FILM : Moneyball

At the beginning of his decade 2000, Billy Beane, promising former professional baseball player and manager of the Oakland Athletics team, is faced with the decision of its owners to make serious budget cuts. Back to the wall, Bean is forced to hire Peter Brandt, a genius financial analyst, with the help of which he will attempt to overturn the facts. The two will implement a pioneering computer statistics program, which will help them to staff the team with the most suitable players, while staying within budget. The result will surprise everyone…
Watch the trailerhere
Source : e-go.gr

Live with Tania Tsanakidou with favorite songs from yesterday and today

Every Friday and Saturday with Tania Tsanaklidou
Tania Tsanaklidou returns to Libra. Organizes her group and rushes to the Athenian music scene on Fridays and Saturdays.

Ready to sweeten our soul, to give lyrics to our indignation and to awaken those emotions that every day steals from us.

On the side of aid, the favorite "Woman of Patras", Eleni Kokkidou, the excellent actress with the gift of a velvety voice.

Songs, music from yesterday, From today, from the theater, the cinema. From Kurt Weil to Akis Panou, angry songs and favorite songs, to sing softly together.

Last performances until Saturday 7 January

Source : newsbeast.gr

Live with Tania Tsanakidou with favorite songs from yesterday and today

Every Friday and Saturday with Tania Tsanaklidou
Tania Tsanaklidou returns to Libra. Organizes her group and rushes to the Athenian music scene on Fridays and Saturdays.

Ready to sweeten our soul, to give lyrics to our indignation and to awaken those emotions that every day steals from us.

On the side of aid, the favorite "Woman of Patras", Eleni Kokkidou, the excellent actress with the gift of a velvety voice.

Songs, music from yesterday, From today, from the theater, the cinema. From Kurt Weil to Akis Panou, angry songs and favorite songs, to sing softly together.

Last performances until Saturday 7 January

Source : newsbeast.gr

David Sentaris v… Santa Claus

The author tells in his unique humorous way what he went through when he had to work as…elf!
Are you worried?, during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, when the flashing lights start menacing public and private spaces; Are you tired of window displays with fake snow and plastic Santas who smile the same way every year at bewildered customers; It makes you uncomfortable when you hear the song "Rudolph the Reindeer" everywhere; Do you resent the peculiarity of the festive climate imposed by m’ an extraordinary way of joy, hope and of course consumption;
If you believe that goblins – there are also – they have to shake off that seasonal euphoria at some point, then you must read the American's Christmas Country DiariesDavid Sentaris. S’ this short novella, the humorist writer of Greek origin, he describes with his sly sarcasm what attracted him when he decided to work, black as he was, as a multi-tasking and "full-time" elf in the world's largest store, «Macy's in Herald Square» during a festive season which always creates the need for additional support staff.
The author's narrative, a hilarious tour of a multidimensional bureaucracy that "sells" the holiday experience and souvenirs from’ her photos for an exorbitant fee, leads us to believe that it would be better to be a reindeer and pull Santa's sleigh in distant Lapland than to wear "green velvet suit» and be humble p’ an annex of the mythical house of s’ an American department store that accepts young and old.
We follow the hero, among many other ridiculous things, to rage with the other elves, freaking out when it comes to taking over a cash register and losing control when the store gets crowded. «Any sane person would leave if they knew they would have to wait over two hours to see Santa. Two hours – you could see onefilm in two hours. Standing in a line that will last two hours makes people worry that they don't live in a democratic state». But the purpose is one: for as many people as possible to stay in "Christmasland" and consume as many products as possible while there. In other words "we were an efficient machine in the chaos" where at any time it is possible to anagram "Santa" (Santa Claus) with "Satan" (Satan).
The working elves go through many devious ways to keep up the interest of distracted parenting parents and young children who, because they are not happy enough, their parents slap them and demand ap’ them to stop crying and smile at the elf who is waiting to take their photo as a happy family. «Some of these kids get anxious before they see Santa. They pace up and down and shake hands looking at the floor. They pretend to be going to a job interview» thinks the narrator, trying to reassure a child. «Don't worry, Santa isn't going to judge you. He is not strict. He used to be very critical but people were protesting so he stopped. Trust me, you don't need to worry»…
It is interesting the embarrassment with which he, the v’ other magical world faces reality, that is, when children with disabilities or mental retardation go to see Santa Claus. And when Sendaris describes these situations he does so with sensitivity. With the rest he is amusingly merciless. «I witnessed a fist fight between two moms and watched a woman suffer a severe agoraphobic panic attack: he fell to the floor trying to breathe, waving her arms as if chasing away bats. A Long Island father called Santa a sister for not reciting “Christmas Eve” to his child».
THEHenry James he said that "experience is the very atmosphere of the intellect” and in the mind of David Sedaris everything is strange, surreal, desperate jokes. The author read this novella for the first time, which later became a play, in the morning program of NPR (National Public Radio) of the USA on 23 of December 1992. From then on he became more widely known and subsequently the books he published climbed several times on the bestseller lists in America.
The author's books in Greek http://www.vivlionet.gr/
Source : tovima.gr

The 5-door VW up is also coming!

In Frankfurt in September, VW showed us the whole up family!...or rather almost all of it, since the 5-door version of the mini model is still something hidden… We reveal it here.
As we have re-emphasized recently, in up! Volkswagen clearly supports a lot, since this car will help her to reactivate in the so important mini class, replacing the moderately commercially successful Fox. After the 3-door version of the model we recently had the opportunity to drive in Rome, but the original e-ups!, eco up!, cross up! and GT up! which we saw in Frankfurt in September, now our interest is on the upcoming 5-door version of the new VW. The cross up! it also had a 5-door body and gave us a first glimpse of the new model.
up! + practicality = 5 door up!
As part of the pan-European driving presentation of the 3-door up! we saw first hand that Volkswagen invested in a very interesting model, with quality, very good road behavior and economical motor. What is essentially missing from the 3-door version is of course the practicality offered by the two rear passenger doors. The 5-door version comes to fill exactly this gap, thus completing the character of a model that seems to have all the qualifications to overturn today's minis.
Seats full of "toys"
VW has not yet announced official data for the 5-door up!, the first reports speak of important practical solutions inside it, in order to differentiate it enough from the 3-door. It is therefore estimated that the 2nd row of seats will be particularly flexible, allowing different configurations of the cabin. In regards to the trunk, we remind you that the 3-door model has a luggage compartment 251 liter. If the information that wants the 5-door version to have a slightly longer wheelbase is verified, then this number will be the same or even slightly larger, thus giving up! another important advantage over its competitors.
Engines: Small and economical
Under the hood of the VW up! are located, two new ones, 3cylinder power units of one liter, 12 valves, with horsepower 60 and 75 horses, which meet the Euro emission standards 5, while both do not exceed the limit of 100 gr / km. in terms of CO2 emissions. So the average consumption does not exceed 4,2 and 4,3 lt./100 km. respectively with the help of BlueMotion Technologies. This for the case of up! means Start system&Stop, recovery of energy during braking but also tires with low rolling resistance. He will bring these motors, initially at least the new 5-door version of the German model.
End, another element of interest is the fact that the 3-door version was rated with 5 stars in passive safety from EuroNCAP. This is largely due to the fact that the car is equipped with the innovative City Emergency Braking system that operates at speeds up to 30 km/h and can even brake the vehicle completely, if the driver does not apply the brakes in time and a collision is judged to be imminent. The medal of 5 of course it can accompany the 5-door up!.
The presentation and launch of the new 5-door VW up! expected to take place around the middle of it 2012.
Source : autotriti.gr