another favorite place

The Admiral Benbow
It may seem rather strange that in my longing for Greece I find my thoughts returning to a British Rock n Roll Bar. Maybe because it is Saturday today, and that is where I would like to be tonight. The Admiral Benbow does not have a water view, there is no live music, but the owners are always friendly and the place draws a great crows. I miss it!
If you find yourself in Skiathos, wander over to Polytechniou St. (some people call it Bar Street), and have fun!

Greek Name Days for June

June 2 - Nikiforos
June 4 - Marthas & Marias, Martha
June 5 - Dorotheos (Dorothea, Dorothy)
June 7 - Sevastianis (Sebastian)
June 8 - Kalliopis
June 11 - Vartholomaios / Varnava
June 22 - Zinonos
June 29 - Petros & Paulos, Petros, Pavlos (Peter, Paul)
June 30 - Sunaksi ton 12 Apostolon, Apostolis, Apostolos

2,400 pounds of bird seed for 'John From Cincinnati'

Once again, HBO is airing that wonderfully innovative and uplifting series, "John From Cincinnati".

Set in the decidedly less than elegant border town of Imperial Beach,California,the series examines the lives and circumstances of a multi-generational surfing dynasty,the Yost family,along with a widely diverse assortment of friends and characters. At the core of the series is a mysterious stranger- John Monad- who arrives on the beach one day, to deliver the message that, "Mitch Yost should get back in the game". John, seemingly incapable of uttering an original thought, sets in place a string of mystifying events that challenge the nature of reality, border on the miraculous and forever change the lives of those around him.
Created by David Milch (Deadwood), the writing and dialog in this series are absolutely brilliant. The plot line is fluid, not always easy to follow and open for multiple interpretations. There is no one definitive answer to the question of John's identity or the meaning of his message, and that is the beauty of the series.
If you do not have the opportunity to watch John From Cincinnati on HBO, you may purchase the entire first season for just $27.99 at Amazon.com. The price includes shipping making it a true bargain!! Watch it!! And then let me know what you think!

The video above this text was created through the efforts of dedicated "John From Cincinnati" fans. Many individuals contributed to this project and the purchase of seed, but the three known as SaveJFC, Chatangel and Raymcd19 are the ones that must be sincerely thanked for organizing, implementing and filming the JFC Birdseed Campaign.

Let's Make Spanakopita!

If you are going to go through the trouble and time to make this delicious dish, why not MAKE LOTS!! Spanakopita freezes beautifully. If you prefer, you may choose to make one large pie, using a rectangular pan. I am going to give instructions for making small, triangular pitas, as I find these just the perfect portion to serve for party appetizers, light lunch or an afternoon snack. If you freeze them on a cookie sheet you can then transfer them to plastic bags and keep them in the freezer for an easy
I am NOT making homemade phyllo! Maybe some other time!
This is a flexible recipe, use ingredients that suit your own taste!

Ingredients:
-Spinach- 2 pounds fresh or 2 packages frozen chopped
-Scallions about 10, finely chopped
(you may use 2 finely chopped onions)
- Feta Cheese, 1- 1 1/2lb.
(you may supplement the feta with pot cheese, cottage cheese, or even ricotta if you wish)
-Garlic- 2 or 3 cloves, minced (I like garlic, but you may omit)
-Dill, one bunch, chopped chopped if you wish, or to taste.
- Parsley, flat leaf.One bunch chopped.
-Eggs, 4 or 5, beaten (sometimes I use only 3 and it still comes out great)
-Butter- at least 2 sticks! Melted.
-Olive oil-at least 1 cup, depends on whether you use all butter or a mixture of butter and olive oil between the layers of phyllo!
- Bread crumbs, 1/4 cup, optional (I usually do not add these)

Procedure:
-Lightly steam spinach if using fresh. Cut off any tough stems, chop, then squeeze out all moisture. If using frozen, defrost and squeeze dry.
- Mix with scallions, herbs, garlic, eggs and crumbled feta (and other cheese if using
-Add a glug of olive oil to mixture and stir it all together.
Lay out one leaf of phyllo and brush with melted butter or a combination of butter and olive oil. Repeat. You may use either two or three layers, depending on how flaky you like your pastry. (If you are NOT making triangular pitas you will want to use 5 or 6 layers of phyllo).
- Cut the phyllo lengthwise into strips about 2 inches wide. Cover all but one strip with a slightly damp cloth so that it stays moist.
-Drop about 2 T spinach mixture onto the phyllo strip and then begin folding, as you would fold up a flag. Make a triangle then fold, fold, fold until you have a little triangilar bundle.
Brush with butter or butter oil mixture.
Place on cookie sheet and cover with clean, damp cloth while you continue making pastries.
Bake in 350 degree oven. Check after 15 minutes, they may take another 5 or ten miutes to bcome golden brown. If you are going to be freezing these you will want to remove them from the oven while they are slightly underdone , so they will not overcook when you reheat them! Cool and enjoy!

Cats

Reading the Bukowski poem got me thinking about all the cats and kittens I have known and loved. When I was a kid I always had an orange tabby cat named Pierre. Pierre the original, and after he met his unfortunate and bitterly mourned demise, Pierre II. My sister, five years older than I, was given a wire haired terrier named Cindy while I was still really young. I know she felt very privileged by that, as if a cat were a kind of booby prize pet. I never saw it that way.

Almost all of my childhood memories take place outdoors, I can barely remember doing anything of consequence inside the house. And when we were in the backyard, my sister would spend some time playing with her dog. Every once in awhile she would let me play with Cindy, and I admit it was fun to throw a ball and have the dog bring it back, or to dress up the dog in funny clothes. But most of the time the dog just sat there, or barked, or slept or chewed on one toy or another.

My cat, on the other hand, was always going off to do something interesting. We had a big garden and he would prowl through the cornstalks proudly, a princely predator surveying his domain. Occasionally he would bring a mouse, mole or (sadly) a rabbit or bird and leave it by the back door as if offering to share the bounty of his prowess. Both Pierres were manly cats, but still they loved to cuddle, and if you showed affection they would show it right back, purring with delight and making little mushing motions with their paws. I thought the Pierres were so very cool, I loved them each of them for their catly selves.

But, truth be told, it is my last cat, the six-toed Elmo, that was most like Bukowski’s. Elmo, a stray, probably dumped into the woods next to what used to be my house, yowled at my door for several days before I broke down and took him in. He was in such bad shape-one ear half gone, one eye destroyed, a huge oozing growth on his side- he needed several months of medical treatment before he was well enough to be neutered. But that brave cat wasn’t afraid of anything- fox, big dog, the road. He lived a long, adventure filled life. I think he knew how fortunate he was to have a loving home, but he could not resist the allure of the big wide world. He would disappear for days-sometimes weeks- but then return as if he had just stepped out to sun himself on the patio and -hey! where's dinner? When I moved, and my father moved into what had been my house, I did not have the heart to bring Elmo into town. He was a rover, and would either whither in confinement or meet an early death on the streets of the town. So he stayed on the land he had made his own. My Dad, a longtime dog man, fell in love with that scrappy tabby. As he grew older, Elmo learned to sleep on a human bed. I'm sure it was not a difficult skill to acquire. When he was old-very, very old- he disappeared one last time. I found out from the animal control officers that he had been found with a shattered jaw and had been euthanized. I am glad that he did not continue to suffer. But I was so sorry that he was gone.

I am rambling on far too long here. And so, I will close my feline revery with little ditty about an imagined kitty.

doggerel for kitten

Satisfied, the bowl licked clean
Warm sunbeam sprawl now, tiny sphinx.
Soft fur blissful, stretching, dozing
off to dream brave lion dreams:
the tiny tail tip of the quick gray fieldmouse
that scurried through the grass
away from you.
The many legged bug
you batted and played with,
but it died before the game was through.
Happy dreams of bravely stalking,
boldly hunting bird and mole
King of the backyard deep grass jungle,
spiderweb and groundhog hole.
Set to pounce at any movement,
whether it be mouse or snake.
Dream great adventures, little kitten,
You will live them when you wake.

Bukowski

This poem was posted on a bulletin board I frequent, I just HAD to post it here!

The History Of One Tough Motherfucker
by Charles Bukowski

he came to the door one night wet thin beaten and
terrorized
a white cross-eyed tailless cat
I took him in and fed him and he stayed
grew to trust me until a friend drove up the driveway
and ran him over
I took what was left to a vet who said,"not much
chance...give him these pills...his backbone
is crushed, but is was crushed before and somehow
mended, if he lives he'll never walk, look at
these x-rays, he's been shot, look here, the pellets
are still there...also, he once had a tail, somebody
cut it off..."
I took the cat back, it was a hot summer, one of the
hottest in decades, I put him on the bathroom
floor, gave him water and pills, he wouldn't eat, he
wouldn't touch the water, I dipped my finger into it
and wet his mouth and I talked to him, I didn't go any-
where, I put in a lot of bathroom time and talked to
him and gently touched him and he looked back at
me with those pale blue crossed eyes and as the days went
by he made his first move
dragging himself forward by his front legs
(the rear ones wouldn't work)
he made it to the litter box
crawled over and in,
it was like the trumpet of possible victory
blowing in that bathroom and into the city, I
related to that cat-I'd had it bad, not that
bad but bad enough
one morning he got up, stood up, fell back down and
just looked at me.
"you can make it," I said to him.
he kept trying, getting up falling down, finally
he walked a few steps, he was like a drunk, the
rear legs just didn't want to do it and he fell again, rested,
then got up.
you know the rest: now he's better than ever, cross-eyed
almost toothless, but the grace is back, and that look in
his eyes never left...
and now sometimes I'm interviewed, they want to hear about
life and literature and I get drunk and hold up my cross-eyed,
shot, runover de-tailed cat and I say,"look, look
at this!"
but they don't understand, they say something like,"you
say you've been influenced by Celine?"
"no," I hold the cat up,"by what happens, by
things like this, by this, by this!"
I shake the cat, hold him up in
the smoky and drunken light, he's relaxed he knows...
it's then that the interviews end
although I am proud sometimes when I see the pictures
later and there I am and there is the cat and we are photo-
graphed together.
he too knows it's bullshit but that somehow it all helps.

absence

I haven't been here in two weeks. It has been a busy time, the end of the semester and all that that entails, followed by visits from two of my children who live in California. But those are not the true reasons why I have stayed away. It has become painful for me to stop and visit in this cyber taverna, when where I really want so very badly to be is in Greece. I began this blog as a way of coping with the difficult circumstances of the past year and a half. I always thought that once we got through the difficult days, and then the cold bleak months of winter, we would be packing up to once again return to Greece. But it does not appear to be possible this year, and my heart is heavy at the thought of one more season without my dear friends and beloved island. I am going to continue this blog, but I will be posting more writings that are not direct links to Greece.This is a taverna, all topics of discussion are welcomed, so as I am trying to write this summer, I will be posting more of my own works in progress, musings, whatever comes to mind...
and of course I will not ever forget the music, recipes, news arts and people of Greece.

European Prize for Dora Bakoyannis

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA) Foreign Minister and former Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyannis, was awarded yesterday the European prize for regional and local politics- Emperor Maximilian Prize 2008. The Land of Tyrol and the city of Innsbruck award the prize to personalities and institutions for their achievements in the field of regional and local politics. Prize winner 2008 Dora Bakoyannis was unanimously elected by the jury for her work as Athens’ mayor.

Grigoris Bithikotsis sings Seferis: Sto Periyiali to Krifo (Theodrakis)

It seems that this video has been removed from Youtube. What a shame! So I am replacing Bithikotsis does Theodrakis with Mikis Theodrakis doing Theodrakis.

Denial by Yiorgos Seferis

Denial a poem by Yiorgos Seferis

[English translation by Edmund Keeley
and Phillip Sherrard]

On the secret seashore
white like a pigeon
we thirsted at noon;
but the water was brackish.

On the golden sand
we wrote her name;
but the sea-breeze blew
and the writing vanished.

With what spirit, what heart,
what desire and passion
we lived our life: a mistake!
So we changed our life..

ΑΡΝΗΣΗ

Στο περιγιάλι το κρυφό
κι άσπρο σαν περιστέρι
διψάσαμε το μεσημέρι·
μα το νερό γλυφό.

Πάνω στην άμμο την ξανθή
γράψαμε τ' όνομά της·
ωραία που φύσηξεν ο μπάτης
και σβύστηκε η γραφή.

Mε τι καρδιά, με τι πνοή,
τι πόθους και τι πάθος,
πήραμε τη ζωή μας· λάθος!
κι αλλάξαμε ζωή.


Written on May Fourth

Yes, it is my birthday, and yes, I have been shamelessly indulging myself. And I I hope that each of you will do the same for yourself when your special day rolls around.
Why not? It is our one day in 365 that is our very own and is always special. I know people who go through their birthdays pretending that they are no different from any other day. Of course it is possible to do this- but why?

When I was a little girl I always wanted a horse, desperately. I collected pictures and figurines- Appaloosas, Palominos, Clydesdales, every horse and all horses I loved, and I devoured stories of the Black stallion, I envied cowboys for their lives on horseback. I would cry for a horse every birthday and Christmas. It was a totally unrealistic desire, we had neither space nor money to keep an animal, or even for me to take regular horseback riding lessons. My mother, always wanting to make me happy, went to visit a local farmer and stable keeper. Then she told me that I had to get over wanting a horse so badly, it just wasn?t possible. But, she said, what she could do was arrange for me to have a horse one day each year. Together we decided that that day would be my birthday. On the morning of my birthday I would wake up early and wait and wait for the sound of the truck with the pony trailer, and from that moment when the horse arrived- usually it was a pony, but a few times it was a gentle chestnut mare-I was in heaven. The owner showed me simple things, how to mount and dismount gracefully, how to use a curry comb, how to feed the horse a carrot or sugar cube, and I felt very special to have this knowledge. Then, in the afternoon, my friends would come for a party. Each child was given the opportunity to ride the horse around the yard, led by the owner. And, given that there was a real hose to ride, that would be a great party. But that was just the beginning. As many of you know, my father is a magician, that is how he made his living for 50 years. So after the pony rides ?my? horse would be tethered and we would gather around my father, while he did magic tricks and made balloon animals, one for each of us. Each year my parties got larger and larger, because no one could be left out of such a good time. This went on for six or seven years. I don?t even remember the last one,or if a part of me knew at the time that a marker of childhood had passed.
But I do know that every year, when I wake up on my birthday, a part of me still waits for the sound of the truck that will bring magic to the day.

And that is what I am thinking about today, and why I am telling you this. I truly believe that our own special day, celebrating our entering this world, should be a time when we celebrate our own self, who we are and who we are perpetually in process of becoming..

And if on that day we know, sure as sunrise, that the truck that holds the magic will appear-well, it usually does. OK, we may not get a balloon animal every year, but each birthday brings a bit of magic.

a recipe for you!

I haven't been around much, it's that busy end of semester time and everything seems to converge at once. I do not have any original thoughts to share right now, but I thought I would share a great recipe, copied down a few years ago from? I think it was the new York Times. Enjoy!
Warm Feta salad with Ouzo Vinaigrette
For the Vinaigrette:
1 cup ouzo (yia mas!)
2 T lemon juice
3 oz. good olive oil
a sprinkling of sea salt
For the Salad:
8 slices good country bread,1/2 inch thick, crusts removed, cut into s inch squares
1/2 fennel bulb, julienned
1 1/2 cup roasted peeled red peppers
2 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
8 oz Greek feta, sliced 1/2 inch thick then cut into 2 inch squares
mixed young field greens
Aleppo pepper
Procedure:
- Heat ouzo in small saucepan til simmering, reduce to about 2 T.
-Pour into small bowl, let cool, then add lemon juice and salt, set aside
- Grill or broil bread til lightly toasted, set aside
-Place oven rack in top third of oven and heat oven to 400 degrees
-Bring pot of lightly salted water to boil and blanch fennel for about 1 minute
-Drain, rinse, then drain again
- Place in large bowl and add peppers and scallions, season with salt and pepper
- Place toast squares on baking sheet and top each with a square of feta, sprinkle with Aleppo pepper
Bake about 5 minutes, or til lightly browned
-Toss vegetable mixture with field greens, divide onto 4 serving plates.
- Top each with two tasted cheese squares, propped one against the other.
-Scatter feta crumbles on each and drizzle with vinaigrette.
enjoy!

name days in May

May Greek Name Days
May 2 - Zoodochos Pigis
May 3 - Timotheos
May 4 - Pelagias
May 5 - Eirinis, Irini
May 6 - Serafim
May 7 - Akakios
May 9 - Christoforos
May 10 - Simonos
May 11 - Kurillos & Methodos
May 13 - Sergios, Sergios, Glykerias, Glykeria
May 15 - Paxomios
May 17 - Andronikos
May 18 - Ioulias, Ioulia
May 19 - Menandrios
May 21 - Kosta, Konstantinos, Eleni, Thina
May 27 - Ioannos Rosos
May 28 - Tis Analipseos
May 29 - Theodosias
May 30 - Isaakios

why not Mytilinians?

Lesbos islanders dispute gay name
By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, Athens

Campaigners on the Greek island of Lesbos are to go to court in an attempt to stop a gay rights organisation from using the term "lesbian".

The islanders say that if they are successful they may then start to fight the word lesbian internationally.

The issue boils down to who has the right to call themselves Lesbians.

Is it gay women, or the 100,000 people living on Greece's third biggest island - plus another 250,000 expatriates who originate from Lesbos?

The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, claims that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.

He says it causes daily problems to the social life of Lesbos's inhabitants.

Injunction sought

In court papers, the plaintiffs allege that the Greek government is so embarrassed by the term Lesbian that it has been forced to rename the island after its capital, Mytilini.
An early court date has now been set for judges to decide whether to grant an injunction against the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece and to order it to change its name.

A spokeswoman for the group has described the case as a groundless violation of freedom of expression, and has pledged to fight it.

The term lesbian originated from the poet Sappho, who was a native of Lesbos.

Sappho expressed her love of other women in poetry written during the 7th Century BC.

But according to Mr Lambrou, new historical research has discovered that Sappho had a family, and committed suicide for the love of a man.