Greece's deficit

Over the past decade, Greece took full advantage of a strong euro and rock-bottom interest rates to fuel a debt binge by the country's consumers and its government. When the global economy crumpled, the stage was set for a financial crisis that soon drew in much of Europe and ultimately the International Monetary Fund. While a deal was reached to support new borrowing by the Greek government, the episode raised new questions about the fate of the euro zone.
The trigger for the crisis was Greece's admission in late 2009 that its government deficit would be 12.7 percent of its gross domestic product, not the 3.7 percent the previous government had forecast earlier. Investors were stunned. In early 2010, the fears grew into a full-fledged financial panic, as investors questioned whether Greece's Socialist government could push through the tough measures it has promised to reduce its budget deficit. As the fear spread to Portugal and Spain, leaders of Europe's more affluent countries like Germany and France, worried about lasting damage to the euro, stepped in with a pledge to defend the currency but initially stopped short of an outright bailout for Greece, which had built up $400 billion in debt.
As part of an austerity plan, the Greek government in early March 2010 approved a round of tax increases and pay cuts for public employees. The steps were met with a series of angry but peaceful protests by civil servants and others that seemed to suggest a limit to the extent to which the country could cut its way out of the crisis. But the cuts also gave some reassurance to investors and to France and Germany that Greece was moving to get its house in order.
After months of fractious debate, in late March the 16 countries that use the euro agreed on a financial safety net for Greece, combining bilateral loans from those European nations with cash from the International Monetary Fund. The proposal, brokered by France and Germany and then approved by European leaders, would take effect if the Greek government were unable to borrow in the commercial markets. Under the deal, loans would be provided at market rates and offered only with the agreement of all the nations that use the euro currency.
The vague assurances were not enough by themselves to reassure the bond markets, who steadily raised the interest rate on money they were willing to lend Greece. On April 11, European leaders announced that they would make $30 billion available to Athens, along with $10 billion from the I.M.F., in the form of loans with an interest rate of 5 percent -- lower than the 7.5 percent Greece had been paying, but high enough that German officials could insist that it did not constitute a subsidy or bailout. Two days later, Greece sold $1.6 billion in new bonds, in a sale that was heavily oversubscribed.

New York Times
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/greece/index.html

How to raise a greek daughter LOLOL

How To Raise A Greek Daughter

 1. Never let your daughters spend the night anywhere, except at a fellow Greek's house.
2. Spend their whole life trying to find them a husband and disapproving of every one they find on their own.
3. Spoil them rotten, but make them feel guilty for it when they ask for something.
4. Fathers - tell them their just like their mothers when you're mad. Mothers- tell them they have their father's head when you're mad.
5. Always compare them to other greek girls (preferably those they can't stand) when trying to make them do something.
6. Complain that their clothes are too short, too tight, too low cut, too black, too cheap, or not right for church.
7. Brag to your friends about how beautiful and smart they are, but tell them to make their sons to stay away.
8. Press for them to marry a greek man, but then ward them off any Greek man you see them with. "He's okay, but his mother is crazy." "His father cleans up goat shit." "I heard his has a big house but he locks his yiayia downstairs, do you want to marry someone like that?" "No policemen."
9. Tell them they eat too much or not enough, depending on the situation.
10. Let them run around naked as children, but make them dress like nuns as adults.
11. Complain they spend too much money shopping, and then go out and blow $1000 on a poker game or gambling.
12. Tell them they never keep their car clean enough, even if your vehicle is covered in dust, reeks of smoke, and has empty coffee cups and food crumbs covering the inside.
13. Force them to be nice to people they can't stand, while you talk about those same people like they are dogs.
14. Have a fit when they use the word 'malaka', but use it yourself as if it were going out of style.
15. Let their brothers get away with murder.
16. Embarrass them by getting drunk at name days, Easter, festivals, etc, and then dancing the zembekeiko.
17. Assign a name to all their friends, and use them at inappropriate occasions (i.e. the mavra, the fat one, the ugly one, the dumb one, the slut, the chinese one)
18. Never let them leave the house after 10 O'clock.
19. Force them to go to church, join GOYA, dance in the festival.
20. Tell them "good greek girls don't behave that way" as many times as possible within a lifetime.
21. Buy them gold jewelry even when you know they only wear silver.
22. Fathers - always leave your shirt unbuttoned at least 3 buttons, exposing chest hair and gold cross, when going anywhere with your daughters.
23. Expect them to know all of the Greek dances - except for the tsiftetelli.
24. Make them believe that Greek women never have sex.
*www.europeans.co.za*

Aristotle and the recovery of Greek Medicine

 The Loss and Recovery of Greek Medicine in the West

After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, most works of the Greek physicians were lost to Western Europe.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, however, Western Europeans began to rediscover Greek scientific and medical texts. This was due in part to the discovery of Arab repositories of learning in Spain and elsewhere during the Crusades as well as the immigration to Italy of Byzantine scholars at the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

At first Greek theories, prescriptions, and procedures were accepted as medical dogma about human anatomy, physiology, and treatment. Later, however, the Greeks’ entreaties to their readers to observe the human body and the world around them won out, and scholars began to perform their own research, leading to much of the medicine practiced in the West today.

 click here!!

...But save me. Take me to the ship, cut this arrow out of my leg, wash the blood from it with warm water and put the right things on it - the plants they say you have learned about from Achilles who learned them from Chiron, the best of the Centaurs."-The Iliad of Homer, Book XI

Athenaze Greek Exercises

University Of Victoria Online Athenaze Greek Exercises

Athenaze is an introduction to Attic Greek, the dialect of the great Athenian writers of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. My suggestion to those who are brave enough to learn this marble language would be to start with Attic Greek instead of Koine (New Testament) Greek. Attic Greek is a more complex form of the language and it is much easier to go from Attic to Koine than it is from Koine to Attic. If you learn New Testament Greek at some dirty Bible college, you will not be able to enjoy Plato, Xenophon, Aristophanes, Sophocles, Lysias et al.

Click Here !!Welcome! This site will help you practice what you learn from the Athenaze text book. Before you start, please read the instructions to make sure your computer is able to handle the materials correctly.

Maro Litra - Elevator Love - New 2010

George Dalaras - European Tour 2010

“George Dalaras sings in Greek, yet his music, springing from the heart, has a universal appeal” stated the French daily Le Figaro in 1993, long after the reputation of this great Greek musician had reached across the boarders of his native land. Throughout his triumphant tours in Europe, the United States, Canada and every other corner of the world, George Dalaras stayed in close touch with his roots, leaving a trail of saplings behind to bloom in the traditional Greek rhythms destined, one might say, to accompany today’s blending of world cultures.

Born in Piraeus, the main port of Athens, George comes from a tradition of folk and blues music. His father was a traditional musician and “bouzouki” instrumentalist and his first musical memories are of the main forms of Greek music: the laika (popular), the rebetika (a kind of blues) and the paradosiaka (traditional).

George Dalaras - Sting - Mad about you

Happy Easter :-)

Gypsy clothing designer - VALENTINA STRATAKI

A clothes designer is using the power of fashion to help Roma girls assimilate into society and avoid being treated like second class citizens.
This unique experiment is happening in Greece, where prejudice against the Roma is particularly prevalent.
From Athens Malcolm Brabant reports....
Valentina Strataki,designer
Marina Garagouni,
Eleni Garagouni

Anatolitikos Horos - We like them

 

Ellada Exeis Talento

Enas Mangas Me Talento <---- kanete CLICK

AETOS - We are following the eagle to see where it lands

Greece has a huge tradition of music and music-oriented culture. This film needs a recognized musician of Greek origin to implement the traditional music with a modern day soundtrack. The story is often supported by the music, and often relates to the theme of any particular scene, particularly music such as; Rembetika, Greek folk, Kleftiko, and Smyrnaiko influences. This style of music resembles the popular tradition of other cultures, such as Flamenco, Celtic, Moroccan, etc., and it is important to allow the soundtrack to reflect the style of music in a popular way. The music will carry the audience through the story, and illustrate harmonically the cultural aspects of the film.

Short Story Synopsis

There is a part of recent Greek history that remains untold until now. AETOS follows the journey of a young boy through to his manhood. He is one of the unsung heroes of Greece that fought for his liberty and personal freedom against the phalanx of oppression and dictatorship. Through his story, we become acquainted with Greek culture and a way of life that existed in a time of political turbulence. We delve into the secret world of the "mangas"; an underground sub cultural society that existed within a fascist world. We follow AETOS and his experience with Hashish smoking and drugs in the Hash Dens "TEKEDES" of Piraeus. The emergence and evolution of REMBETIKO music in a time of turmoil, precedes this story, yet amplifies the tragedy that lies within. Romance and adventure combined with humor fill the scenes. This is indeed a Modern Greek tragedy, documented as one mans attempt at a life in a world of hypocrisy. There is no happy ending, because for many there were none. This film will tell a true story. A story until this day remains untold.

MyGreekSpirit will follow the progress of this exciting project and we will keep you posted.

http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/damn_soc.htm

If the role of the wife of a manga followed the traditional pattern, his girl friends were generally more liberated.  Many would have been prostitutes or factory workers - or gypsies whose love of hashish and devil-may-care attitude made them very popular.

           Crazy Gypsy

Crazy gypsy, where are you going,
All in the night , where to ?
Your leaving is sorrow
In my heart forever.

Where are you going alone and so fast,
Like a passing stranger?
Take me with you to a faraway place,
I'll come with you forever.

Crazy gypsy, where are you going?
All alone, you abandon me.
Let's go, gypsy, before the dawn,
I'll come with you whatever happens. Recorded by Tsitsanis-1948.

What was Rebetika Music??

Rembetika was established in parts of mainland Greece in the first two years of the 20th century.  It made use of 2-3 derivatives of the Turkish saz (a.k.a. tampoura and boulgari): The bouzouki and its smaller brothers, the tzouras and the baglamas.  The saz itself is a lute but quite different from the archetypal Arab lute, 'al oud' - meaning 'wood'.  The latter was very popular in Asia Minor.  Rembetika were urban blues of a quasi-criminal subculture, despised by the middle classes and suppressed by the authorities.
In 1921 the Greek army occupied Turkey at the instigation of England, France, Italy and Russia. The Ottoman empire was in a state of collapse and the Great Powers, eager to carve up the territory, let Greece know that if they were to take the coast of Asia Minor where there were two million Greeks living there from ancient times, they could expect support. (They were using Greece to do their dirty work for them since the Italians had invaded from the south and were marching North. They wanted to use the Greeks to stop them from taking the entire coast of Asia Minor.) All went well and the Greek army controlled Smyrna and the coast but then two things happened that sent events rapidly downhill. The Greek army decided to march inland and take Ankara while at the same time the French backed out of the deal. This caused the other powers to withdraw their support so as not to start another world war. The Greek army found itself in retreat from a Turkish army led by Kemal Attaturk. As they passed through towns and cities they were joined by the local Greek population who did not want to be left behind when the angry Turks swarmed into town. Thousands died and the city of Smyrna was burned.

As the army retreated back to Greece it brought with them the surviving Greek population of Asia Minor. By 1922 there were two million refugees in the country. These were Greeks who had never lived in Greece. They had come from the fertile lands of Anatolia but were now forced to live in a small mountainous country that could not support them, or in refugee settlements in Pireaus and Thessaloniki. It was in the cafes and hash dens near these settlements that what we know as Rembetika was forged from the early mainland movement with its bouzouki and the oriental tunes, rhythms and singing techniques that came from Asia Minor.  
Imagine yourself as a refugee. In Asia Minor you may have had a business, a nice home, money, friends, family. But in the slums of Athens all you had was whatever you could carry with you out of Turkey, and your shattered dreams. You went from being in the middle class to being underground in a foreign country that did not particularly want you. Rembetika was the music of these outcasts. The lyrics reflected their surroundings, poverty, pain, drug addiction, police oppression, prison, unrequited love, betrayal and hashish. It was the Greek urban blues.

Biden “Big f*cking deal!” Gaffe Inspires Internet Entrepreneurs to Cash in

Nothing says class like these particular words on your — erm… [Cafe Press]
http://mashable.com

Eleni and Souzana Vougioukli

Official page: http://vougioukli.gr

Traditional songs from Epirus and Thrace
Voice: Eleni and Souzana Vougioukli

Biography taken from their site, greek - english translation is not up to normal standards

Eleni Vougioukli born and raised in Thessaloniki to Xanthi. Πτυχιούχος του Τμήματος Βαλκανικών, Σλαβικών και Ανατολικών Σπουδών του Παν/μίου Μακεδονίας. Graduated from the Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia. Έχει σπουδές στο πιάνο -από πέντε ετών-, ανώτερα θεωρητικά και μονωδία, Βυζαντινή Μουσική, καθώς και τζαζ τραγούδι και θεωρητικά. He has studied piano at five-year, theory and monody, Byzantine music and jazz song and theory. Ξεκίνησε με δημοτικό τραγούδι από οκτώ χρονών, με επίσημη πρώτη στις Γιορτές Παλιάς Πόλης της Ξάνθης με το Πολιτιστικό Κέντρο Θράκης. It started with folk songs in eight years, with the first official Celebrations Old Town of Xanthi in Thrace Cultural Center.

Έχει διακριθεί στον Πανελλήνιο Μαθητικό Διαγωνισμό του Υπουργείου Παιδείας, με το Α΄ Βραβείο στο τραγούδι a cappella. In Panhellenic Contest of Ministry of Education, the First Prize in singing a cappella.

Susana Vougioukli born and raised in Xanthi, where her parents are professors at the Democritus University. Πτυχιούχος του Τμήματος Μαθηματικών, κατεύθυνση Καθαρά Μαθηματικά, του Αριστοτέλειου Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης, έχει σπουδές στο πιάνο - από πέντε ετών-, κιθάρα, ανώτερα θεωρητικά και μονωδία, καθώς και στη τζαζ- τραγούδι και θεωρητικά. BA in Mathematics, Pure Mathematics direction, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, has studied the piano - five-years, guitar, music theory and monody, and the jazz-singing and theory. Ακόμη, ασχολείται με τη σύνθεση. It also deals with the composition.

Diaspora in Australia

Glykeria at the Gabby Awards 2009

Film Festival in Los Angeles

Sagapo

To Mialo sou kai mia Lira lolol

Ancient Greek Music for Lorraine

For Lorraine Rodríguez who asked in an earlier post for information about Ancient Greek Music, I hope this helps.



Despite the many recordings that have been made through the years, not much is actually known of the ancient Greek music. We do know a bit about the musical instruments that were used, mainly from vase paintings, and from some texts we have descriptions of song and dance.
Also, in some remote villages there are still songs and dances that have been preserved through time and tradition.
Music was a very important part of ancient life. At religious ceremonies and other festivities there were musicians and dancers, and the ancient plays had choirs. The ancient Greeks said that the dance was invented to honour the goddess Hera. The Nine Muses gave the gifts of music, dancing and singing to the humans. The muse Calliope gave Man the most precious instrument: the voice. Apollo was also connected with music, as well as Orpheus, Pan, Dionysos, Hermes and the Graces.
In ancient Greek education, music was also a main subject, along with reading, writing, grammar, arithmetic's and athletics etc. Singing was also used as a means of memorizing and telling odes like the Iliad and the Odyssey. Pythagoras was fascinated with harmony, and worked out a theory on the math's behind the tones used into modern times.
What must be a characteristic of the ancient music are the Lydian and Phrygian harmonies, influenced by the eastern civilizations to this very day, as well as the many half- and quarternotes.
http://www.in2greece.com/english/music/ancient.htm

Basil Poledouris

Basilis Konstantine "Basil" Poledouris (August 21, 1945 - November 8, 2006) was an American music composer who concentrated on the scores for movies and television shows. Poledouris won the Emmy Award for Best Musical Score for work on part four of the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove in 1989.
 Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Basil Poledouris credited two influences with guiding him towards music: the first was composer Miklós Rózsa, the second was his Greek Orthodox heritage. Poledouris was raised in the Church, and he used to sit in services, enthralled with the choir's sound.^[1] At the age of seven, Poledouris began piano lessons, and after high school graduation, he enrolled at the University of Southern California to study both filmmaking and music. Several short films to which he contributed are still kept in the university's archives. At U.S.C., Poledouris met the movie directors John Milius and Randal Kleiser, with whom he would later collaborate as a music composer. In 1985, Poledouris wrote the music for the movie, Flesh & Blood, for the Dutch-American director Paul Verhoeven, establishing another ongoing collaboration in films.
Poledouris became renowned for his powerfully epic style of orchestral composition and his intricate thematic designs, and he garnered attention for his scores to The Blue Lagoon (1980; dir: Kleiser); Conan the Barbarian (1982; dir: Milius); Conan the Destroyer (1984); Red Dawn (1984; dir: Milius), RoboCop (1987; dir: Verhoeven); The Hunt for Red October (1990); Free Willy (1993) and its first sequel; Starship Troopers (1997; dir: Verhoeven); and For Love of the Game (1999).
Poledouris's studio, "Blowtorch Flats", is located in Venice, California, and is a professional mixing facility specializing in film and media production.
Poledouris married his wife, Bobbie, in 1969 and had two daughters, Zoë and Alexis. His elder daughter, Zoë Poledouris, is an actress and film composer, who occasionally collaborated with her father in composing film soundtracks. Poledouris spent the last four years of his life residing on Vashon Island, in Washington State, and he died on November 8, 2006, in Los Angeles, California, aged 61, from cancer.^[8]  *wikipedia*

Tis Agapis Maxairia -

Excellent Greek Serial Filmed in Crete and based on old Family Vendetta with excellent music and beautiful scenery

Global Bellydance Videos

I'd rather be loathed for who I am than be loved for who Im not - Wayne dyer

It will be difficult:
I have the ability to accomplish any task I set my mind to with ease and comfort.
its going to be risky:
being myself involve no risk. Its my ultimate truth and I live fearlessly.
its going to take long:
I have infinite patience when it comes to fulfilling my own destiny.
there will be family drama:
I would rather be loathed for who I am than loved for whom I am not
I dont deserve:
I am a divine creation, a piece of god. How could I be undeserving?
its not my nature:
My essential nature is perfect and faultless. It is to this nature that I return.
I cant afford it:
I am connected to an unlimited source of abundance.
no one will help me:
The right circumstances and the right people are already here, and will show up on time.
its never happened before:
I am open and willing to attract all I that I desire beginning here and now.
I am not strong enough:
I have access to unlimited assistance. My strength comes from my connection to my source.
I am not smart enough:
I am a creation of the divine mind, all is perfect and I am a genius in my own right.
I am too old / not old enough:
I am an infinite being. The age of my body has no bearing on what I do or who I am.
The rules wont let me:
I live my life according to divine rules.
its to big:
I think only about what I can do now. By thinking small I acconmplish great things.
I dont have the energy:
I feel passionately about my life and this passion fills me with excitement and energy.
its my personal family history:
I live in the present moment by being grateful for all of my life experiences as a child.
I am too busy:
As I un-clutter my life, I free myself to answer the callings of my soul.
I am too scared:
I can accomplish anything I put my mind to because I know Im never alone.

What color is your soul? - ROFLquiz.com

What color is your soul? - ROFLquiz.com

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Psinakis Fan Club