As the World Churns

By Bob Nicolaides

Media power players such as Huffington Post Media Group’s  Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington vowed late last year not to go overboard in one area of their lives: technology! Besides the president and editor-in-chief of Huffington Post Media Group, Cindi Leive, editor-in-chief of Glamour and Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” teamed up to unplug from their prized phones and slick laptops from Dec. 23 through Dec. 29 (a whole week!)….

The Princess with hubby: Does she know-and what?

Did you hear, Princess Cristina of Spain, Queen Sofia’s daughter may know something about her husband’s dealings for which he has been charged, and a panel of four judges will be deciding whether to uphold those preliminary charges. The panel will make a decision ahead of the March 8 court date. The princess's husband, Inaki Urdangarin, is accused of diverting, for private use, public funds earmarked for his nonprofit foundation. Urdangarin, an Olympic medalist in handball, led a private foundation that secured contracts from regional governments to promote sports and tourism. He has faced preliminary charges for more than a year. The preliminary charges could eventually be dropped, but a filing of indictments would set a trial in motion. Queen Sofia is one of the two sisters of deposed Greek King Constantine…



Soyioul's Nostalgia

Betty Harlafti interpreting nortalgia

I learned of it too late, but the Greek nightingale Nana Mouskouri is holding currently a Happy Birthday tour, so one of her concerts was given in Philadelphia at the Keswick Theater on January 20^th. How would’ve I wanted to be there…… The Center for Contemporary Opera presented the fully staged version of Hans Werner Henze’s  El Cimarrón directed by Greek director Eugenia Arsenis on January 16 and 17, at 7:30pm at Symphony Space's Thalia Theater, 2537 Broadway, New York. Hans Werner Henze is considered by many to be Germany's leading contemporary composer and as far as known, El Cimarrón has not been done in New York City since 1986… There is no electrical charge quite like the one produced by the meeting of prima donnas on live TV. It didn't hurt that Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera sported coordinating wigs and champagne flutes as they held hands and belted "Do What You Want" on tonight's season five finale of The Voice. Do you think they met at their wig wrangler's house prior to tonight's episode? Or did they first become acquainted in the primordial diva stew from which they both emerged, fully formed and draped in skin-tight gold lamé, to declare their greatness once again?... Organized by Orpheus Foundation for Greek Music and the Arts, this seminal event will be a concert that focuses on the music of Michalis Souyioul. As you may know, this noted composer and lyricist created songs that marked the pre and post – World War II era in Greece. Souyioul’s memorable music and songs had a Pan-Hellenic appeal as evidenced by the fact that they were among the most popular songs at that time throughout the country. Many of them remain popular to this day. For sure, you yourself will remember, and perhaps have sung Souyoul’s timeless songs, including, Asta ta Mallakia sou, Gia mas Kelaidoun ta Poulia, Mia Zoi tin Echoume and others. The concert will take place on February 9, 2014 at the Chian Cultural Center (4401 Broadway, Astoria, N.Y.), and will feature the talented Athenian mezzo-soprano Betty Harlafti, who will be accompanied by an equally talented group of musicians. Betty is perhaps Greece’s most recognized young interpreter of Souyoul’s songs. Special Guest will be Tasos Papaioannou. For information please call: 917.485.8683 info@orpheususa.org

As expected, Greek American Alexander Payne raked in five nominations in the Oscars, including Best Director , his black & white flick Nebraska for Best Picture, Best Supporting actress, Best original Screenplay and Best Cinematography,   (Phedon Papamichael.) Here’s  Bruce Dern explaining how he got  the part he’s waited 77 years for in Nebraska. "First day of work, he came to me, put his arm on my elbow, and he said, ‘Bruce, this is Mr. Papamichael. He’s your cinematographer. My name is Alexander Payne, and I am your director. I want you to do something that you’ve probably never before done in your career: I want you to let us do our jobs. I want you not to show us one thing for eight weeks; we’ll find it. We’ll find you, because you’re Woody, and that’s the story we want to tell. Without dialogue.’ I hugged him." … The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria presented the United States premiere of a new Greek film, To The Wolf (Sto Lyko), as part of the museum’s First Look series on Sunday, January 19. The film premiered at Berlinale in 2013. Directed by Aran Hughes and Christina Koutsospyrou, To The Wolf takes place over four days of unrelenting wind and rain in a remote God-forsaken village high up in the Nafpaktia mountains in western Greece where two goat herding families struggle to survive during a period of national crisis. ….

A pilot for Zach

Actor Steve Coundouriotis was in the cast of Operation Dumbo Drop and Alexandra Balahoutis played in ConAir…On the other hand, Yorgo Constantin plays in the Phone Booth...Prepare to welcome Jennifer Aniston to New York one more time. The actress and her beau Justin Theroux are moving back because of the actors commitments there. Fiancée Jen agreed to follow him-and relocate- so they can spend more time together….Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis was one of the nominees for the Peoples Awards in the category of Best Streaming series. We also learn that FX has ordered a comedy pilot from Zach, the network announced. Galifianakis created and will star in the show, which will be co-written with Louis C.K., who will also serve as one of the show's executive producers………Renny Harlin’s new film, The Legend of Hercules, has lots of romance. Starring second-string Twilight hunk Kellan Lutz as the legendary Greek demigod/hero, Hercules refashions the myth into a tale of love thwarted. Changing the Hercules story is nothing new, since the classic version of the tale is a downer, involving him killing his own children. This time around, Hercules, the illegitimate child of queen Alcmene of Tiryns (Roxanne McKee) and Zeus (Factory VFX), is set up and sent off on a purposely ill-fated mission by his foster father, King Amphitryon (the never-not-intense Scott Adkins). Hercules dreams of getting back home, not to rule or take revenge, but to claim the hand of his lover, Princess Hebe (Gaia Weiss). She in turn is also coveted by his dastardly, neurotic older brother Iphicles (Liam Garrigan), the legitimate child of the brutal Amphitryon and the long-suffering Alcmene.



Famous jeweler dead at 93

Ilias Lalaounis, 93, who died recently, was a man who honored the ancient Greek and Byzantine cultures and promoted them through his creations, Culture Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos said on Tuesday in a message of condolences on the death of the internationally-known jeweler. Lalaounis who was buried privately a few days ago following family wishes  was based in Athens and had founded a museum in 1993 devoted to his creations, including over 4,000 pieces from over 50 collections, designed by him between 1940 and 2000. He was especially known for being the first major jeweler in Greece to give prominence in his designs to themes and shapes of objects found in ancient Greek and Byzantine cultures...Gus Ouranitsas of NYC has donated time to what is called Time Banking, an offshoot of the Visiting Nurse Service of NY, which allows anyone to volunteer his time to patients and their families. As such, Gus, 57, so far has given a food tour of Astoria to several of these patients... The due date for the Panpaphian Scholarship has been extended toFebruary 15, 2014. Qualified applicants may receive up to $5,000 in grants. In order to qualify however, an applicant must be of Cypriot descent, attending a US accredited college/university. For additional info please call or email George Sophocleous, President (917) 509-0861. gsophocleous@elyons.com

Psilakis the teacher





Master chef Michael Psilakis who owns three MP Tavernas on LI and Astoria, plus Kefi and Gus & Gabriel in Manhattan is now in the cameo of the top chefs of the country, and as such, he will be instructing a class when the International Culinary Center, with the help of New York Magazine celebrates a weekend of master classes, cooking and conversation, Saturday and Sunday April 5 & 6 of 2014.....

Word of the Month : Drastic from Gr. Δραστικος- Radical