Chris Holmes, Corfu: RIP

I've just heard from Saskia and Simon the very sad news that our old friend Chris Holmes has died.

We had a lot of fun. Thanks, Chris. 

Chris performing at the Anglican Church Summer Festival, Corfu Town.

Chris and Raul helping me improvise some blues at a jam in Triklino.

Raul died on June 9th, 2014.

I guess I'm the last man standing.

Thinking of Chris's family and friends; our sincere condolences to them-

θα θέλαμε να εκφράσουμε τα συλλυπητήρια μας.

For many years, Chris cared for his mother, Marjorie, Lady Holmes.

In recent months Chris himself needed special nursing care; he was a resident of the Girokomeio Kerkyras, the Municipal Old People's and Nursing Home at Perama (το Δημοτικό Γηροκομείο-Πτωχοκομείο στο Πέραμα), which accommodates thirty elderly people.

When I hosted friends to meet the record producer and writer, Chris King, at the Dassia Beach Hotel, August 2013:

Chris Holmes, front left; Chris King, centre right

An Epirot lament (mirologi), for Chris Holmes 

A Tribute to Chris Holmes, in Pulse (page 6), Holy Trinity Church, Corfu (pdf)

Karel Čapek, R.U.R., Rossum's Universal Robots in Czech, Project Gutenberg

R.U.R. by Karel Čapek - Rossum's Universal Robots

Čapek, Karel, 1890-1938

R.U.R. (Czech) (as Author)

English translation (pdf)

About R.U.R (Wikipedia) 

Alexandros Papadiamandes, Short Stories in Greek, Project Gutenberg; Christos Christovasilis; Kostas Krystalles

From Project Gutenberg

Papadiamantes, Alexandros, 1851-1911

Η Γυφτοπούλα (Greek) (as Author)

Η χολεριασμένη: Τα μετά θάνατον (Greek) (as Author)

Η νοσταλγός (Greek) (as Author)

Πασχαλινές ιστορίες (Greek) (as Author)

Ο Πεντάρφανος (Greek) (as Author)

Πρωτοχρονιάτικα διηγήματα (Greek) (as Author)

Η Φόνισσα (Greek) (as Author)

Χριστουγεννιάτικα διηγήματα (Greek) (as Author)


See more works and authors, in Greek


Christovasilis, Christos, 1862?-1937

Η αγάπη (Τριλογία) (Greek) (as Author)

Διηγήματα της ξενιτειάς (Greek) (as Author)


Krystalles, Kostas, 1868-1894

Πεζογραφήματα (Greek) (as Author)

Έργα Ποιήματα - Πεζά Τόμος Πρώτος (Greek) (as Author)

Έργα Ποιήματα - Πεζά Τόμος Δεύτερος (Greek) (as Author)

Short Stories, Jim Potts

I am working on a collection of around thirty short stories, which I hope will be published later this year, probably about 60,000 words in length, a little more with the introduction and notes.

The main story locations or settings include Greece, Czechoslovakia, Albania, England, Ireland, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Australia, Bermuda and Sweden. Five are based on the island of Corfu.

The working titles for the stories are: 

Exiles’ Island

The Carnival King

Beyond the Mountains (Operation Inside-Out)

Reward!

Operation Hercules

The Film Director Manqué

The Hero and the Martyr

Zoiros

Margarita’s Brass Beds

Beneath the Gibbet

Terror Alert

The Gap

Stockholm January

Decolonise Your Mind!

A Librarian in Addis Ababa

Ghosts of Max Gate

Fear, Part I: The Incoming Tide

Fear, Part 2: The Magistrate's Court

Benefit Street?

Broken Ankle

Retirement and Revenge (Un homme révolté, une femme malheureuse}  

The Battle of the Two Clarinets

A Corfu Diary, December, 1967

Rock 'n' Roll Down Under

"The Martyr of the People"

Yemmerrawannie and John Henry

Winfrith

The School Ski Trip

The Landscape Painter

The Hero and the Martyr (film treatment)

The Returner

Remembrance Sunday, November 8th, 1964

Half a Century Ago: In Search of Peace and Quiet

In Search of Silence

Not So Sunny Goodge Street

'Buck' Borrows

The Dream

The Drop-Out

The Winter Before the Summer of Love: 1966

Beside the Seaside, Weymouth and Portland

Culture Shock

North and South: Four Generations

Join David Rennie, Host, VOA Issues in the News, January 26, 2018

Listen here

Film: A Man Called Ove

Wonderful to see a film in Swedish, and such a good one.

Trailer (YouTube) - directed by Hannes Holm

Börje Lundberg in "A man called Ove"

"He's the terror of the suburban neighbourhood, where he used to be the chairman of the residents' association until he was voted out, something that he considers a betrayal and still can't forgive. He continues to patrol the alleys and the walkways..." Alison Simon, Variety.

Shades of other Residents' Associations?

Washington Times article

A Man Called Ove: Director Hannes Holm Exclusive Interview Part 1 of 3

A Man Called Ove: Director Hannes Holm Exclusive Interview Part 2 of 3

A Man Called Ove: Director Hannes Holm Exclusive Interview Part 3 of 3

Swedish Interview - Intervju med Hannes Holm om En man som heter Ove

Corfu, Greece: Treatment of Waste at Tebloni (Temploni Landfill Site)

A report by the Technical Chamber of Greece, Enimerosi

"Despite the problems with the present operation of the transitional waste management, we cannot ignore that things are more positive compared to what was happening up to October 2017 – mass, uncontrolled dumping in the Temploni landfill".

PM Alexis Tsipras and PM Zoran Zaev: Joint Statements at Davos; Κοινές δηλώσεις με τον Πρωθυπουργό της ΠΓΔΜ Ζόραν Ζάεφ

From YouTube, Joint Statement (YouTube)

Κοινές δηλώσεις με τον Πρωθυπουργό της ΠΓΔΜ Ζόραν Ζάεφ

On relations between Greece and FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)


PM Meets Greek President to Discuss FYROM Name Negotiations, Theo Ioannou, Greek Reporter

George Soros: Remarks delivered at the World Economic Forum

George Soros, remarks on the internet and other topics

A Song for Burns Night, from Barnes Country

Heard on BBC Radio 3 this morning:

Lady Mary Ann, sung by Jean Redpath

Lyric

The poem (pdf)


Another song by Robert Burns, Now Westlin' Winds, sung by Dick Gaughan

Dick Gaughan in Dorchester, Dorset

Extras:

Breabach - Brose & Butter/ Rattlin Roarin Willie (Celtic Connections 2017)

Lochaber No More - Breabach

Weymouth and Portland: Twelve Projects for 2018

From DorsetForYou - Projects in the pipeline.

A paper on Aristeidis Metallinos; Simon Baddeley (Democracy Street)

An important contribution from Simon Baddeley and others about the Corfiot sculptor Aristeidis Metallinos


http://democracystreet.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-paper-on-aristeidis-metallinos.html

more here:

https://democracystreet.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-visit-from-my-son.html

Michael Rosen Meets the Vocal Coaches. Voice Training and the Ways We Speak

From BBC 4, BBC iPlayer

"Vocal coaches Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher, authors of This is a Voice, give Michael Rosen a workout. They get him to read against natural pitch and intonation, which proves nearly impossible, and make him match his speaking pace to a walk around the studio. What we do with our consonants and our ability with a tongue twister also turn out to play a part in the ways in which we speak". 

Producer Beth O'Dea.

Andreas Gursky, Photographer

On Andreas Gursky, The Guardian

The Hayward Gallery

The Times

The Telegraph

The Economist - Andreas Gursky, master of the contemporary sublime

Christie's - Ralph Rugoff, explains why he considers Gursky to be among the foremost artists of our time

A Blog Post from some LANDSCAPES

William Barnes, The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 3rd Edition

Not much of an entry for William Barnes in the 1946 edition of The Oxford Companion to English Literature (Third Edition). Did the writer ever read the works of Barnes? Both critical and popular appreciation of William Barnes' poetry have deepened considerably since then, thanks in great part to the efforts of the William Barnes Society.

 

Politicians and the Greek Crisis; Further Reforms; Property Auctions

Η ΚΡΙΣΙΣ, 1933, ΚΩΣΤΑΣ ΡΟΥΚΟΥΝΑΣ

From Greek Reporter, Theo Ioannou - "Euro Working Group Head Blames Politicians for Greek Crisis, Supports Debt Relief"


Greece almost clears penultimate hurdle, The New Athenian


Eurogroup statement on Greece


Greece Still Faces Painful Reforms Despite Bailout Funding, Theo Ioannou, Greek Reporter


Online Auctions Overshadow Greek Bailout Progress, Philip Chrysopoulos, Greek Reporter


Greece Enters Next Bailout Phase as Day-After Talks Near, Bloomberg


‘We Won’t Enforce Auctions’ Warn Greek Police, John Smith, Greek Reporter

"Foreclosure auctions are a key condition of the country’s international bailout, but have been repeatedly disrupted by leftist activists who say they are unfair and target the poor".


Letter from the ECB President (pdf)

National Debt of Greece

Greece Faces Years of Supervision, Says EU Official, Greek Reporter

ΠΟΑΣΥ: Δεν θα μείνουμε με σταυρωμένα χέρια αν μας στείλουν να βγάλουμε φτωχούς από τα σπίτια τους. Kathimerini

Deutsche Welle video, Powder Keg in the Balkans, events in a divided FYROM

Greek Pots, Pleasing Patterns; British Museum

Colour in Ancient Greek Monuments; The British Museum; Polychromy

 

Update, 2 February 2018, Keep Talking Greece: Did Ancient Greeks paint their statues in vibrant colors? (video)

The Parthenon: Missing Parts; Preservation in London; British Museum

British Museum, Parthenon Sculptures information leaflet:

At The Wallace Collection

An outstanding one-hour guided tour today.

The Wallace Collection

"In 2018, the Wallace Collection celebrates the 200th birthday of the founder, Sir Richard Wallace".

Other highlights:

Canaletto and the Vedute Room: A Conservation Project, YouTube Video