Fri 22 Sep - As Elections draw near, a new party, The Anarchist Party, is trying to get up membership. In order to register and qualify, the northern boys, which include George the Poet and Aggelos Mavrokefalos, need to rally the support of a female member. So far it seems, the girls lean towards Capitalism and Order.

The past two days, the temps have been rising again after some spectacular thunder storms had some parts of the island without electricity, and no corner of the island escaped heavy downpours. Now it's fine, warm and sunny again while across on the mainland there seems to be some heavy cloud cover and rain.

Everyone loves flowers right? Flowers smell good, right? Well this time of year, for about 2 weeks, there's a lilac flower which smells like sewage. Not just a little like sewage, but like an entire sewage plant had burst its pipes and flooded the neighborhood. If that's not bad enough, these flowers then attract the flies of course. Nice.

Wed 27 Sep - Yesterdays' bad weather had everyone heading out for dinner. The northern villages were packed with hungry people who were not deterred in the slightest by the rainy conditions. September weather has been here and there all month. Some days reminiscent of high Summer, others of Autumn with rain and storms. Just can't tell which way the wind will blow from one day to the next.

Yesterdays' ferry travelers were treated to a bumpy ride from Patra to Ithaki as the winds hit 8 force.

Just a reminder that at the end of September, Summer Lodown finishes off and will be replaced by Winter on Ithaca. As you all know by now, here on ithacagreece there is only Summer and Winter, so please no letters. I am completely aware that the real world has four seasons.

Thu 28 Sep - Rumour has it that a group of Kioni locals have intention of taking owner of Lefki cam Rien Post and Demetri Vlass of Kioni Spavento cam to court due to webcams being illegal. Illegal? Naturally the town crier is anonymous as is the group. Just one thing, should they maybe include Google earth? It's the biggest webcam in the world with eyes that spy right into the Kioni backyard. There is nothing threatening about either of these webcams. No invasion of privacy. Both are innocuous. Kioni cam has a distant view of the bay as seen from above Spavento Bar and Lefki cam watches the traffic pass by. Anyone up in arms about either of these webcams surely needs to assess what is lacking in their lives to give such importance to a couple of blurry shots of Ithaca. It's 2006 AD not BC.

Earlier today the above rumour was confirmed after Demetri Vlass (I can mention his name, he's my husband, a nice guy and everyone knows it) confronted one of the Kioni group. Yes, indeed, there will be a battle to rid Ithaca of 2 webcams.

Fri 29 Sep - The Webcam issue now looks like its on its way to being resolved. Some locals had genuine concerns about privacy, which should of course be respected, and the webcammers had no intention of any invasion. The issue won't end up in court, as all parties are reasonable and sensible people. Aah.

After a couple of days of heavy rain, the day finally cleared to some blue skies yesterday after midday. The weather is predicted to improve over the next days so there may be some beach weather before the end of September hits.

Sat 30 Sep - Ithakis Web Cams - I am aware that surveillance cameras have made our private world smaller and personally I would like to say that I am not a fan of webcams, but in defense of the 2 we have on Ithaca, they are not 'Live Streaming' never have been and would never be. Firstly both Rien and Demetri have insured that people are not photographed, not unless they have specifically asked to be. They are sensitive to the issue of privacy themselves and completely understand peoples' concern. Secondly, streaming is not possible with a normal house phone line and we all know the OTE difficulties without ADSL in the north of the island. Riens' cam for instance takes shots all day and then a couple of times a day he selects which one is loaded online. If there is traffic on the road in front of his house, he won't load it up unless its' a public vehicle eg. taxi, bus. It is no different than the boys taking a shot physically with their digital cameras and then, like many ordinary people around the world, sharing them online with friends. Big brother is not watching anyone on Ithaca, he, like everyone else, is sitting at the Cafe contemplating life in the bubble. There are many photos of Ithaca, taken by complete strangers, hanging around cyberspace. So many people now post their holiday pics online. This can't be policed, nor should it be. Not everyone out in cyberspace is a degenerate looking for kicks. There are families, children, grandparents, all logging on for decent reasons. With so many Real issues to tackle, let's just get on with it.

Don't forget the Sardine Festival tomorrow at Polis Beach. Let's hope the rain stays in Lefkada.

Well folks, that's it for Ithaki General. For Ithaca news continue on to Winter on Ithaca starting tomorrow. Click here