Lake Sevan is the largest lake in Armenia and one of the largest high-altitude lakes in the world. It's one of the most favorable places for us, Armenians in summer. It's close to Yerevan (the first beaches can be reached in less than half an hour).
Here is how the lake is seen on the map of Armenia
In the beginning of 20th century the Soviet government decided to lower the lake's level and use the water for irrigation and hydroelectricity which led to almost an ecological disaster. The island where the Sevanavank monastery was situated, transformed into a peninsula.
In the recent years, the government of Armenia started to implement a plan for increasing the lake's level to recover its ecology. Its results can be now noticed almost everywhere in the shores of the lake where many of the trees and constructions have gone underwater.
People usually organize daily trips to the lake shore, making a picnic with the required BBQ making on the spot. It usually takes some days to organize those trips since the meat and stuff should be bought beforehand and the meat should be prepared for BBQing (the process is called "to make a basturma from the meat") one day before. To me, it's an unnecessary bustle and it's better to go there with just some prepared sandwiches, plus fruits and vegetables, meanwhile to many, those trips are mainly for eating the BBQ :( And I'm not telling about the competition most of the male Armenians participate in. It's for the best "basturma" and BBQ making.
This Sunday we went to Sevan with friends, with all the traditional BBQ stuff. It was still July 4 (usually early for swimming in Sevan) and we were not sure if the water will be warm enough for swimming. I took my swimsuit just in case and it was a right decision :))
The weather was pleasant at first and it was even cloudy that's good for our protection from the sun.
Oh and about the sun at Sevan. Since the lake is situated on a high-altitude in mountains, the sun is particularly strong there and one can get burnt in minutes, thus the long-sleeved shirts, hats and sun blocks are required.
I also discovered that it's especially pleasant to swim under the rain :) the water is even warmer then! and not telling about the sound of rain drops heard from swimming underwater :)
I enjoyed taking photos there and as you see in the photos below, the lake looks amazingly cool. Most of the comments in Facebook and Flickr on these photos point that you can see these views far not every day there.
I am now here to tell you about the project I am currently working on :)
As some of you may know, I work at the company that has established the first Armenian online information agency - PanARMENIAN.Net. The company itself is called PanARMENIAN Media and includes several other divisions such as our newly established PanARMENIAN Photo agency.
You may also know that I am currently the head of PR and Marketing of the company.
So a little advertisement may go here below.. :)))
Since my job takes a lot of time (and it's supposed to be so :))) i'm having no time and energy to write for my dearest blog, but since I'm currently setting up a blogging schedule for myself, I hope to fix this gap!
The recent months we were working hard on the establishment of the Photo agency, obtaining the latest photo reporting equipment, setting up the agency's work flow and trying to position ourselves in the market.
So it's a news and event photography agency and our photographers are attending almost every event taking place in the country. We are also working towards realization of photo projects.
By the way, our photographers are more than photo reporters and you may notice some humor and creativity in the photographs, not so common in traditional photojournalism.
I love photography and outstanding magazine covers.
While browsing my daily feeds with news, images and interesting stuff in Google Reader, this one caught my eye, and I just can't stop watching it :)
Sharing with my readers:
This is Israeli model Bar Refaeli having the magazine's contents scrawled across her body, with a new Stephen King short story teased on her arms.
It's been a long time I haven't written my thoughts here. It's because my mind was occupied entirely with other things and mainly the job. Plus I caught a kind of a brain-virus that is called "being in love" that turned off my multi-tasking skills and ability to focus on any one thing for some period.
It's a rainy morning, not yet 8 am, and I didn’t sleep well this night. Instead, the lines of a future blog post were wandering in my mind, not letting to sleep until I bring them into these letters.
I've been thinking about the attitude we have towards other people and about the judging of others.
Recently I've been noticing that some of the people I know and love, where making me feel uncomfortable with them, because I couldn't stand listening how they were talking about other people, discussing some of their characteristics with sarcasm, negative tones, humiliation and sometimes also offensive notes. It could be just someone passing by the street or someone known…
Do we really have the right to judge people solely based on the limited information we have about them? E.g. their look, their beliefs, their deed, especially rumors about them...
I try and guess I mainly succeed in putting away the stereotypes that could be built by other people's opinions or other basic information i can get from the first look.
I have this attitude towards the unknown people that is: I generally like them, unless they prove me that I shouldn't. And if i like somebody, i won't let myself judge or make fun of them. This means that by default I like everybody, until someone does something that makes me change my attitude. Moreover, i don't quickly change it to the "negative" one, because one thing can be just a result of certain circumstances, so i can be just become neutral, not good, not bad.
I have had a lot of talks on this matter with different people that were trying to convince me that I'm too naive and optimistic and that I shouldn't so easily accept strangers as good people by default.
Yet this is how I'm made. I do believe that there are more good people than bad. In the general meaning of good and bad.
It's my whole lifetime experience with people, brought me to this.
I met an interesting quote in the blog of my friend Araz. She has a post called: "You can't hate anyone whose story you know".
Rephrasing this I'd say "You can't judge anyone unless you know his story".
When i wrote this statement, it didn't sound good to me, because i realized that "You WON'T simply judge anyone whose story you know".
I'm not touching the topic of judging criminals, people with no morality and wrong values. My post is about the common thing happening daily with all of us.
I find it offensive when people make fun of another people based on their look, deed or anything that makes a first impression, because it could just as likely be the worst day of their life, it can be something brought by circumstances that weren't under their control at all. They didn't choose it, it chose them. Who didn't have bad days? Is there anyone who can say that they are perfect and hadn't ever been in a bad situation?
I don't think that making fun of others with or without their presence is smth worth to be doing for intelligent people. In case of their presence, it can be only appropriate if you are sure that they are enough balanced and steady and that they are capable of understanding your sarcasm, accepting critic and feedback.
How many times did it happen to us that we had made a wrong negative impression about someone and then felt guilty of having it ?
To me, it had happened more often than the opposite. I rarely have changed my positive attitude towards anybody.
I truly believe that the stereotypes and some first impressions shouldn't be the base of the attitude towards anyone. Just change the angle of view and you'll notice additional details that were unnoticeable before.
Let's take this example:
There was a girl in my surrounding that was often criticized for being a weirdo, she didn't have many friends and seemed like pushing them away. She was a workaholic and didn't pay much attention to her outlook. Everybody was giving her judgmental looks until one day we got to know her "story".
It turned out that she had lost her father and had to take care of her mother that was ill and her siblings. She was the only one working in the family and had to help the younger sister to enter university.
She knew that she was making an impression of a weirdo, she knew that people were judging her, and that their attitude would be changed if they knew the story. But what she didn't want was having that pitiful looks on her. She was okay on her own, in her own small world.
Dear everyone, next time before you do any remark on anybody like "geghci" (common referring to people from villages that are here considered as underdeveloped and silly) remember that having the luck to be born in the city doesn't make you better of those you didn't have that luck.
Before judging someone by their deed or look, do the basic thing such as putting yourself in their shoes, consider that there could be many circumstances that brought them into that condition and that generally, you are noone to judge others, whoever it is.
Exactly one month after the terrible earthquake in the Italian region of Abruzzo, that has destroyed the beautiful city L'Aquila and numerous villages around, killing about 300 people, a song-tribute to the victims was released.
56 great Italian artists united to create a song called "Domani 21 Aprile 2009. Artisti uniti per l'Abruzzo". April 21 is the day, when they met altogether in a music studio in Milan for the support the campaign "Salviamo l'arte in Abruzzo". Its aim is to collect money for the reconstruction of the conservatory "Alfredo Casella" and the seat of the Teatro Stabile d'Abruzzo dell'Aquila.
...and this is the video that they created and that I totally loved
The idea belongs to Jovanotti and Giuliano of Negramaro - both my very favorites, and they realized it by the support of Mauro Pagani of PFM, Caterina Caselli and others.
Among the artists there are: Ligabue, Jovanotti, Mauro Pagani, Giuliano Sangiorgi of Negramaro, Gianna Nannini, Elisa, Giusy Ferreri, Tiziano Ferro, Zucchero, Fabri Fibra, Giorgia, Piero Pelu’, Caparezza, Laura Pausini, Baustelle, Mario Venuti, Caterina Caselli, Pacifico, Dolcenera, Gianluca Grignani, Negrita, Nek, Francesco Renga, Antonella Ruggiero, Mango, Elio e le storie tese, Giuliano Palma and many others... (I named only ones i know and like)
I'm going to buy the song online (as soon as it will be released on May 8) and have my contribution in the support of saving the art in Abruzzo.
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As some of you know, I have some close ties with Italy and live with a feeling that part of me is Italian. Sometimes I feel myself like one of diaspora Armenians whose heart aches when hearing Armenian speech or news from Armenia. I feel the same towards Italy! I feel homesick and I can't find my place. I have been listening to Italian radios all day today, and the Italian speech is so much dear to me... like the native language that I've somehow "forgotten" and then "refound" inside me again.
********
Here are lyrics of the song that also help to see who appears in the video and who sings which line:
Tra le nuvole e i sassi/ passano i sogni di tutti (Ligabue)
passa il sole ogni giorno/ senza mai tardare. (Tiziano Ferro)
Dove sarò domani? (Enrico Ruggeri)
Dove sarò? (Gianni Morandi)
Tra le nuvole e il mare/ c’è una stazione di posta (Franco Battiato)
uno straccio di stella messa lì a consolare (Massimo Ranieri)
sul sentiero infinito (Max Pezzali)
del maestrale (Eugenio Finardi)
Day by day (Zucchero)
Day by day (Cesare Cremonini)
hold me/ shine on me. (Zucchero)
shine on me (Cesare Cremonini)
Day by day save me shine on me (Zucchero, Carmen Consoli, Mauro Pagani, Cesare Cremonini, Eugenio Finardi)
Ma domani, domani,/ domani, lo so (Francesco Renga)
Lo so che si passa il confine, (Roberto Vecchioni)
E di nuovo la vita (Mauro Pagani)
sembra fatta per te (Giuliano Palma)
e comincia (Elio)
domani (Elio e Le Storie Tese, Vittorio Cosma)
domani è già qui (Jovanotti)
rap 1 Estraggo un foglio nella risma nascosto
scrivo e non riesco forse perché il sisma m’ha scosso (Caparezza)
rap 2 Ogni vita che salvi, ogni pietra che poggi, fa pensare a domani ma puoi farlo solo oggi (Frankie Hi NRG)
e la vita la vita si fa grande così (Gianluca Grignani)
e comincia domani (Giuliano Sangiorgi)
Tra le nuvole e il mare si può fare e rifare (Claudio Baglioni)
con un pò di fortuna (Ron)
si può dimenticare. (Luca Carboni)
Dove sarò (Baustelle)
domani? Dove sarò? (Samuele Bersani e Baustelle)
oh oh oh (coro: Carmen Consoli, Antonella Ruggiero, Alioscia, Pacifico, Mango, Massimo Ranieri, Bluvertigo, Nek, Giuliano Palma, Antonello Venditti, Roberto Vecchioni, Albano)
rap 3 Dove sarò domani che ne sarà dei miei sogni infranti, dei miei piani/ Dove sarò domani, tendimi le mani, tendimi le mani (Marracash)
Tra le nuvole e il mare
si può andare e andare (Laura Pausini)
sulla scia delle navi
di là del temporale (Carmen Consoli)
e qualche volta si vede (Nek)
domani (Antonello Venditti)
una luce di prua (Nek)
e qualcuno grida: Domani (Antonello Venditti)
rap 4 Come l’aquila che vola
libera tra il cielo e i sassi siamo sempre diversi e siamo sempre gli stessi
hai fatto il massimo e il massimo non è bastato e non sapevi piangere e adesso
che hai imparato non bastano le lacrime ad impastare il calcestruzzo
eccoci qua cittadini d’Abruzzo
e aumentano d’intensità le lampadine una frazione di
secondo prima della finee la tua mamma,
la tua patria da ricostruire,
comu le scole, le case e specialmente lu core
e puru nu postu cu facimu l’amore (Jovanotti, J Ax, Fabri Fibra e in chiusura Sud Sound System)
non siamo così soli (Giuliano Sangiorgi)
a fare castelli in aria (J Ax e Fabri Fibra)
non siamo così soli (Giuliano Sangiorgi)
sulla stessa barca (J Ax , Fabri Fibra)
non siamo così soli (Giorgia)
a fare castelli in aria (J Ax e Fabri Fibra)
non siamo così soli (Giorgia)
a stare bene in Italia (J Ax e Fabri Fibra)
sulla stessa barca (J Ax)
a immaginare un nuovo giorno in Italia (Giorgia, Giusy Ferreri, Dolcenera, Mario Venuti, Jovanotti, J Ax, Fabri Fibra)
Tra le nuvole e il mare si può andare, andare
Sulla scia delle navi di là dal temporale (Piero Pelù)
Qualche volta si vede una luce di prua e qualcuno grida, domani (Morgan)
Non siamo così soli (Giorgia, Mario Venuti, Giusy Ferreri, Dolcenera, Giuliano Sangiorgi)
(tromba solo di Roy Paci)
Domani è già qui
Domani è già qui (Jovanotti, Marracash, FabriFibra, J Ax)
(Assolo violino Mauro Pagani)
Ma domani domani, domani lo so, lo so, che si passa il confine (Gianna Nannini)
E di nuovo la vita sembra fatta per te e comincia (Elisa) domani (Sud Sound System)
Tra le nuvole e il mare, si può fare e rifare
Con un pò di fortuna si può dimenticare (Manuel Agnelli Afterhours)
E di nuovo la vita, sembra fatta per te (Mango)
E comincia (Niccolò Fabi)
(coro finale)
domani
E domani domani, domani lo so
Lo so che si passa il confine
E di nuovo la vita sembra fatta per te
E comincia domani
Today Armenians of the world remember the victims of the Genocide committed by Turks. Mass killings and deportations of Armenians on their historical land had started in 1915. My grand-grandparents from both sides were among those rare ones that escaped from it, though having lost their siblings and relatives. They both were from the Western Armenia.
Ask anybody here - it should rain on April 24. Why? "Because even the nature cries for the victims". And it really usually rains or even snows heavily on April 24. Not this year. It was showering yesterday though.
I joined the tens of thousands of people who went to the memorial to put flowers in memory of the victims. It's a long way walking from the footsteps of the Sport-Concert Complex to the Genocide Memorial complex called "Tsitsernakaberd".
It's a VERY long way in a crowd, walking like 5 steps in every 10 minutes. Not everybody could make it. But there was no way back. Once you're in the crowd, you can't step back.
I used the time to listen to the crowd... it was interesting to hear some of the recent rumors, "highly intellectual" chats of teenagers, for whose it was just an occasion to gather together.
I managed to tweet couple of times, check my email and listen to my music player.
I was regreting that I decided to go there in the afternoon instead of going in the evening, thinking that there would be less crowded then. Later i heard that there were even MORE people in the evening!
On the exit, close to the Hrazdan stadium, the road was closed and a number of free buses that were heading to the biggest subway stations were organized.
Brabion service again distinguished, offering free flowers
the queue seemed to be endless, we walked 2,5 hours with a speed of snail!
..Meanwhile, US president Barack Obama avoided using the word 'Genocide' during his annual speech addressed to Armenians of America, replacing it with the Armenian equivalent "Meds Yeghern". So was it addressed only for Armenians to understand? I'm disappointed. Although, to be sincere, i didn't expect anything else after the yesterday's "road map" story.
BarCamp is a “non-conference” in the sphere of information technology, new media and Internet. A “non-conference” is the unofficial, informal part of the conference supporting open discussions and a free exchange of ideas and opinions.
“BarCamp Yerevan” brought together bloggers, new media professionals, IT specialists, companies involved in Internet and digital technologies, journalists and journalism students, as well as many other groups interested in using technology and Internet in their work.
BarCamp is a place where everybody can participate for free and hold a presentation on any topic connected with IT, even partly connected :)
There were about 400 people registered on the website, i don't know how many people actually visited it. I saw many people appearing just for the second day, as it was Sunday (this Saturday was a working day in Armenia).
There were 3 simultaneous tracks of presentations in different rooms.
It was pity since we were physically unable to participate in all the interesting sessions. There were no breaks, and in order to grab a coffee, you should skip some session.
I loved it for several reasons:
presentations were 30 mins at maximum, plus no obligation :) you could skip from one room to another if it was boring or uninteresting.
there were already some active twitterers on BarCamp and I was refreshing my twitter page on mobile to see what is going on in other rooms. The hashtag #barcampevn09 was helping to search for all barcampers who were on twitter :)
it was a great opportunity to meet old friends, colleagues and fellows from online communities, recover contacts, get to know people whom you knew only by nicknames.
it was useful for networking, socializing, setting up important business contacts.
getting a discount for iCON wimax internet. i don't know if i'm going to use it yet :)
i saw and had touched (:D) a nabaztag ! I love these creatures and was dreaming to see one live since i first heard about it years ago.
it was useful for seeing projects and companies in faces, like:
presentation of "Prosperous Armenia party"'s online PR tools,
presentations of banks.am, itel.am, auto.am and their monetization options
Macadamian company
For me, personally, it was also interesting to discover and meet some of my readers (hi folks! :)
I generally like IT people and tech geeks since they are interesting to me :) (and i am one of them), and as they are generally not so communicative in real life, they are more open and active in places where there are more people like them who speak their 'language'. BarCamp did a great job for bringing these people together and uncovering those who were hiding behind their online nicknames and roles.
Some of the presenters badly lacked presentation skills, others were causing heavy debates bringing everything to politics.
Somehow i didn't feel like making a presentation, although i was constantly having lots of ideas of possible topics i could present and i couldn't choose :D Next time - for sure ! Those of you who know me, also know how enthusiastic i am on making a session or presentation, especially on IT topics :)
Presentations i liked:
Areg Maghakian told us how it was to work for Facebook. He had worked there in the early years of its development
Grizli aka Grisha was telling about the techniques of picking up girls online, especially on odnoklassniki
Maksym Savanevsky from Ukraine was making an overview on Obama's online PR campaign.
People whom I have seen online and met thanks to the BarCamp: @netcrash, @ditord, @kornelij, @ahousekeeper, @jesirobendebua, @reporter_arm, blansh :)
BarCamp closed with an afterparty at Armeda club. Finally there was some time to freely socialize without missing any session :)
My friend Tata, who is actually an artist and has nothing to do with IT also enjoyed the atmosphere of the BarCamp and pointed out smth i didn't notice before she said it: people that were there for socializing and meeting each other face-to-face, were still so much busy spending the time buried into their notebooks and smartphones twееting, updating statuses and blogs :D
...and by the way, I went into a little melancholy meeting a lot of nice young IT people who were still studying, and had a lot of things ahead... and felt myself a little more older, hehe :D no, no, i admit that there were people much older than me.. i wonder if they felt the same :D (or is it me looking for something to get depressed about :D)
