As The World Churns-0513

As The World Churns-0513

 

By Bob Nicolaides, e-mail:  nicolaidesc@comcast.net

 

 

 Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York cracking jokes during the Greek Independence Day celebration at Gracie Mansion, saying he is Greek by way of listening to his mother for 35 years.

 

 He also said that he sees Archbishop Demetrios every morning since they are ‘across the street’ neighbors. Could this be the condo rumored to have been bought for the clergyman by filthy billionaire Mike Jaharis?…

 

Is it true that Huffington Post founder Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington left a swanky $32,000-a-month Chelsea loft in shambles when she moved out in January?

 

That’s what a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court charges. The pad’s owner, documentary filmmaker Eric Steel, is suing the blogging queen for $500,000, accusing her of gouging nearly all the walls, scratching the wood floors and staining the guest bathroom during the nearly two years she was a renter.

 

Huffington began subleasing Steel’s furnished apartment in May 2011, according to the lawsuit filed on April Fools’ Day. When her lease ended on Jan. 9, Steel allegedly found the place trashed.

 

“Virtually all of the walls of the apartment were gouged, stained and otherwise damaged by clothing racks, furniture, luggage and general carelessness, requiring the entire apartment to be repainted,” the lawsuit says.

 

Steel claims that before Huffington moved in, the apartment was in “pristine condition,” with the walls having been recently repainted and the floors refinished.

 

When Huffington left, the floors were scratched and punctured and the kitchen and guest bathroom had to be professionally cleaned, the lawsuit claims. A dining room table was damaged, and chemicals from cosmetics and candles had wrecked the loft’s steel window seats and steel ledges, the lawsuit says.

 

Steel claims he also found his coffee table stained with rings and a queen mattress and pillow top covered with blood. The lawsuit claims Huffington broke the sublease agreement by making “innumerable” copies of the elevator lock for people and letting her daughters crash in the pad.

 

Huffington’s daughters were only allowed to visit, according to the lease…. I hear from a reliable friend that he read in a paper that during patriarch Vartholomeos’ visit to New York-one of many to this city where his power emanates from he visited the Park East Synagogue and was honored with a plaque written in Hebrew.

 

He told the students gathered he’s honored for the plaque, but that he can’t read Jewish(??) Do you think he meant to say Hebrew?…

Under John N. Kastanis, the new president and CEO of Temple University’s School of Medicine, the Liacouras Center, a 10,200-seat multi-purpose venue dedicated to former President Peter J. Liacouras in mid-February this year…

 

Former Maine senator Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican, revealed that she supports gay marriage and backed a ballot measure legalizing same-sex unions in her state last fall…..

 

Board members are making an unusual effort to persuade investors that JP Morgan Chase’s chief, Jamie Dimon, should keep his chairman title amid fallout from a trading loss.

 

The Greek American has both the title of CEO and the chairmanship of the investment banking firm, but it appears that investors had enough of him. In fact, City Comptroller John Liu, a Democratic mayoral candidate, is using his power as a trustee of public pensions with investments in JP Morgan Chase & Co. to strip Dimon of his role as chairman in light of the $6 billion “London whale” trading loss.

 

 

 What If, the year’s most popular Greek film, is the story of a 33-year-old bachelor who may or may not meet the love of his life which was presented by  the New York City Greek Film Festival and Terret Entertainment (with English subtitles) in its U.S. premiere screening and reception with writer/ director/ star Christopher Papakaliatis in person on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at The Museum Of The Moving Image In Astoria, NY…

 

Actress Nia Vardalos recently visited the National Hellenic Museum in Greektown (Chicago) while comedienne Ellen Karis headlined a fundraiser for Greece medical needs at an event held just outside Chicago…

 

Greek-American actor Billy Zane, of Dead Calm and Titanic fame plans to marry model Candice Neil somewhere in Greece this year. He’s doing the wedding there to honor his parents…..

 

Jenifer Aniston and Justin Theroux are keeping an eye on their home renovations. E! News has learned exclusively that the Hollywood couple paid a visit to their new love nest in Bel Air, Calif., which is undergoing some major construction. “Justin drove them in their Mercedes up to their new house in Bel Air, and they were met at the gate by contractors,” an eyewitness tells E!

 

“There was so much stuff going on inside the property with a crane and several trucks that it was hard for Justin to find room to park.

 

Meanwhile Jen is worried about having  a very ‘fragile’ mom at her wededing…. As promised I’m revealing the name of the Greek actor in Notorious.

He was the man who portrayed the butler, Alexis Minotis. No one answered the question right. Some readers said it was George Coulouris,  and two said it was George Chakiris as the man, but none gave the right answer. Coulouris was a contemporary so he could’ve played that role-which he didn’t, but Chakiris was very young when the movie was made.

 

 

An Evening with Yannis Spanos was the name of the of the musical concert shown at the Queensborough Performing Arts Center Saturday, April 13, a production partnered by Cosmos FM 91.5.

 

Hrysoula Stefanaki  was the vocalist whom the famous composer accompanied on the piano. It was presented by the Hellenic Relief Foundation which will benefit from ticket sales.The organization’s motto is «Τραγουδάμε και Βοηθάμε» …

 

Musical groups from 10 countries will take part in this year’s European Jazz Festival, to be held at the City of Athens’ Technopolis events center from Friday, May 31 to Sunday June 2…

 

Then on June 6, at 8 pm, Aktina Productions celebrates 20 years of excellence with Greek Music Journey 2013 with Melina Aslanidou Unplugged featuring bouzouki soloist Andreas Karantinis at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York…

 

Jazz at Lincoln Center and Onassis Cultural Center NY presented Internationally acclaimed Greek saxophonist/vocalist and composer Dimitri Vassilakis’ tunes from his award- winning recordings for Candid records and new unreleased material written especially for this concert, with his New York quartet and special guests on Monday. April 8.

 

His quarter was composed of Theo Hill piano, Essiet Essiet bass, and Sylvia Cuenca drums with special guests Michela Marino tap dance and Nana Simopoulos guitar/sitar…

 

The Pancyprian Association of New York presents the Pancyprian Choir Music of Hellenes Saturday, June 8, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.at the Terrace on the Park, Flushing Meadows, New York.

 

 

Autumn, a seminal creation from 1976 by one of the major representatives of the ‘Thirties Generation’, Yiannis Tsarouchis, led Bonhams Greek Sale on April 24 at New Bond Street. It ihad been estimated at £150,000-200,000.

 

Born in the Athenian port of Piraeus in 1910, Tsarouchis, is regarded as one of the greatest Greek painters of the 20th century.

 

During the 1930s he travelled widely, absorbing influences from Renaissance art, from Impressionism and from his friendship with Matisse and Giacometti which he fused with his grounding in the Byzantine tradition to establish a specific Greek painterly identity.

 

Tsarouchis defined 20th Century Greek Art and is often referred to as the painter of ‘Greek people’. He was described by the Nobel Prize poet Odysseas Elytis as being simultaneously a revolutionary and a classical artist…

 

Five works of noted Greek painters, Constantinos Volanakis, Nikos Hatzikiriakos-Ghikas and Nikolaos Gyzis are included in Sotheby’s European works of 19th century auction that will be held on May 23 in London.

 

Hatzikiriakos-Ghikas’ paintings “Nocturnal Hydra” and “Night outside a Church” have the highest estimated value between €35,200-€59,000 among the works of the Greek painters….

 

A week-long photo exhibition and related events will take place in Toronto, Canada from May 10-18, 2013. The exhibition will feature works from photographers of Greek descent from throughout North America and is hosted in conjunction with the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, one of the largest photography festivals in the world.

 

The photo exhibition will be hosted at one of Toronto’s most unique event spaces, The Burroughes, compliments of Greek America Foundation supporter Queen Street Partners, a company that has demonstrated a proven track record of supporting neighborhoods and brands before they are broadly recognized.

 

The group has been integral to the founding and growth of Greek Film & Foto Week. 2013 Greek Film & Foto Week has been made possible by the generous support of Lee Polydor (Founder & CEO, Queen Street Partners)….

 

 

Τhe announcement early in April that Loukas Christidis had died didn’t startle anyone, nor did anyone outside the Greek intelligence community was moved, but the man who spent nearly 30 years in Albanian prisons of communist leader Emver Hodja is going down in History as the Greek 007.

 

 He got this nickname for his widespread undercover action behind the Iron Curtain between 1950 and 1960 when he was captured…. New Jersey State Police foiled a murder-for-hire plot involving the manager of the famed Tick Tock Diner in Clifton..

 

 Manager Georgios Spyropoulos, 45, was trying to bump off his 57-year-old uncle Alexandros Sgourdos, who manages the Manhattan Tick Tock Diner and is co-owner of both establishments, authorities said. Spyropoulos allegedly planned in great detail how he would have his uncle tortured, robbed and murdered and he enlisted two men who he thought would carry out his ruthless plot….

 

 

 The newest Astoria establishment Kopiaste Taverna, which opened back in January features Cypriot as well as Greek dishes prepared by chef Skevi Rousopoulos. In fact, in an effort to preserve the Cypriot Easter tradition of the making of Flaounes, folks from all over  participated in a seminar of making  these delicacies.

 

There was no need for aprons for all these guests as there were enough to go around, but it was a preqisite for them to bring their own rolling pins..…

 

Stix, the restaurant, celebrated Greek Independence Day in New York (Parade day 4/7) with an All Day Ouzo Party, with each patron allowed a glass of ouzo compliments of the management….

 

And over York Avenue, a couple of blocks away from where the paraders marched, chef Christos Christou kept dishing out his delectable preparations for his guests at his own restaurant, Yefsi, who swarmed in after all the floats ended up on 79 Street, not far from the Greek Consulate General.

 

Moreover, the same kitchen man was the personage who entered the White House kouzina and did what he’s doing best during an April 18th Obama speech for Greek Independence that was moved from its original date to the current sate with the Archbishop aqnd the Greek Ambassador present.

 

Natuarally I don’t have to tell you else was there, heh,….  …Celebrity chef and restaurateur Michael Psilakis is getting ready to open his latest culinary venture in Queens this month, bringing his modern take on Greek cuisine to Astoria.

 

MP Taverna — the second Hellenic eatery to set up shop in the historically Greek neighborhood in recent months — will open its doors soon at 31-29 Ditmars Blvd., according to a rep for Psilakis. It will offer a menu similar to its sister locations in Long Island and Westchester, with a focus on upscale Greek food.

 

QUOTATION OF THE DAY from the New York Times: “When the principal called, I had to tell him, ‘We don’t have food.'”

 

Themelina Petrakis, whose son, like a growing number of children in Greece, has been going to school hungry.

 

Word of the Month: Panacea gr. Πανάκεια.

 

©Typologos.com 2013