Cerebral
Palsy Patient Gets
Boost
from Hellenic Parish
Imagine the pathos infused into
soprano Melissa Perry (not to be confused with MSNBC’s Melissa Harris- Perry)
as she and fellow vocalist Sharon Rose Destine ‘cheerfully’ executed song after song, knowing that it was all for
the benefit of her own daughter Sara Ann Kronrot, a severely affected by
Cerebral palsy. It all happened the evening of March 7th at the
Greek-owned Water Works Restaurant at One Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, with
the Greek Orthodox parish of St. Thomas in Cherry Hill, NJ, led by Hellenic
Medical Society president Elias Iliadis of Cooper University Hospital took an
interest in the girl’s extraordinary plight.
The 8-year-old have been
diagnosed early in her life by pediatric specialists as a very severe case of
cerebral palsy, giving her no chances of recovery, yet Sara Ann defied this
prognosis by the experts by recovering enough to gain her sight and hearing.
She no longer has contractures and is able to read, write and draw remarkably
(two samples of which had been mounted on a musical stand in plain view in the
room,) but is still unable to sit or stand. However, this exhaustive process of
her therapy has taken a toll on her family’s resources, necessitating these
fund-raising events.
The event, dubbed Waiting for Love, a Cabaret with the Diva
Duo was one of many a fundraiser of this type held by the musical family of
the afflicted girl, with her father, Hugh Kronrot, an accomplished artist
himself accompanying the divas on the piano. The singing duo used a repertoire
of all-time favorites, pop and enduring Broadway tunes, even opera in a
sometimes comical sometimes boisterous tone, the two artists engaging in a
non-maligned antagonism-of sorts-singing outbursts that brought smiles into the
50-odd person audience that filled the restaurant’s Grande Salon for the early
session.
The Water Works open menu and
special drinks were available to those in attendance who paid a $20
tax-deductible contribution ($25 at the door) for half price. Contributions for
Sara Ann can be mailed to Collingswood Cates/Sara Fund at P. Ο. Βοχ 172 , Collingswood, NJ 08108
or through Pay Pal at www.facebook.com/friendsofsara.
Travelogue……with
Bob Nicolaides
Destinations
2012
3/12A
Bangkok selected ‘The best scenery’ city
Bangkok was cited with the 2011 Asian
Townscape Awards, presented by Rumi Ichiba, the Chief of Exchange Promotion
Section of the Asian Pacific City Summit Secretariat of the UN-HABITAT in
Fukuoka, Japan. The award presentation was held under a concept called “Living
Environment and Urban Revival,” rewarding model towns and projects which
promote the life quality of its people, along with overall environmental
development. Other criteria include the promotion of safety, the importance of
art and culture, the harmony between the city’s landscape and way of life, the
city’s initiatives and its role as a model for other cities in the years to
come..
Bangkok’s
candidacy was under the banner of “The Living Bangkok Heritage”, an
organization which promotes and works towards the conservation of four areas
around the Rattanakosin Island, including Plabpla Maha Jetsadabodin Ground,
Santichaiprakarn Park, Nakarapirom Park, and Sanam Luang Ceremonial Grounds.
Along with Bangkok, three other cities shared the 2011 Asian Townscape Awards,
including Korea’s Jeju and Pohang, and the Japanese city of Kumamoto.
Bangkok:
The scenery that wins
Graphic,
veddy, veddy BritishTorquay
Is
Torquay Better Than Turkey?
The director
of Park Holidays UK Tony Clish has lashed out at ABTA after the trade body
attacked a new government-funded campaign to promote UK tourism. ABTA described
the £4M advertising campaign VisitEngland
as "a misguided use of public funds". Clish said the criticism by the
association was "a cheap shot from a body which can't understand why
people now prefer Torquay to Turkey". He said the comments were hardly
surprising, coming from a body whose members' interests were served by
encouraging people to holiday abroad.
"We
are at the start of a year when the international spotlight will be falling on
Britain, and it's perfectly proper for the tourist board to highlight the UK's
fantastic tourism product," he said. "Our tourism industry generates
over a hundred billion pounds of spending each year, supporting over
two-and-a-half million people in tourism-related jobs. "What's wrong in
spending a tiny fraction of that income in order to generate even more visitors
during a year when we will celebrate both the Olympics and Diamond
Jubilee?"
According
to Clish, there has been a steady rise in UK tourism in recent years, along
with a sharp fall in the number of people taking overseas holidays. This, he
said, might be fuelling ABTA's outburst. "Clearly ABTA is feeling the
pressure, but people can't be blamed for re-discovering Britain as a wonderful,
stress-free holiday destination," he said.
"The
government is making a very shrewd move in launching this advertising campaign,
for the cost is just a fraction of what is likely to be recouped by keeping the
leisure pound in this country. "So let's allow families to make their own
decision about where to go - and if they choose Ramsgate over Rhodes, then I'd
say they are supporting the right economy!"
Is Alepotrypa Cav,
the real site of Mythical Hades Passage
Alepotrypa Cave by Mani Peninsula.
h
By no means can you
call Hades the happiest spot! For what Hades stood for in Greek mythology was
afterlife! There, in the gloomy
world of the underworld, renowned heroes long
gone from this world such as Achilles or Ajax gathered mostly to grumble about
the boredom they existed in, and to wait for the judgment of the panel of
judges of the dead
"I would rather
be a paid servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king of kings
among the dead," said Achilles was quoted in Odyssey. But for
archaeologists, a Greek cave which brought views of comparison to Hades looks
more like the Olympian abode. Overlooking a quiet Greek bay, Alepotrypa Cave (meaning literally Foxhole in
Greek,) contains the remains of a Stone Age village,
burials, a lake and an amphitheater sized final chamber that witnessed blazing rituals more than 5,000 years ago. Until recently
however, all of this was hidden from the world and scholars can only take now a
peek on what’s in this ‘beyond.’
"What you see
there almost cannot be described," says archaeologist Anastasia
Papathanasiou of the
Greek Ministry of Culture, a director of the Diros Project Team. "There is
almost no Neolithic (Stone Age) site like it in Europe, certainly none with so
many burials." So far, her team has unearthed at least 160 burial sites inside the cave, from a time 7,000 to 5,200 years
ago (5000 to 3200 BC) when farming first spread to Europe. The lives those farmers led inside and outside the cave, across the
remote Mani Peninsula of southern Greece, offer fresh insights into humanity at
the dawn of civilization in Europe.
"They lived in a
large village outside the cave," says Mike Galaty of Millsaps College in
Jackson, Miss., a co-director of the project's survey efforts with Willam
Parkinson of Chicago's Field Museum. "And some were inside too, we think,
when the entrance collapsed," Galaty adds. The cave inside is covered with a layer of greasy ash , left over
from ritual fires that may have marked burials there (and reburials, as many of
the skeletons are within ossuaries, stone boxes where remains were placed years
after their first burial.) "It is quite dark inside, quite black,"
Papathanasiou says. "But the state of preservation is excellent."
From that preservation,
we know the Stone Age farmers at the site ate a diet heavy in barley and wheat
with little meat or fish. Although a full reconstruction of the region's
prehistoric climate is still to come, we know from plant remains that it was wetter
and forests were much thicker. Analysis of the skeletons shows people
were not different physically from those inhabiting the Mediterranean today,
their height about the same though slightly anemic due
to lack of meat in their
diet. About 31% of the burial skulls displayed an
inherited line where bone plates meet above the forehead, showing they were
related, Papathanasiou says. And the noggins show a lot of signs of healed
bumps and cuts, since "they fought a lot."
"We don't quite
know what was going on with the ritual activities, but it seems they were
burning sacrificed animals, smashing pots and other pottery, and building large
fires inside the cave," Galaty says. "It could have been really nasty
depending on what they were burning."
Fumes coming out of
mystic caves figure in big ways in ancient Greek mythology, such as the
classical Oracle of Delphi who foretold the fate
of kings and emperors. Although that was thousands of years ago, around 1400
B.C., after the closure of Alepotrypa Cave, such a relationship was suggested
by the Greek archaeologist George Papathanassopoulos, who led excavations at
the site starting in the 1970's. His speculation is that the ancient Greek
notion of Hades was a gloomy and misty home for the dead, may have had its
origins in the cave's rituals.
The other task that
fell upon Papathanassopoulos was to save the cave from the fate of becoming a
tourist trap. First re-discovered in 1958 by local folks, Greek tourism
officials saw it as a cave attraction, carving out walkways with bulldozers,
installing trestles and even putting a pontoon boat in the interior lake to
help with a light show. ("They had to saw the boat in half and then put it
back together to get it through the chamber entrance," Galaty says.
"It's still floating there.")
Not protecting the
cave immediately" was a huge lost opportunity, since it had been sealed
for thousands of years," Papathanasiou says. However, when archaeologists
realized what was at stake there with basket after basket of Stone Age pottery
emerging from the cave, they led efforts to keep tourists from trampling the
site. "There are still very many places who remained intact where science
can benefit from," she adds.
A big step for the
Diros project in the coming years will be mapping the extent of the Stone Age
community living around the bay on the outside of the cave, Galaty says, Being
far from Athens and anything that has to do with archeology, the peninsula
boasts an isolated history that saw an arms race of tower building ("They
wanted to shoot cannons down on their neighbors in the Middle Ages," Papathanasiou says) and could be that it served as a home
for the middle-class citizens of Sparta. In addition, "some archaeologists
speculate there may have been a Mycenaean era palace around the time the legendary Achilles, still alive (if he ever had lived,)
riding around the besieged walls of
Troy just
before he descended to Hades. "We are going to
need a bigger new museum," Papathanasiou says. "We are just getting
started bringing this site to the world."
The Atlantis on Paradise Island, Nassau, The Bahamas, where prices slipped a steep 60%
In addition, to a 60% overall discount on room
rates, Atlantis stays April 15 - June 13 include an Atlantis Experience Pass -- offering as
much as $600 in perks such as a dolphin interaction, golf and spa credit. Also,
air-and-hotel packages of at least four nights through October get an immediate
$250 airfare credit -- $400 with a six-night stay (one per booking).
Nightly room-only rates April 15 - Oct. 31,
including weekends -- which usually cost a premium -- are:
·
Beach Tower, $199 (reg. $509): Family friendly and closest to the
beach
·
Coral Towers, $249 (reg. $549): Located by Marina Village shops
and the casino
·
Royal Towers, $299 (reg. $649): Atlantis' iconic tower, near the
water park
·
The Reef Atlantis, $369 (reg. $699): Deluxe waterfront studios and
suites with a kitchen
·
The Cove Atlantis, $449 (reg. $849): Luxury oceanfront suites with
exclusive adults-only pool
These deals are part of a Paradise Island sale, including Comfort Suites, which offers access to Atlantis' amenities
and breakfast for $150 nightly, and the Best Western for $138 nightly. The air
credit also applies. All deals include $25 free slot play at Atlantis. To book,
click the link above or call 888-440-9497.
To
book an Atlantis stay and to see terms, conditions and restrictions, call
888-440-9497.
New Disney cruise ship, Fantasy, arrives in New
York
201 2David
Roark/Disney Cruise Line
Disney Cruise Line’s ‘Fantasy’ at NYC
Harbor February 28 2012.
Disney
Cruise Line's Disney Fantasy arrives in New York on Feb. 28, 2012David Roark/Disney
Cruise Line
Disney fans in New York today were treated to an unusual
sight as the company's newest cruise ship, the Disney Fantasy, arrived from
Germany. The 2,500-passenger vessel, which was christened in the city shortly
thereafter, was feted with a fireboat water salute as it sailed past the Statue
of Liberty to a dock on the Hudson River side of Manhattan.
Completed earlier this month, the
Disney Fantasy has been under construction for more than a year at Germany's
Meyer Werft shipyard. It remained in New York only for a few days before
heading to Port Canaveral, Fla., where it will be based year-round.
Controversial Slogan bites The Dust
In the mountain biker magnet of Fruita, Colorado,
decals for a sports shop read FU ("Fruita, USA") and an annual
festival is dedicated to a headless chicken named Mike. But that free-wheeling
vibe has its limits: After asking for public feedback on a potential marketing campaign incorporating the double-entendre
"WTF" (as in "Welcome to Fruita"), city officials
discovered that most citizens weren't LOL.
It all started when a local couple printed 500
"WTF" stickers and distributed them free to downtown businesses.
While the slogan generated attaboys from as far away as Australia and proved so
catchy the couple made up another 1,500 decals, the western Colorado town of
13,000 won't be giving it an official stamp of approval.
The edgy campaign "is not dead," says
city manager Clint Kinney, who predicts the business community will "pick
it up and run with it" despite the lack of municipal support
The
edgy decal won’t be part of the official campaign any time soon.
Heightened Security
in Greek Museums
Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos announced that the
country’s museums will be guarded by a special security team comprising culture
ministry employees and selected Greek Police (EL.AS) officers with special
training in Olympic Games’ security.
Briefing the parliamentary standing committee on
cultural and educational affairs on the protection of museums and
archaeological sites, Geroulanos said the joint security team has already
agreed on a package of immediate and medium-term measures.
Referring to the recent robbery in the Archaeological
Museum in Olympia, Geroulanos stated that it was a “very serious blow” and
expressed certainty that those responsible will suffer the consequences.
Oldest, darkest, deepest, largest and quietest hotel suit
We all dream of 'getting away from it all',
but there aren't many hotels which can offer a suite 220 feet below ground
level with no natural light. The Grand Canyon Hotel in Arizona boasts the
oldest, darkest, deepest, quietest, and largest suite in the world, in a cavern
that took 65 million years to form.
To get
to the room managers have dubbed the 'love cave' guests must take a lift 22
storeys down. The largest dry cavern in the United States, it is naturally
completely dark and completely quiet because it contains no life forms at all.
Yes, the only thing moving or breathing in that room will be little old you.
Water
is carried down to the room by staff, and an employee is stationed at the top
of the lift shaft should guests suddenly decide in the middle of the night that
it's...well, a bit too quiet.
The
suite, which is 200 feet wide, 400 feet long and with a 70 foot ceiling, can
sleep up to six, with two double beds and a sofa bed provided.
The
cave is furnished with all the amenities hotel managers believe guests will
require 220 feet below the surface: a library of old books and magazines,
including a National Geographic collection which dates back to 1917, and a
collection of books dating back to the late 1800’s.
In
keeping with the olde worlde feel, an ancient piece of equipment called a
'record player' is provided for entertainment.
The
furniture may be also a little quaint, but there's a healthy twist to staying
in this accommodation.
The
hotel manager explains that the air in the cavern is as dry and clean as one
can get, coming in via 65 miles of limestone crevices from the Grand Canyon to
the caverns, with the limestone removing all moisture and impurities.
Rates
are $700 per night for two sharing with additional guests up to a total of six
paying $100 each
As the World Churns0312
By Bob Nicolaides
It was a breath
of fresh air as former Florida Governor, Cypriot –American Charley Christ was
welcomed by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow to offer his opinion about the January 31
Florida Republican Primary. His take on the candidates? The gentle Christ said
he won’t endorse anyone as of now, but he’ll play the wait and see game…
There
were Prosecco bottles popping, waiters gliding around with platters of hors
d'oeuvres and Arianna Huffington, in
a sleek black dress, looking the part of a Greek movie star. For all intents
and purposes, this was a movie premiere starring, who else, Arianna. But this was
inside the Wanamaker Building in Greenwich Village, where AOL announced the
summer launch of the Huffington Post Streaming Network, an ambitious online
streaming video network to start airing this summer with 12 hours of
live-streaming video content a day, five days a week. The plan is to ramp up
programming to 16 hours a day next year. AOL is dedicating at least 100
employees exclusively to the new venture, said Roy Sekoff, who will head up the network as its president.
Huffington Post's existing reporters and editors will also be expected to carve
out time to appear on the network. So, no, it's not the $315 million that AOL
paid for what CEO Tim Armstrong
referred to as the "the Super Bowl bet we made on Arianna." Nor will
it initially match the $150 million that AOL has reportedly dumped into its
network of hyper-local news sites, Patch. Instead, investment will likely be
more modest, perhaps $10 million or so in the first year. ….His name is Demetrios Psillos and he is an
illustrator. What he did most recently was an illustration of a very angry Newt
Gingrich for New York Magazine,,, The NJ Hellenic American Federation has
a plan that connects students with professionals in their one of a kind
"not to miss." As such, it has held its annual career power workshop
at the Cretan House in Highland Park, NJ with Maggie Stavrianidis, Human
Resources Director at Johnson & Johnson as the special guest speaker. The
workshop was held on Saturday February 18
Ms
Stavrianidis as guest speaker
Kyle Richards who’s got a new pilot the
content of which can be considered as her life story, which as an actress she can play herself,
opts to have someone else do it. In describing ‘someone else’ she says that “I
would want it to be somebody that's really funny and could capture the humor of
being a mom and all the humor that comes with being on a reality show,” she
describes. “So, maybe Jennifer Aniston. I don't know, someone really funny.”
While some of the housewives have guest starred in sitcoms -- including Kyle's sworn
enemy-friend Camille, who appeared
last year on CBS' $#*!
My Dad Says -- this would be the first time one of them would
have sold one about themselves and could conceivably star in it,
too. Would you watch a sitcom based on Kyle’s life? While on Jen, it’s
nice to mark her 43rd birthday on February 11th….…..If I
said that this year’s Oscars aka the Academy Awards is remembering the Golden
Anniversary of many of the actors and actresses who received that distinction
exactly fifty years ago, a story that made Entertainment Weekly early in
February. One who stands out among all of them is George Chakiris! Now if reading this you exclaimed ‘who’s George Chakiris,’
then I’d say that you’re age is under 30. So listen intently and find out about
our fellow-Hellene actor of the Fifties and Sixties who copped a supporting
actor award for playing Bernardo to Rita Moreno’s Anita, for which she as well got the supporting actress award in West Side Story, the movie. Now 79,
Chakiris regrets that in those days, an Oscar nomination did not lead to a PR
whirlwind as is known in today’s scene. Hence Chakiris’ career did not rise the
way it would’ve in today’s’ world and that’s how young people haven’t heard of
him. Maybe they haven’t heard of Rita Moreno, now 80, either…… Greek American Alexander Payne's family drama "The Descendants" have won
top screenplay honors from the Writers Guild of America. He spent eight months as
a Hawaiian native and he didn’t do it just to soak up the sunshine but to get
into the spirit of everything, from traditional Hawaiian music-that’s
authenticity alright- to the threads of the Hawaiian shirt for his movie.
Settling back in his home state after the Oscar excitement in which he only
wone the Best Adapted screenplay, Payne expects to shoot Nebraska, a comedy-drama about a father-son road trip and after
that he hopes to do an adaptation of Daniel
Clowe’s graphic novel, Wilson…By
the way, The Writer’s Guild award for TV, Drama category, George Mastras shared the honors for Breaking Bad with six others…Extra host Maria Menounos was so
sure her beloved New England Patriots would win the Super Bowl that she told
her colleague A.J. Calloway that if
they didn't, she'd host the show in a bikini. "I hate bets. I'm never doing this again." she
said, stripping down to a red, white and blue string two-piece on Monday in
chilly Times Square. "God is a Giants fan!" noted Calloway. Maria had
a fun time in Indy. On Saturday (2/11), at ESPN's Super Bowl party, she was spotted Tebowing with Tim Tebow….
By Neilson Barnard, Getty Images
Menounos, an avid New England Patriots fan makes good on her
bet
Chakiris
now (inset) and bussing Rita the night of the Oscars, circa 1962.
(Please use
this as inset on the lower right corner of photo above.)
Payne’s
Hawaiian project, The Descendants.
Aniston: Is
she now peddling beer?
.
The beautiful woman
Alvaro divorced for Athena
This guy, Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda Neto was once
married to this pretty woman you can see, her name being Cibele Dorsa.She is a
Brazilian swimsuit, Victoria 's Secret, and Playboy model. He divorced her
because he fell in love with this other woman, a very plain one at that. The
two are very happily married right now. Some people say that love is blind. This
story proves that men are capable of real love and they see
personal inner beauty, and not basing their decisions solely on looks. Oh, and by the way...The new girl is Athena Onassis. She's worth 12 billion dollars…..Yeah…
And did you know that consumption of alcoholic beverages has fallen steadily in the last few
years in Greece, with the domestic market recording the highest decline rate in
2010, a
report by ICAP reveals. Now should we attribute it to the lack of money or
maybe reform?....Scratch another ‘Yeah’....
.
Alvaro with
the woman he ‘fell’ in love with
Her Poker Face was a no show, but that didn't stop
the Little Monsters. Devotee fans of Lady Gaga hoping for a glimpse of the
pop superstar flocked to Joanne
Trattoria, her dad's
new restaurant on West 68th Street and Columbus Avenue, for its official
opening night. Gaga visited the restaurant on New Year's Eve to host a celeb-filled party, but an employee at the door said the singer
wouldn't be attending opening night because she was in L.A. That didn't stop
some Gaga fans, affectionately known as Little Monsters, from dreaming of an
encounter with the "Bad Romance" singer. Some were rewarded with a
Gaga-related sighting. Singing legend Tony
Bennett, who recently recorded a duet of "The Lady is a Tramp" with Gaga and sketched a nude portrait of her, arrived for dinner. While Lady Gaga fans were
eager to catch a glimpse of the pop superstar at her dad's new restaurant when
it opened, local businesses say they were looking forward to Joanne Trattoria for a more practical
reason: foot traffic."It should be good for business," said the owner
of another restaurant just down the street from Joanne….,The
world-renowned Greek pianist Vassilis
Varvaresos will perform a benefit piano recital at Carnegie Hall. On March
19thy, sponsored and organized by the Cyprus Federation of America.. Named Most
Promising Young Greek Artist from the Critics’ Association of Greece, Mr.
Varvaresos has been hailed by the Washington Post as a “young master on the
rise.” The winner of the prestigious Young Concert Artists International
Auditions at the age of 14, lists among his many achievements, being the
soloist with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, representing Greece on a
two-week tour of China during the 2008 Bejing Olympic Games. Varvaresos will donate
the proceeds from this recital to the Cyprus Federation of America’s
“Philanthropic Fund,” which provides hospitality services and financial support
to children from Cyprus and Greece undergoing comprehensive medical treatment
in the United States…. In case that you
didn’t attend the Blue Masqued Ball, the first such event for Chicago’s Greek
America Foundation, it happened on February 25th and it was a Venetian-themed
masquerade ball, with a Greek twist. It’s a pioneering effort for a new
new tradition, mixing the best of the traditional Apokries (Greek Mardi Gras)
celebration with the sophistication of old-world Venice…..
Bolaris: Fox 29 meteorologist on
his way out.
The producers of Zach
Galifianakis’ hilarious movies have been sued by Gucci, the makers of the exclusive handbag for using a fake product
that looked like their handbag instead, and presenting it as the real thing.
And did you know that Zach, as odd as he
looks thanks to his beard, he nevertheless has a double? Though you can see his
image here, unfortunately I cannot remember his name, because he does, for sure
have one.. ……Greek American Director Alexander
Payne was one of the Golden Globes nominees for his flicks The Descendants. Unfortunately he
remained a nominee, while Martin
Scorsese got the pie for Hugo…,,.A day after announcing its movie nominees, the 2012 Directors Guild of America Awards unveiled the TV contenders
for its upcoming prize-giving event. The Comedy Series category is dominated by Modern
Family and Curb
Your Enthusiasm with two nods each, while German
Hellene Tina Fey "30 Rock" scored one nomination. The DGA also honors Demi
Moore, Jennifer Aniston, Penelope Spheeris, Alicia
Keys and Patty
Jenkins with a Movies for Television and Mini-Series nomination for their work behind the
lens of Lifetime's "Five". …. The name Fitzpatrick only reminds you of Irishmen and I don’t
blame you, but this Fitzpatrick has a Greek mother who raised him as such in
Flushing, NY of all places. In fact, this Fitzpatrick
whose first name is Greg, went
to PS 21 in that area with my daughter number 2, Christie DeGregorio, Esq (now, of course.) But what’s outstanding
about this not-so-young man is that he is the ‘double,’ (they call them
stuntmen) for Ben Stiller, and he
was just that in the latter’s latest hit comedy, Tower Heist. As for acting,
Greg is good for that
Don’t ask me why becoming a celebrity spoils you and you just live
with the notion that you’re above the fray, but it’s happened to everyone I
know-including Ernie Anastos, but
excluding Nick Gregory, both
currently working for the Ruppert
Murdock empire. It now happened also to the Greek American Philadelphia-based meteorologist John Bolaris Fox 29,
who was suspended in December, days after Playboy Mag published an article
about his being drugged and scammed by two European beauties in Miami Beach
last March, a story printed first by the Daily News. No, it wasn’t because he
was drugged or scammed, it was because of his quote in the article that he went
along because “I’m a guy, there was the thought that I might get l___,“ and for
sharing nude photos with a writer friend. Now Bolaris is joining the
unemployment line…
:
What in your opinion is the meaning of the Greek word
Paraprodokian? At the closest we cn make out its definition as "figure of
speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or
unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation."
"Where there's a will, I want to be in
it," is a type of paraprosdokian. Another good example would be ‘Do not
argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.’….It’s
all over but the shouting for “Over the River, ” but it looks like the
government has cleared the Art Project by Christo in Colorado. Now if you remember, the same artist
some years back had draped part of Central Park with orangey-yellow drapes, so
now he’s gotten clearance to do the same over the Arkansas River. The $50
million project by the
artist, who hopes to drape nearly six miles of the river here in southern
Colorado with suspended bank-to-bank fabric, received approval from federal land managers late last
year. But early in January 2012 a new battlefield
emerged in law and local politics: in Denver, with opponents filing a federal
lawsuit aiming to block construction, which Christo had hoped to begin this
summer. The suit argues that land managers violated federal law in approving
the plan and gauging its environmental impacts. So it’s back to the drawing
board for Christo…
Matthew Staver for The New York Times
The artist Christo has won federal approval
to drape
nearly six miles of the Arkansas River with fabric
Word
of the Month: Cosmetics: From the Greek Κόσμημα, which actually means jewel.
Strangely, in English the Greek word for cosmetics (Καλλυντικά)was not used but instead the word
cosmetics was established.
If you were in Athens between November
27 and December 1st, you could’ve relished some exotic delicacies
courtesy of Chef Jean-Charles Métayer
at the Athenaeum’s Premiere Room where a gastronomical feast was held and
viewpoints and views were discussed amid camaraderie. The five epicurean
delights sampled during the tasting session shared the stage with some of the
most eclectic wines from the Antonopoulos
Vines. The five dishes offered were Shrimp Consommé Shiso and Jerusalem
artichokes mousse,(offered with Sauvignon white) Chtenia and mushroom crêpes, Sabayon in fragrant
paprika paired with Rose Adoli Earth, Braised Peskandritsa in chestnuts,
powdered Arabica coffee and legume paired with Anax, a Chardonnay, Lamb shank
confis, Froth of Moussaka and crunchy potatoes paired with Yerondoklima
Rematias, a Merlot, and Chocolate surprise Guanaja mousse and almond ice cream
to go with Mavrodafni Patras. The price of the dinner was only €55 per person…The Quintessentially Lifestyle
of the St George Lycabettus Boutique Hotel in Athens became much more
quintessential with the Grand Opening of on Thursday, November 29th
of its all-day bar-restaurant, La Suite Lounge at its top floor. Overlooking
the Acropolis and a good part of Athens, the event comprised this winter’s
exclusively elegant event which was hosted by Quintessentially Lifestyle and
the St. George Lycabettus Boutique Hotel. The event was a cocktail party during
which vodka 18.95, the only Greek-produced vodka was introduced to guests along
with breathtaking views and many surprises. …My friend and erudite restaurant critic
John Mariani writes in his
newsletter: For a decade now, Diane
Kochilas has been the diva of Greek cooking, straddling both Greece and
NYC, and forever poking her nose into Greek cooks' kitchens and her fingers
into their cooking pots. The result has been 15 book up till now. The
Country Cooking of Greece is her masterpiece, a volume so thorough, so
affectionate, so engaging, that it is unlikely to be surpassed for years or
decades to come. No recipe takes more than half a page or a page, the
ingredients are almost wholly available, and her husband Vassilis Stenos' photographs will cause hunger pangs page after
page. Something so simply as pistachio-crusted feta saganaki, which
takes about five minutes to make, is a wonder of flavor. She prepares moussaka
with sweet potatoes; pasta with yogurt and caramelized onions from Kassos is a
treasure of comfort food, and her seafood recipes can be made by anyone with
the freshest fish. This is my pick for the Best Cookbook of 2012. (Chronicle
Books $50.)… MenuPages, the
most comprehensive mobile and web provider of up-to-date restaurant menu
content, today announced its availability for restaurants in Queens,
the
second-most populous borough in New York City. The expansion to Queens comes by
popular demand: nearly one million New Yorkers already take advantage of
MenuPages' listings for restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn every month, and
fans of the service have requested that the same accurate menu content and user
reviews be available in Queens. Queens' legendary food scene goes far beyond
the borough's storied Greek diners. From M Wells Dinette's creative, audacious
food and the pre-eminent Greek seafood at Taverna Kyclades to delicious Sichuan
at Spicy & Tasty and incredible Thai at Sripraphai, MenuPages users can
find something to suit the most sophisticated palate or adventurous eater. 
