This was forwarded in an Email from the Big Jabber:

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing.

He concludes by saying: “Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed.”

“ON NO!” the President exclaims. “That’s terrible!”

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally the President looks up and says, “How many is a brazillion?”

More pics from the Europe trip are up - this Time from Athens. See the Gallery here.

We spent three days in the capital - and it was very very hot.

It is amazing how young the city is - all the buildings were built in the 70’s, and all the residents seem to be born in either the 70’s or 80’s. Young people from all across Greece come to Athens to find work. The nicest part of town is known as Plaka, while the rest of the city is known for being very grey and haphazard. There are a few relics of the architecture that used be present in the town, before it was all torn down in the 70’s (don’t have any picture, sorry).

You’ll also notice our pictures from the Acropolis, and accompanying museums - very spectacular as you’re likely aware. One surprise was how much mass Hercules has - he really is jacked.

Hostage

To get a sense of greek culture - there is a movie you may want to see: Hostage - It shows how Greeks approach life - and how well it contrasts with the Albanian approach.

Here is a summary of the movie:

One morning, a young man boards an intercity bus on its daily run to Thessaloniki in northern Greece. He hijacks the bus at gunpoint and takes seven hostages. He turns out to be a 25-year-old Albanian immigrant and his demands include a big ransom and safe passage back to his homeland. In no time at all the hijacking is being transmitted live on national television. For the next 20 hours a wild and at times bleakly comic chase ensues through northern Greece, the bus at the head of a convoy of police cars, television crews, desperate relatives and bystanders. And all the while, the bus is getting closer and closer to the Albanian border… Constantine Giannaris’ gripping film is based on a true story.

After far too long a break, I’m posting some pictures from this summer’s Europe trip. Up today are pictures are from Kefalonia, the self-proclaimed most beautiful island of the Mediterranean.

If you enjoy wine, you might want to stop by the island - There is a neighbour village has an annual wine festival with unlimited wine (here is one of the pics from the event). And the entrance price is a total of 0 Euros. Yes, unlimited wine with free entrance, and plenty of crazy greek dancing. Good times.

Click this link to see the pictures.

If you’d like to see the slideshow, click here.

Here is an excerpt on Kefalonia from Wikipedia:

The island got its name from the mythical hero Cephalus who arrived to the island as a refugee from Athens, displacing the island’s initial inhabitants, which were known as Teloboes or Taphioi.

The towns and villages were mostly built high on the hilltops to prevent attacks from raiding parties of pirates that sailed the Ionian Sea during the 1800s.

In 1864, Kefalonia and the southern half of the Ionian Islands become a full part of the Kingdom of Greece, which later became a republic.

In World War II, the island was occupied by Axis powers. Until late 1943,
the force was predominantly Italian, the Acqui division and Navy effectives totalled 12,000 men, but some troops from Nazi Germany were also present (about 2,000). The island was largely spared from the fighting, until Allies armistice with Italy in September 1943. Confusion followed on the island, as the Italians were hoping to return home, but the Germans did not want the Italians’ munitions to eventually be used against them. The Italian forces were hesitant to turn over their weapons for similar reasons. As German reinforcements were headed to the island, the Italians dug in and eventually, after a referendum among the soldiers to choose between surrender or fighting, fought against the new German invasion. Ultimately, the German forces prevailed in taking full control of the island. 6000 of the 9000 survinig Italian soldiers were rounded up and executed.

While the war ended in central Europe in 1945, Kefalonia remained in conflict due to the Greek Civil War. Peace returned to Greece and the island in 1949.

Almost every house was destroyed in the 1953 earthquake, with only regions in the north escaping heavy shaking. Damage was estimated in tens of millions of dollars, however the real damage to the economy occurred when residents left the island.

Kefalonia became famous in the late 1990s thanks to the novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, written by English author Louis de Bernières. The love story that is the theme of the book takes place during the events of the Second World War, and is based on historical facts.