] -- than visit the finest neighborhoods of our esteemed leaders.

that stretch of posters, though not particularly unusual for the area, somehow hit me with a force of thousands of people who feel driven to do something, but are still putting up with the frivolous, greedy nonsense of politicians who produce nothing, discover nothing, yet continue to play bickering games, avoiding justice for scandals, having amassed fortunes at the expense of this country's people.

i finished up with my business and doubled back on foot through the area, until i found this particular spot and shot a few. really, it looks very indifferent. i tried processing it in various ways but finally opted for this version -- selective color on the posters themselves, and monochrome for the facing apathy.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

the best of the hitchslap

i've embedded a lot of hitchens' videos over the last few years, and have seen these bits in their full context, but this is a great compilation of some sharp moments:



EDIT: my comment on RDFRS when it was added to their website:

i've been fascinated by hitchens' videos over the last few years. this is a great compilation!

whether one agrees with him or not is irrelevant -- though, as it happens, on matters of religion, i most certainly do. this is a rich mind that examines issues from every angle. almost each sentence uttered conveys complexity... and even when reconsidering his position, he remains consistent and true to the principles he has chosen.

one loose quote from 'hitch 22': 'when circumstances change, i change my mind.... and you?' [forgive me if the quote does the original injustice -- i listened to the audiobook].

what a powerful thinker / writer / speaker. ... and i suspect the best is yet to come.

sam harris on the daily show

with jon stewart

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sam Harris
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

discussing his new book, the moral landscape.

a fitting pair

like it? click it!
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our favorite picnic table, revisited.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

peek-a-boo... i see you!

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i picked up one of these 'ancient' chinese death gloves at the pan jia yuan flea market in beijing in 2008... but when master haggler, mr.G, arrived, he managed to acquire three more for much less. so now we have his&hers!

nix obliged yesterday and we got a few good shots... made me laugh. they're a little klingon-y, no? and so perfect for halloween!

mommy! gimme hug?



tres death glove chic



new uses for old classics



gardening death gloves



©2010 helen sotiriadis

steven pinker on keith olbermann's countdown

creationism, a political platform

visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

via why evolution is true, with a lead-in story.

the unbelievable truth: why america has become a nation of religious know-nothings

by daniel dennett on the ny daily news, in response to the new study by the pew forum on religion and public life, which concluded that atheists and agnostics tend to know more about religion than believers do.

snip

the age of the earth, the existence of billions of galaxies, the detailed confirmation of evolutionary biology, including our demonstrated close kinship to chimpanzees and indeed all other mammals - all these discoveries and many more have taken their toll on any literal understanding of the holy texts. scholarship about the history of those texts has also made it more and more obvious that they are imperfect human artifacts with a long history of revision and adjustment, not eternal and unchanging gifts from god.

so what's a religion to do? there are two main tactics.

plan A: treat the long, steady retreat into metaphor and mystery as a process of increasing wisdom, and try to educate the congregation to the new sophisticated understandings.

plan B: cloak all the doctrines in a convenient fog and then not just excuse the faithful from trying to penetrate the fog, but celebrate the policy of not looking too closely at anyone's creed - not even your own.

/snip

via RDFRS

a portraita of mr.G

like it? click it!
embiggen.

shot last year, with a background change.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

mao zedong in a hong qi

like it? click it!
embiggen.
this is a reprocessing of a picture i shot in march 2008. a hong qi [red flag] sedan was parked outside wan guo cheng for quite a few days. it had a lot of interesting details, but the likeness of mao hanging from the rear-view mirror was my favorite.

©2010 helen sotiriadis

sam harris' 'the moral landscape'

how science can determine human values

tennis practice

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thank goodness it's friday. i need a break.
happy weekend, everyone!

©2010 helen sotiriadis

in the cards

the winner of CFI's campaign for free expression video contest.

the sound of science

cute.



via why evolution is true