20 days left until > July 6, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Music Life Live Gigs.comments closed
GEORGE MICHAEL – 25 LIVE TOUR EUROPE – SUMMER 2007.
George Michael live in Athens! Thurday, 26th of July, Athens Olympic Stadium (OAKA).
For more information > www.georgemichael.com
For tickets > www.ticketnet.gr
In the meantime enjoy > George Michael > Jesus To A Child
Hellas On Line to remain Intracom owned July 6, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Internet & Web, Telecoms.comments closed
Russian Comstar UTS drops plans to buy 51 percent stake in Hellas On Line from Greek Intracom
Moscow-based fixed-line communications services group Comstar United TeleSystems JSC said it discontinued the proposed acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Hellas On Line SA from Intracom Holdings Group as it did not receive the required approval from Greek authorities by June 30, 2007.
On December 4, 2006, Comstar UTS said it agreed with Intracom Holdings to buy a 51 percent stake in internet service provider in Greece Hellas On Line, for 47.9 million euros to develop broadband services in the Greek market.
The deal was subject to all the legal approvals to be received from the authorities of Russia and Greece.
Live Earth to be broadcast in Athens’ Kotzia Square July 6, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Environment, Music Life Live Gigs, Nature.comments closed
A strong message about climate change will travel across the world with tomorrow’s Live Earth show, one of the most powerful music events ever.
Now local audiences have a chance to tune in to the spectacular shows, which are to take place across the globe, through giant screens that will be set up in Kotzia Square in central Athens.
Live Earth, a call for action against global warming, will signal the beginning of a long campaign headed by various international environmental organizations, including the Alliance for Climate Protection, the chair of which is former US Vice President Al Gore, and the Climate Group.
The concerts, which will feature over 100 music artists, will take place in New York’s Giants’ Stadium, London’s Wembley Stadium, Sydney’s Aussie Stadium, Johannesburg’s Coca-Cola Dome, Tokyo’s Makuhari Messe, Shanghai’s Steps of the Oriental Pearl Tower and Hamburg’s HSH Nordbank Arena. Until late yesterday, it was unclear whether the big concert scheduled to take place on Rio’s Copacabana Beach, which would have featured shows by Lenny Kravitz and Macy Gray, among others, will go ahead, due to security fears.
Some of music’s biggest names will participate > Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, Keith Urban, Kelly Clarkson, Ludacris, Roger Waters, the Police, the Smashing Pumpkins and others will perform in New York. London will enjoy the likes of the Beastie Boys, the Black Eyed Peas, David Gray, Duran Duran, the Foo Fighters, Madonna, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Keane, Genesis and James Blunt, among others.
Crowded House and Toni Collette & the Finish Wolfmother have been scheduled to perform in Sydney and Tokyo will host Linkin Park, Rihanna, Michael Nyman and many others. Joss Stone and UB40 are included in the Johannesburg program, Chris Cornell, Enrique Iglesias, Snoop Dog, Shakira, Reamonn and others will play in Hamburg and the Shanghai lineup includes Sarah Brightman.
The shows will be broadcast around the world via various means. Greek NGO Net Impact Hellas has arranged for the the so-called Athens Planet Impact event and as of 9 p.m. Athenians will be able to watch the shows free via a satellite connection.
Related Links > http://www.liveearth.org
Old Town of Corfu under UNESCO wing July 6, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Archaeology Greece, Architecture Greece.comments closed
The esplanade of Corfu is just one of the stunning landmarks that will benefit from UNESCO
The popular island’s old district was last week added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The Old Town, with its three Venetian forts and neoclassical homes, was described as a ‘fortified Mediterranean port town of high integrity and authenticity.’
Corfu’s Old Town has just been named a World Heritage Center by UNESCO during the 31st meeting of the World Heritage Committee that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, recently. It has been listed as a special architectural landmark which represents a significant historical period. The decision was made unanimously after a motion by the NGO International Council of Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS.
A scene from Cambielo area in the old Corfu town, one of the oldest in the city.
The Ionian island’s Old Town is the 17th Greek monument to make it onto the list, the first being the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, which was included in 1986. The Delphi archaeological site and the Acropolis followed in 1987, then Mount Athos, Meteora, the early Christian monuments in Thessaloniki, the Epidaurus archaeological site and the medieval town of Rhodes in 1988. Mystras and ancient Olympia were added in 1989, then Delos, the monasteries of Dafni, Ossios Loukas and Chios in 1990, the Heraion and the Pythagoreion on Samos in 1992, Vergina in 1996, Mycenae in 1999 and the Grotto of the Revelation as well as the Monastery of St John on Patmos in the same year.
The architectural remains on Corfu cover a wide range of historical periods, from Venetian rule through to the 19th century, with highlights from the 16th and 17th centuries. According to archival material, a Byzantine settlement was located on the same spot in the 6th and 7th centuries.
Minister of Culture Giorgos Voulagarkis pointed out the importance of the motion by saying that now a monument from more recent Greek history has been included. He added that the listing is due to the Ministry’s initiative of the past year, as it submitted a complete management plan.
Mural of 19th century Athens July 6, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Hellenic Athens Festival, Stage & Theater.comments closed
Agrinion RMT presents play inspired by Papadiamantis’s ‘Destitute Dervish’ at Epidaurus Little Theater > Thodoris Gonis and the Regional Municipal Theater of Agrinion are bringing Alexandros Papadiamantis’s dervish to the stage.
In late 19th century Athens, in a tunnel dug for the electric railway at Thiseion, a homeless dervish seeks shelter. Shunned by the then small Greek capital, coming from only God knows where, he is looking for a place to spend the night. It is cold and he cannot sleep; to warm his soul he plays his ney. “The Destitute Dervish” is one of the Athenian tales of the celebrated Greek writer Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851-1911).
Stage director Thodoris Gonis has taken Papadiamantis’s colorful tale and adapted it for the stage, presenting it for the Hellenic Festival at the the Little Theater of Epidaurus tonight and tomorrow in a production with the Agrinion Regional Municipal Theater.
In this story, the dervish is suddenly joined by a group of people, one that represents the knowns and unknowns of Athens, the intellectuals and the rovers, each with his own story, each contributing to the rich mural of Athenian life. Among them are a character described by historian and writer Dimitris Kambouroglou, the artist Yiannoulis Halepas, who brings with him a bas-relief titled “Oedipus and Antigone,” as the blinded king of Thebes and his daughter, a suppliant in Athens, follow behind.
Now the stage director has moved back to downtown Athens, taking walks around Monastiraki, Thiseion and Psyrri, he admits to “thinking about the people who have lived in these parts. So I turned to Papadiamantis and his dervish and all the others gradually followed.” Halepas came too. “He disappeared one night from Thiseion, around the time he first became ill, and no one knew where he was. From a wonderful piece written by Stratis Doukas on Halepas in ‘The Life of a Saint’ I learned something about his life when he was making his Oedipus and Antigone sculpture. Someone said to him, ‘Ancient things again?’ And he answered, ‘But this is me and my niece, who brought me here from Tinos.’ That’s how Oedipus joined the gang. I liked the idea of a foreigner, the dervish, inviting a fallen king into his haven.”
The text for the play that will be presented at Epidaurus is a composition of texts, some of which Gonis wrote himself. He has borrowed extracts from writer Photis Kontoglou, from Sophocles’ “Oedipus at Colonus” and “Antigone,” from folklorist Nikolaos Politis, from Vladimiros Mirmiroglou’s book “The Dervishes” and even from poet and Sufi mystic Yunus Emre and passages from the Bible.
As far as Papadiamantis is concerned, Gonis explains that the play is “attributed to him because of the presence of the dervish. There is also reference to his work in the music, by Nikos Xydakis, and in the sounds; the sounds of the city and of the people living in it.”
The set, created by painter Christos Bokoros, is like “a looted graveyard, like a demolished archaeological site. It is a reference to Halepas’s backyard, which was littered with blocks of marble he used for his work,” says the director. The costumes, by Athens Olympics opening ceremony costume designer Angelos Mendis, are simple, in earthy tones.
The main roles are performed by Sophocles Peppas, Giorgos Moroyiannis, Giorgos Gallos and Makis Papadimitriou. After Epidaurus, the performance will travel to Petroupolis and Halandri in Athens, and to Oiniades in western Greece.
For information and tickets, tel 210 3272000.
Diversions set to perform July 6, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Ballet Dance Opera.comments closed
The Welsh company will appear on July 9 and 10
The fifth Athens International Dance Festival is continuing and the award-winning Welsh dance company Diversions is scheduled to perform next Monday and Tuesday, July 9 and 10.
The festival, which started last Sunday with a tribute to the German contemporary dance scene, is being held at its usual venue, the Technopolis Arts Complex.
The Welsh ensemble will stage two works. “Peeled,” a powerful choreography for 10 dancers, is a joint collaboration between choreographer Itzik Galili and dancer Jussi Nousiainen. It explores the role of punctuality and time and is accompanied by intense music and innovative lighting. In Belgian choreographer Stijn Celis’s “Practice Paradise,” a humorous, rather theatrical production, numerous strange creatures meet in the forest.
Diversions, a group that has staged more than 60 productions by various well-known choreographers over the past 23 years, has a reputation for striking a balance between dance and theater. It has toured Britain as well as other countries but has also places a strong focus on dance education and has worked with numerous schools, colleges and community dance schools in Britain.
Parnitha protest rallies July 6, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Environment, Greece News, Nature.comments closed
The fire that devastated Mount Parnitha last week has sparked a response from the public.
Those who want to add their voice to the chorus of protest can join a walk this Sunday, July 8, on Parnitha, organized by the Pan-Attica Network of City Movements. The group held a rally outside the National Technical University of Athens on Tuesday to protest the actions of successive governments which they say have paved the way for unprecedented ecological damage.
Fires, they say, are typically followed by land-grabbing, the redesignation of forest areas as farmland, and house construction, both legal and illegal. They urge the public to take action and demand legal protection for forests, reforestation and fire protection, as well as a stop to construction in forests and public open spaces.
The meeting point is in Aghia Triada, and the walk starts at the Mont Parnes teleferique at 9 a.m. A coach will leave from outside the Hondos department store in Omonia Square at 8 a.m. For information: tel 6974 775279, 210 9954362.
And there’s another protest to take place on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Syntagma Square.
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