How to be greek - LOLOLOL

Stavros wins Xfactor Greece 2010

Free Podcast - The Fall of Troy

The Fall of Troy - by Quintus of Smyrna

A reading of the Epic Poem The Fall of Troy by Quintus of Smyrna. Hear of the death of Penthesileia, Queen of the Amazons at the hands of Achilles and the death of the son of the Dawn, Memnon. Find out how Achilles died; how Ajax went mad; hear the battle between the grandson of the mighty Hercules and the son of Achilles. This poem details the story of the building of the Trojan Horse and the sacking of Troy. Often overlooked in comparision to the Iliad and the Odyssey this classic stands on its own. Enjoy it here for the first time, the way such epics where meant to be presented - aloud.

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

Olympics on CTV

Good Luck Shahrukh, Kajol and Karan

Fox Star Studios will market and distribute in India, while Fox Searchlight will market and distribute the film in the United States and 20th Century Fox International will distribute across the rest of the world.
The film will be opening globally this weekend, and producers say they are hoping for strong showing due to Valentine’s Day celebrations.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/02/10/shah-rukh-khan-premieres-new-film-my-name-is-khan/

Pass the flame

Vassilis Dimitriadis (born August 22, 1978) is an athlete from Greece. Vassilis Dimitriadis is competing for medals in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Olympic Alpine Skiing.
Olympic skier Vassilis Dimitriadis holds the olympic torch and olive branch as the first torchbearer during the Ceremony of the Lighting of the Olympic Flame for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games at the Ancient Olympia site on October 22, 2009 in Olympia, Greece. Torchbearers will carry the Olympic Flame from Ancient Olympia on a 2180km relay through Greece for eight days before a hand-over ceremony at Panathenian Stadium in Athens on October 29 to members of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for its transfer to Canada.

During the coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relay, Community-online.com is giving you the opportunity to share the values of peace, brotherhood and friendship.

Every day - from October 22, 2009 to February 12, 2010 (Olympic Torch Relay) and from March 3 to March 12, 2010 (Paralympic Torch Relay) - you can "Pass the Flame" to your Facebook friends. Each time you Pass the Flame, it will be like running with the Torch for 300 meters (just like the actual Torch Relay).

http://www.torchrelay.net/index.php

I will never love again - We love you xaroula

My god, the second time
that I will come to live
However much my heart yearns
I shall not love again. 

Haris Alexiou is not just any greek singer, she's one of the best examples of the deep, throaty style of Greek Byzantine singing. Above all, she sings about the inner loneliness of human being

Olympic Gyros LOL

Michalis Tzouganakis

Michalis Tzouganakis was born to Sfakian parents away from Crete, the island they loved so much. Mihalis was born in the city of Bergen in Belgium, where he lived among many immigrant families with his seven bothers and sisters. He grew up in a very traditional Cretan family environment, where he was immersed in the music, cuisine and culture of Crete. His childhood was spent among the immigrants of Greek, Moroccan, Egyptian, Italian & Polish descent, further enriching his exotic heart. At the young age of two years old, he was mesmerized by the laouto that hung on his older brother’s wall. He was adamant to learn to play the laouto, and with the help of his brother, who would hold the laouto, young Mihalis would pluck the strings, falling in love with the sweet and melancholy voice of the laouto. By the age of four he was able to captivate listeners with the music he would sing and play on the laouto. At the age of nine the family return to their beloved Kriti, where Tsouganakis began playing with local Cretan musicians and performing at festivals and celebrations. Audiences were awed by this young boy’s intensity when he played and sang, and around the age of eleven, he was approached by Giannis Sergakis and Vangelis Zaharioudakis who invited him to play with them professionally. It was at this age that he had the opportunity to enter the recording studio for the first time with Vangelis Zaharioudakis, one of our beloved Cretan musicians. Only a few years later, some of Crete’s greatest masters of the lyra wished to perform with Tsouganakis, at the age of thirteen. With the great Leonidas Klados, Tsouganakis had the blessing of writing the lyrics and playing Leonidas’ compositions alongside him. For five years they were to play and tour together throughout Crete and Athens. They are respected and admired Cretan musicians. Shortly after he began performing with the gifted Kostas Moundakis, a beloved Cretan musician; a lyraris who has created some of Crete’s most touching songs; blessing the island with his passionate voice and lyra. Tsouganakis and Moundakis travelled as far as Canada with their tours together. Over the years they played together frequently, Tsouganakis even recording with Moundakis in 1990 on what would be Moundakis’ last recording.
 
http://secretmusica.blogspot.com/2008/12/9-songs-michalis-tzouganakis-secreta.html

OPA Zorba in Cyprus

Dimitra is too FAT for Greeces Next top model????

Astrologia

 

The word "astrology" is a Greek word that means "Science of the Stars." Astrology was used by the Chaldeans who lived in Babylon as early as 3000 BC. The people of China in Asia later became interested and began practicing Astrology .

 

It is said that these people first noticed how the position of the sun influenced the seasons as well as the planting cycles of their agricultural practices.Then, somewhere in the year of 500 BC, philosopher Plato used Astrology and studied it further. This kept it alive, and it continued to spread on through the ages. 

However, it took a downturn when Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to use a telescope in the 1500's. However, as time went by, astronomy once again took an upswing in popularity when it flourished in Egypt around the years of 300 BC. Then, during the Middle Ages, the practice of astrology quietly hid itself as the Christian Church became the predominent leading voice of the new world. It wasn't until the 1600's when an astrologer named William Lilly renamed astrology as being "Christian Astrology" in order to avoid the wrath of the Church and to make it more acceptable. This was instrumental in popularizing astrology and horoscopes of today.

IZMIR - BIRTH PLACE OF HOMER

The original city was established in the third millennium B.C. (at present day Bayrakli), and at that time shared, with Troia, the most advanced culture in Western Anatolia. By 1500 B.C. it had fallen under the influence of Central Anatolia's Hittite Empire. in the first millennium B.C. Izmir, then known as Smyrna, ranked as one of the important cities of the lonian Federation; during this period - one of the city's most brilliant - it is believed that Homer is lived here. The Lydian conquest of the city, around 600 B.C., brought this period to an end, and Izmir remained little more than a village throughout the Lydian and the subsequent 6th cen tury B.C. Persian rule. In the fourth century B.C. a new city was built at the instigation of Alexander the Great on the slopes of Mt. Pages (Kadifekale). Izmir's Roman period, from the first century B.C., gave birth to its second great era. Byzantine rule followed in the fourth century and lasted until the Seljuk conquest in the 11th century. In 1415, under Sultan Mehmet Celebi, Izmir became part of the Ottoman Empire.

He is the earliest and greatest of the Ionian poets. We do not know much about his exact birthplace. It is widely believed that he was born either in Chios or in Smyrna in the 8th century B.C. He spent most of his life in Smyrna.

The famous poems of Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, were written in Ionian (language).

He was described as blind according to some early Greek and Ionian documents. But this does not exactly explain, how he wrote about the earth, the sea and the nature so well. http://www.bibleplaces.com/smyrna.htm

The second city of the seven churches of Revelation to receive the message from the Apostle John was that of Smyrna. Established as a Roman commercial center, the city was a port located on the Aegean. Smyrna was established thirty-five miles north of Ephesus on the road that lead to Pergamum. It was built near the ruins of a Greek colony destroyed by the Lydian Kingdom in the C7 BCE. Following the death of Alexander the Great, a General of Alexander’s army named Lysimachus took over the region, and established the new Hellenistic city (C3 BCE).

http://www.ctsp.co.il/LBS%20pages/LBS_smyrna.htm

Kinezi horeboune pontiaka

Spiritual peace using a mandala

Mandalas are commonly used by tantric Buddhists as an aid to meditation. More specifically, a Buddhist mandala is envisaged as a "sacred space," a "Pure Buddha Realm," and also as an abode of fully realised beings or deities. While on the one hand, the mandala is regarded as a place separated and protected from the ever-changing and impure outer world of samsara, and is thus seen as a "Buddhafield"or a place of Nirvana and peace, the view of Vajrayana Buddhism sees the greatest protection from samsara being the power to see samsaric confusion as the "shadow" of purity (which then points towards it). By visualizing "pure lands," one learns to understand experience itself as pure, and as the abode of enlightenment. The protection that we need, in this view, is from our own minds, as much as from external sources of confusion. In many tantric mandalas, this aspect of separation and protection from the outer samsaric world is depicted by "the four outer circles: the purifying fire of wisdom, the vajra circle, the circle with the eight tombs, the lotus circle." The ring of vajras forms a connected fence-like arrangement running around the perimeter of the outer mandala circle

Plakoto

Plakoto is a tables game popular in Greece. The object of Plakoto is for the player to bring all their checkers around to their own home board and then bear them off. The player who bears off all of his checkers first wins the game. This game is usually played along with two other variants, Fevga and Portes (similar to backgammon). Together these three games are called Tavli, and are played in sequence usually one after the other. They have matches of three, five or seven points. A Bulgarian version of Plakoto is known as Tapa.And also as Tsilido, in Cyprus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plakoto

Sappho

 
Sappho was an Ancient Greek femal lyric poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the canonical list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC. The bulk of her poetry, which was well-known and greatly admired throughout antiquity, has been lost, but her immense reputation has endured through surviving fragments.
   Sappho's poetry centers on passion and love for various personages and both genders. The word lesbian derives from the name of the island of her birth, Lesbos, while her name is also the origin of the word sapphic; both words were only applied to female homosexuality beginning in the 19th century. The narrators of many of her poems speak of infatuations and love (sometimes requited, sometimes not) for various females, but descriptions of physical acts between women are few and subject to debate. Whether these poems are meant to be autobiographical is not known, although elements of other parts of Sappho's life do make appearances in her work, and it would be compatible with her style to have these intimate encounters expressed poetically, as well.
Although Sappho's work endured well into Roman times, with changing interests, styles, and aesthetics her work was copied less and less, especially after the academies stopped requiring her study. Part of the reason for her disappearance from the standard canon was the predominance of Attic and Homeric Greek as the languages required to be studied. Sappho's Aeolic Greek dialect, a difficult one, and by Roman times, arcane and ancient as well, posed considerable obstacles to her continued popularity. Still, the greatest poets and thinkers of ancient Rome continued to emulate her or compare other writers to her, and it is through these comparisons and descriptions that we have received much of her extant poetry.

“If it is true that the violin is the most perfect of musical instruments, then Greek is the violin of human thought”
Helen Keller quotes (American Author and Educator who was blind and deaf. 1880-1968)

"Atsinganoi"

 

Linguistic and genetic evidence indicates the Roma originated on the Indian Subcontinent[6]. The cause of the Roma diaspora is unknown. One theory suggests the Roma were originally low-caste Hindus recruited into an army of mercenaries, granted warrior caste status, and sent westwards to resist Islamic military expansion. Or perhaps the Muslim conquerors of northern India took the Roma as slaves and brought them home, where they became a distinct community; Mahmud of Ghazni reportedly took 500,000 prisoners during a Turkish/Persian invasion of Sindh and Punjab. Why the Roma did not return to India, choosing instead to travel west into Europe, is an enigma, but may relate to military service under the Muslims.

 Contemporary scholars have suggested that one of the first written references to the Roma, under the term "Atsinganoi", (Greek), dates from the Byzantine era during a time of famine in the 9th century. In the year 800 A.D., Saint Athanasia gave food to "foreigners called the Atsinganoi" near Thrace. Later, in 803 A.D., Theophanes the Confessor wrote that Emperor Nikephoros I had the help of the "Atsinganoi" to put down a riot with their "knowledge of magic".

 "Atsingani" was used to refer to itinerant fortune tellers, ventriloquists and wizards who visited the Emperor Constantine IX in the year 1054. The hagiographical text, The Life of St. George the Anchorite, mentions that the "Atsingani" were called on by Constantine to help rid his forests of the wild animals which were killing off his livestock. They are later described as sorcerers and evildoers and accused of trying to poison the Emperor's favorite hound. 
http://www.solarnavigator.net/www.arabiantents.com/gypsies.htm

Remembering Smyrna 1922

This song was composed by Evangelos Papazoglou and recorded by Smyrniote - Izmirian musician Kostas Karipis in 1930s.The first version in the video sung in 1950's by Smyrna - Izmir born Armenian singer,composer,and great lutanist Markos Melkon Alemsherian (1895-1963), was very well known in its period..The second version was recorded by an Istanbul Greek,Stelyo Berber, for the album of Muammer Ketencoğlu (the greatest acordeon player) named ''Smyrna Recollections''.Stelyo was born in Istanbul in 1974. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Athens University. From his secondary school years, he studied Byzantine music with Leonidas Asteris, the chief Cantor of the Greek Patriarchate in Fener. During his years in Athens, he set up contacts with Rebetika specialists in particular, and personally participated in studies with them.In addition,he studied with folk music specialist Domna Samiou.He's a member of ''Muammer Ketencoğlu and His Zeybek Ensemble''.In the 2nd version Baki Kemancı is on violin..




his is a purely Smyrna-İzmir song despite the claims refering to be an Egypt song.This song was composed by an Egyptian Musician ,Mısırlı İbrahim Efendi who was originally a Jew named Abraham Levi living in İzmir.Against uncertain opinions,this song firstly was composed in Turkish with very very high probability or in Arabic.And the song was loved a lot in that time's İzmir and translated to Greek language.And A Greek named Mihalis Patrinas who immigrated to the USA in 1908 took this song to the USA and made it famous there.After a long time,in 1960s,Dick Dale,an American guitarist made an instrumental version as Miserlou.As you can understand from the name,it was composed for an Egyptian girl,Mısırlı.Then later,this song was used a Generic music of a 1994 Hollywood producted Quentin Tarantino film,Pulp Fiction that Uma Thurman and John Travolta shared the main characters,in 1998 it was again a soundtrack for another Hollywood film,Taxi.Recently American Music group Black Eyed Peas sings this music as a new name after a century-Pump It!And on the other hand in Greece,this song was taken by the Turkish-Greek population Exchange to Pireaus by Greek immigrants from Smyrna in 1923.And for many years,it was sung by the Rebetiko groups in the Cafe Amans of Athens.

Bravo Vre Xristina !!

Athens

Exactly how big is Athens? It’s a vast urban conglomerate which spreads out as far as the eye can see over the Attica plain It is an enormous city, its centre overlooks the Aegean Sea for 20 km, and it is spread out inland for another 30 km. The inhabitants of the capital are more than one third of the entire Greek population. The city offers a vast array of choices, resources and opportunities, from history to culture, sport to shows, entertainment to business, great industry to the innumerable services that daily stimulate the hectic pace of the city. It’s a great capital soon to become the main attraction pole for the entire area of the Balkans and the nearby East. *athens-today.com*

oud

The ancient Turkic peoples had a similar instrument called the kopuz. This instrument was thought to have magical powers and was brought to wars and used in military bands. This is noted in the Göktürk monument inscriptions, the military band was later used by other Turkic state's armies and later by Europeans.^[5] According to musicologist Çinuçen Tanrıkorur today's oud was derived from the kopuz by Turks near Central Asia and additional strings were added by them.^[6] Today's oud is totally different from the old prototypes and the Turkish oud is different from Arabic oud in playing style and shape. The Turkish is derived from modifying the Arabic oud, whose development has been attributed to Manolis Venios, a well known Greek luthier who lived Constantinople (Istanbul) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Greece and Armenia musicians especially use the Turkish ouds and tunings.

http://www.oud.gr/

ftou ftou ftou

The evil eye, known as ματι, as an apotropaic visual device, is known to have been a fixture in Greece dating back to at least the 6th century BC, when it commonly appeared on drinking vessels. In Greece, the evil eye is cast away through the process of xematiasma (ξεμάτιασμα), whereby the "healer" silently recites a secret prayer passed over from an older relative of the opposite sex, usually a grandparent. Such prayers are revealed only under specific circumstances, for according to superstition those who reveal them indiscriminately lose their ability to cast off the evil eye. There are several regional versions of the prayer in question, a common one being: "Holy Virgin, Our Lady, if so and so is suffering of the evil eye release him/her of it" repeated thrice. According to custom, if one is indeed afflicted with the evil eye, both victim and "healer" then start yawning profusely. The "healer" then performs the sign of the cross three times, and spits in the air three times.

Another "test" used to check if the evil eye was cast is that of the oil: under normal conditions, olive oil floats in water, as it is lighter than water. The test of the oil is performed by placing one drop of olive oil in a glass of water, typically holy water. If the drop floats, the test concludes there is no evil eye involved.

If the drop sinks, then it is asserted that the evil eye is cast indeed. An alternate form of the test is to place two drops of olive oil into a glass of water. If the drops remain separated, the test concludes there is no evil eye, but if they merge, there is. This is usually performed by an old lady,who is known for her healing, or a grandparent.

The Greek Fathers accepted the traditional belief in the evil eye but attributed it to the Devil and envy. In Greek theology the evil eye or vaskania (βασκανία) is considered harmful for the one whose envy inflicts it on others as well as for the sufferer. The Greek Church has an ancient prayer against vaskania from the Mega Hieron Syenekdymon book of prayers (Μέγαν Ιερόν Συνέκδημον).
http://reference.findtarget.com/search/evil%20eye/

Poulopoulos Syrtaki

Poulopoulos was born on June 27, 1942, in Kardamyli, Messenia prefecture in the Peloponnese but grew up in Peristeri, Athens.

He started singing in 1963 but struggled as a singer for several years before he was established. In the meantime, he worked as a builder and a painter and also played football for local clubs.

By 1965 Poulopoulos was singing songs by Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Loizos, Stavros Kouyioumtzis and had his first big hit "Μη μου θυμώνεις μάτια μου" (Don't get angry, my love).

In the late 1960s, Poulopoulos was established as a singer and sang in musicals. In 1969 he recorded the first golden record in Greek musical history: "Ο Δρόμος" (The Path) in collaboration with lyricist Lefteris Papadopoulos and composer Mimis Plessas.

In the early 1970s, Poulopoulos sang poems by Pablo Neruda and Federico Garcia Lorca that had been made into songs. His songs became a success as the Greek people found in them an expression of their anti-dictatorial feelings, at a time when no other expression was permitted.

Poulopoulos has continued recording and appearing in clubs and boites. He has 11 golden hits to his credit, three of which became platinum. His music has ranged from Laika to Elafro to Neo Kyma and even Rebetiko style. *phantis.com*

Karsilamas

Karsilamas (Turkish: karşılama, Greek:Καρσιλαμάς) is a Greek folk dance found in the region of Macedonia. The term "karsilamas" comes from the Turkish word "karsilama" meaning "face to face greeting" and is often used as a slang word designating the pickpocket's method of knocking against someone to steal his wallet. The Greek name of the dance is Antikristos Makedonikos, meaning "face to face dance from Macedonia."
The dance was popular around Constantinople (now İstanbul, Turkey) during Byzantine times. Originally a warlike dance, the Turks adopted it when they conquered the area.
Karsilamas is a couple dance that is still danced in what was the former Byzantine empire, from Persia to Serbia, and in the Macedonia and Thrace regions of Northern Greece.
Today it is a raucous, bordering on the erotic, couple dance between men and women where the dancers face one another. Hands are held in the upright position about eye level, fingers snapped to the beat of the music, hips swaying.
The meter is 9/8, and the basic move is danced in four small steps with durations 2,2,2,3 respectively. The style and mood (bouncy, smooth, lively, etc.) vary depending on the region. *Wikipedia*