Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
"Dorset Voices" (Roving Press); an anthology edited by "Poundbury Voices" - a reminder
Overview
"This delightful mixed bag showcases a thought-provoking selection of contemporary writing and photographs reflecting Dorset’s variety – a changing modern county, yet still a traditional rural place beloved by so many.
Dorset Voices includes work from new and established writers and photographers, which you can dip into and enjoy – rather like finding nuggets of sea-glass on a beach. It represents the diversity of people, places and talents and is set against a backdrop of the beautiful Dorset landscape. It explores the county through the eyes of local people, with something for everyone: stunning images, poems and verse, intriguing short stories and reminiscences.
This ambitious project was brought to fruition by Poundbury Voices – three established authors with a strong track record for seeking out and promoting artistic talent. The book provides a platform for diverse voices and different forms of writing – dark, imaginative and socially aware – as a celebration of local creativity".
"The publication of the Dorset Voices anthology takes place in the year of the Cultural Olympiad, and the year when Poundbury’s Queen Mother Square promises to become the centrepiece of this exciting new urban development and, who knows, the key destination of a new coffee-house artistic and literary culture. Let’s make it the Dorset equivalent of Prague’s Wenceslas Square!
Dorset Voices includes work from new and established writers and photographers, which you can dip into and enjoy – rather like finding nuggets of sea-glass on a beach. It represents the diversity of people, places and talents and is set against a backdrop of the beautiful Dorset landscape. It explores the county through the eyes of local people, with something for everyone: stunning images, poems and verse, intriguing short stories and reminiscences.
This ambitious project was brought to fruition by Poundbury Voices – three established authors with a strong track record for seeking out and promoting artistic talent. The book provides a platform for diverse voices and different forms of writing – dark, imaginative and socially aware – as a celebration of local creativity".
Extract from the Preface
Dorset Voices draws on the literary and photographic talents of the people of Dorset. The editors’ aim was to create a book full of images and quality writing of real beauty and interest. We are delighted to have received a portfolio of outstanding photographs submitted by students at the excellent Thomas Hardye School, another magnet for families all over the county. Not surprisingly, Ofsted inspectors rated it as one of the best comprehensive schools in the country.
Our starting-point was the firm belief that everyone here has a story to tell. We believe that there are many talented writers and photographers (both established and unpublished) in our communities, who deserve to have their work made available for the appreciation of others".
Maria Strani-Potts, Louisa Adjoa Parker, Jim Potts, OBE
Dorset Voices: some customer reviews from Amazon (UK):
Customer Reviews
Dorset Voices: A Collection of New Prose, Poetry and Photography
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Panionian Conference, Corfu: Final Preparations
I'm looking forward to attending the conference during this important year (150th Anniversary of the Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece). It must have been a huge task to organise a conference with so many participants, themes, locations and papers. The full online programme is 45 pages long (112 pages in the printed version) . I've no idea how participants will find their way from one venue to another, and how the the chairs will keep the speakers to time (strictly 20 minutes each, or they will be cut off; no gaps between speakers during the morning and afternoon sessions). Plus there is a ferry strike from the mainland to Corfu on May 1st...
For the information of friends:
Photo Updates
"The Attempted
Subversion of Albania and 'Roll-Back' of Soviet Power- and Philby's Betrayal;
The First Year (1949) of Operation VALUABLE/BGFIEND - and the CORFU Connection"
In the programme it is rather more succinct: «Albania and Philby's Betrayal: The Corfu Connection»
Although the paper will be given in English, here's an approximate Greek translation of the expanded title:
Απόπειρα ανατροπής του Αλβανικού Καθεστώτος και μειώσεως ('Roll-Back') της σοβιετικής επιρροής
Επιχείρηση VALUABLE / BGFIEND, 1949, και η Προδοσία του Φίλμπι : Η σχέση της Κέρκυρας
NB Location of the morning and afternoon sessions of this section of the conference:
Ε΄
ΕΝΟΤΗΤΑ:
ΓΛΩΣΣΑ –
ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΠΑΡΑΔΟΣΗ – ΕΠΤΑΝΗΣΙΑΚΗ ΔΙΑΣΠΟΡΑ
Αίθουσα Ιατροχειρουργικής Εταιρείας Κερκύρας
Ιατροχειρουργική Εταιρεία Κερκύρας, Σκαραμαγκά 4
Παρασκευή, 2 Μαΐου 2014, συνεδρία πρωινή (morning session)
Πρόεδροι:
Κωνσταντίνος Νίκας
Εμμανουήλ Βαρβούνης
09.00-09.20 Θωμάς Στεργιόπουλος: «Από τα βορειοηπειρωτικά βουνά στα Επτάνησα: Το χρονικό της εγκατάστασης στην Κέρκυρα μιας βορειοηπειρωτικής οικογένειας τον 19ο αιώνα».
09.20-09.40 Elena Lazăr: «Λόγιοι από τα Ιόνια νησιά στο ρουμανικό χώρο».
09.40-10.00 Νίκη Λάσκαρη-Μπάλλα: «Κεφαλονίτες στον Κρητικό Πόλεμο (1645-1669)».
10.00-10.20 Γεράσιμος Μπάλλας: «Ο κεφαλονίτης πλοίαρχος Σταματέλος Παγώνης. (Πορεία στα ταραγμένα νερά εθνικών αγώνων και πειρατείας».
10.20-10.40 Αναστασία Χάματσου: «Νέα στοιχεία για επτανησιακές οικογένειες στην Κύπρο».
10.40-11.00 Ελένη Αντωνιάδου: «Κολόμπα Μουστοξύδη: Μία Κυπρία στα Επτάνησα».
11.00-11.20 Γιώργος Πετούσης: «Επτάνησα-Κύπρος, ελληνικά νησιά υπό αγγλική κατοχή: Η προσπάθεια για απόδοσή τους στη μητέρα Ελλάδα».
11.20-11.40 Μίμης Σοφοκλέους: «Οι προσδοκίες των Κυπρίων στη Λεμεσό για την Ένωση με την Ελλάδα ως απόρροια της Ένωσης των Ιονίων Νήσων το 1864».
11.40-12.00 Γεώργιος Γεωργής: «Η κυπριακή συμμετοχή στον εορτασμό των 50 χρόνων της Ένωσης της Επτανήσου με την Ελλάδα».
12.00-12.20 Πέτρος Παπαπολυβίου: «Επτάνησα – Κρήτη – Κύπρος: Συγκλίσεις και αποκλίσεις των τριών ενωτικών κινημάτων του νεοελληνικού αλυτρωτισμού».
12.20-12.40 Ευάγγελος Φιακάς: «Το επτανησιακό προηγούμενο ως σημείο αναφοράς και πρότυπο στη ρητορική του κυπριακού ενωτικού κινήματος στη δεκαετία του 1950».
12.40-13.00 Jim Potts: «Albania and Philby's Betrayal: The Corfu Connection»
13.00-13.30 Συζήτηση
Παρασκευή, 2 Μαΐου 2014, συνεδρία απογευματινή (afternnon/evening session)
Πρόεδροι:
Γεώργιος Γεωργής
Μίμης Σοφοκλέους
17.00-17.20 Μαρία Στράνη-Potts: «Κοντέσα Διαμαντίνα ντε Ρώμα, Lady Bowen. Η ζωή και το έργο της (1833-1893). Η πολιτική επιρροή της στα Επτάνησα και την Αυστραλία τον 19ο αιώνα».
17.20-17.40 Γεώργιος Βλαχάκης: «Ένας κοσμοπολίτης επτανήσιος γιατρός, μία αγγλίδα αριστοκράτισσα και ένα βιβλίο ιστορίας των επιστημών του 1826».
17.40-18.00 Κωνσταντίνος Νίκας: «Ο Γεώργιος Χωραφάς ευεργέτης του δήμου του Barano της νήσου Ischia».
18.00-18.20 Εμμανουήλ Βαρβούνης: «Επτανήσιοι στη Σάμο (18ος-19ος αιώνας)».
18.20-18.40 Διονύσιος Κονιτόπουλος: «Παροικίες επτανησίων ετεροδημοτών στην Αθήνα».
18.40-19.00 Ειρήνη Τρίκη: «Θύλακες επτανησιακής ιστορίας και επτανησιακού πολιτισμού στην Πάτρα».
19.00-19.30 Συζήτηση
Greece: Amnesty International Report
Amnesty Report
GREECE: FRONTIER OF HOPE AND FEAR, MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES PUSHED BACK
AT EUROPE’S BORDER
EnetEnglish article
Greece, Capital Gains Tax On Property Sales
Kathimerini article
"The measure provides for the payment of a 15 percent tax on the profit made by a seller by deducing the cost of acquisition of a property from the price of sale date since January 1, 2014. There is, however, a tax-free threshold of 25,000 euros for taxpayers who have held their sold property for at least five years.
The capital gains tax is payable within five days from the signing of the sale contract and is paid by the seller, while buyers also have to pay a transaction tax equal to 3 percent".
Update: Capital Gains Tax Measures Frozen for Two Years
Monday, 28 April 2014
"The Greeks of Today" (An American Diplomat's View, 1872)
From The Spectator Archives
The Greeks of To-Day, Charles K. Tuckerman, late Minister Resident of the United States at Athens. London: Sampson Low and Co., 1872.
Read the book online
Pdf File
From a Spectator review of 5 July, 1873:
"The current accusations against the Greeks of to-day are many. Mr. Tuckerman has something to say to most of them, and often looks at them in an unexpected light. The charge most generally repeated is that of political corruption. It is admitted that corruption does exist in Greece; the Greeks do not claim to be a society of angels. But the country is poor and small, there is eager political competition, and infinite talk and journalism magnifies everything :-
"I am persuaded," Mr. Tuckerman says, "that the Greeks themselves are accountable for much of the prejudice against them. The politicians ferret out every conceivable and many inconceivable crimes, and the twenty-five or thirty journals of Athens do not let it die for want of circulation, The great proportion of political sinning is fabricated by partisan scribblers, and it may be safely said that much of that which has foundation is exaggerated, and much of that which is not exaggerated has no foundation in fact."
And he proceeds to turn the tables on his own countrymen by a short but pointed reference to the well known condition of the Civil Service in the United States. The real reproach of Greek politics, according to the American ex-Minister, lies in the want of any coherent and widespread public opinion. "Greece is a nation of politicians without a party," and government is evolved as it best may be, which naturally is not very well, out of a scramble of individuals. However unsatisfactory this state of things is in itself, it seems to show a persistence rather than a degeneration of the old Greek character."
Sunday, 27 April 2014
"Sunday They'll Make Me a Saint"
Given the events at the Vatican today, mention of the great dramatic work by Demetrius Toteras does not seem inappropriate.
The text of Sunday They'll Make Me a Saint can still be obtained. A new edition is needed.
(Above) Peter Kriss as Toteras in "Sunday They'll Make Me a Saint"
"Soon there will be a champion amongst us
an eternal champion mounted on a red sorrel,
aprons of steel...Saint Picalo"
Reverend: "Canonise him now, Luther...They shall forget the man and only speak of the Saint. You shall be remembered when the last man looks at the burning sun and falls to his knees whispering Saint Picalo. They will have forgotten us but not you, Patron Saint of the men of the night, father to thieves and murderers...We have made another man more than just a man who was born to die. We have made you a man who must die!"
From Demetrius Toteras, Sunday They'll Make Me a Saint
From the foreword to Sunday They’ll Make Me a Saint:
“In the course of thirty-five years of involvement with international writers from many cultures and countries, no work has made a more lasting impact on me than Toteras’ Sunday They’ll Make Me a Saint. I first read The Saint in 1968, and it has never become dated. It had a profoundly liberating effect then, as it does today. The Saint is a study of confinement which takes us into strange worlds without signposts, worlds beyond reason and logic. The language is one of constant inventiveness and the writing is full of original imagery. I believe Toteras is one of the most important voices of the English-speaking Greek Diaspora. This includes those Greeks who “dispersed” overseas to participate in the cultural and economic development of colonies, to trade, or who were refugees from poverty and political upheaval. In Toteras’ case, he found himself in tough circumstances, a Greek-American who grew up amongst the poverty of African-Americans, who fought in the Korean War and was a prisoner-of-war in his teens. His language reflects this background. It has the direct vitality and oral immediacy of the street, but his mother-tongue and further study of pre-classical and classical Greek gives his work extraordinary dimensions and philosophical resonances. Toteras also inherited the Greeks’ natural propensity for theatre and drama, including the heroic vision of self and the acceptance of death as a heroic act rather than as an inevitable event. In a lonely cell Toteras creates a “theatre of the mind". As you read The Saint you may say, “What is going on here?” Read it as a dramatic poem. Read it as a study of confinement. Read it as theatre of the mind. Read it to yourself out loud… Once you have read it, the experience will mark you. Perhaps we all need to experience confinement, even without bars, in order to become truly creative, free and human. I invite you to lock yourself in Toteras’ prison cell and participate in the canonization of the Patron Saint of Criminals and Men of the Night". JP.
From the foreword to Sunday They’ll Make Me a Saint:
“In the course of thirty-five years of involvement with international writers from many cultures and countries, no work has made a more lasting impact on me than Toteras’ Sunday They’ll Make Me a Saint. I first read The Saint in 1968, and it has never become dated. It had a profoundly liberating effect then, as it does today. The Saint is a study of confinement which takes us into strange worlds without signposts, worlds beyond reason and logic. The language is one of constant inventiveness and the writing is full of original imagery. I believe Toteras is one of the most important voices of the English-speaking Greek Diaspora. This includes those Greeks who “dispersed” overseas to participate in the cultural and economic development of colonies, to trade, or who were refugees from poverty and political upheaval. In Toteras’ case, he found himself in tough circumstances, a Greek-American who grew up amongst the poverty of African-Americans, who fought in the Korean War and was a prisoner-of-war in his teens. His language reflects this background. It has the direct vitality and oral immediacy of the street, but his mother-tongue and further study of pre-classical and classical Greek gives his work extraordinary dimensions and philosophical resonances. Toteras also inherited the Greeks’ natural propensity for theatre and drama, including the heroic vision of self and the acceptance of death as a heroic act rather than as an inevitable event. In a lonely cell Toteras creates a “theatre of the mind". As you read The Saint you may say, “What is going on here?” Read it as a dramatic poem. Read it as a study of confinement. Read it as theatre of the mind. Read it to yourself out loud… Once you have read it, the experience will mark you. Perhaps we all need to experience confinement, even without bars, in order to become truly creative, free and human. I invite you to lock yourself in Toteras’ prison cell and participate in the canonization of the Patron Saint of Criminals and Men of the Night". JP.
From the typescript by DKT.
"StoryMondo": a call to all writers around the world
This new initiative provides exciting opportunities for writers from around the world.
I met the editor in Dorchester a few days ago. A project with great potential.
Details about submissions.
Pan-Ionian Conference, Corfu
For all the information, here is the official website
http://panioniosynedrio.gr
Events, concerts, exhibitions etc
Venues (for conference sessions)
Speakers
Saturday, 26 April 2014
Roving Press, Dorset Publisher, New Blog
Dorset publisher Roving Press is now making good use of all the social media, including Twitter and Facebook; here's a recent posting from the blog.
On Sir Mortimer Wheeler at Maiden Castle; Forged slingshots from Chesil Beach; Fund-raising.
"The saddleback hill now encircled by the earthworks of Maiden Castle"
******
"Money was short, and the archives reveal that he resorted to several 'scams' to raise funds. While the couple were working on Maiden Castle, the Iron Age hill fort in Dorset, Dr (Gabriel) Moshenska said that Sir Mortimer sold hundreds of 'slightly forged' ancient slingshots taken from nearby Chesil Beach".
See abstract from a paper from Public Archaeology on the subject
Volume 10 Issue 1 (01 February 2011), pp. 46-55
"Mortimer Wheeler's Theatre of the Past", Gabriel Moshenska, Tim Schadla-Hall
Abstract
"This paper examines the nature of Mortimer Wheeler's work as a public archaeologist, and in particular his efforts to display the archaeological process to interested members of the public. By focusing on the excavations at Maiden Castle, Dorset, from 1934 to 1937 we compare Wheeler's stated philosophy of public archaeology with his practice in the field. At Maiden Castle the theatre of excavation was the centrepiece of a carefully marketed archaeological experience including tours, souvenirs, and a well-developed media strategy. By applying the commodity model of public archaeology as an analytical framework we highlight the sophistication and success of Wheeler's 'theatre of the past'. This analysis lays a foundation for further critical historical studies of both the public understanding of the past, and of Wheeler's life and works".
Friday, 25 April 2014
European Commission, Economic Review of Greece
The Second Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece
Fourth Review – April 2014
Summary for non-specialists
Overall good news, with some ongoing issues and qualifications:
"Implementation risks to the programme remain high...risks remain considerable, in particular in relation to perseverance in confronting vested interests.
Conditional on continued implementation by the Greek authorities, notably of the prior actions, the programme is broadly on track".
"With solid fiscal performance and the stabilisation of the banking system, it is now crucial to ensure that a wide range of ambitious structural reforms is implemented to quickly restore and promote growth and support employment. The government committed to implement a package of important structural reforms which, if fully implemented, will significantly improve the growth potential and flexibility of the Greek economy".
IMPLEMENTATION...and...
"Efforts to fight corruption are being stepped up but the challenge is substantial. According to recent reports by Transparency International and the European Commission, the perception of corruption in Greece is the highest among the EU Member States. The adjustment programme is tackling this reality, and there has already been some progress, with the adoption of an anticorruption strategy and the appointment of a national coordinator. The Government has adopted the crucial framework law for anticorruption and is expected to adopt a code of conduct for members of Government in April, and by June revised legislation on funding of political parties and legislation on declaration and monitoring of assets which will put Greece at the forefront on this aspect".
On Greece's debt (Kathimerini)
Yanis Varoufakis, Primary Surplus...or Deficit?
More from Yanis Varoufakis
Credible statistics (Kathimerini)
Greece behind schedule with debt reduction efforts (Deutsche Welle)
Request for Debt Relief (Kathimerini)
Nick Malkoutzis, Macropolis
John Psaropoulos, Al Jazeera
On Chancellor Merkel's Visit to Athens (DW)
"Experten warnen, dass die Krise immer noch nicht überwunden ist"
"Efforts to fight corruption are being stepped up but the challenge is substantial. According to recent reports by Transparency International and the European Commission, the perception of corruption in Greece is the highest among the EU Member States. The adjustment programme is tackling this reality, and there has already been some progress, with the adoption of an anticorruption strategy and the appointment of a national coordinator. The Government has adopted the crucial framework law for anticorruption and is expected to adopt a code of conduct for members of Government in April, and by June revised legislation on funding of political parties and legislation on declaration and monitoring of assets which will put Greece at the forefront on this aspect".
On Greece's debt (Kathimerini)
Yanis Varoufakis, Primary Surplus...or Deficit?
More from Yanis Varoufakis
Credible statistics (Kathimerini)
Greece behind schedule with debt reduction efforts (Deutsche Welle)
Request for Debt Relief (Kathimerini)
Nick Malkoutzis, Macropolis
John Psaropoulos, Al Jazeera
On Chancellor Merkel's Visit to Athens (DW)
"Experten warnen, dass die Krise immer noch nicht überwunden ist"
Thursday, 24 April 2014
A Dorchester Evening with the Vikings
On my way to watch The Vikings, live via satellite from The British Museum (a wonderful production; it even featured the Weymouth 'Relief Road' Viking skeletons- see my 2010 posting)
A modern Viking?
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Pan-Ionian Conference, Corfu: Opening Concert, 30 April
Η Συμφωνική Ορχήστρα της Φιλαρμονικής Εταιρείας Κερκύρας «ανοίγει» το 10ο Πανιόνιο Συνέδριο στις 30 Απριλίου 2014.
Την Τετάρτη, 30 Απριλίου 2014 πρόκειται να αρχίσουν οι εργασίες του επετειακού 10ου ανιονίου Συνεδρίου (150 έτη από την Ένωση της Επτανήσου και 100 έτη από την έναρξη του θεσμού των Πανιονίων Συνεδρίων). Στις 20.00 η Συμφωνική Ορχήστρα της Φιλαρμονικής Εταιρείας Κερκύρας, πάντοτε στην Αίθουσα Εκδηλώσεων της Ιονίου Ακαδημίας, υπό τη διεύθυνση του αρχιμουσικού Άλκη Μπαλτά θα σημάνει και μουσικά την έναρξη του τετραήμερου αυτού συνεδρίου, καθώς και των παράλληλων καλλιτεχνικών εκδηλώσεών του, αποδίδοντας, όπως
απαιτεί η περίσταση, έργα Επτανησίων μουσουργών, και συγκεκριμένα του Νικόλαου Mάντζαρου, του Σπύρου Σαμάρα, του Παύλου Καρρέρ, του Διονυσίου Λαυράγκα, του Αλέξανδρου Γκρεκ και του Ιωσήφ Καίσαρη. Η είσοδος στη συναυλία, όπως και σε όλες τις εκδηλώσεις και τις συνεδρίες του Πανιονίου Συνεδρίου, είναι ελεύθερη.
Jazz at its very best: Graham Collier, The Last Suites
It's been quite some time since I listened to my favourite Duke Ellington and Charlie Mingus vinyl albums.
I've just received a double CD of two suites which are undoubtedly in the same league as the best compositions of those two giants of jazz. Superlative music and a mind-blowing ensemble. A great discovery. Let the music play!
"Luminosity", Graham Collier, The Last Suites.
Disc One: The Blue Suite
Disc Two: Luminosity.
Thanks John! It sounds great.
From the website
"Graham’s jazzcontinuum label will release a double CD of his last two suites ‘The Blue Suite’ and Luminosity’, unrecorded when he died in 2011, in February 2014, under the title Luminosity.
The two last suites were recorded at Livingston Studios in London in June 2013. Graham’s long-time saxophonist Geoff Warren agreed to become in effect ‘executive producer’, organizing and conducting the sessions, with a reconvened line-up of Graham’s The Jazz Ensemble, featuring friends old and new: James Allsopp, Roy Babbington, Mark Bassey, Graeme Blevins, Roger Dean, Andy Grappy, John Marshall, Andy Panayi, Ed Speight, Martin Shaw, Art Themen, Trevor Tomkins, Steve Waterman and Jonathan Williams.
As the very last suite, ‘Luminosity’, was inspired by the works of Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann, we approached the Hofmann Trust and obtained permission to use one of the Hofmann paintings, Blue Monolith, 1961, which inspired one of the ‘Luminosity’ pieces, on the cover".
A montage of music (13 minutes)
Now I'm waiting for a studio recording of Graham's Paxos Suite, Gaios, Lakka, Loggos.
Photo from www.johngillwrites.com
Now I'm waiting for a studio recording of Graham's Paxos Suite, Gaios, Lakka, Loggos.
Photo from www.johngillwrites.com
The Language of Scots, Michael Rosen
Fascinating programme on BBC Radio 4
"Michael Rosen goes to Glasgow to learn the language of Scots and discovers that Scotland's second language is enjoying greater usage among young people and foreigners. He speaks to Glasgow bus driver James Lillis who has been giving classes to Polish drivers to help them understand passengers, student Lorna Wallis whose online poem Tae A Selfie, written in the style of Robert Burns went viral, and to comedian Sanjeev Kohli, a proponent of the Scots vernacular".
***
And some synthetic Scots poetry by Hugh MacDiarmid, from A Drunk Man Looks At The Thistle
The Watergaw
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
Witness, Greece: Seven Years of Military Dictatorship
BBC Radio 4 programme
"In April 1967, seven years of military dictatorship began in Greece. During the rule of the colonels, thousands of people were arrested and tortured. Sociologist Gerasimos Nortaras was part of the armed resistance to the military. He was captured, but refused to give away his fellow fighters, even under brutal torture".
Sunday, 20 April 2014
Saturday, 19 April 2014
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Independent Record Store Day, UK
Big queues expected at independent record stores for Record Store Day
Historic British Pathé Films and Rare Footage On YouTube (including Greece, extraordinary footage to explore)
Telegraph report
"British Pathé, the newsreel maker which documented all walks of life on video during the 20th Century, has uploaded its entire collection of moving images to YouTube.
The archive of 3,500 hours of footage was digitised in 2002 thanks in part to a grant from the National Lottery, and is now freely accessible to anyone around the world for free".
Greek Easter, 1947 EnetEnglish
More films about Greece
1948
1947, War Front in Northern Greece, Greek-Albanian border
1947, Fighting on Northern Frontier
1940: Greece At War With Italy
1944: Return to Greece
1948: General Fleet in Greece
1955: Cyprus; Crisis Island
1953: Earthquake Islands, Cephalonia, Relief Work Continues
1965: Greek Island (Thasos)
Much more to explore! A tremendous resource.
Friday, 18 April 2014
Corfu, Easter Saturday: Pot-Throwing after the Rain
This posting is still relevant
Metro's "weird" Easter traditions
Greek Reporter
A great photo from corfunewsit blog
Watched the live stream Corfu Channel broadcast (rain stopped the procession of the Epitaphios and Saint Spyridon at 9.30am Greek time, 7.30am UK time- but wind bands continued to play). Pot-throwing and "Proti Anastasi" at 11am Greek time (9am UK time).
Computer Screen Shot
My first Corfiot Easter:
"Η παράδοση θέλει το λαό μας να ονομάζει την Ανάσταση "Λαμπρή". Γιατί έχει μέσα στην ψυχή του ο λαός μας το φως, την αισιοδοξία και τη δύναμη.
Και είναι αυτό το φως που μας κρατάει όρθιους. Και είναι αυτό το φως που θα βγάλει όλους τους Έλληνες νικητές. Χριστός Ανέστη σε όλους".
Editor(s):Anthony Hirst, Patrick Sammon
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Dorchester Sports Centre Pool; Condor Ferries, Weymouth
Not good news:
Dorchester Swimming Pool
Weymouth Condor Ferry Future
More - and Dorset Echo petition
Ellika & Solo, Fiddle and Kora Duo
Senegalese/Swedish duo, violin and kora.
I saw them perform in Stockholm about ten years ago.
Try them!
More on YouTube
On Ukraine and Russia: Possible Scenarios
Could be of interest (Royal United Services Institute)
Walter Russell Mead
BBC report
With a hat-tips to James for the links.
Better news from the BBC: de-escalation
Russia's Military Bases (Aljazeera)
Update, Foreign Affairs, October-November 2014: The Intelligence War
Wednesday, 16 April 2014
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Tuesday, 15 April 2014
West Dorset Beach Cleanup, Hive and Cogden Beaches
From BBC News
"Volunteers have removed 13kg (29lb) of dog mess from two Dorset beaches.
The clear-up in the Cogden and Hive Beach area on Friday was aimed at highlighting problems caused by owners who do not clear up after their pets...
Helen Freeman, a dog owner who was involved in the project, said: "We were all shocked when we recorded, sprayed and picked up the dog mess and discovered the extent of the issue."
Bridport vet Barry O'Mahony said: "Neosporosis is the most frequently diagnosed cause of abortion in cattle in the UK and cattle become infected through dog poo...
National Trust ranger Rowan Thompson said: "It is not fair that a minority of visitors ruin these beautiful areas for everyone else, not to mention the harm done to wildlife and livestock."
Meanwhile, in Dorchester...
Monday, 14 April 2014
Compared to these storms...(John Donne)
Compared to these storms, death is but a qualm,
Hell somewhat lightsome, and the Bermuda
calm.
John Donne, from The Storm
Our storm is past, and that storm's tyrannous rage,
A stupid calm, but nothing it, doth 'suage...
Storms chafe, and soon wear out themselves, or us;
In calms, Heaven laughs to see us languish thus.
Sunday, 13 April 2014
Bermuda Blues
Hamilton, about 100 years ago
Mary Anne, The Talbot Brothers
Bermuda Buggy Ride
Pharrell Williams, Happy
Mary Anne, The Talbot Brothers
Bermuda Buggy Ride
Pharrell Williams, Happy