Saturday, June 8, 2013

Heralding the Truth


Did you know that we Hellenes are the second in the world as far as bank deposits in Switzerlad? It’s a bad thing, naturally, but the fact is that ‘money isn’t scarce!’ It’s hard to convince this money of repatriation since they’re afraid they’ll be eaten by the ‘chickens’ (need explain which are the chickens? Just refer to the Greek proverb that ‘whoever gets mixed up with the chicken feed is eaten by the chickens’


Jennifer Aniston shows off her stripper skills in the new red band trailer for her upcoming movie We’re the Millers. The 40-something actress portrays a hooker in the kooky drug-running scheme and Jason Sudeikis co-stars as a small-time pot dealer who cooks up a plan to smuggle drugs from Mexico, so he hires a fake family composed of Anniston’s character, one of his young neighbors  (Will Poulter) and a ‘gutter punk ‘ (Emma Roberts.) The faux dysfunctional family then crosses the border in an RV to pick up what turns out to be a massive amount of marijuana….A Special Screening of "What If..."was held May 25th during the Gabby Awards weekend celebration in Hollywood, CA with Greece’s highly acclaimed actor-director Christoforos Papakaliatis personally presented his flick and spoke about it, taking questions from the audience on his ‘love story developing against obstacles and upsets caused by life itself and not by other people.  The screening was sponsored by Nikos Fillas of NYC’s Hellas FM. The movie has so far grossed $4.5 M since its debut in Greece half a year ago and is considered one of the top box office hits to date….Someone over at Time Magazine worries about punctuation in movie titles. One of the examples he gives in his article is My Big Fat Greek Wedding. “Without the comma, he explains, we can’t tell if it’s a wedding that’s larger than life or a ceremony of Hellenic sumo wrestlers.”Suggested fix: A comma-My Big, Fat Greek Wedding….The Cinema Village presented from May 31 to June 6 New York City Greek Festival’s Run It, by Evangelos and George Giovanis. The raw and often abrasive drama is about a boy who’s chased away from home by his mother’s violent lover and decides to play hooky from school and try the streets to score a quick fix for all his problems. Unfortunately everything goes wrong and the boy finds himself in more trouble that when he started. Louis Zorich, Sam Coppola and Evangelos Giovanis star in the movie, of an R rating…





World-renowned music composer Mikis Theodorakis was elected honorary member of the Academy of Athens in its May 30th plenary session. A distinguished personality of modern Greece, Theodorakis, originally from Crete, was born on the east Aegean island of Chios in 1925 and studied music at the Athens Conservatory under Filoktitis Economidis. He was awarded a Paris Conservatoire scholarship where he studied under Olivier Messiaen and Eugene Bizot. He is regarded as Greece's best-known living composer. He wrote and composed numerous works  including the music for the films "Zorba the Greek" (1964), "Z" (1969), and "Serpico" (1973).……Here’s a recap of events taking place in Athens and surrounding area in the month of July. As announced by the mayor of Athens There were none listed for August but I wouldn’t bet there weren’t any happening. For June 20 to July 7, there are play and dance performances by young artists at Kolonos open-air and Koumoundourou Sq. theaters.-June 29 to July 20, there will be concerts and plays at Attiko Alsos theater.-July 12 to July 14 there will be performances at the Open Air theater in Technopolis.-July 15 to 19. Performers from the PIIGS nations hit the hardest by the financial crisis (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) will hold the Second Festival of International Music…. There was a concert called One Armful of Songs held at the Stathakion Center on Saturday, the 1 of June with the participation of Tasso Papaioannou and Elias Makrinos (vocals, guitar,) Eleni Andreou and Makaria Psiliteli, (vocals,) Costa Psaros (bouzouki) Glafkos Kontemeniotis (piano,) and George Maniatis (piano.) It was organized by the Ionian Federation of America in cooperation with the Federation of Hellenic Societies of New York… The nation’s capital was graced with two cultural events of great interest. Both events occurred on June 8, the first being Mario Frangoulis in Concert, at GW Lisner Auditorium. The other was The Opera Camerata of Washington which presented Pagliacci the same day.   Greek American superstar Anastasia Jamieson and Metropolitan Opera's Gregory Buchalter as Conductor were featured. The event was hosted by the Ambassador of Greece to the U.S. Christos P. Panagopoulos and was followed by a cocktail reception, held at the Fairfax Embassy Row Hotel……Also on June 6th, Aktina Productions presented the Greek Music Journey 2013 celebrating 20 years of Excellence in programming by presenting Melina Aslanidou Unplugged and featuring the bouzouki of Andreas Karantinis at the The Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, in NYC. …

 For those who want to enjoy a week in South Jersey’s ocean-side, and taste the difference from Lake Michigan beaches, here’s what free entertainment you’ll get: Every Monday from June 24 to August 26 you can ogle-and hear-the Irish Piper Brigade on the boardwalk and 16th Avenue in Wildwood between 7 and 9 pm.  Also there will be musical events on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2nd and Surf Avenues in nearby North Wildwood at 8 pm. Also fireworks from June 28 to August 30 you can enjoy fireworks every Friday night at 10:30 pm. Now where would you like to stay? One place in North Wildwood is the Florentine Family Hotel where there are more surprises than you can fathom …..

 
Chicago's Greek Media Club hosted Summer Kickoff 2013 in a constinuation of their 10th year celebration on Thursday, June 20th at Upper Crust...…. An event of utmost importance took place at the Dream Downtown Hotel in New York City, and it was the Grand Tasting of the eternally Modern Wines of Greece. Over 50 wineries from Greece participated in this bacchanal event that this year featured regional tables focusing on individual varieties including older vintages…What came first, the chicken or the egg? The question here is which Artopolis came first? The one in Chicago or the one in New York? They’re both bakeries but if I’m correct, Artopolis in Chicago has bigger Café facilities than its namesake in New York which is limited to just a few tables…Another Pastry Shop or Patisserie if you wish is Zorba’s owned by the Panagiotopoulos brothers..Speaking of bakeries, one to visit is the Bay Ridge Bakery in Brooklyn, NY, which besides Greek products it features everything that Europe has to offer. It is owned by John Nikolopoulos, a recognizable name in the pastry circles….The Pegasus restaurant and the Pegasus On The Fly at the O’Hare airport, both feature Mediterranean menus….In Chicago you also must visit Nia restaurant’s summer terrace. You’ll also like its live entertainment and other seasonal events. Nia Asimis is the owner of this establishment in the West loop…Have you been to Dengeo’s Restaurant in Skokie, IL? If you haven’t, you must know that it is one of the most frequented establishments in the area….Authentic Greek Cuisine is what is served at Melanthios Greek Char House on Broadway Avenue in Chicago. The restaurant is open seven days a week… The latest Greek restaurant in the Manhattan scene belongs to Nikos Karvelas and is located at 200 East 60th Street. It’s name: Anassa (Breath) Taverna.

Word of The Month: Prosopagnosia; Not recognizing people you’ve met. Word coined after a condition of Brad Pitt. Composed of  the Hellenic Words Προσωπον and Άγνοια.

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