Announcement: Greek Songs at the Greek Institute

MORE EROS - GREEK SONGS

Love songs by major Greek composers - Mikis Theodorakis, Manos
Hadjidakis, Mimis Plessas, Dionysus Savopoulos, Vasilis Tsitsanis,
Giorgos Zambetas

Performed by The Greek Music Ensemble

Monday, May 12, 7:30 pm
The Little Theater at Kresge, MIT
48 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA

General Admission $20, Students $10

For tickets call 617.547.4770 or online at www.thegreekinstitute.org

a new favorite liquer

Metaxa is a staple, and I really love chartreuse, but right now I am loving St. Germain. Made with elderflower blossoms, it is light, not syrupy and it tastes like spring! Try it!
(and I am NOT being paid to say this!)

καλό Πάσχα

Χριστός Ανέστη

Easter is here. If you are celebrating today, it is too late to begin making traditional Easter soup, but I will post the recipe anyhow. You may want to enjoy it at some point during this Bright week. A confession is in order. I am not a fan of offal. I know, I know, but it is true.So you can have this one without me.
Mageritsa
Ingredients:
2 lb. lamb lung, liver heart and feet
(lamb's head and/or tripe optional, no comment!)
2 quarts water
2tsp. salt
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
few sprigs parsley
1 tsp. spearmint leaves
1T fresh fennel
1 T dill
1 cup rice
olive oil for frying vegetables
For Avgolemono Sauce:
5 eggs
juice of 3 lemons
Procedure:
wash lamb organs and 'parts'
-Cover with the water and salt, boil and cook and about 30 minutes, skimming scum from pot.
-Remove meat and chop, discard membranes and cartilage.
Strain broth.
-In large kettle fry scallions, celery and herbs.
-Add broth and meat.
-cook one hour then add rice.
-Cook 45 minutes then remove from heat.
Make Avgolemeno:
-beat eggs until thick, then add lemon juice.
-Slowly add 2 cups hot broth.
Pour sauce over soup and quickly mix.
Serve at Easter midnight supper and throughout easter week.

tsoureki

(image from about.com)

I am not baking today! It is a beautiful day- not one to spend indoors baking. But it so good to have fresh bread for Easter, here is a recipe that originated in "The Complete Greek Cookbook", by Theresa Karas Yianilos
Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread)
-Ingredients:
2 T dry yeast dissolved in 1/4 warm water
7 c flour
3/4- 1 c sugar (depends on how sweet you want it!)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c hot milk
1 stick butter (or 8 Toil)
3 eggs
- for flavoring add
1, tsp. EACH cinnamon, anise seeds, orange peel
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. mahaleb
4 grains mastic (or 1 ounce ouzo)
-for topping
egg yolk
1/4 c. sesame seeds
red hard boiled egg(s)
Procedure:
-Dissolve yeast in water, set aside.
-Put flavorings in pan with 1/2 c water, bring to boil then set aside to steep.
-Heat milk, add butter (or oil) , then remove from heat.
-Put flour in bowl, make a well in the center and add eggs, yeast milk and flavorings (having first removed bay leaf!).
-Push flour into center and knead until smooth. This will take about 20 minutes.
-Place in oiled bowl, cover with a clean cloth dampened with hot water and let rise in warm draft- free place until doubled, 4-6 hours.
-When doubled, punch down and knead for about 5 minutes, then shape dough.
-Divide dough into six equal pieces, roll each into a "snake".
-Lay three snakes side by side,pinch ends together and braid.Pinch ends of braid together. Repeat with other three portions of dough.
-Tuck 1 or 2 red hard boiled eggs amongst the braiding on each loaf.
-Place each loaf, uncovered, on oiled sheet in draft-free area for about two hours.
-Before baking, glaze each loaf with egg yolk wash and sprinkle with sesame seed. -Bake at 350F for about 1 hour. or until bread sounds hollow when it is tapped on the bottom.
-Cool on racks. Enjoy!

run, little lambie, run!

Actually, this adorable lamb is in no danger of becoming anyone's Easter feast. For one thing, he is too old now, not a little lamb anymore. He's a tough old boy! Last I heard, he was a studly companion to the loveliest lady lambs on the island. His name is Charisteas, after football striker, # 9 on the Greek team. Yianni got him after he was the rejected by his mother, the newborn had to be nursed for awhile, one of my favorite jobs. No, not that way! He had milk in an Olympic beer bottle with a rubber nipple. I just loved this lambie baby. But when his teeth came out and he was biting through the nipples then he was turned into pasture to fend for himself with the others.

commentary by Nikos Xydakis in the Kathimerini

An opportunity for reflection

By Nikos Xydakis, "Kathimerini"

The emptier Athens gets, the prettier it is. It reclaims its shape, traffic is lighter, people are visible.

Only a few enjoy this view of the city. Most leave, heading to the countryside, to their places of birth, to adopted islands, to their in-laws or friends. Many celebrate the Resurrection of Christ abroad, in the Middle East, in Istanbul and in European capitals.

Anywhere they go, they will find a Christian Orthodox church – it may be the elegant San Giorgio dei Greci in Venice, the Phanar in Istanbul, Saint Stephane in Paris or Saint Nicholas in Cairo; any church will do. Increasingly, the ceremony includes Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians, Romanians, Serbs and Bulgarians; the Resurrection happens for them all.

In every part of the world, Greeks welcome the Resurrection and spring, as they have done since the times of Adonis and Orpheus. It is a wonderful opportunity to take another look at themselves and at their homeland. It’s like coming back from abroad and seeing with clearer eyes what it is that makes our lives difficult, ugly.

Easter presents an opportunity for Greeks to see Greece again outside the limits of its cities, to smell the aroma of freedom, to feel the beauty of the hinterland and to reflect on what they have before them, in their hands. They hold the future in their hands. For better or for worse, we are the land.

The peal of a bell, an orchard, the stony ground, a mountain peak, the light playing on the surface of the sea, the poppies growing at the roadside, a forgotten song, these are the land and the question they ask is: Do you feel for your land? What are you doing for it? What are doing for yourself and the generations to come? One moment is enough. To reflect.

day of red eggs

The Thursday before Easter ( Megali Pempti) is the traditional day for the dyeing of red eggs for Easter. The red color represents the redeeming blood of Christ, while the egg itself is symbolic of the tomb, to be cracked on Easter to symbolize the renewal of life and Christ’s emergence.
One explanation for use of red coloring is that women on the way to market to sell eggs passed by the Cross and blood from the piercings on Jesus’s hands and feet fell upon their eggs, coloring them red. Another explanation holds that the tradition began with Mary Magdalene, when she visited the Emperor Tiberias in Rome. According to this version, she brought him an egg as a symbol of the Resurrection.When she told the Emperor that Jesus had risen from the dead, (Christós Anesti),Tiberius is purported to have answered that a person could not rise from the dead anymore than the egg she was holding could turn red. At that moment, the egg is said to have turned a deep shade of red.
I know that some people dye their eggs using onion skins and vinegar, but I have never tried that. I use Krinos, the commercial dye available at Greek or Armenian grocers, www.krinos.com, or www.GreekInternetMarket.com.

John From Cincinnati Opening Credits

Every once in awhile I just have to watch this. Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros "Johnny Appleseed", set to the images of Imperial Beach, CA, opeing credits for the show that touched me deeply.

Johnny Apleseed

Lord, there goes Johnny Appleseed
He might pass by in the hour of need
There's a lot of souls
Ain't drinking from no well locked in a factory

Hey - look there goes
Hey - look there goes
If you're after getting the honey - hey
Then you don't go killing all the bees

Lord, there goes Martin Luther King
Notice how the door closes when the chimes of freedom ring
I hear what you're saying, I hear what he's saying
*Is what was true now no longer so

Hey - I hear what you're saying
Hey - I hear what he's saying
If you're after getting the honey - hey
Then you don't go killing all the bees

What the people are saying
And we know every road - go, go
What the people are saying
There ain't no berries on the trees

Let the summertime sun
Fall on the apple - fall on the apple

Lord, there goes a Buick forty-nine
Black sheep of the angels riding, riding down the line
We think there is a soul, we don't know
That soul is hard to find

Hey - down along the road
Hey - down along the road
If you're after getting the honey
Then you don't go killing all the bees

Hey - it's what the people are saying
It's what the people are saying
Hey - there ain't no berries on the trees
Hey - that's what the people are saying, no berries on the trees
You're checking out the honey, baby
You had to go killin' all the bees

Tonight the moon...

- by Kostas Karyotakis
Tonight the moon...
Tonight the moon will fall upon
the strand, a heavy pearl.
And over me will play the mad
mad moonlight.
The ruby wave will shatter
at my feet, and scatter all the stars.
From my palms two doves
will have been born;
they'll rise -- two silver birds --,
be filled -- two cups -- with moonlight,
sprinkle moonlight on my shoulders,
on my hair.
The sea is molten gold.
I'll launch my dream to sail upon
I'll tread a diamond
into gravel, glistening.
The encircling light will seem to pierce
my heart, a heavy pearl.
And I shall laugh.
And then I'll weep...
And there,
there's the moonlight!

megali evdomada

I have never been in Greece for Holy Week, I do hope that some day I will be able to experience this most significant religious holiday.

Songs of Couch and Consultation: The Will to Fail

Favorite Places: Monemvasia

I've decided to start writing about some of my favorite places. In no particular order, just when I think of someplace special, or stumble upon a photograph that inspires me to share a thought or two.
That's what happened today, I came across these photographs I took in Monemvasia (the two of the "rock") and my mind started drifting off to that mystical rock in the sea. I cannot even think the word "Monemvasia" without immediately following it with a line from Donoavan's song "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is". Although Monemvasia is not exactly a mountain, with a few modifications the rest holds true. "First there is a village, then there is no village, then there is". The village of Monemvasia,whose name means "single entry" lies behind the rock in the photograph, virtually undetected. Monemvasia was once a thriving Byzantine settlement that rose to prominence as a trade and maritime center. The village withstood centuries of invasions and power struggles before becoming fully independent in 1821, the first Greek fortification to be reclaimed from the Turks.
An attenuated version of the village history can be found at www.Monemvasia-online.com

Today much of the original village has been restored. It exists primarily as a tourist destination, with only about 4,000 residents. The hotels on the "rock" are beautiful period pieces, although quite expensive.

Taki and I stay at the Filoxenia.
This hotel is very close to the "rock", and directly across the street from a lovely little swimming beach. Staying "off rock" in the little town of Gefyra is not only much less expensive, but also much less confining. The cobble streets of the old village become quite difficult to navigate after dark, and late night options are limited. The Filoxenia is within walking distance of many cafe, restaurants and tavernas. Our room had a lovely water view, I would definitely stay there again.


(for other hotels and more information, see Monemvasia information link at left)

Hooray for first baby steps!

From e-Kathimerini: Greener bags now in stores

Volunteers yesterday handed out free reusable shopping bags in central Athens as a municipal pilot scheme, aimed at phasing out the use of plastic bags, was launched in nine supermarkets.

Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis, who has spearheaded efforts to boost recycling in the capital, said that he believed shoppers would adopt greener ways. “We as Greeks are not lacking in sensitivity or decisiveness but simply are not well informed,” he said. “When we are correctly informed, then I believe our mentality changes,” he said, noting that a recent 15-day awareness campaign attracted 100,000 participants.

The six-week scheme is to lead to the replacement of plastic bags with alternatives made of starch or other biodegradable materials, or of fabric, from June 1. The bags, which are said to last for 18 to 20 months, will be sold for 7 cents each at the stores participating in the scheme, which include all the major chains.

return

The Return of Persephone by Lord Frederic Leighton, 1891

do not call them Elgin

Photo : AFP

Yahoo News Sunday April 13, 07:00 PM
Last Parthenon marbles threatened by pollution: archaeologist

ATHENS (AFP) - A senior Greek archaeologist warned this week that the last original sculptures still adorning the Parthenon, Athens' iconic ancient temple, face a major pollution threat and must be removed to a museum.

"There are still 17 original metopes (sculpted plaques) which must be protected because they can no longer endure atmospheric conditions," Acropolis site supervisor Alexandros Mantis told AFP on Friday.

Mantis has proposed that the endangered sculptures be replaced by replicas and kept safe in a new museum located below the Acropolis that is scheduled to open in September.

He singled out 14 plaques on the Parthenon's western facade which are in a "pitiful" condition, plus two more on the northern side.

One of them is the so-called "Annunciation" plaque featuring two goddesses, which was spared by early Christians when the temple was turned into a church around 600 AD.

Athens' most recogniseable landmark and part of the ancient Acropolis citadel overlooking the city, the Parthenon dates back to the golden age of Athenian democracy which began in the fifth century B.C.

Few sculptures dating from the Acropolis' creation are still on-site, having been gradually removed by Greek archaeologists in the last 30 years during restoration works.

The famous Caryatids, statues of young women that acted as pillars to the Erechtheion temple, were themselves removed in 1979.

The issue was discussed last week by the Greek archaeological council (KAS), the influential 34-member state body that advises the culture ministry on heritage issues.

But the council is frequently split and this case was no exception.

"Mr Mantis has stated his position but the archaeological council has not ruled on the issue," said Maria Ioannidou, the archaeologist heading the Acropolis restoration project (YSMA).

"A relevant study must be carried out and an international conference must be held on the issue to reach a decision," she told AFP.

The culture ministry's head of ancient monument restoration, Dimosthenis Giraud, also advised caution.

"A detailed study of the issue is necessary," he said.

Sceptics say that removing the Parthenon's last original sculptures would strike a jarring note with hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the monument every year.

There is also debate over how the move will affect Greece's case with the British Museum for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, the priceless friezes removed in the early 19th century by Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire which ruled Greece at the time.

The British have long accused Greek authorities of taking poor care of the vulnerable monument that was exposed to decades of air pollution.

Mantis insists that protecting the sculptures will strengthen Greece's case to have the Parthenon Marbles repatriated from London.

"We must protect our heritage at all costs," he said.

A total of 92 metopes once adorned the Parthenon's outer Doric frieze, the oldest sculptures on the temple dedicated to Athens' patron goddess Athena.

Depicting scenes of battle between gods and giants, men facing centaurs and Amazons, and the Trojan War, most of them are now nearly unrecognisable.

In addition to the changes wrought on the temple when it was turned into a church, it was badly damaged during a Venetian siege in 1687 when a cannon ball exploded in the Turkish powder magazine stored inside the Parthenon.

Children of the Revolution - Eleftheria

Liven up your Friday evening!

Eleftheria! Freedom! (starts Greek, later in English- Worth watching!)

It wasn't that long ago that people in Greece, would speak of "taking a trip to Europe" if they were going to visit France, or Germany, or other western countries on the continent. These days, however, Greece's national identity is becoming more closely alligned with the notion of "European". Greece has been in the E.U. since 1981, and they abandoned the drachma for the euro more than six years ago-and anyplace that takes the Euro is European, right? And yet...
I've found that many Americans are not aware that Greece was an occupied country, under Ottoman rule from 1453 until 1821, even later in some areas. Or that the Greeks did not experience the Age of Enlightenment as did Western Europeans.
That the Greek language and culture could survive domination to emerge triumphant is testimony to the strength of the Greek people and their desire to remain free. Greece's unique history, spiced with a dash of Asia Minor, keep the culture of this country distinct, with many roots that still wind their way to the east....
The music holds that link. Listen.

Plastic: Not good at all

Greece: waist-deep in plastic
With the lowest recycling levels in the EU, and no energy-recovery facilities, Greek landfills are clogged with plastic.
 
From: Enerpub Energy Publisher
by Thrasy Petropoulos
 
Consider this fact for a minute. Not a single kilogram of plastic is landfilled in Switzerland. And now look at the other end of the scale. Greece missed its European Union target to recycle a measly 15 percent of its plastic packaging waste by the end of 2006 by some distance.

While the country is doing better than might be imagined in paper and cardboard recycling (above 70 percent), and more than half of industrial steel is reused, Greece props up the table where plastic is concerned.

By combining the quantities of plastic recycled or burned for energy recovery in 2005, the association of plastic manufacturers in Europe, Plastics Europe, has highlighted Greece's position as the most wasteful European country in the management of plastic waste, coming below the likes of Cyprus, Malta, Lithuania and Estonia.



According to figures given to this newspaper by the Ecological Recycling Society in central Athens, the country managed to recycle only 30,000 of the 300,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste produced in 2006.

Adamantios Skordilis, who heads the alternative waste management department of the environment ministry, acknowledged in a recent interview with this newspaper that Greece is unlikely to meet the stiffer EU target of 22.5 percent plastics recycling by 2011.

Contacted again for the purpose of this article, he insisted that the current figures were expected to rise as household recycling becomes established, but he conceded that the only facility for incinerating refuse-derived fuel (RDF) planned for this country has still not been approved.

RDF, which is collected at landfills, is a compressed mixture of non-recyclable paper (60-70 percent), thin plastics (20-30 percent), cloth and small amounts of wood and other materials. Viewed as a refined form of alternative fuel, it is increasingly used by the likes of cement and power plants and paper mills across Europe.

As seen in the accompanying table, it is the burning of RDF and other solid municipal waste for energy recovery that is, ultimately, the key to the successful management of plastic waste.

A spokesperson for cement producer Heracles, owned by Lafarge, said that the company was intending to invest 6 million euros in constructing the necessary RDF-processing installation in its Mylaki plant, in Evia, and that the use of RDF has been included in the modification of the plant's environmental permit, which is presently in the approval stage.

She confirmed, however, that the plans had met with local opposition and could give no timescale for its completion.



With no outlet for RDF, some 90,000 tonnes of such waste collected at the Ano Liosia landfill in 2004 and 2005 were used to build a supporting wall at the site. This combined amount was included in the environment ministry's reported plastic recycling and reuse figures to the EU for those years, along with the argument that the wall had "filtration" properties. Effectively, however, it did no more than rejoin other landfilled waste.

Timeless problem

Jan-Erik Johansson, a spokesperson for Plastics Europe, makes the recycling culture of other countries sound enviably simplistic.

"It really isn't difficult to get the rate of recycling of plastics up to 20 percent," he said. "You can make considerable improvement by just concentrating on two areas - plastic water and other drinks bottles, which you use a lot of in Greece, and by collecting the plastic film around industrial pallets. Recyclers love this because it amounts to between two and three kilograms of clean plastic per pallet."

He added: "Just by having facilities at supermarkets where people can deposit plastic bottles, Sweden has reached a recycling rate for these bottles of nearly 90 percent."

This appears to give credence to Skordilis' assertion that household recycling will significantly improve Greece's figures.

Contradictory to that argument, however, is the fact that recycling for 2006, when the country's blue-bin programme was supposedly fully operational, apparently shows almost no improvement from the previous year (10 percent against 9.9 percent).

There are, according to Skordilis, two principal problems to overcome.

"There are something like 50 different types of plastic, of which around five are sorted at Greece's recycling plants," he said. "For now, this is done by hand, although efforts are being made to bring in automated sorting methods. The second problem concerns burning RDF. Unfortunately, the initiative in Mylaki is being opposed by locals. The fear is that burning RDF will cause environmental pollution, although this is based on no specific knowledge whatsoever. It is something that will be resolved, but we cannot say when."

Johansson agrees with Skordilis on both counts - namely that the many types of plastic (high- and low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC and so on, often used in combinations within the same packaging) are a problem for recyclers and that the burning of RDF poses no danger to the environment if done correctly. Indeed, he argues, recent measurements from a solid municipal waste-burning plant in Cologne, Germany, showed that the fumes from the furnace were cleaner than the surrounding air.

Filippos Kyrkitsos, the president of the Ecological Recycling Society, told this newspaper that he is not against burning RDF but that a better solution would be to reduce the amount of plastic that arrives at landfills in the first place.

"Before we even consider the environmental impact of RDF, we should concentrate on increasing the number of blue bins across Greece and improving their collection," he said.

Holistic approach

For all the facts and figures, a simple truth is exposed by the comparison of Greece with other European countries. Namely, that elsewhere plastic packaging is, increasingly, not even making its way to landfills.

"In Switzerland, not a single kilo of plastic is landfilled," he says. "And other countries are pretty close to that. They do that by having a holistic perspective to waste management.

When you bear in mind that plastic is nothing more than solidified oil, then recycling or burning for energy recovery is a wonderful way of finishing off the work that has gone into making it."

Not that this ethos should be followed blindly, he argues. Thin plastic supermarket bags, which can be recycled but encourage a wasteful approach by consumers, have been done away within in some countries.

"The alternative in Sweden is the paper bag," Johansson says. "However, from a cradle-to-cradle perspective, the paper bag generates 2½ times more CO2 in its creation and recycling than the thin plastic bag. It is another example of the importance of being informed of the facts."

uh-oh

From Kathimerini:

High-profile artifacts arrest

The head of one of Greece’s leading environmental and cultural organizations was arrested yesterday on suspicion of possessing undeclared antiquities at his home in Plaka, central Athens.

Costas Karras, the president of the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage, was taken into custody after police raided the property and found 24 marble artifacts, nine silver and bronze coins, four icons and four religious books from the 17th and 18th centuries. Archaeologists are examining the seized items.

Police said that the items had not been registered with the Culture Ministry, as Greek law dictates.

The 70-year-old suspect told police that some of the antiquities were family heirlooms, while others had been discovered on his land in Plaka. Karras is due to appear before a magistrate today.

methysmena

Tipsy Cookies with Retsina and Loukoumi

Ingredients:
9 cups flour (approximate)
5 tsp. baking powder
1 2/3 sunflower or other light oil
1 cup retsina
20 pieces of loukoumi
30 walnuts, halved
Confectioner's sugar

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the oil and retsina and work into a smooth, soft pastry. Turn pastry out onto a floured work surface and roll out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Using a small glass or cookie cutter, cut out circles. Place a small piece of Turkish delight and half a walnut on each round and fold the pastry circle in half to make a pocket, pressing the edges down firmly. Place the pastry pockets on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and bake in a preheated oven until they begin to brown. Remove from the oven and cool, then sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. Store in an airtight container. Makes 50- 60 cookies

Poetry 1948

by Nikos Engonopoulos (1907-1985)
Poetry 1948
translated by David Connolly

this age
of civil strife
is no age
for poetry
and such like:
when something starts
to
be written
it's
as if
it were being written
on the back
of death
announcements
which is why
my poems
are so bitter
(and when-in any case-were they not?)
and are
-above all-
also
so
few

eat this one

Recipe from "Athens News":
Savoro (marinated fish)

Ingredients:

1 kilo red mullet

1 cup olive oil

flour for frying

vinegar

6 cloves garlic sliced

1 tsp rosemary

2 tbsp currants

Procedure:

Clean the fish, removing the gills, innards and scales. Salt and allow to stand for about two hours. Heat half of the oil, flour the fish and place in the hot oil to fry. Turn the fish over to brown evenly on the other side. When the fish is browned, remove from pan, place in a deep dish and allow to cool. Pour enough vinegar to cover the fish and allow to stand for about half and hour. Drain the vinegar. Heat the rest of the oil in a pan and add the garlic, the rosemary and the currants; saute for a few minutes. Pour the garlic mixture over the fish.

do not eat this one

From the "Cretan Gazette":


Poisonous Red Sea Pufferfish Reach Crete
Cretan fishermen occasionally catch strange pufferfish in their nets in the south of Crete (area of Ierapetra). These have no scales, hard skin, with a grey lower body and black spots on the upper body. Their scientific name of Lagocephalus sceleratus is due to the fact that they have two teeth in each jaw, making them look like hares. The fish are 10-35 cm long.

These fish are Lessepsian migrants, invading the Mediterranean from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. They must not be eaten because their skin and internal organs contain a neurotoxin that paralyses the nervous and respiratory systems. This toxin is not affected by heat or cooking. Pufferfish is only eaten in Japan, where it is known as fugu: the poisonous organs are removed by specialist cooks on the day the fish is caught.

minoan connection

from Kathimerini:
DNA sheds light on Minoans

Crete’s fabled Minoan civilization was built by people from Anatolia, according to a new study by Greek and foreign scientists that disputes an earlier theory that said the Minoans’ forefathers had come from Africa.

The new study – a collaboration by experts in Greece, the USA, Canada, Russia and Turkey – drew its conclusions from the DNA analysis of 193 men from Crete and another 171 from former neolithic colonies in central and northern Greece.

The results show that the country’s neolithic population came to Greece by sea from Anatolia – modern-day Iran, Iraq and Syria – and not from Africa as maintained by US scholar Martin Bernal.

The DNA analysis indicates that the arrival of neolithic man in Greece from Anatolia coincided with the social and cultural upsurge that led to the birth of the Minoan civilization, Constantinos Triantafyllidis of Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University told Kathimerini.

“Until now we only had the archaeological evidence – now we have genetic data too and we can date the DNA,” he said.

Save John From Cincinnati- Get Back in the Game!

Tonight HBO aired the final episode of John From Cincinnati. I have mixed feelings about this episode. It has a very powerful beginning and then becomes a hodge podge, attempting to wrap up a storyline that originally was to develop over two more episodes. HBO made many mistakes with this series, the worst of these was the show's premature cancellation. I am posting this video made by friends I met online through our common interest in"John From Cincinnati". Talisyn wrote the song and performs it here. Farley created the accompanying video. I hope that if you enjoy the "John from Cincinnati" videos on this blog you will purchase or rent the DVD and watch all 10 episodes. Then let me know what you think!

40 years after

It has been 40 years since Martin Luther King,JR was assainated in Memphis.

Benaki textile

Embroidery from the hem of 17th C Cretan chemise, Benaki Museum, Athens.

Calendar of an Invisible April

- by Odysseas Elytis
translated by Marios Dikaiakos

“The wind was whistling continuously, it was
getting darker, and that distant voice was
incessantly reaching my ears : “an entire life”…
“an entire life”…
On the opposite wall, the shadows of the
trees were playing cinema”

“It seems that somewhere people are celebrating;
although there are no houses or human beings
I can listen to guitars and other laughters which
are not nearby

Maybe far away, within the ashes of heavens
Andromeda, the Bear, or the Virgin…

I wonder; is loneliness the same, all over the
worlds ?“

“Almond-shaped, elongated eyes, lips; perfumes stemming
from a premature sky of great feminine delicacy
and fatal drunkeness.

I leant on my side -almost fell- onto the
hymns to the Virgin and the cold of spacious
gardens.

Prepared for the worst.”


“FRIDAY, 10c

LATE MIDNIGHT my room is moving in the
neighborhood shining like an emerald.
Someone searches it, but truth eludes him
constantly. How to imagine that it is
placed lower

Much lower

That death too, has its own Red sea.”

FYROM veto

Greece vetoes invitation to FYROM for NATO entry
from e-Kathimerini:

Greek Prime Minsiter Costas Karamanlis on Wednesday night vetoed a NATO invitation to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to join, during an alliance crucial summit in Bucharest.

Addressing the leaders' dinner, which signaled the opening of the summit, Karamanlis outlined Greece's positions on the isuue, underlining that it cannot consent to a FYROM NATO entry invitation if the "name issue" of the former Yugoslav republic is not resolved first.

France, Italy, Spain, Iceland and Luxembourg expressed their support to Greece's positions, while Hungary, Slovakia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany viewed with understanding the Greek arguments.

Opposing the Greek position and supporting an invitation without conditions to FYROM, were Turkey, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Lithuania.

Denmark, Bulgaria, and Norway, although moving in the same direction, were less enthousiastic. Canada, Great Britain and Portugal refrained from taking a stand.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was the wormest supporter of the Greek positions, who said in his address that "We stand in solidarity with Greeks, we believe that a solution must be found. I have Hungarian roots, but I also have Greek roots and I fully assume them."

During a reception preceding the official dinner, Premier Karamanlis held a brief conversation with U.S. President George W. Bush.

In a related development, NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters in Brussels after the end of the Bucharest dinner, that Greece made clear that despite the fact that it wants to see FYROM joining NATO the soonest possible, it is not possible to give its consent as long as the neighbouring republic's "name issue" remains unresolved.

According to an ANA-MPA dispatch from the Belgian capital, Appathurai added that, given Greece's position, efforts for resolving the "name issue" should continue, noting at the same time that all NATO member-states wish for a compromise solution as soon as possible, without this meaning that concrete timeframes have been set.

Asklepios

alone

I am getting a bit lonely withoutcompany here at this taverna. If you read this, click on comments and say hello!!

FYROM update

From e-Kathimerini:
Athens stands firm at NATO gathering
Discussion of FYROM’s alliance bid may be postponed until coming fall

Greek diplomats attending a crucial NATO summit in Bucharest yesterday stood by their threat to veto the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s bid to join the alliance, as Washington appeared to tone down its insistence that the Balkan state be invited immediately.

“We are running out of time,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos told reporters when asked if there was any chance of a settlement of the Macedonia name dispute that is obstructing FYROM’s NATO bid.

According to sources, the discussion of FYROM’s membership bid may be postponed until the alliance’s next scheduled summit in the fall.

Sources said that the name issue will be broached by US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried who is to visit both Athens and Skopje later this month.

Earlier yesterday, US President George W. Bush reiterated his support for Albania, Croatia and “Macedonia” joining NATO. “There’s an issue with one country, in particular, but... I’m optimistic that it will get solved,” Bush said in a clear reference to FYROM. Other Western leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also expressed their staunch support for FYROM’s membership bid.

The European Union’s enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, said: “NATO membership for Croatia, Albania and FYROM will help prepare those countries for EU membership as well.” Earlier Rehn had criticized posters in Skopje streets showing the Nazi swastika superimposed on the Greek flag. This is hardly in keeping with the principles of good neighborly relations, he remarked.

In Skopje last night, hundreds of FYROM residents staged a candle-lit vigil to protest Greek “oppression.” There were no reports of violence.

Several US newspapers featured the comments of Greek diplomats and diaspora organizations yesterday – an apparent bid to counteract pressure from Washington on Athens to drop its veto threat. “Athens has shown its good will... and gone the extra mile,” US Ambassador Alexandros Mallios wrote in a letter published in The Wall Street Journal. “If the name issue is not resolved now, it may fester to poison future generations, undermining stability and cooperation,” he added. Meanwhile, yesterday’s editions of The New York Times and other US newspapers carried a one-page feature – an initiative by a Washington-based diaspora group – entitled “What’s in a name?” explaining Greece’s position on the Macedonia name dispute.

BBC news: more on FYROM

map from theodora.com

Greece to veto Macedonia Nato bid
By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, Athens

Greece says it is almost certain to veto Macedonia's bid to join Nato, following Macedonian portrayals of the Greek prime minister as a Nazi.

The two countries are also in dispute over the name "Macedonia" for Greece's northern neighbour.

Time is running out for a solution before the Nato summit in Bucharest, which opens on Wednesday evening.

US President George W Bush had hoped to invite Macedonia to join Nato, along with Albania and Croatia.

Athens is deeply offended by posters that have appeared in Skopje, which have the swastika superimposed on the Greek flag, as well as a magazine cover which depicts Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis as an SS officer.

And the Greeks feel insulted by recent images of their neighbour's prime minister laying a wreath by a flag showing a map of Greater Macedonia, which includes parts of Northern Greece.

Territorial claims

Greece's foreign minister, Dora Bakoyannis, says the dispute is not just over a name.

She says the government in Skopje regards the Greek province of Macedonia as occupied territory and has refused to remove such claims from textbooks speeches, maps and national documents.

Athens and Skopje have failed to reach an agreement on a new name for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Greece's stance remains - no deal, no invitation.

Greece is under huge pressure to back down.

The Americans say a dispute over who are the descendants of Macedonia's legendary king Alexander the Great cannot be allowed to derail Nato's expansion.

Other Nato allies are worried that closing the door on Skopje could lead to the break up of the country along ethnic lines between Slav Macedonians and the Albanian minority.

But compromising on what most Greeks regard as an unsatisfactory name would be political suicide for the Conservative government of Mr Karamanlis, and so the use of Greece's veto looks inevitable.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7326017.stm

Published: 2008/04/02 10:54:59 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

time to clean it up

From e-Kathamerini
EU gives Athens trash warning

A European Commission official warned Greece yesterday that Athens needs to sort out its waste management problem quickly or risk finding itself in the same position as Naples, which has run out of places to dump its trash.

Speaking at a meeting in Athens on the environment and sustainable development, the Commission’s director-general for regional policy, Jacques Poncet, told Greek officials, including Environment and Public Works Minister Giorgos Souflias, that they need to act fast.

“The situation in Athens is at a crucial stage,” he said. “If you do not want to find yourselves in the same position as Naples, you must take action soon.”

The European Union took action against Naples earlier this year when hundreds of thousands of tons of rubbish piled up around the Campania region as authorities ran out of places to dump the trash. Many residents resorted to burning their garbage instead, releasing harmful dioxins into the air.

Poncet’s call was backed by Giorgos Kremlis, a spokesman for the Commission’s Environment Directorate-General.

“It is important that national and regional waste disposal planning is updated to take account of climate change and the new technology that is available,” said Kremlis.

Athens has until now relied on its only landfill, which serves the whole of Attica, in the northwestern suburb of Ano Liosia. However, the landfill is effectively full and alternative solutions are being sought.

A government committee yesterday rubber-stamped plans to create three new landfills at Fyli, Grammatiko and Keratea, where the trash will be processed and composted.

The members of the committee are due to meet today with Poncet and Kremlis to discuss the project.

Jules Dassin and Melina Mercouri:Never on Sunday

in memorium Jules Dassin

From e-Kathimerini

US director and husband of Melina Mercouri dies in Athens at age 96

Jules Dassin, the US filmmaker and husband of Greek actress and politician Melina Mercouri, died at the Hygeia hospital in Athens last night at the age of 96. Dassin was a respected figure in Greece and is best known for directing, among other films, the French heist movie “Rififi” and “Never on Sunday,” in which Mercouri starred. Dassin was born in Connecticut in 1911 but was forced into exile after being named a communist in 1952 before a hearing of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee. Dassin was married to Mercouri from 1966 until her death in 1994.

name days in April

April name days
April 6 - Eutyxios
April 15 - Leonidas
April 23 - Georgios (Yorgos) - Georgia. If during Lent, it moves to second day after Easter.
April 24 - Elisabet
April 25 - Marcos