Constantinople

Posts From The National Herald

2010-10-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends, its been a long time. I guess I am an intermittent blogger. I hope that I will will post more frequently from now on. Now that I write several articles weekly for The National Herald I plan to post them on my blog, including past articles, and articles published by friends and colleagues.

First, I will post an article written Maria Micheles, a review of a modern Greek play. Maria Micheles is a playwright herself who believes more threater reviews should be written by active playwrights.

The Lemon Tree: A Play That Examines Life’s Memories and Aspirations

Maria Micheles

Sometimes live theater can make a more powerful impact than Hollywood’s profitable action-packed adventure movies that may excite an audience without stimulating contemplation. Theater’s primary purpose is not to create spectacle, but to delve into issues time and time again and re-interpret them. With the memory play, exploring personal experiences in historically difficult periods, the conflict between characters is subordinate to turmoil they’ve had to undergo and they seek in each other ways to subdue those pangs to recreate a viable world once again. Maria Logis’s play “The Lemon Tree”, which just completed a run at New York’s Wild Project Theater attempts to deal with a subject that has not been sufficiently dealt with: a family’s painful compromises during the Greek-Turkish wars.

The play’s multi-media presentation, incorporating film, dance, and live onstage musicians playing original songs, set the tone for 1917 Epirus, with its idyllic life and landscape, and to which the play reverts throughout the evening. Characters are seen longing for love and marriage and the basic things of life which make one happy. The roads taken by father and son - played by Demetrios Bonaros and Leo Giannopoulos – diverge when the family is faced with regional food shortages. The father, contrary to his wife Fotini’s wishes, (Zina Anaplioti), leaves for Smyrna, then a center for opportunity, to raise money to send Dimitri to the U.S., but vanishes in the Smyrnan fires, with the rare footage projected onstage.

Dimitri learns of the catastrophe when picking up a copy of The Times. To bury the pain, Dimitri works night and day in a diner, sending everything to his mother in Epirus, including a cow, which is bigger and fatter than the ones in the village. It is a wonderful scene, though there is no real cow onstage―the play’s use of minimal props enables the viewer to experience the play on different levels rather than adhering to one. The expressions resulting from petting the cow’s skin, gazing at its eyes, and milking the cow generate a response real or more than real from than actually seeing a cow onstage.

We follow Dimitri’s trip back to Greece, too late to reunite with his deceased mother. He picks up the pieces by taking a young wife, wonderfully interpreted by Maria Niora, who’s both hesitant and excited to leave Greece. She participates in a beautiful dance with her koliti, composed of movements under the white veil, celebrating female bonding.

Attending a Radio City movie show on her first night in America is the only grand day Eleni experiences, as what awaits her is a drab life, stuck indoors all day, wanting to make a dish of stifado with either goat, rabbit or baby veal, but instead having to do with lentils. Deprived of every pleasure, as Dimitri takes control of the money to realize his dream of owning a diner, her predicament is not portrayed as ugly or hapless, but as moments of waiting and longing, and time alone for allowing memories to be replayed, and glorified when contrasted with the present - as one would imagine nostalgia’s origin to be. In those moments human entrapment in space and time become a chance for past happenings to be reviewed, extended and possibly reconfigured, filling up the time until one is able to participate in the world again.

The director, Mahayana Landowne, captures this well, superimposing Eleni’s image alongside Ingrid Bergman’s on the screen, so that the two merge - the glitz of Hollywood joins with the unexciting life of its viewers. Other popular movies like “Gone with the Wind” offer respite as well. Near the end of the play, Eleni exclaims that as Scarlet used curtains to make her dress, she could use her wedding dress for curtains. She walks over to her treasure chest from back home and begins to cut up her wedding veil, to be able to decorate the windows. It is then that Dimitri brings home the papers that signify that he’s finally able to buy a diner, but the timing is perhaps too late.

The author did something unusual, in exploring life through Dimitri’s eyes in the first half, and then of Eleni in the second, but this is done to give us glimpses of each character’s facing their most difficult hurdles and how they are able to overcome them and get by.

The play’s end conveys that in order to have, one must face privations, and to undergo hardship for some time, even such as remaining in an unhappy marriage temporarily, until prospects improve. The production speaks to our times as well, our financial crisis, when some people lose the luxuries they had, and all learn to do with less, but are able to explore culture along with other things that allow them to continue to grow, until more affluent times appear.

Turkey’s Greeks: People on the Verge – of What?

2010-09-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK – The Orthodox Church rejects the notion of limbo as a temporary of intermediate state after life on earth, also suggesting some uncertainty about one’s ultimate fate. The word may be apropos, however, of the state of the dwindling Greek community of Turkey and even the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Their plight was highlighted in a report by Ivan Watson which aired from August 28 to 31 on CNN International’s “World’s Untold Stories” series titled “Turkey’s Dwindling Greek Christians.” “The Last Patriarch” [Search on cnn.com for “The last Patriarch” for video clips of the program]
The political limbo describes a situation where for more than 50 years the ancient Greek community of Turkey has been subject to systematic attack by the Turkish government - we would now call it ethnic cleansing – but today has been given some hope by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes to drive his country into the European Union.

That country and its neighbors anxiously await the results of a referendum on a government-backed constitutional amendment package scheduled for September 12, 2010. Some observers see the vote as a step towards dismantling the legacy of Turkey’s 1980 military coup, but secularists and others who don’t trust Erdogan and his AKT party fear it as the next step in Islamist Erdogan’s dismantling of the secular state established by Kemal Attaturk. Erdogan’s party portrays the ballot as necessary to the country’s quest to join the EU. Many things hang in the balance, among them the fate of Turkey’s Greeks and their institutions.

Watson spoke primarily to Patriarch Bartholomew, the 270th Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, fist among equals among hierarchs for 250 million Orthodox Christians, but no Turkish government has even recognized that title. To them, he is simply a bishop of a dwindling flock many Turks hope will soon disappear. Watson’s interview conveyed the fear among many that Bartholomew may be “The Last Patriarch,” but the vigorous, sharp and kindly hierarch will not hear of that: “We simply insist to be there because our natural position, our place, is there. If we [have been] there for 17 centuries, why should we leave and go elsewhere?”

A PAINFUL HISTORY
After years of effort by the Archdiocese, the Archons of the Order of Saint Andrew and numerous other Greek American Organizations, the Patriarchate seems finally to be visible on the radar of the American news media. The CNN program follows a similar segment that appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2009.

Watson’s conversations with Patriarch Bartholomew took place in the island of Imvros, the Greek-populated island which was awarded to Turkey by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
Taking brisk steps that defy his seven decades, the Patriarch spoke of a happy childhood and a thriving Greek community, as the camera panned green valleys and hills rising from the Aegean Sea. The island’s Greek population, along with that of Constantinople (they were exempt from the 1922 exchange of population between Greece and Turkey, one of the notorious provisions of that treaty) was supposed to be protected.

Despite harassment by Turkish authorities from the moment they signed the Treaty, and especially during World War II when the world was focused elsewhere, the communities survived. Constantinople’s Greeks thrived until the pogrom of 1955. The city’s Greeks then exceeded 100,000, now there are less than 3000. After the pogrom Greeks fled the city.

Watson spoke with Giorgos Stefanopulos, “an outspoken leader of Istanbul's Greek community.” He said, "I am a curiosity now in Turkey...We used to be a minority; now we are a curiosity... The Turkish government somehow managed to do a bloodless ethnic cleansing,”

Watson noted that “about 50 years ago, that community numbered more than 100,000. Today, it's probably less than 3,000.” Stefanopoulos “insists that decline was not accidental. Decades ago, he said, they targeted ethnic Greeks with nationalist policies, like wealth taxes, property seizures, and campaigns to speak only Turkish in the streets.”

Stefanopoulos is Dean of the Engineering Department in Constantinople’s Isik University. He and Watson visited one of nine Greek schools that remain. Nine-year-old Chrysovalantis is the only student in his school. He likes the personal attention he gets from Greek and Turkish teachers, but he wishes there where other students to play with. During recess, he plays soccer in the basement with the custodian.

IMVROS
The Imvriotes were more or less left alone until the 1960s, when Ankara decided to let them know they were no longer welcome. Chris Katirgis, one of few Greeks left on the island, was visited by Watson and his film crew. He said half a century ago there where 7000-8000 people on the island, and Watson declared that “ barely 200 are now living amid the ruins of their neighbors homes.”
Katirgis turned his house into a museum with photos and other mementos as a tribute to those who lived there and are now gone. Many have passed away, but the real tragedy is the disappearance of the young people. Katirgis said, “A place that [has] no school is dying – because there is no young generation.

HOPE FOR CONSTANTINOPLE
“We have suffered because of Greek-Turkish confrontation, struggle, and a lack of mutual trust and confidence. And that is why we lost most of our faithful," said the Patriarch, whose institution has
“had a complicated relationship” with the Turkish government,” Watson reported. But Patriarch Bartholomew is not a dreamer, he just chooses to focus on new signs, the good ones. He told Watson “"We have many young people from Greece who want to come and be established in Turkey...This is an opposite current than before."

According to Watson, “Haris Rigas is part of that trickle of fresh immigration, which offers perhaps the best hope of reviving Istanbul's Greek community.” Rigas told him “The minute I came I was in love with the city and felt that I had to live here.” He has been studying the Greek community and plays in a local Rembetiko band, the only Greek among the musicians. Watson said “His studies and his music are focused on the preservation and promotion of Greek culture.” He believes “The only way for the community to survive is to attain a degree of visibility.”
The National Herald spoke with Prodromos Katsantonis, the president of the Hellenic Society of Constantinople. He is on his way to the city to see for himself what is happening, but be believes that if Turkey does join the EU, “There will be improvements for the Patriarchate and the Community.”

RECONCILIATION: REALITY OR P.R.
In August, the “Turkish state and the Ecumenical Patriarchate made a historic step towards reconciliation,” said Watson. “Thousands of Orthodox Christians gathered for a prayer service at the ancient cliffside monastery of Soumela, near Turkey's Black Sea Coast, on August 15. Patriarch Bartholomew conducted a divine liturgy, the first Christian service of its kind at Sumela, in more than 80 years.”

The Patriarch was thrilled to have presided there, but he must have wondered about the future. The Turkish government can veto any candidate put forward for the position of Patriarch. And it requires the Patriarch be a Turkish citizen. Last year the government has proposed offering Turkish citizenship to Orthodox archbishops overseas. Several have applied; so far, none has been approved.

In 1971, the Turkish government shut the seminary where Greek Orthodox clergy traditionally trained. For a number of years, officials have hinted at re-opening the Theological School of Halki, and this year the promises seem to be stronger, and there are positive signs. ANA-MPA has reported this week that “The Halki School of Theology in Turkey opened its doors for the first time in 30 years on Sunday August 29, 2010 for an art exhibition. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew inaugurated an exhibition entitled "Tracing Istanbul" in Halki, one of the Princes' Islands located in the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul.”

During the opening ceremony Patriarch Bartholomew said, "We hope the seminary will reopen, and we expect our government to do so as soon as possible."

Also, Greek Minister of Culture Pavlos Geroulanos called the ceremony in the seminary "historic," and hoped that the school would be reopened. "Turkey is going through a period of transition," said Egemen Bagis, the country's Minister for European Union Affairs...Turkey's becoming a much more democratic, much more prosperous, much more transparent society." Asked by Watson about Halki, “Bagis insists the government is still working on it.” As usual, Greek hope springs eternal.

In a sober moment Geroulanos acknowledged that "We shall not know for a long time yet if these moments that we are experiencing are historic.” In the face of such uncertainty, the Patriarch is steadfast about his Church’s survival in Constantinople: “ We trust a divine providence, and the guarantee given to us by our Lord himself, that the church can survive. This is our faith, this is our conviction, this is our hope, this is our prayer. And all the rest we leave at the hands of God."
But reaching out to the American media, moving his arms and making waves– as the Greek aphorism advises – also helps.

If You Went to Chelsea Clinton's Wedding You Missed Dean's

2010-08-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends, its been a long time. I told the truth in my last post, that I was writing all the time, but that was for the newspaper I work for. Visit their Web site at thenational herald.com and you can see my video reports for free. Subscribe to a great paper and see all of my writing, though I will try to post them to this blog as much as possible.

Yes, Dean got married! To wonderful Maria almost 2 weeks ago on July 31 at the Evangelimos church in manhattan. Look me up on facebook for some pictures, and I will post some here too.
Here is a link to our wedding song, "Love" by John Lennon: youtube.com/watch?v=mXsugQXWj28.

Dean is Back and is writing all the time - Today on Obama and Helathcare Reform

2009-10-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends, its been a long time! I hope everyone had a good summer and that the new season is a good one for you. Kalo Mina! - "Happy New Month" to my Greek friends.
A lot has happened these many months. I have a new full-time job: Assistant Managing Editor of The National Herald, the english edition of the largest Greek American newspaper in the United States. In addition to my management responsibilities, I write articles and editorials about things of interest to the Greek American community, but since that includes covering cultural matters, my non-Greek friends might enjoy reading them, so I will try to post everything that the paper publishes, including articles from other sources on an assortment of topics.
Politically, I believe President Obama's first months have gone as well as could have been expected. We'll see if his healthcare plans will survive the expected onslaught. I believe he was prepared for it and that he always planned for a second round - next year or in 2011 after the hoped-for economic upturn enables him to seek a renewed mandate in general and on his healthcare reforms. The massive government spending of the economic stimulus package - which was absolutely necessary and which I believe did keep the world economy from going over a cliff - is too scary for most people to want to add healthcare reform costs now, necessary thought they might be for real savings in the future.
I believe he told Congressional Democrats to come up with the best plan they can now and see what the "Health Industry" does to it. Once the general population grasps the greedy, vicious and dishonest nature of the attacks, and once the economy improves, they will be more open to a revised plan. Anyway, thats what Dean would have done, but he's not sitting in the White House, thought he does love his office in Long Island City.

WELCOME MR. PRESIDENT

2009-01-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

As we prepare to watch him take the oath of office and present his innaugural address, may God inspire President Barack Obama. God bless Barack Obama, God bless America

The days dwindle down to a precious few

2009-01-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

As the remaining time of the second Bush administration trickles down to a not very precious few. Not precious even for Bush because surely, unless we really did elect a complete delusional to the presidency –TWICE – he must be most painfully aware of what a failure and disaster his reign was. I say reign because he would never have gotten closer to the White House than you and would by purchasing a ticket for a tour, had his father George Walker Bush not been president first. So humanity never really gets monarchy out of its system. Aristotle --who knew the genius of Philip and Alexander— declared it the best form of government, IF one could guarantee that the son would be as good as the father. But alas, that is not possible. He must have appreciated how lucky the Macedonian royal family was in the 4th century B.C. The Bush family was not so lucky. And neither were we.

I keep bringing up Bush senior, who even I now acknowledge was a better president than we thought (the Eisenhower of our era—he seemed dumb because the wasn’t the most articulate tool in the shed) He bears some responsibility for his son. History is filled with kings (and non- monarchical leaders) preventing their sons from cashing in the family’s political chips.

Among modern greeks even George Papandreou allegedly declared “God help Greece if my son ever becomes Prime Minister.” He did. The extent of God’s help is still unclear. And now the grandson waits his turn at bat.

The irony in Bush Junior’s case is that the job he really wanted was to be the commissioner of baseball. As bad as that likely would have been for the national past-time, it probably wouldn’t have been much worse than the tenure of certain “Bud” Selig proved to be—lets call him the godfather of the steroid era. But “Bud”, a team owner himself (the commissioner is supposed to keep an eye on the owners) never let go of his “temporary” appointment. So,there being no opening in the world of baseball, George turned to the “real” world and became governor of Texas. Since he did not screw up Texas they way he did all his earlier endeavors, and being blessed with some kind of charm, he was “elected” president of Florida, I mean of the U.S. The boy is nothing if not lucky—his brother Jeb was governor of the U.S., I mean Florida at the time of the “election.”

Some would say those nasty “ “ “ “ are out of place and that we should look forward, not backwards. Yes of course, our country has serious work and repairs to do, but calls for investigations are legitimate. And if sober examinations of the facts of the Bush administration’s wars and regulation of the economy are called for, they must proceed. The charge I invented for Bush himself is “criminal incompetence”, because if one’s stupidity leads to disasters for the nation it is criminal if not treasonous. As for the rest of his administration, especially Dick Cheney, stupidity had nothing to do with it. It’s not automatic that those men and women should be prosecuted because there are always many reasons, promoted by different legitimate interested groups, for going to war, or for adopting one regulatory stance or another. But lets take a look. Not for revenge, but for deterrence. All government officials, democrats as well as republicans, must know that they will be called into account for their actions.

Which brings us back, momentarily, to “Bud” Selig. Thanks a lot you selfish fool. And more substantially to George H.W. Bush (Bush Senior). You should have told the republican party to resist the temptation of nominating your son. I just learned that the term Bimbo, derived from the Italian word for child “Bambino”, originally referred to charming male fools, “Bimbo being a masculine word. There you have it: The Bimbo President. I never thought Al Gore would make a really good president, but his election was not to be prevented at all cost—and risks. Thanks a lot George senior.

But the minutes keep dwindling, and Junior will be tucked into bed soon for his last night at the White House. Good night George, and God forgive you.

Its been a long time

2008-09-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends, I hope you all had a good summer. I have been a bad blogger. You will hear from me more frequently from now on, but I have been very busy with some neat stuff.

Last Thursday some Greek and Greek Cypriot Americans and other friends of mine hosted a fundraiser for Barak Obama and Joe Biden at the Olympic Tower's Atrium Cafe. More than 130 people attended. Pretty good considering 4 blocks away at the St. Regis Hotel there was a free catered reception for the Greek Foreign Minister, Dora Bakoyannis (she will be Greece's first woman Prime Minister one day).

Here is the link to the event's web site. Pictures will soon be posted there.

http://oregoninternetpages.googlepages.com/nygreekamericanandfriendsforobama

This is our press release:

New York, September 30, 2008 – Greek and Greek Cypriot Americans recently held a fundraiser reception in support of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden. More than 120 people joined the grassroots effort, “New York Greek Americans and Friends for Obama-Biden ’08.” The event was held Thursday, September 25, 2008 at the Olympic Tower Atrium Café in New York City. Special guest speaker was Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-NY).

The event’s highlights included greetings from noted Greek American developer, philanthropist, and Democratic party activist Angelo Tsakopoulos, who said he was very happy and encouraged to see young Greek Americans taking an interest in public affairs. Assemblyman Gianaris told guests that he had spoken to Senator Obama about this event and that Obama was very pleased that this event was another element in the multicultural foundation of this presidential campaign. Obama acknowledged the gifts of Hellenes to mankind and the contributions of Greek Americans in making America the greatest country in the world.

Mr. Gianaris stressed the importance of political activism both for the Greek American community and for America. He shared his personal story of his involvement in the 1988 Michael Dukakis presidential campaign and how that became the springboard for his life in politics. He strongly encouraged supporters to go to key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Florida to campaign for Obama-Biden.

Speaker Dr. Dean Lomis, former Chairman of the American Hellenic Institute (AHI) and friend of Senator Biden highlighted the Obama-Biden support of Greece and Cyprus stressing how as a member of the United States Senate Barack Obama has supported Greek American community positions on Greece and Cyprus. Dr. Lomis detailed Joseph Biden support and leadership on vital issues for more than 30 years. An Obama campaign field organizer in New Jersey, Ted E. Anastasiou also addressed the guests. “I don’t think it any small coincidence that Greek Americans, whose heritage has contributed so much throughout history and brought about such positive change in this country and the world, are openly receptive to Senator Obama's campaign for change,” Anastasiou declared.

Fundraiser event hosts Dean Sirigos, Olga Alexakos, co-hosts and chairpersons are leaders and members of numerous Greek American organizations. Event host Jeff Kurzon is affiliated with Armenians for Obama and Obama NYC. Sirigos stated that their purpose was “to show our support for Obama-Biden and their promises of change to make our government more responsive to the needs of its people, to make our people truly secure through a harmony of power and principle, and to better project our values and ideals around the world, especially the bedrock principles of our support for Greece and Cyprus: the rule of law, democracy based on majority rule with minority rights guaranteed, and the peaceful settlement of disputes. “

Olga Alexakos thanked the guests for attending “the wonderful and important opportunity for New York area Greek Americans to rally for an Obama-Biden ticket and to make a vital contribution to this important campaign.” Alexakos and Sirigos thanked several benefactors for their generosity and support including Dr. Ana Maria Trilliouris, Sultana Glyptis Rehnberg, The Lekas family, Michael and Alice Halkias,of the Grand Prospect Hall, Nick Tsoulos and Nick Pashalis of Avra Estiatorio, Dino and Vasilios Bakakos of the Lafayette Grill and Bar, Stella and Sam Catechis of Stellar Importing, and Gus Theodoro of Gus’s Place. Future events will be announced on the web site: nygreekamericansforobama.com.
Featured speakers were introduced by Mistress of Ceremonies Dorothy Poli. The evening concluded wilth a musical performance by Blue Note recording guitarist Spiros Exaras accompanied by vocalist Fay.

About Assemblyman Michael Gianaris

Gianaris is Assembly member for the 36th Assembly District in Queens and the first Greek-American to be elected to office from New York City. In the Assembly, he emerged as a leader on government reform issues sponsoring numerous measures to improve the efficiency and productivity of state government. Born to Nicholas and Magdalene Gianaris, he is a lifelong resident of Astoria and graduate of the New York City public school system. He graduated from Fordham University, Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science before receiving his law degree from Harvard Law School, attending at the same time as Barack Obama.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

2008-07-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for this inspiration for a long time. My friends have been waiting--especially my fellow students in a certain Kyrios and a certain Kyria's (Mr. and Mrs, but married only in spirit) claess.

Greek Americans understand about Greek school, but I think many ethnic groups attempt the same (lets assume noble intentions but you know where that paved road often leads to, yes indeed). But for many of us it was the Great Greek American Nightmare. Not a trauma for all, granted, but for many. Imagine this (cue Twilight zone Music) after a FULL day of regular "American School" we got whisked to some other place, some rented schoolroom to learn the language of our fathers and mothers. Thats not bad. Thats's good. In our adult wisdom, we know we benefited. We are better connected to a great civilization. We speak a beautiful language better for it (or at least, we can write and read it better--no, our speaking grammar is better for it too). and we added at least 20 points to our SAT, GRE, all those E-scores.

Ma pou tous vrikane autous? Where did they find these people? They chased us with wooden coat hangers. They put chewing gum on our noses (yes they did! The greek dunce cap) they told our parents we were monsters. They seemed to DELIGHT in humiliating us (jeez, my greek accent is OK, but poor Athena --how could a man or woman who was now an American citizen but who could BARELY speak english make fun of the greek accent of a kid born in brooklyn?

Well its just two days old, a second draft, so I might accept suggestions.

My little parody ditty is set to the music (with apologies and best wishes) of Amy Winehouse's REHAB. I set my parody lines in bold typeface just below those for Rehab so you can match it to the music. With no musical education to speak of, I believe all but one line (noted) matches the beat. Yiasas

GREEK SCHOOL

They tried to make me go to rehab
They tried to make me go to greek school
I said no, no, no.
I said no, no, no
Yes I been black, but when I come back
Yes I been bad and yiayia is sad
You wont know, know, know.
But no, no, no

I ain’t got the time
I ain’t got the time
And if my daddy thinks im fine
And if mbamba thinks Im fine
He’s tried to make me go to rehab
He’s tried to make me go to Greek school
I wont go, go, go.
I wont go, go, go

I’d rather be at home with ray
I’d rather go out and play
I ain’t got 70 days
I ain’t got 70 days
Cos there’s nothing, nothing you can teach me
Cos there’s nothing, nothing you can teach me
That I can't learn from Mr. Hathaway
That I can’t learn from Yiayia today
Didn’t get a lot in class
Didn’t learn much greek culture
But I know it don’t come in a shot glass
But it shouldn’t be like torture -- torture!

They’re tryin to make me go to rehab
They’re tryin to make me go to greek school
I said no, no, no
I said no, no, no
Yes I been black, but when I come back
Yes Greece is cool but the teacher’s a fool
You wont know, know, know.
Yeah you know, know, know
I aint got the time,
I don’t wanna whine
And if my Daddy thinks im fine,
But greek poems always rhyme
He’s tried to make me go to rehab,
They even make me do the dances
I wont go, go, go.
Opa!, no,no, no

The man said, why you think you here?
The priest said why you think you here?
I said, I got no idea
I said, I got no idea
Im gonna, im gonna loose my baby
You can’t say, cant say I’m kakos (bad)
So I always keep a bottle near
Based on Mis-ter. Bar-fa-na-kos’ fear
Said, I just think you’re depressed
Said, I just think you depressed
Kiss me, yeah baby
You know!, you know!
And go rest
Greece the best!

They’re tryin to make me go to rehab
They’re tryin to make me go to greek school
I said no, no, no
I said no, no, no
Yes I been black, but when I come back
Yes I been black but the teach is on crack
You wont know, know, know
I know, know, know

I don’t ever wanna drink again
I don’t ever wanna get hit again
I just, ooo, I just need a friend
Mama says: you! “prepi na pas” (you must go)
Im not gonna spend 10 weeks
Mbamba says “xylo tha fas” (you will get a beating)
Have everyone think im on the mend
And I yell “noooooooo prepi! Noooooooo prepi!” (only here is music altered to fit)
It’s not just my pride
Hell-e-nic ed-u-ca-tion
It’s just til these tears have dried
Feels just like in-car-cer-a-tion

They’re tryin to make me go to rehab
They’re tryin to make me go to greek school
I said no, no, no
I said no, no, no
Yes I been black, but when I come back,
Yes I been bad but the teachers are mad
You wont know, know, know
You don’t know know know
I aint got the time,
I aint got the time,
And if my daddy thinks im fine
And if mbamba thinks im fine

He’s trying to make me go to rehab
He’s trying to make me go to Greek school

I wont go, go, go.
I wont go, go, go.

Blogging Again

2008-07-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends! Yes its been a long time without blogging. I hope you are not all mad--some of you are. Sorry. (I have not been jogging either--I jammed my achilles tendon running over hill and dale and rocks in Greece. Does anyone have any advice before my first vist to a podiatrist?).

I'm not sure why I stopped for so long--part of this blog phenomenon I guess, but here I am. Part of the the problem is I did not fully admit to myself how upset I was that I lost my little travel diary in Santorini--such a great and thoughtful gift from my good friend Vivian. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I was running after a bus to be on time for lunch with my long-lost cousin Kostaki. And what a lunch! A huge pile of lamb chops and sweet Santorini wine.

The diary was filled with thoughts and feelings and musings and observations (all that good bloggy stuff) from EVERY moment of my trip. Well, a lot of wonderful moments. Many entries accompanied the pictures. Some told funny stories (well I thought they were funny) and one was a cool essay I was looking forward to publishing about the fantastic new Athens concert hall, the Megaron Mousikis. It started our with architectural and accoustic observations and I was surprised to find that I continued writing as I was listening to Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony (you spell his name your way, I'll spell it mine--like Hannukah) and kept weaving my feelings about the hall and the music in and out. I felt that his music began light and pretty, then turned military, and finally ended on a darker note. I was going to conclude with the great Leonard Bernstein quote "the twentieth century is the century of death and Mahler was its musical prophet." Pow! It would have been interesting, no?

I also thought of Bernstein because one of the 3 (or 4) halls in the magnificent Megaron complex is a fine recital hall dedicated to Dimitri Mitropoulos, the great Greek conductor who was music director of the New York Philharmonic in the 1950's. It was a glorious decade for New Yorkers in general, but especially for Greek Americans, just then coming into their own with substantial amounts of successful business persons and university graduates and most proud of the achievements of the spectacular and fiery Maria Callas, the aforementioned Mitropoulos and the brilliant but later controversial director (screen and Broadway stage) Elia Kazan. Berstein, equally brilliant but most impatient, could not wait for Mitropoulos to retire so he helped trash the reputation of that kind and dedicated man and forced him out. Sad, but who in New York, even among Greeks (shame!) remembers Dimitri Mitropoulos these days. We should do something about. In the meantime, when in Greece, visit the Megaron and go to his recital hall.

YANKEE BASEBALL--OH OH!

2008-05-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yes A-Rod is back, but Houston, we have a problem. The Yankee offense is lost in space and the young pitching is too immature. Yes, the stadium is sold out for its final season, but this may be the year the Yankees don't pull out of their nosedive. I hope I'm wrong. You can all say I told you so, but this team is not just losing, it is lost.

Dean is back

2008-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

I have been back for ten days. Its great to see friends and family again, but after a fantastic trip, you want to live in your dreams and memories for a while. As with a girlfriend who let you go....

I will post losts of pictures periodically. Friends who want a cd I will burn with all 1200 photos just have to ask (not too chaotic or haphazard, they are in folders).

First thoughts upon returning: Obama will be the next president of the United States--but he should not pick Hilary for VP. Not because she is not worthy but because she does not add anything to the ticket--their positions are virtually identical and their negatives reinforce each other. You nkow my choice already: Colin Powell for VP. Bipartisanship baby--its the new patriotism.

The Yankees have some serious problems but the new stadium looks great

Only One More Day!

2008-05-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends on my next to last day in Greece. A fantastic trip comes to an end when I take off tomorrow from Venizelos International Airport. My final day in Athens will include a trip to the top of Lybabetus Hill and the best views of Athenss and a concert and the fabulous Megaron Mousikes. I have lots of pictures and things to say and I will post them when I return to the Stakes. Yesterday I took my seconc journey into the Peloponnese and if was more beautiful than I ever expected. Not as green as Macedonia, but close! The new town of Epidauros is a very pretty spot on the Aegean Sea. I got oh-so-close to my first visit to the great nearby theater, but by cousin had to rush to the coast to see his new girlfriend. As a good cousin, I postponed my visit to the theater to another trip to Greece.

GREECE IS GREEN

2008-04-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

Pay no attention to polls that show strong support for the radical leftist parties in Greece. That is just a protest against the chaos in the PASOK (socialist) party. Greece is not RED its GREEN, and I don't mean PASOK!

I just returned from a breathtaking trip to Thessaoloniki. For those of you who only know Greece south of Athens, including the islands, it is a revelation. Plains filled with fruit trees as far as the eye can see. Less olive trees than down south, lots of productive farmlands and mountains and hills filled with pine trees and other kinds.

I highly recommend the train ride. 6 hours from Athens to Thessaloniki, inexpensive (2nd class ticket 15 euros) with modern, clean trains. There is green to the left of you, green to the right and history is all over and right below you. The battle of Pydna, of Pharsalus, many places where history turned at the cost of thousands of lives and you hope that some of it was for the better of humanity. We won't argue here about the function of empires in the evolution of human society--its a big question but whatever the answer, there are still those vast plains that conver the bones of many, many thousands. The civilizations they create are valuable-- the archaeological sites of Greece are not as well preserved as those of Italy and other parts of Europe, but they give hints of grandeur and the Greeks are getting much better at the museum business. Be sure to visit the new Byzantine Museum in Thesaloniki and the one at Vergina at the site of the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the great.

Thessaloniki is a mixture of joy and disappointment. The sad part is the drab nature of most of its residential neighborhoods --much like the central part of Athens. But there is hope: they are building a metro, planting trees and planning parks in a number of places. That is to say, its a lot like Athens before the Olympics. And most of the locals' frustration stems from poor employments prospects for young adults--does anybody know how to attract more investment in Greece? But the good parts are very good: the cafes and restaurants along the coast, by the port. The nightlife --and it continues ALL through the night, past dawn, is amazing. I hearde some of the best covers of James Brown at one place, but the small Rembetiko band at club "Principessa" (you must go!) was sensations. The singer (darn I didn't get her name), kanon player (who also played violin) the Oud player (who also played other interesting stringed instuments) and the guiarist/male lead singer were extraordinary. The shopping in the blocks right off the coast looked very nice from the outside and the remains of Roman (not much Greek and Hellenistic stuff remains) Byzantine buildings are fantastic.

My most moving moments were attending services in the early Christian (some call 4-7 century things Byzantine, but I dont. The construction is clearly Roman (late antique) and only after the 7th or 8th century do cities in Italy, Greece and Turkey begin to look dramatically different. To participate in the Divine Liturgy in the church of ST. Dimitrios which has been in continuous use as a house of worship for 1600 years is a humbling and moving experience (yes, all the big churches in the city were turned by the Turks into mosques --but not right away. They waited 50-100 years. Obviously they were not immediately secure in their Balkan conquests and did not want to piss off the local population.

More on this city in later post, with lots and lots of pictures, when I return from Greece on May 3. Tommorow I am off to my parents' island of Sifnos for Pascha!!!

Off to Thessaloniki (in the real Macedonia) but check out a lot of new pictures, especially of my trip to Corinth

2008-04-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

If there is no railway strike (there are rumors) I'm off to Thessaloniki. That will be my first time in Northern Greece. I don't know when I'll have a chance to post pictures from now on, maybe not until I return to the states

Enjoy a bunch of new pictures on the attached blog "An Amerikanaki in Athens", especially those of my trip to Corinth last saturday--just below the ones from the sensational show by Elefteria Arvanitaki. My Corinth trip was the first time I set foot in the Peloponessos. If was a fine trip on the excellent new Suburban rail line. Just a hour or so from Athens to Corinth, with some great coastal views along the way.

There are also new pictures in the other sections.

The conversation with Socrates continues, but since I received no responses, I will continue writing off line and will publish a polished version on the blog when I'm in the states again. I really would like your comments but c'est la vie or as the Greeks say "ti na kanome--what can we do?"

A fine little sermon, a nice little church

2008-04-14T03:10:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I went to the interesting little Church of St. Constantine and Helen in Glyfada. Its a round stone church surrounded by 4 half-domes. Its a design that was popular in pre-Byzantine times but that Greek Orthodox don't see it too often today. The Ottomans like it and have built many mosques like it --the Blue Mosque is the most beautiful and the most famous. Leonardo Da Vinci drew numerous buildings like it.

The priest gave a very practical sermon. A very simple and down to earth talk and thus a spiritual one. He tried not to put obstacles in the paths of people who want to live better lives.

If they can sell all their good and give the proceeds to the poor and then dedicate themselves to a totally philanthropic or monsastic life, that is a great spiritual achievement, the complete control of the ego. For those who can't do that with sincerity and without regret, i.e. 99.99% of humanity, he encourages them who can to give away half their wealth. If not half, one quarter or lesser amounts-- but something. If they cant part with any material possessions, let them help the weak or unfortunate in other ways. If they are not willing ot help others, let them refrain from harming others. That will satisfy Christ and save their souls and make the world a better place. Amen

A Conversation with Socrates

2008-04-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

OK. Here I go. Hows this for pressure. Inspired by the Athens spring and its immortal stones, I am drafting a little story. Its a draft, and I dont know how much I'll write while I'm in Greece. But here goes. Its just a beginnning. And a draft. I will post other things before I add to it, but I just wanted to putit out there for your amusement and my inspiration.

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Great cities have a powerful effect on the imagination. If the light is right and the modern sounds don’t interfere, you will find yourself face to face with the past—and the people who lived it. As you walk in the shadows of the Acropolis and in the shade of pine trees and palm trees, the breezes whisper to you…and you hear voices…

A Conversation with Socrates

It was another glorious spring day in Athens, a perfect days for a stroll among the magnificent ruins. As I turned the corner and looked up, I saw the north side of the Acropolis walls looming. The sun was low in the sky and a golden tint began to infuse the sacred rock. I was trying to make out the details of some structures, when a voice cried out. “Kon-stan-ti-ne”. Who is that? “Yiasou Konstantine” an old man greeted me again. He looked vaguely familiar, something about him, the voice maybe, remineded me of my beloved grandfather whose name I shared, but he was long gone. As he finally reached me, with his hand on my shoulder, I looked at his features and wondered if he was one of my father’s uncles, but they too had passed away long ago. But he was very familiar. Yes, a bit like my dear Theio Vasso. And his features were very distinct—you can’t forget someone like that, with clear eyes and commanding voice, a short, stocky man with face like a satyr—I wouldn't but some might call him ugly with wide-set, bulging eye, a flat, upturned nose with flaring nostrils and large fleshy lips like an ass. How could I possibly forget such a… Jesus Christ, its was Socrates! Not my uncle Socrates. I don’t have an uncle Socrates. THE Socrates. Drank the hemlock and bade the sorry world farewell Socrates.

Socrates.

He was dressed like a modern old man with baggy pants and a flannel shirt. His beaten up belt pulled tight around a belly that has perhaps been better fed recently than he was used too. He had enemies, but good friends too who looked after him. Apparently the symposia served more than just wine. “You are a little surprised eh?” he mumbled, catching his breath. I was embarrassed that such a man would exert himself to say hello to me…wait a minute! What’s going on here? “Let me explain” he said. Don’t be alarmed. And don’t worry about these others. I dress in modern garb to keep away tourists and priests. The latter are always trying to tell me about Christ. In my state, I know Yeshua better than they do. Anyway, ideas are immortal. And everything is connected. If you think intensely long enough about something, you will knock on the doors of the divine realm where those ideas live, and you will encounter those who are associated with those ideas. Whether they are men or gods.”

“What gods?” I asked. “Do you know the gods…is there a God.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at me “of course I know the gods. Don’t you?” “Amerikanaki eimai den xero tipota—I’m an American, I don’t know anything” –my standard joke with Greeks. “I’m not just a Greek—my country is the whole world. Your cousin Dante was quoting me.” My head was beginning to spin and the old man was sympathetic.
I looked at him closely to see if he looked like anyone else I knew. Who would play this kind of joke. “Its not a joke,” he said. Stunned, I said “if you can read my mind then this is a dream..” “Not a dream in the sense you are thinking” he replied, but we’ll talk about that later. “Entaxi—OK, I’ll knock off the mind reading.” “Efxaristo. And thank God you speak modern Greek.” “Ah yes,” he said. “We were talking about God.

“I don’t know. I’m not a philosopher, though I like reading philosophy.” “I know that you are not a philosopher. I won’t hold that against you.. In fact, it’s a plus. As you know, I held the rest of Athens’ men of wisdom in low regard. I too don’t know anything –I like your Amerikanaki line—but in life and in death, I have some good perspectives.”

“When you die”, he said with seriousness, “you see some things more clearly, for better or worse. The vision or feeling of the oneness of everything that some people attain through prayer or meditation comes easily. The world is One. The Universe is One. Everything comes from the One. That much is clear, but what that fact means for us is still a mystery even to me, even now. You stumbled on the truth that we philosophers don’t always say what we mean. I was the object lesson. Don’t kid yourself, hemlock is no treat. Five minutes after the moment that David captured in that romantic painting I was dead, dead dead and that sucked. And then… I don’t fully recall what came next, but here I am. And there I was in 1600, and there I will be in 2020. I really don’t know how it works, but I’m no longer bound by space and time. Anyway, Plato learned his lesson and he disguised some brilliant ideas as myths. Aristotle told jokes (they still don’t get them) and he was right to flee Athens after Alexander’s death. He ‘generously’ spared the Athenians the temptation to sin against philosophy a second time.”

I took some deep breaths. We started climbing the steps higher up the acropolis. The sun sank lower and the little valley that formed the site of the agora turned a dark green and the ruins scattered here are there were like golden flames. “What was your relationship with the Olympian deities,” I questioned him. “We were good buddies. I was on the best of terms with them because they were pure intelligences. They didn't B.S. me. Yes, they could be wise guys and nasty fellows but not as bad as the poets who slandered them said they were. Justice was a big deal on Olympus. If you pissed off the gods, you had big problems. Actually, I don’t really know what to make of them. You know in Greek their names corresponded to the planets and some saw them as the spirits that move the planets. For me the gods represent not just the forces and the powers of nature but also the laws of nature, and that includes the moral laws. The universe wants you to be good. Whether they care about your happiness is another story."

April 13

My head was spinning. Both because of the topic and because of who I was speaking with. Continuously on guard against sounding totally stupid, wonderful how dumb I've seemed so far, I asked a question that could have removed all doubt. "I noticed, Socrates, that you are not using what we now call the Socratic method." "Yes, that seems to disappoint people and there are two reasons for that. One is that I myself was part of the exercise and I was examining my own thoughts, seeing how far I could go with some ideas. For some things I no longer have to do that: the dead "feel" the connectedness of everything, but as I said, we don't know their meaning right away. The second reason is that you are my friend and it's not my intention to try to trip you up as with my 5th century enemies." "And I guess that since I'm channeling you I'm calling the shots", I said, immediately regretting my words. "By no means are you in charge here. And you are not channelling me. This is no "New Age" happening. All things and beings consists of patterns, the Forms I taught Plato about in some respects. Individual minds have patterns and the thoughts within them have patterns and the patterns that match are connected across space and time. Plato's timeless realm. Its like a google search on your newfangled computers: you type words that are put in the "form" of strings of 1's and 0's and the system matches them with similar or identical strings.

When I say Plato, I mean his published dialogues because the words he put in my mouth are not always my final views of things. So when people like you think intensely about things I said, I sense that and can choose to have a conversation with you. Now, we were talking abouts Gods." "Umm, yes," I stammered, proceeding to do what I often do with friends and strangers, fill the air with the sounds of my own voice. "We were wondering whether the gods or God or whatever is out there cares about us or not. What seems to me, Socrates, is that there are three questions for skeptics. Three steps, three levels of questions. First, is the universe a mind. Is the universe as a whole a conscious thing. Second, is that mind aware of us. Third, if it knows us, does it care about you and me." "It cares about me," he chuckled. I interrupted again. "it seems to me that a lot of the stuff physicists have come up with the past 50 years suggest the universe is mind-like. Like the epxeriments that show that whe two electrons that have some kind of relationship as sent shooting off in opposite directions, even to opposite ends of the universe, they are still in instantaneous communication with each other. One is aware of what happens to the other in a faster-than-light way. My intuition is that its because the two electrons exist in one mind and that mind sees them both simultaneously," I burst out. I had to catch my breath. Socrates, though catching my drift, simply said "that's interesting." He then turned away and stared into space, as he often did when he was alive. "Are you meditating on what I just said," I asked, quickly feeling foolish again. "Eh, oh no Konstantine, I was looking into that yard where they are barbequing some nice steak and I was trying to remember what good beef smelled like and tasted like. Darn it. When it comes to the senses, we departed are all memories."

"As for your three questions, yes they are good beginning to a discussion about God." To the first two, I agree with you. The universe does seem mindlike and we'll talk some of the things I discussed with Plato in a little while. At this point lets say that if "nous" or mind penetrates the whole world, then it is aware of everything. That's waht a mind does, its aware of things. An infinite mind would know all, at all levels because my friend Mr. Georg Cantor whowed us there are levels of infinity. Now, does this infinite mind care about us? I don't know. The Buddhists seem to say "no", that everything in our world is an illusion, including our individuality, which you moderns seem to value above all elese, but does that mean that we and the universe are ultimately meaningless? I don't know that either, but something can be an illusion in two senses: it can be a misrepresentation of reality, a mirage, or it could have value but hides a deeper level.

I

Hellenic Musings

2008-04-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

Where's my muse? Right here. Athens in springtime. Whod've thunk it. Athens has become a world-class capital. Sure, not Rome or Paris or London, but a great city. And right in the heart of it is the Acropolis and the incomparable Parthenon. She is like a beautiful woman: from any angle, in any light she is utterly fascinating. Like a star-struck lover if not a stalker, I have resolved to walk past the Parthenon every day I am here. And its not just me. We have all heard about people in places like Athens or Rome who walk past the world's most magnificent creations and barely niotice. That's not what I hav seen. Every night at sunset Athenians yound and old--but mainly young, gather at the foot of the Acropolis with friends and lovers for mezedes or drinks or coffee. They marvel at the view at one another and it IS magic.

And then you walk up and then down the pathways around the ruins and on to Dionysios Areopagitou street and you are so proud! The pedestrian walkways are magnificent. All around the sacred rock and out to the rest of Athens, which never looked better. And now there is the new Acropolis museum which is a fine piece of architecture and you know that the world will take notice when it finally opens in September and the campaign to recover the Parthenon marbles picks up steam.

But for now there is a cool breeze and a cresenct moon floating above the temple of Wingless Victory --Nike and over here there is an excellent guitar player, and futher down the path a nice accordion player, and even a barrel organ and a santouri player. The man playing the santouri is dressed like a tsolia -- an outfit inspired by the garb of the soldiers of the Greek revolution of 1821, now worn by the guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma square in Athens, familiar to Greek Americans from their annual visits to our Greek parades. Yes, the santouri player is a bit incongrous, yes his greek accent suggests his origins are a little more northern than he'd admit, but you gotta give some credit to someone who would wear that outfit in public, even in Greece. Ernest Hemingway, who as a journalist covered the initial progress and ultimate destruction of the Greek Expeditionary forces in Asia Minor 1920-1922, gave a less than charitable description of the handful of modern Greek soldiers who were dressed that way, but what about those guys at the St. Patricks day parade dressed in kilts?

And above us unfolds a light show for the ages. First the incomparable Pentelic marble shines white, then as the sun sets there is a golden glow. Things go dark for a while, then the electric lights yield a modern glory and after all is said and done, nobody wants to leave.

GREECE IN SPRINGTIME and OLYMPIC IS DIFFERENT TOO

2008-04-07T23:33:00.000-07:00

Here I am! One month in Greece in springtime. Wow!

OK, lets get this out of the way quickly. Dean is not a beach person. The things that attract most people to Greece are very nice, but the oppressive heat gets in the way of really enjoying your trip. In my "yout" I built some awesome buildings out of sand but Greece in July and August left much to be desired because I like to walk around alot. And you don't have to see a beautiful woman in a bathing suit to apprecite her.

So here I am in Athens, in Glyfada in April and its amazing. When the sun is out, its warm. Yes, there were people swimming in Glyfada yesterday, April 7! When its cloudy --which is a new experience for me in Greece -- its cool. Wonderful. I get my exercise be jogging up and down the foothillls of Mount Ymittos. Mornings, evenings, its very refreshing.

Its been eight years since I've been to Greece. It so happens that I have not travelled anywhere by plane since 9/11. Athens has changed much, as I will soon tell you. First, I must eat some crow.

When I was sixteen I had one of those wonderful (not!) experiences with Olympic airways.
My sister and I were returning to the USA with my mom and the plane was overbooked. There was no seat for me. Any they didn't care. The stewards and stewardeses were extremely busy being rude to other people. We were taxing towards the runway and still no seat. I asked a big, tough looking steward who probably endured more difficult things in the Greek military if I could have his seat. "No" and he walked away. No doubt about it, they were going to let me stand during takeoff. I was 16 but I looked no more than 13. They just did not care. Finally jsut as the plane turned on teh runway, a stewardess "discovered" an empty seat. I will never understand how it was not a priority to find a seat for this kid. If they had let me stand, I wonder if I could have sued them.

I swore I would never fly with them again. Then I won the FREE TICKET to Greece on Olympic. Now this was a problem. Not because of stubborness, but because I'm only superstitious about three things: women, baseball and flying. I have said for years that I would never give Olympic Airways a dime. But its all OK. Now (after many near bankruptcies) its Olympic AIRLINES (which is what everyone always called it. And I didn't give them a dime anyway --the taxes went to the Greek government.

So how was my flight?

IT WAS WONDERFUL!

We left on time. We arrived at 9:15 saturday morning--exactly one time. The stewardesses were polite if not sincere. Professionalism is better than friendship at 30,000 feet. And the food, overall, was OK but the lamb for dinner...was very delicious! And there was nice wine. So, thank you Olympic, I will never speak against you again...until the next nightmare. That free ticket they gave for the raffle was a great PR move.

I will post some more later today and I will try to post every couple of days, including pictures on my baby blog "An Amerinaki in Athens" which you can click on the left.

I SAW IT COMING--IT WAS EASY TO SEE IT

2008-04-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

Yup. The screaming over Greece defending its position on the name "Macedonia" has begun, led (sadly) by my venerable New York Times. Contrary to popular Greek opinion, the Times is usually fair: its has supported Greece on many issues and criticized her (sometimes rightly, sometimes not) on others. Its the same with Turkey: sometimes the Times smacks Ankara in one cheek and sometimes it kisses another one.

Here is my response. Do you think they'll publish it? I don't care. I'M GOING TO GREECE TODAY! (So why am I sending this to them at 2 AM?) YIASAS!!!

Greetings. The issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is complex. It’s the kind of issue that makes me pay $1.25 to the Times for enlightenment. How disappointing to read your shrill and shallow editorial: Shame On Greece: Messing With Macedonia

Few non-Greeks seem to understand what Greece is upset about (that’s the fault of successive Greek governments). In a nutshell, it is about IDENTITY, as vital an issue for a group or a nation as it is or an individual. Identity is who we are: our past, present and future. When Tito hijacked the name of the ancient Macedonians for part of his state it was an affront that Greece was forced to endure due to Cold War politics.
The Macedonians were a Greek tribe speaking a Greek dialect according to virtually all literary and archaeological evidence. They produced Aristotle (perhaps the second greatest Greek mind) and Alexander --arguably the greatest Greek.

The main Greek point is that since the peaceful settlement of disputes is a core principle of the NATO alliance, NATO and the EU should give heightened scrutiny to the application of a state that is not willing to compromise to resolve a dispute with its closest neighbor. Greece does not deserve censure for threatening to veto FYROM’s NATO application. Athens has for years worked hard to negotiate a compromise name –Upper or New Macedonia might be the solution. Even tiny states must display the common ethical and practical sense that one cannot have 100% of what one wants.

Critical Moment for Greece on Macedonia

2008-03-31T06:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings Hellenes and Philhellenes. Many of you are familiar with the dispute over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Few non-Greeks seem to understand what Greece is upset about (many of Greek descent are confused too). In a nutshell, it is about IDENTITY, as vital an issue for a group or a nation as it is or an individual. It's who we are, our past, present and future. When Tito ran Yugoslavia he hijacked the ancient Greek name of the Macedonians for the southernmost part of his state ( the GREEK tribe speaking a GREEK dialect according to ALL literary and archaeological evidence) who produced Aristotle (Maybe the second greatest Greek mind ever) and Alexander (arguably the greatest Greek) and who spread hellenism to the ends of the earth, with dramatic consequences for all history. As you may know, most of the inhabitants of FYROM are Slavic, speaking a language most similar to Bulgarian. As any history book would tell you, the Slavs didn't arrive in the Balkans until the 6th century AD ---800 years after Alexander, yet FYROM recently provocatively named their international airport after "Alexander the Great".

The point now is Greece is trying hard to resolve this dispute. After what I observed on the scene in DC in 1992 as a horrible, incompetent beginning of their efforts (the diplomats in DC were great, their colleagues back in Athens were totally CLUELESS) Greece is now very smart about things and is willing to compromise. FYROM on the other hand is completely unreasonable and is relying on American indifference and the perpetual expediency of the foreign affairs establishment in the USA to remain entrenched in a total no compromise stance.

There is only one way Greece can protect its heritage, and heritage IS vital to a nation and its culture-- what ELSE is there-- and that is to veto FYROM's application to join NATO, and later, to to join the EU. If this happens be prepared for screaming, invective, insults galore. So be it. The point for Greece to make is that since the peaceful settlement of disputes is a CORE PRINCIPLE of the NATO alliance, NATO and the EU SHOULD give heightened scrutiny to the application of a state that is not willing to resolve a dispute with its CLOSEST neighbor, and one that invests heavily in its economy and generates many vital jobs for its citizens at that.

And Don't Forget Cyprus

2008-03-31T06:06:00.000-07:00

Turkish army chief says troops will stay on island despite peace deal

Turkey’s armed forces chief said yesterday that some 40,000 Turkish troops will remain on Cyprus despite a new peace deal between Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot leaders. “There is no such thing as pulling troops out tomorrow if there is a peace deal today,” said Yasar Buyukanit, wrapping up a four-day visit to the island’s Turkish-occupied north. “The army needs to observe and be fully convinced on how safe Turkish Cypriots are,” he said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Pay attention to this one. This is more obscene than FYROM's position. To summarize:

Cyprus is now a member of the EU. Turkey desperately wants to join. How do you join a Union of states when you are illegally occupying a state that is already a member?

How do you expect the Greek Cypriots to sign off on the continuation of the occupation by forces that murdered at least 4000 out of its tiny population of 500,000 in 1974? Yes, there were hundreads of Turkish Cypriots who died along with hundreds of Greek Cypriots in inter communal violence in the 60s and 70s that DID LAST TOO LONG and both sides were to blame. But Ankara's solution of murdering 4000 Greeks was beyond barbaric.

A solution to the division of Cyprus must end the occupation at the very least (there are other important issues-- like making sure the proposed constitution can actually work this time--the original 1960 constitution was a disaster born of misplaced compromise and insincerity) and at the very start. Turkish Cypriots are protected by the tens of thousands of Turkish military forces at a Turkish base at Mersin only 40 miles away -- 5 minutes by F-16! 40,000 illegal troops remaining on Cyprus betrays reason and decency. If the civilian leaders of Turkey are serious about its EU membership they must reign in the Generals on this issue too. I believe Turkey should join the EU --good for Turkey, Greece and the EU for many reasons, especialy because it should lead to the resolution of other dangerous disputes between Greece and Turkey --but not on the backs o the Greek Cypriots.

Excellent Review of "The Audacity of Hope"

2008-03-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

By Nick Malkoutzis - Kathimerini English Edition ekathimerini.com

It says something about the wide appeal of a US presidential candidate that his «Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream» are published in Greek as well as many other languages, including Italian, Spanish,German and French. Senator Barack Obama's «The Audacity of Hope» has recently been translated and released on the Greek market by Polis as the interest in Obama's campaign to win the Democratic nomination and run for president against John McCain continues to grow here.

Greek readers will be in for a surprise as this is not the type of book they have become used to from their own politicians. Instead of grandiose political theorizing, they will get a down-to-earth view of policies that can change people's lives. Instead of stories about the agonizing process of decision making, they will get accounts of meetings with real people who have real problems.

The only drawback for readers in Greece is the fact that the Greek title translates as «I Dare to Hope.» The problem with this is that it misses probably the single most significant word in the whole book - audacity. The two distinct meanings of audacity (from fearlessness to presumptuousness) in the English language also encapsulate the two different views of Obama and his vision that someone can take after reading this book. You will either come away uplifted by having read the thoughts of an inspiring politician who is audacious enough to want to change the American political system and cut through party lines to improve people's lives or you will be left with the impression that the senator from Illinois is audacious enough to believe that he has the gravitas to carry through these unlikely reforms.

At its core, Obama's message in the book is very straightforward and can be found on just its second page: «... the simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the truth of this proposition and act upon it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done.»

It is clearly a message of hope and the book follows Obama's journeyto the Senate and beyond as he hones his beliefs and policies. Obama is the front-runner in what is likely to be a generation of politicians across the world that realize that the current political system is not serving the people well enough and that entrenchment in traditional party battle formations is not going to help change the situation.

Just as Bill Clinton's election in 1992 inspired a closer alignment to a «third way» in many European countries, so Obama has the potential to force politicians on this side of the Atlantic to re-examine their beliefs.There is a long way for Obama to go before he can claim this mantle but «The Audacity of Hope» lays a useful marker along the way.

As a Washington insider, albeit a relatively new one, his criticisms of the way the Senate and the wider political system in the USA works carry considerable weight and are intelligent enough to go beyond the customary raging against the state that some politicians use to get the public on their side. His call for politicians to develop a greater sense of empathy, for instance, is difficult to argue with: «I am obligated to try and seethe world through George Bush's eyes, no matter how much I disagree with him. That's what empathy does - it calls us to task, the conservative and the liberal, the powerful and the powerless, the oppressed and the oppressor. We are all shaken out of our complacency. We are all forced beyond our limited vision. No one is exempt from the call to find common ground.»

His honest look at the failings of the Democrats as well as the Republicans to grasp people's problems and their inability to align themselves with the hopes and needs of the electorate is also an indication that despite his relatively young age of 46 (or 44 when the book was written), he has enough political maturity to identify the problems around him; theb ook contains suggestions (not fully formulated policies) on tackling America'shealth insurance problems, poverty, crime, immigration and racial division. His writing also suggests that he is not the kind of politician that is willing to follow the crowd simply for the sake of expediency.

Obama is perhaps the USA's most skilled orator since Clinton and many parts of the book read like excerpts from stump speeches. Their heady mix of human interest and political vision makes the book eminently readable. He also makes the book very personal by including self-deprecating anecdotes about himself as a politician, husband and father. In fact, the strongest parts of the book are when he recounts meetings with normal people and how the problems of these voters have helped mould his position on a number of issues.

It is very clear from reading this book that Obama has a passion for politics that is matched by his love for the USA. In fact, the book ends with the line:«My heart is filled with love for this country.» Although an insight into his thinking and the makeup of this presidential hopeful, the book ultimately fails to answer the one question that is at the back of so many people's minds in the USA and beyond: Can this one-term US senator from a mixed-race background really live up to the vision he is building?

Just as there are some encouraging signs that he can pull it off, there are also some glaring gaps that leave plenty of room for doubt. His chapter on foreign policy, for instance, strikes a chord that will be music to the ears of many who believe the USA needs to regain trust and help rebuild diplomatic bridges. But the argument that the USA can simply negotiate with some of its strongest adversaries, such as Iran, and settle its differences is more lightweight than the paper it is written on. It smacks a little of Richard Nixon's so-called «secret plan» during the1968 presidential campaign to end the Vietnam War, which eventually turned out to be no plan at all. Similarly, Obama's desire to limit the influence of big business, protect US industries and create more jobs can only be applauded. But it is arguable how much a US president controls the free market as opposed to how much it controls him.

There is a possibility that in the not-too-distant future we will look back on Obama and his book as just being a flavor of the month that melted away into the political abyss. But there is enough audacious thought, in both senses of the word, woven into these 400 or so pages to provideeventhe most skeptical reader with some hope that the dream can, indeed,be reclaimed.

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An Amerikanaki in Athens

2008-03-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

Yiasas! I am off to Greece for the first time since 2000. First time in a plane since 9/11.
I won the proverbial "free round trip ticket to Greece on Olympic Airlines." Attending the annual dinner dance of the "Argonauts" of Magnesia on March 1st, I bought a raffle ticket. I never win raffles. But I had a feeling this time. When the first prize was anounced for "C. Sirigos" I was thrilled but not shocked. Once again Dean's belief that God does not have a script for us comes under fire. We'll see. If my trip results in a job or a fiancee, you are all invited to the party. The plan is to leave April 4 (after my birthday) and return May 3.

I will look into job opportunities there, so if you have any leads, let me know. As for fiancees, the good job must come first, and my dad signed off on my marrying a woman who was not Greek before he passed away -- may he rest in peace -- my mom tried to make him take it back, but I said "a blessing is a blessing". Still, the fiancee is unlikely, though I hope to meet some nice english-speaking ex-pats from other countries since the diplos and others won't be away on THEIR Easter vacations. A job in Greece however might be interesting. Staying in Greece for a while or one splitting time between Europe and the States? Sign me up for that. Will anybody miss me?

I plan to update the blog at least every few days with words and pictures from Athens, Thessaloniki ( my first trip to northern Greece), Sifnos for Pascha (where my family is from) and maybe I'll finally set foot in Peloponessos with a day trip to Corinth. I'm told that Greece in springtime, especially Sifnos, is beautiful. Fields of red poppies and other flowers, lots of green stuff that the sun burns up by July. And I'm not a beach person, so I won't miss July and August.

My only concern is the fact that when I was thirteen I swore I would never fly Olympic Airways again. One of those classic bad experiences with that outfit. I have only a handful of superstitions: baseball, women and flying, so I had to think about this carefully. But it will be ok: its not called Olympic Airways anymore (Olympic Airlines now) and I won't be giving them any money: the taxes go to the Greek government, wherever THAT is. A numbered Swiss bank account?

I wonder if the strikes in Greece will continue. They are all outraged over pension reform. I don't get it, and people I ask don't get it. They refuse to work more years to save their pensions but from what I'm told, they barely work any years towards their pension now --and refuse to do the math that shows that without reforms the systems will be bankrupt. Reminds me of former Archbishop Spyridon demanding (and getting) a pension at FULL salary for his three years of failed service that was about to tear apart the Greek American community, while my father did not get a dime for his 20 years of service to the Church. Mind you, I believe Spyridon is a good man and a good clergyman, but he was in over his head as Archbishop of America and when it was time for him to go (sorry but there are no resignations or retirements for bishops in the Orthodox or Catholic Churches: changes are made through depositions) those financial demands (according to the press) were too much. When my father was able to finally become a priest, he was so excited he willingly agreed to go without a pension, even though his early retirement from his prior work wiped out virtually all of his retirement benefits. So I understand the concerns of the Greek workers, but compromise in such matters is not only necessary, its a civic duty. Pension reform is inevitable when people no longer live 67 years, more or less. Without reforms, in order to pay people 70-100 years of age you must tax the heck out of younger workers. Not fair, even though I no longer count as a younger worker.

Back to my trip to Greece: pray for me to keep my mouth shut about such matters. Mr. Common Sensopoulos moved out of Greece centuries ago. However, I'm told Greece has made great progress. More young greeks have education and work experience in other countries etc. and Athens has become a world-class capital city since the Olympics and the new Metro and of course, the new Acropolis Museum, which I will report upon.

So...yiasas and Kali Anastasi--Happy Easter.

Appearience -- No its not another typo!

2008-03-22T23:33:00.000-07:00

One of the "joys" of being a substitute teacher in a New York City Public High School is that you learn interesting things from your students --sometimes by accident.One afternoon I turned around to face the blackboard (not always a safe thing to d0: once a bottle of soda --plastic, but half filled--came whizzing by my ear) and I saw a word that was seemed familiar. I couldn't afford to devote that moment to closer inspection, but I made a mental note, then returned my attention to the sometimes good, sometimes wild students. After the bell rang and the students left to torment real teachers in their next class (no, they are not so bad...all the time) I looked at the word again. "a-p-p-e-a-r-i-e-n-c-e" "appearience". Did the student mean to write "appearance" or "experience" I don't know, but the result is one of those great moments in literature: the birth of a neologism. A new word! Invented by one of my students! (well, a colleague's student--I'm just a sub).

Appearience. What is that? I'm glad you asked. After what seemed to be YEARS of campaigning by an endless list of people nobody ever heard of, we are down to three candidates. All three are senators. Until recently I believed this was a problem, that only governors should run for president. I believed that experience actually governing large polticial entities was an essential qualification for president. but I live in the New York Metropolitan Area --the tri-state area. I dare say that few people in this neck of the woods: Connecticutt, New Jersey and New York are still impressed with any man or woman who serves as a governor. Yes this is the era of GOVERNORS GONE WILD.

Appearience is the "appearance" of having "experience".

Barack Obama, who had his share of problems last week (see todays's Obama post) is innocent, never having claimed to be the most experienced presidential candidate. He claims other qualifications that we won't go into here.

John McCain, on the other hand, claims that he has the necessary experience to lead us out of the mess created by another former governor who REALLY killed my belief that Governors are the people best prepared to be president: can you say "Dubya?" McCain, at least among republicans, has gotten away with this --probably because they know best what a mistake it was to credit George Dubya Bush's tenure as Governor of Texas. Even though a legislator's job is vital and few people have what it takes to be a great legislator, it does not give you governing experience. House and Senate staffs are pretty small. But he did seem to have expertise in national security and foreign affairs. This week we learned that he only had foreign policy appearience. Senator Lieberman-- who had to whisper in Mccain's ear the right words about Iran and Iraq and Shiites and Sunni's--he has foregin policy exprience, but he's not running for President.

Which brings us to Hillary. She came close to pulling off the most breathtaking "appearience" coup. She came pretty close to persuading lost of people that by virtue of standing next to her husband, President Bill Clinton, SHE had genuine experience of the kind vital to a successful presidency. Then they opened up her calendars and schedules and we saw that her days were filled with teas and photo opps and all of a sudden she looked more like Barbara and Nancy and Laura (quoth Dubya) "the love of my life", than George H.W. or Ronnie or Bill. And now there is a debate over whether she played some kind of important role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland but geez, if you stand in one place long enough you will have at least one chance to do something good.

And there you have it folks: McCain and Clinton: lots of appearience.

The Audacity of...

2008-03-22T23:07:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama took a big hit this week. Obama's Pastor Jeremiah Wright is more than an albatross, he is a disgrace. No man or woman who preaches God's Word, the Gospel of Jesus, has any business spewing the kind of hate and racism and paranoia that issued from his pulpit throughout the years. Now some of my Greek friends know that there are at least a handful of our own priests who have said similar things, but they were not MY pastors and I'm not running for President--and I've already confronted a couple of them publically. If they are YOUR pastors, maybe its time to speak up. Racism is evil no matter the circumstances or heritage of the protagonist. It is one of the great moral triumphs of the 20th century (yes there were such) that humanity has come to realize that racism-- and not only when it becomes evil in the extreme form of genocide--is a great sin. We are all children of God. Period.

I believe Obama addressed this matter as well as is humanly possible. It was a powerful speech --what we have come to expect of him: passion and and eloquence, but it may not be enough. I think his candidacy will survive. At the very least this issue gives him another opportunity to show America how he handles crises. Personally, I believe he should have made that speech months ago, but it is perfectly understandable ( and for a political animal like me, excusable, buts that is no credit to me) that he chose to wait until it became an issue in the media. He obviously gambled that it would blow up on him only after America got to know and admire him--bringing it up too early may have wrecked his candidacy. But he did finally address it, honestly and forthrightly. I believe we all have had similar experiences; people who are actual or virtual family members who are basically good people but with a dark side. Personally, I would have found a way to leave Wright's church but still remain a friend, a friend who confronts his friend's dark side and tries to heal his spiritual wounds, but again, I'm not a politician.

It is most unfortunate that Barack got the title of his book. 'The Audacity of Hope" from Wright. It an excellent boook. Reading it sealed my conviction that Obama would make a good president. The books proves there is substance behind his words, especially in my largest are of concern, foreign affairs. All Americans , pro or anti-Barack, should read it.

I have found myself in a similar situation. It really bugs me that I must quote Timothy McVeigh everytime I need to make the point that "actions have consequences". Got that Barack?

The Games People Play

2008-03-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hello sports fans, and welcome back to my blog. This is what blogs were made for: everyone gets to comment on everyone's lives and, ahem, loves. I really am not sure how this is supposed to work yet. I need more practice. I was told my last post was tooooo long. This one will be mercifully brief. Sort of.

Yes, Eliot Spitzer has crash and burned. We knew SOMETHING was coming after his political battles and shennanigans in Albany last year, but THIS? Spitzer was elected governor of the Great State of New York with a record margin. That spells FUTURE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT. Candi-date. Now I'm not sure what kinds of "candi" or "dates" are in his future but they ain't sweet and they ain't about the White House. I said I would be mercifully "brief", but with bad jokes I show no mercy. Which brings us back to Eliot. Two weeks ago I met a couple named Spitzer. I asked if they were related to Eliot. They smiled slightly and said "no". I then commented that I never saw anyone rise and fall so quickly. Their faces turned a bit ashen. I don't believe anyone including Eliot knew what was coming, but maybe the family sensed something was wrong. I looked at the man again and noted a slight family resemblance. I politely said "goodbye" as they walked away. Ouch.

All the amateur psychologists have weighed in so now its my turn. How did this happen? Arrogance of power? The natural risk taking that great success requires? Do people at that level believe the rules don't apply to them? I vote for a powerful self-destructive streak that was ticking away inside him--yes, combined with numerous complexes.

Ther are so many questions. If he was trapped in a loveless marriage, why not have a discreet affair that if discoverd would be eventually forgiven by friends, family and press. Why, if you are a man who has built his career on character and integrity and have been elected on a pledge to clean up Albany (do we now know that to be a joke, or do we pray real hard for soon-to-be-governor Patterson?) do you hook up with a mob-run prostitution ring? Is it the power over-drive again? Or are his obseesions too deep for us to fathom. Did he need to be in complete control over a woman, so he needed a woman with no power over him?

It is not that he believed he would not be caught. Eliot prosecuted prostitution rings. He knows all the tricks, all about suspicious bank transactions, cell phones etc. Nope, at some level he wanted to be caught. What was going on? A Dostoyevskyesque conscience on a slow burn after years of heartless, cruel prosecutorial methods that were driven deep down by something other than a powerful sense of justice? Something like that. Too much joyful destruction of lives and families so that he could be president one day? Did he bury too many father figures whose ghosts would surely eventually haunt him? His wife is slightly older than him. A mother figure who would be succeeded by an endless stream of young women who evoked his own mother? Oedipal stuff. OK too much already. Did I break my promise to be brief? Did I break an unpspoken promise not to be be disturbing? NO to the second one. Basic exposure to modern psychology and literature beg these questions. Eliot's SPECTACULAR collapse begs these questions.

On a sympathetic note (slight) what the hell does he say to his daughters? If he had sons, two weeks, two months go by when they are angry at him for hurting their mother and then he sits down with them, apologizes profusely and talks about the ways of the world. But what does he say to his daughters?

Enough on Eliot. They are dancing on Wall Street (I witnessed some of that this week) but his targets were not all innocent: the world's financiers perform a vital role but they need powerful deterents against abuse of their power. But then, so do prosecutors. By the way I think that between Giuliani and Spitzer, we now know that great prosecutors make lousy governors. The very traits that make them successful in the one area makes success in the other impossible.

Let us pray for soon-to-be-Governor David Patterson. He seems to be a good man and a dedicated public servant. He has good relationships with Republicans in Albany and maybe he can fix some of the worst things in this great state.

Politics, Politics, Politics. No baseball. Politics.

2008-03-04T23:10:00.000-08:00

OR: March Madness

Here we are. Ohio has spoken. Texas has spoken. What have they said? No Really, where are we? Actually, nobody knows. Hillary is still standing and now claims the momentum (more on that later). Barack has to fight some more. I guess that's all good. For the media. For the fundraisers. But for the party? I don’t think so. For a number of reasons. First, its going to drag on and on, longer than usual. Or at least longer than what we have been recently used to. Are you ready for the key piece of information? The Democratic National Convention does not take place until the LAST week of August (according to past practice it should have been scheduled for July). The face of the Democratic party for six whole months will be a bizarre mix of boredom and ugliness. After that potential bloodbath of a convention, the Republican party has its party. THEY can't wait. They picked their nominee tonight. Mike Huckabee has dropped out, John McCain is their nominee and unless someone tempts the preacher in to believing the Lord wants him to run as an independent because McCain is not right enough, the Republicans will unite and watch the Democrats tear themselves apart. Some of them will be laughing it up and others will be taking notes.

The other problem for the Democrats since Obama could not deliver a knockout blow and force Hillary to bow out and support him is the issue of those Superdelegates, and what to do about Florida and Michigan. We’ll get to that later.

Now I must admit I was wrong about tonight. Until last week I strongly believed it was over for Hillary -- I did not think she was done after Iowa, I did not think New Hampshire would kill her, but last week I thought she was dead. I believed that Hillary, who had made GREAT strides as a campaigner these past few years, reached her limit. Against the usual suspects, the empty grey suits in both parties, she was the breath of fresh air for many people (despite those in both parties who hated her). But against someone with intelligence (like Edwards) and charisma (sorry Senator Edwards) but who was not self destructive (sorry Mayor Giuliani) she reached her limits. She was sounding strident and mean and unsure of herself. Thats's the main reason I thought she would lose. Maybe her past few weeks have taught her how to transcend that as well. Winning solves only part of the problem by boosting self confidence. Hillary needs some genuine character growth to back up a shift in her persona, and maybe she will get some now. I said she needed it two weeks ago in order to make a comeback, but sometimes a good break will do, as we will see below.

The other way candidates make comebacks is chanelling the dark side. We greeks will never forget what Willie Horton for Bush Sr. I believed Hillary would not play the Obama rhymes with you-know-who and has the same middle name as the other (dead) you-know-who game. Not only because I believe Hillary is a person of good character (she just can't hide the politician in her as well as the others do) but because I thought it would not work. As a seasoned political observer however, I knew that if she were persuaded that it would work, she would be forced to do it. The irony is that Obama saw it coming. On the first page of his book "The Audacity of Hope" he wrote that in September 2001 one of his advisors told him everything has changed. His name was now a big political liability. To his infinite credit, he did not pack it in. He was true to his vision and his mission. Yes his ambition, but you have to have ambition to accomplish anything in this world. But it would be difficult for him . Ignorance and bigotry still reign throughout the land. More people believe in Angels than evolution (Jesus Christ, evolution is established scientific FACT, invented by Jesus Christ. Even a relatvie of mine says: if his father and grandfather were Moslems then he’s a Moslem). He knew he had to be careful, and alert and respond properly to any garbage that would be thrown his way. And he knew he had to be careful about pictures, etc. Yes everyone who travels abroad will sooner or later have to don some funny looking clothes but did he have to put on the TURBAN? Never mind. He's a better man than I am. He accepted all the risks.

It was inevitable that his ethnic and religious background would become an issue. It was an issue for Mike Dukakis, despite the color of his skin and his Harvard degree. Despite even his religion, because maybe it was the wrong branch of Christianity in 1988 and it raised somke question somewhere, proabably not among those who would have voted for him if he were a pure red-state Protestant, he was still a Christian. So the picture of Barack H. Obama in native Somalian garb was everywhere. I'm pretty sure the Clinton people dug it up, but maybe not. And so what. My friends tell me the least oxymoronic phrase in the world is “dirty politics”.

The bright spot for Democrats is that maybe its better it came out now, with all the talk (utter nonsense, already disproven, including the junk about his schools in Indonesia) about his really being a Moslem. How can you "really be a Moslem" if your father and his grandfather were apostates from Islam (a capital offense!!) before you were born and if you are a devout Christian, baptized due to your conviction about the faith despite your parents' atheism. Now you know from other things on this blog that I find this mixture of religion and political distasteful if not obscene, but lets at least takes someone's declaration of his own religious belief at face value. If he were a phony, it would have come out long ago. Separation of Church and State, I will say it over an over, is one of America's greatest gifts to mankind. Its better for the Church and its better for the State. It helps prevent the corruption and abuse of both. ‘Nuf said.

The course of this campaign might also be good for the Democrats if Hillary does end up getting the nomination because it demonstrates toughness and guts, which is different from the "bitchiness" she is accused of. Which brings us to Bill. Bill has been beaten up by everybody--Republicans, Democrats, Independents, butchers. Butchers are given a bad name because Bill has been Hillary's hatchet man. But every candidate has a hatchet man. Hillary needs one more than most because as a woman she is even more vulnerable to the charge of meanness, nastiness, bitchiness, whatever. Did Bill come on too strong? Yes he did. Was he responsible for Hilary's slide prior to today? No he was not. All of the above were going to catch up with Hilary and were going to knock her out. Unless she got a break.

She got a break. Obama, or his campaign at least, stumbled. Two things helped her blow Obama away in Ohio. First, the Clintons must have called in every favor from organized labor imaginable. At least among those labors leaders who did not endorse Obama (most did). Second, they jumped on the clumsiness of Obama’s senior economic adviser -- Austan Goolsbee. He reportedly told a Canadian official that the Senator does not mean what he says about opting out of NAFTA. There’s a great Greek word for an act like that—it begins with the letter M, but this is a family blog.

What a disaster in a state like Ohio where voters believe NAFTA is crushing them and in general because it calls into question Obama’s integrity—one of the areas where until now he has blown away “those crafty Clintons” (that’s what Murphy Brown used to say). The polling data—showing a surge in support for Hillary in the last three days, among the late-deciders-- indicts Goolsbee as the man who killed Obama’s momentum.

Oh that funny word. Momentum. Sports fans know what momentum means. If you are a dumb jock whose agents gets you a spot in the broadcast booth, your favorite phrase is momentum. This team has it now, that team just regained it. B.S. It might mean more in some sports than in others, but to me it the next nerve cell that fires in the brain of your pitcher, your quarterback, your point guard--or, in this case, your Senior Economic Advisor. One brain cell gone awry. The difference between a strikeout and a grandslam. Mariano either throws it straight to Jeter in games 7 2001 (as he ALWAYS does) or into center field—one cell misfiring made the difference. John Starks has the best game of his life in game 6 in 1994, then he has the WORST game of his life in game 7. What does momentum do for you against Michael Jordan in 1996, Sandy Koufax in 1966, Jesse Owens in 1936? Oh yes, Koufax’s team lost in ’66, but he gave up only 2 hits—no runs--untouchable. So am I wrong about momentum? No. I mixed in my own B.S. to demonstrate that all talk of momentum is B.S. Momentum is one of those things that you think you can see and feel and touch, but is really an illusion. A REAL illusion, not like Sandy Koufax’s curveball that is called an illusion by ‘“physicists” every now and then. Really, an illusion? The why can't the scientistist hit it? I have a friend who gets annoyed with me and asks “why do you bring baseball into every conversation?” I don’t know. Back to politics.

SUPERDELEGATES. Yes indeed. THEY have the power. 700 individuals. Not unelected as some say –most of them are members of Congress, governors,etc. duly elected by their democratic constituents. The rest are ex-presidents, vice-presidents, long-standing party leaders. Not unworthy as some say. Very worthy. They want to do what will help get a democrat elected president, and they are very smart people and shrewd politicians. This is not elitism, this is respecting knowledge and experience. STILL, if Barack Obama leads in pledged delegates elected in primaries yet is deprived of the nomination because of the superdelegates, THAT will be ugly. The PERCEPTION (which is ALL in politics) will be that Obama was robbed. That the Democratic party which claims the moral mantle of the civil rights movement will have stabbed its first presidential black presidential nominee in the back. I know this because my Republican friends who plan to vote for Obama tell me this.

The only way Obama can be deprived of the nomination without the Democrats cracking up is if Obama’s campaign cracks up. If he begins to stumble badly. Or if the heightened scrutiny that is the natural result of being the leader in the race for the nomination causes some really bad things to come up, if not in Obama’s past, then in his relationship to his supporters, some of whom seem very radical and shady indeed (though everybody’s got some: remember those guys Bill Clinton pardoned. Yuck! And what if McCain picks Huckabee to be his V.P?)

My Republican friends have convinced me that the superdelegates MUST reflect the will of their states. Which brings us to the final ugliness: Florida and Michigan. Hilary wants those delegates. Hillary thinks those delegates will make her President. Well, it might have gotten a little less ugly yesterday: by winning Ohio big and running very strong in Texas, she can now (if she is really smart, and if she isn’t, Bill is) demand new primaries in those states—since she now has her “momentum” back—instead of trying to get them based on the original primaries there despite the fact she agreed with the Democratic Party leadership that they should not be seated at the convention. She won big in Florida because all the other candidates stayed away. Not fair, not honest, not what America is looking for. And with six months to fill, new primaries in Florida and Michigan would be fun. LOL.

And now this essay or effort will be brought to a close. I will say that I think Hilary is just and good and worthy a candidate as Barack Obama. Both have less experience than I would want in a president, but I can say the same thing about McCain. I like nominees who were/are governors. Yes in spite of the G.W. Bush disaster. I belive that because the REAL value of experience is knowing how to select and delegate to and monitor the people who run the government for you and how not to be manipulated by them and other forces in society. I believe the Republican party picked an incompetent W. for two reasons: because he was liked by most Americans at the time (that was a long time ago) and because being dumb as a post (though also a sharp politician—not a contradiction) he could be exploited. Well, I believe McCain, Clinton and Obama are all vulnerable there, but I shifted from Hillary to Barack simply because I thought he would win—and I still do. I know that in an earlier posting I said he was not ready to be president but on my radio program the week of super tuesday I noted that another important element of leadership is picking and managing a good team. Obama may even have one up on J.F.K. here because the latter really benefited from the team his father built for him. There is no shame in that: Alexander deserves the credit for winning with Philip's army, but Barack's work is impressive. What they have accomplished so far has persuaded me to support him, but the ultimate test of his team and his leadership begins now.

If and when he gets the nomination, I have one suggestion for him. One that I believe will get him elected President of the United States. If he doesn’t do this, I predict he will lose a very close election just as I believe Hilary will.

When Barack Obama wins the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States he should pick Colin Powell to be his Vice President. Powell will give him the vital foreign policy national security gravitas (another dumb word). The Independents and Republicans who like him but have doubts will then happily pull the lever (or push the button, or poke out the chad) for Barack Obama.

There. More than 2000 words for all of you who are annoyed I have not written anything for over a month. God bless.

A Political Moment

2008-01-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

Hello friends. Time for a political moment. There will be more.

I am responding to the Presidential Campaign. First, it looks like Rudy Giuliani gambled on Florida and lost. People will say he was stupid to do so, but I don't agree. It was a gamble--50/50, but I think he had to take it because west of the Hudson river, they just don't like New Yorkers. But there are lots of former New Yorkers in Florida. They needed to convince their friends and neighbors to vote for Rudy. It didn't work. So here is my republican forecast. John McCain for president, Rudy Giuliani for Vice President. My republican friends say Rudy's ego will not allow him to be Veep, but I disagree. First, he'd be the first Italian-American Vice President and I think that would be important to him. Second... McCain has health issues.

Now for my main point. I am a democrat after all. People are freaking out that Ted Kennedy endorsed Barack. GIVE ME A BREAK. That is the best thing that has happened to Hillary in the past week. Outside New York and Massachusetts and some parts of California, NOBODY likes or respects Ted Kennedy. NOBODY. When republicans want to raise moeny they send out letters telling people what Ted is up to. Most "independents" are former or potential democrats who think irresponsible liberals control the democratic party. The poster boy of irresponsible liberalism is Ted Kennedy. If you want an indedent to vote for you, get Ted Kennedy to endorse your opponent. Way to go Hillary! (or maybe Bill made a pass at one of Ted's girlfriends. Way to go Bill! Now I like Caroline Kennedy and respect her, but she is not a heavy hitter.

As for Barack Obama, he is a gifted man and he has a bright future. But he is not ready for president. 3 years ago I met a woman who worked for him and what she said was impressive. She said he would run for president one day and my response was "great, but he has to run for Governor of Illinois." She disagreed with me but I believe I'm right (its my blog, no?).

There is a bias against democrats that is not necessarilly unfair. A democratic candidate for president has to prove he or she has the ability to govern more than a republican candidate does. Its not unfair because democrats tend to run on a platform of change, or a grater role for government in our lives. Republicans, being conservative, would rather shrink government, or at least not implement new programs. The idea is that a person who wants to change government needs to prove that she knows how government works and usually that means she must first have been a successful governor. Now Hillary Clinton has made the case that her 8 years next to Bill in the chambers of power has given her that experience. I don't buy the argument, but I do believe she is capable of governing. I believe Barack has it in him too, but his case for bypassing the experience that most voters and I prefer is not as strong.

IF Hillary wins, Barack's best bet is to accept a VP nomination (if Hillary offers it, and I doubt she will) or run for governer of Illinois. If he's a good governor, no one will be able to bring up the experience issue again. He will still be young in 4 or 8 years.

In the meantime...GO GIANTS!

A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to Today

2008-01-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Greetings friends, I have not posted anything for a while, and while I still dont have anything creative or substantial to post, I believe it is important to try to keep the creative juices flowing, so I'll just share some thoughts on a cold winter's night.

I just got home and was watching a quirky film on channel 13. I was annoyed with PBS for changing their programming. Saturday night until recently was a night when they would show movie classics, which was good for me because I don't have cable. But I'm enjoying the movie--an independent non-hollywood film, maybe even a student film.

Aren't surprises wonderful! I used not to like surprises but I now believe surprises are important. I have concluded that at some level of His Being God likes to watch the world unfold without being aware of how the script ends --evolution as entertainment. If there is a script. All my friends regardless of their ideologies or faith seem to believe there is a script--i dont think there is a script. So when we enjoy surprises we are being like God. I used to think God built chance into the world so that we can have free will, but philosophers like Daniel Dennett are saying determinism does not rule out freedom. So maybe chance exists for God's entertainment. Eternity can be a little boring at times and, see Einstein, God does play at dice.

Maybe its not a coincidence that April 1st is near the great religious festivals of Easter and Passover. April Fool's pranks as sacrament. To western Christians, especially Catholics that will sound very sacriligeous. To Orthodox Christians who know that "mysteria" extend beyond the 7 they learned about in Sunday School it will sound vaguely saciligeous. But I have long believed God is a comedian. Think back to some of the experiences that have brought you closer to God, that made you somehow feel his presence in your life and in the world, the experiences that validated or reinforced what you were taught as children. Yes, most were serious, perhaps during times of personal crisis. But some of them may hve had traces of humor. Maybe in the way we think some of the nasty people in our lives have been punished. Maybe its just us. Or maybe we tasted a bit of the Divine playfulness. Our sense of humor is one of the things that most makes us human, so it must reflect in some way something in God's Essence.

Think of the times when you played with your children or nephews or any children. Were these not some of the most beautiful and joyous moments of your life? Were you and they not at those moments in the Image and Likeness of God? Was there not an abundance of Love in that play?

Which brings me to a point I did not expect (surprise!) to visit in this posting, memories of my dad have suddenly started flooding my consciousness. So not just when we play but when our parents played with us were some of the best times of our lives. Those experinces sustained us and shaped us, especially those who had more difficult childhoods than the one's we baby boomers and post baby boomers experienced in an America blessed by God. Our Father who art in heaven, you can play with us too. Do not make us your plaything, but show us the way, in all seriousness, and in humor too.

2007-12-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas Without Father

Greetings friends, I hope this posting finds you and your family well, enjoying a happy and healthy holiday season. I wish you the same throughout the New Year.

I feel like I have nothing to write or say today but here I am. This is meant to be just a prelude to some poetry I will share with you. You have seen a little bit of what Christmas meant to me and my family, and especially to me and my dad. As father and son from and in different worlds, we didn't have much in common but what was there was good. Christamastime was very good. I hope that what you gained from my words about dad it that it is very much worth the efort to try to get to nkow, make peace, bridge teh gads with our loved one, even down to the very last moment.

I experienced a beautiful Christmas Liturgy (Mass) at the Greek Cathedral last night in Manhattan. When they were about to sing Christmas carols I knew which one they would begin with. My gut began to turn and when the choir rang out with "O come all Ye Faithful" the tears began to stream. Good, clear, cleansing tears. Merry Christmas bamba!

My holiday present to you is some poetry. Other than epic poetry: The Divine Comedy, Faust, The Odyssey and the Iliad, poems never made much sense to me. I found some love poems beautiful, but being in love (and losing your beloved) is such a singular thing, a string of unique moments in unique lives, that I never could connect, never could find them more than quaint--even from the pen of the Bard--whoever he-she-they might have been. Maybe thats why we always think that the love poems or letters we write are more beautiful than those of the greatest writers.

But loss is different. The uniqueness of each loss is matched by its universality. All life ends in death; all will die. It is simpler to understand than love. Eventually every child simply understands that death is death. The person we knew is gone forever. It is the end of a relationship in one important earthly sense-- our eyes will NEVER see them again. Yet it is a complete mystery in its spiritual dimension--in that way it is like love: exactly how is it that we are now connected to this person with whom we were so recently connected in such a concrete, earthy way: we saw them, heard them, touched them.? Because we know so little about the afterlife that we hang on every word from someone who might enlighten us. Maybe this fool will attempt something soon. Yes a fool, born on April First. A certified fool--the certificate is in my desk.

This Rilke poems is not about death, but it seem apropos of this moment in my life. I could not enjoy his poems when I first tried to read them, before I turned 40. I think most of the power of poetry is aimed at, and requires the experience of middle age. There's not much about God in my words here. Since my father's death I have gone to his churches for comfort and communion, and I pray--the Jesus prayer, that powerful yet subtle prayer that is vaguely unsettling ot the modern mind because its true meaning and realm is just below the surface of consciousness (even if we are very good people, anger and all the passions seethe below our surface and generate unhealthy, ungodly guilt--which the repetitions of the prayer heals). The Fathers and Mothers of Christianity had a deep appreciation of its words as would, ironically, if they had read it, Jung and especially Freud:

LORD Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

I discovered this year that these words are powerul too:

LORD Jesus Christ, and Mother of God, have mercy

A combination Jesus prayer and Hail Mary. I left out words "a sinner" because technically Mary does not fogive sins, but as the ultimate Mother figure, we need to feel her forgiveness just as we need to experience Jesus as a forgiving Father figure. And the great theologian Alexander Schmeman is surely right to call Mary "an icon of the Holy Spirit", the Comforter.

And I trying to listen to great music because from the great composeers those are pure messages from God. At this very moment God is speaking to me in the language of Bach--The Suite for Cello, BWV 1007. It's a wow--you've heard it in commercials and in movies. Listen to it during a quite moment, with or without a loved one's presence.

As I listen to the Bach, I'm somewhat mellower now so that I can contemplate more difficult things, I think maybe this is one of the moments when we are secretly angry at God. When we lose someone or something important, when we are told we have a serious illness. If we really feel the presence to God in our lives, or as one friend once said to me, "if we believe he really runs the whole show" ( I myself believe that chance and accidents are part of His machinery--because we need it for freedom and God loves surprises too--at some "level") how can we not be angry at God, at least for a time? We should be more aware of those moments: they are unhealthy only when we run away from them and we are strenghthened spiritually when we work them through and transcend them.

Before the Rilke, here is a little bit of poetic writing that Thomas Wolfe placed before the start of his book "Look Homeward Angel", a kind of prequel to "You Can't Go Home Again", both of which are long, beautiful books of what I guess would be called "prose poetry".

a stone, a leaf an unfound door

...a stone a leaf, and unfound door; of a stone,
a leaf, a door. And of all the forgotten faces.
Naked and alone we came into exile. In her dark womb we did not know our mother's face; from the prison of her flesh have we come into the unspeakable and incommunicable prison of this earth.
Which of us has known his brother? which of us has looked into his father's heart? Which of us has not remained forever prison-pent? Which of us has not remained forever a stranger and alone?
O waste of loss, in the hot mazes, lost among bright stars on this most weary unbright cinder, lost!Remembering speechlessly we seek the great forgotten language, the lost lane-end into heaven, a stone, a leaf, an unfound door. Where? When?
O lost, and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again

Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke
Translated by Stephen Mitchell

The First Elegy

Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels'
hierarchies?
and even if one of them pressed me
suddenly against his heart: I would be consumed
in that overwhelming existence. For beauty is nothing
but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure,
and we are so awed because it serenely disdains
to annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying.
And so I hold myself back and swallow the call-note
of my dark sobbing. Ah, whom can we ever turn
to in our need? Not angels, not humans,
and already the knowing animals are aware
that we are not really at home in
our interpreted world. Perhaps there remains for us
some tree on a hillside, which every day we can take
into our vision; there remains for us yesterday's street
and the loyalty of a habit so much at ease
when it stayed with us that it moved in and never left.
Oh and night: there is night, when a wind full of infinite space
gnaws at our faces. Whom would it not remain for--that longed-after,
mildly disillusioning presence, which the solitary heart
so painfully meets. Is it any less difficult for lovers?
But they keep on using each other to hide their own fate.
Don't you know yet? Fling the emptiness out of your arms
into the spaces we breathe; perhaps the birds
will feel the expanded air with more passionate flying.

Yes--the springtimes needed you. Often a star
was waiting for you to notice it. A wave rolled toward you
out of the distant past, or as you walked
under an open window, a violin
yielded itself to your hearing. All this was mission.
But could you accomplish it? Weren't you always
distracted by expectation, as if every event
announced a beloved? (Where can you find a place
to keep her, with all the huge strange thoughts inside you
going and coming and often staying all night.)
But when you feel longing, sing of women in love;
for their famous passion is still not immortal. Sing
of women abandoned and desolate (you envy them, almost)
who could love so much more purely than those who were gratified.
Begin again and again the never-attainable praising;
remember: the hero lives on; even his downfall was
merely a pretext for achieving his final birth.
But Nature, spent and exhausted, takes lovers back
into herself, as if there were not enough strength to create them a second time.
Have you imagined Gaspara Stampa intensely enough so that any girl
deserted by her beloved might be inspired
by that fierce example of soaring, objectless love
and might say to herself, "Perhaps I can be like her?
"Shouldn't this most ancient of sufferings finally grow
more fruitful for us? Isn't it time that we lovingly
freed ourselves from the beloved and, quivering, endured:
as the arrow endures the bowstring's tension, so that
gathered in the snap of release it can be more than
itself. For there is no place where we can remain.

Voices. Voices. Listen, my heart, as only
saints have listened: until the gigantic call lifted
them off the ground; yet they kept on, impossibly,
kneeling and didn't notice at all:
so complete was their listening. Not that you could endure
God's voice--far from it. But listen to the voice of the wind
and the ceaseless message that forms itself out of silence.
It is murmuring toward you now from those who died young.
Didn't their fate, whenever you stepped into a church
in Naples or Rome, quietly come to address you?
Or high up, some eulogy entrusted you with a mission,
as, last year, on the plaque in Santa Maria Formosa.
What they want of me is that I gently remove the appearance
of injustice about their death-- which at times
slightly hinders their souls from proceeding onward.

Of course, it is strange to inhabit the earth no longer,
to give up customs one barely had time to learn,
not to see roses and other promising Things
in terms of a human future; no longer to be
what one was in infinitely anxious hands; to leave
even one's own first name behind, forgetting it
as easily as a child abandons a broken toy.
Strange to no longer desire one's desires. Strange
to see meanings that clung together once, floating away
in every direction. And being dead is hard work
and full of retrieval before one can gradually feel
a trace of eternity. Though the living are wrong to believe
in the too-sharp distinctions which they themselves have created.
Angels (they say) don't know whether it is the living
they are moving among, or the dead. The eternal torrent
whirls all ages along in it, through both realms
forever, and their voices are drowned out in its thunderous roar.

In the end, those who were carried off early no longer need us:
they are weaned from earth's sorrows and joys, as gently as children
outgrow the soft breasts of their mothers. But we, who do need
such great mysteries, we for whom grief is so often
the source of our spirit's growth--: could we exist without them?
Is the legend meaningless that tells how, in the lament for Linus,
the daring first notes of song pierced through the barren numbness;
and then in the startled space which a youth as lovely as a god
has suddenly left forever, the Void felt for the first time
that harmony which now enraptures and comforts and helps us.

Ring in the New, Tear Down the Old: Yankee Stadium

2007-12-22T10:41:00.001-08:00

Sports fans are a notoriously sentimental and superstitious lot, baseball fans not least among them. And so the imminent destruction of Yankee Stadium is a very touchy subject. Yes, destruction. I’m being blunt because sentiment and superstition are always accompanied by denial. If you go to the Parks Dept. website: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/nyy_stadium/html/nyy_redevelopment.html
you will see that Old Yankee Stadium, or as I will soon clarify, Yankee Stadium will begin to be demolished as soon as the baseball season ends. The exact date depends on exactly how deep into November the Yankee season goes. If the Yankees go all the way, the wrecking balls will probably start crashing into the Stadium even as the Yankees are conducted down the canyon of heroes on lower Broadway. Thoughts of the death of Yankee stadium will be drowned out only momentarily by the joyous shrieks of delirious fans celebrating Worlds Championship No. 27.

They will be tearing down not OLD Yankee Stadium, but Yankee Stadium. That will be gone forever. That will be devastating. Yes gone forever because the place where all that greatness unfolded, the ground were august Popes and great boxers and splendid ballplayers prayed, punched, batted, jumped, ran, and won, will be gone. No, that trapezoid of holy ground will not be ripped eternally from the space-time continuum. It will still be the land south of 161st street. The context that defined it and the stone, steel and concrete that delineated it will be gone. The Yankees will be playing elsewhere and the structure will be carted away, melted down for scrap and dumped into a landfill, maybe to stabilize the endzone in the former swampland that is to be the new Giants & Jets stadium in New Jersey. I wonder if Jimmy Hoffa was a Yankee fan.

There is something we can do mitigate the worst of the pain and sadness, but that later. Now I want to suggest that the grieving process all Yankee fans will go through will be facilitated by a piece of honesty. It is a great tribute to the intelligence and I think the decency of the Yankee ownership that the new stadium’s name will not be sold to a corporation. Thank God it won’t be Yankee Stadium at Con Edison field or something equally atrocious. Thank God Cheney is not a Yankee (don’t laugh too hard, especially my Greek and Cypriot friends: Evil Empire types abound in Yankeeland: Henry Kissinger is a well-know devotee. So imagine if Cheney, the man known for getting his ways against all reason would have imposed Halliburton Field on the people of the Bronx and Yankeedom. Yes, there will be sections of the new place sold (but lets not say “sold out” the Yankees are a capitalist enterprise after all , so lets not be hypocrites) to various corporations. The left side of the bleachers might be “Appleland” with a Yankee version of the Mets apple poised on a giant I-pod. The right field bleachers might be WAMUland. The Great Hall, the vast concourse on the first base side of the stadium might be “The Great Hall of Merrill Lynch”. If Hideki Matsui is still on the team, he might be the featured Yankee in Hondaville or ToyotaTown. You get the idea.

But the name of the place cannot be Yankee Stadium, because Yankee Stadium will be gone. The renderings of the new stadium show “Yankee Stadium” in huge letters placed atop the upper deck behind home plate. It’s nice. They will probably be lit up and visible for miles. But honesty is a vital part of the grieving process. Calling the new place Yankee Stadium will not bring back the real Yankee Stadium. Yankee fans must call upon, petition and push the Yankees ownership, meaning Hank and Hal, to call it “New Yankee Stadium”.

“New” is a wonderful word. It is the essence of our world and our time, the modern world. The modern is different from the revered ancient and – classical. The modern is vital because it is alive and thriving and evolving. It is us, and the core of the modern is “the new”.

“New” is a noble prefix. History abounds with honorable uses. First of all, the city of the Yankees is “New” York. I haven’t been there and I’m sure old York is a wonderful town, but what place on earth approaches New York for energy and creativity? Maybe Shanghai or Bombay will become the “New” New York, but not yet. And our town was born with a different name, but still was “New”. New Amsterdam! And numerous other famous and glorious places were named new. Constantinople was the “New Rome” the greatest city in Christendom for almost a thousand years. During those thousand years that city had its ups and downs, at times the greatest city in the whole world, at times barely holding onto first place in Christendom, but its people and leaders were resilient and filled with imagination. When it emerged from its one “dark age” after attacks by mother nature (plagues and earthquakes) Persians and then the Arabs shattered the urban fabric of the classical world, they re-invented themselves, changed from Roman Empire to Byzantine Empire, and began to build and live on a grand scale again. The word “new “ marked their resurrection and resurgence in many contexts. One large church which was one of the models for the magnificent St. Marks of Venice was called the “New Church” “Nea Ekklesia” . An audience hall in the imperial palace was the “kainourgion” “The New Hall”. St. Symeon around the year 1000, who wrote of experiences of the “light of God” and who inspired the great mystics of the West was the “New Theologian.”

That is my case for calling the new building “New Yankee Stadium”.

The “new” is not always better. Man’s natural curiosity and hyperactivity will always generate new stuff and new ways. Some will be good and move humanity forward and make the world a better place, and some will not. Do we really need cell phones? Are we sure all that extra electromagnetic radiation is not harmful? Are new mini-states better for its citizens and neighbors than the larger states that were broken up? As the states of former Yugoslavia are trying to figure out what to do with themselves, I was informed by one of my favorite professors that it was a mistake to break up the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I politely disagree—I know people who pine for the Glucksbergs but no one who mourns the Hapsburgs. But will Europe be better with an independent Kosovo? Yes, as I write and you read, the geniuses in Washington in Europe are trying to create a new Kosovo. They have a brilliant new plan to “stabilize” the Balkans by taking away from the people of Serbia their most sacred land. The Serbians seem willing to compromise on borders and access, but geniuses do not compromise.

From the sublime to the ridiculous—or vice versa. Maybe the new Yankee Stadium is not in all ways better than the old: yes more spacious (those aisles and seats were cramped even for a little guy like me). There will be more luxury boxes and gourmet food stalls and all kinds of revenue-raising enterprises and tricks to make sure my team will always be able to afford the best baseball talent. It is an upgrade, a modernization of the original Yankee Stadium, but the drawings for the place seem a bit cold and sterile. Maybe it’s the style of the renderings. Its funny, sometimes your get architectural drawings that are spectacular but the finished buildings look pathetic (or at least disappointing, like the otherwise impressive Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in New York) and sometimes the opposite occurs: the renderings understate the warmth and elegance of the design and the actual building. We shall see.

My little detour into history and current European disputes reminds us that this is all about memory. Memory preserves that which we need to hold onto, what we must retain after the mourning is completed and the soul has healed. We must retain what promotes healing and enriches our future. Not denial but appreciation. We can retain something of that wonderful place called Yankee Stadium. When the city and Yankees first made their deal to build “New Yankee Stadium” the plan was to retain a portion of the stands of the original Yankee Stadium between third and first base. It would have been a nice touch—the high school students who use the field—whose form will be retained—could be cheered on by classmates, friends and family sitting in the actual seats of the original stadium. Some of the physical presence and structure of the old great stadium will still be there to frame their current achievements on the field of dreams.

It’s not too late for the Yankees and their fans to go back to the community leaders in the Bronx and enlist their support to return to the original plan to keep up some of the stands of the great place. I completely understand the motivation of the local residents to maximize their parkland. They WERE robbed by the Yankees and the city when the Stadium was renovated in 1976. The people of the south Bronx were promised much more than they received. Yes, New York was nearly bankrupt, but just as money was raised by philanthropists to improve Central Park, former Mayor Lindsay, who approved renovation plans and made the promises to begin with and who genuinely cared about the poor in New York, could have raised funds among his rich friends for south Bronx parks, but he is now gone.

The point is, the people remember they were cheated. But as we speak, old parks in the area are being upgraded and fantastic new parks will be built soon, some beautifully sited along the Harlem river. In the coming months, the community around Yankee Stadium will see some of these projects coming to fruition. A coalition of influential Yankee fans and politicians should approach the local leaders again to see if an agreement can be reached to preserve a little piece of Yankee Stadium as “New Yankee Stadium” rises next door. Our local geniuses may be able to craft a compromise. Maybe Mayor Bloomberg can make a modest donation. So the fans and local residents can visit and their children and grandchildren can play – at the genuine, original, beloved, Yankee Stadium.

MITCHELL REPORT: WHAT HAPPENS NOW

2007-12-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

The Mitchell Report is out. Its not perfect, its not a whitewash; its a start. I think I know what's going on: Mitchell sat down with Selig and Fehr and said: here are 89 well-documented cases. They will stand up in court. Its ugly and you must take more action. HOWEVER: I have another 100 or so cases right here. Not scrubs. Not retired guys. Not guys 1 or 2 years from retirement. 100 current players including your biggest stars--the core players of 15, 20, 25 franchises. A couple of my Red Sox too. The evidence is not as concrete. It may be circumstantial, but it is substantial. I will give these names to Congress and state attorney's general. They have subpoena power. They will indict a lot of steroid injected asses. They will go after GM's that were aware of illegal drug trafficking. If you two don't make dramatic changes in 6-12 months you will be facing your worst nightmare.

P.S. : BOO ROGER; WE BELIEVE YOU ANDY

ALERT ALERT--CONSTANTINE TALKING POLITICS: Where did we find these people?

2007-12-14T23:10:00.001-08:00

Right off the bat, I'm telling you all I'm a democrat. But it doesn't matter, because ALL the candidates are so lacking in the vital elements of leadership. I will admit the Jon Edwards is the only one with the brains and breadth and depth to be president, but maybe its because I don't know him well enough. I dont want to know him better because I'm wrong I will have to admit America has nothing to offer the world in terms of leadership. Ladies and gentlemen, the U.S. is very vulnerable right now--stretched thin economically, militarily, socially at home (when schools fail to teach the young, look out) and morally abroad, even though things still look good.For you history fans out there, think Athens 440 BC, Rome 250 AD, Constantinople 1050 AD, Napoleonic France 1812 (early in the year), Great Britain 1925. Not invevitably dead, but a couple of bad decisions and poor leaders from disaster. Is there anyone at either of those sets of debates (which have been going on for what, 6 years now?) who will be able to outsmart Putin, China, Bin Laden, anyone?

But here's what concerns me the most: I'm sure Mr. Huckaby is a heck of a guy, but a clergyman has no business running for president--yes and I said it about Jesse and Rev. Al. Separation of Church and State is one of America's greatest inventions.--good for states, good for churches. I am not talking about the elimination of religion from American culture, the denigration of religion has gone too far (but maybe religous institutions are at least partly to blame for that--the media does not make all of it up my right wing friends). And even though he is not a bishop or a rabbi or a mufti or even an active preacher, its not what America is about.

As an American of Greek descent, I took a beating when a talented, bright, good man named Dukakis ran a lousy campaign (or was he just the wrong guy against Bush Senior's dirty campaign?) Bill Clinton ran great campaigns, but he couldn't keep it in his pants and Gore paid for that, but Al really lost because he was a worse candidate than the Duke. Then we picked and even worse candidate--someone explain that to me, and the other party picked the dumbest candidate ever who may be the worst president of all time. And things look even worse this time around. God bless America!

2007-12-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

IT'S JUST A GAME

OK Base-ball fans, here we go. I wrote it base-ball because that's how it was written in the 1800's. I bring that up because we will be hearing a lot about tradition, national pastime, and mom and apple pie. Here is my warning: When a conversation about people drowning in money turns to questions of "right and wrong", duck because a lot of BS will be flying. We will all receive a great ethics lesson, or at least see a fascinating show about human nature. We will have another chance to see if the superstars of the world-- athletes, entertainers, politicians, religious leaders-- really give a darn about what the rest of us think. Maybe to perform at that level, you need a monstrous ego. Maybe the spotlight and the limelight cause egos to grow to monstrous proportions and we should pity them when they crash to the ground (yeah, right). Or maybe repentance and redemption are for real, that a conscience, if you had one to begin with, will not die. We will look earnestly for apologies and think hard about who to forgive. We hope to learn maybe that only some of those people are creeps.

Now for the people who run the business, who never injected anything but deposited hefty checks. Whose heads grew big from world series rings and media attention, not from HGH. We will see if actions speak louder than words and whether the Mitchell report on steroids use and all kinds of other drugs and substance abuse will indeed clean up my favorite sport. Clean it up because if the playing field is not level, then we who have spent money on tickets, merchandise, overpriced beer and food and time, have been robbed. So, will the Mitchell report be a prelude to reform or to the most massive PR exercise in recent years? We shall see. We need to know.

Because it’s not pro wrestling. Pro sports, baseball, football, basketball, hockey here, soccer everyplace else on the planet, is supposed to be pure. Purer than churches, purer than poltical elections, maybe purer than the food we eat and the air we breathe. If players cheat with their bodies, they may cheat in other ways when the local mobsters come along. That’s a problem. We need the idea of pure sport to give us a few moments away from the the frustrations and struggles in our lives. We need the idea of pure sport because, lets be honest, for many men sports is a relgious experiece: few people pray as hard for world peace as they do for a strikeout with two outs in the ninth inning. For many men, the only transcendant experience in their life is when Mariano gets the final out in the final game, Michael Jordan hits the winning jumper and Roger Staubach cries "Hail Mary". And maybe it is an outlet for our more violent human tendencies. So after the press conference tomorrow, don’t piss me off.

Now maybe the Mitchell report will have no lasting impact of any kind because human beings have a tremendous capacity for self-delusion and succumbing to manipulation. Maybe sports is just another addiction, another way certain chemicals have a strange effect on our brains (possibly related to our testosterone levels according to some studies) and so we fans can be excused too—we can’t help but continue to watch the game and drink the beer. As for this Yankee fan, I am bracing for anger and disappointment, but I know I'll get over it. It is just a game. Oh, but what a great game! First, let me trot out my best excuses and rationalizations. Are there legitimate excuses for our favorite players using illegal substances? Well, maybe at the start of their careers, in their wayward or naïve youth they used 'stuff" to help them bulk up, to have a shot at the big leagues, and then stopped. If they admit it and apologize, I’ll give them a complete pass-- if their glory years were not illusions and frauds. Second, if they used the stuff to promote healing and rapid recovery, to get back to their natural performance level after sustaining serious injuries, I'll grudgingly excuse that if there is an apology. I can too easily see myself making that mistake. If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that in our youth, we did or might have made mistakes in judgment if we were tempted. All of us. But not all of us would choose to make a life, build a career, or raise a family based on fraud, whether on Wall Street or 161st Street, in Congress or in Yankee Stadium.

We are now at the crux of the matter: the possibility that our very favorite players are frauds. Not just the players we cheered when they won games for us, but the players we identified with and promoted to fans of rival teams not just as great players, but fine human beings (silly huh? but its tough to know how much your favorite team can be hated and despised--though some Yankee fans revel in that). Current Yankee fans are vulnerable because the Joe Torre Yankees were the most un-hated team in Yankee history. I'm old enough to remember when the Yankees were un-hated for the wrong reasons: they really sucked. Were there were no steroids for Horace Clarke, Jerry Kenney, Dooley Womack and Jimmy Lytle, or were they saints whose baseball shortcomings we must forgive?

Enough stalling. I know this is gonna hurt. Here goes, the list my favorite Yankees of the past 15 years, the one's I most identify with (please excuse the conceit but some very important illusions are about to crumble, so I have to feed some of the others) the ones I hope are not in the Majority Leader's report:

Bernie Williams --fellow switch hitter and center fielder

Mariano Rivera -- fellow skinny guy with just one pitch with heat and pin point control

Constantino Martinez -- namesake, fellow Greek American (part) and all around nice guy.

Derek Jeter -- fellow handsome devil (OK that one is a stretch)

Andy Pettitte -- fellow left hander (writing hand--I throw right) and clutch performer

Paul O'Neil -- fellow passionate fellow

There it is.

Now, the guys on other teams I will not cry for: Big Poopi (no typo) Jeez he’s just too big and scary.

Manny (who will claim he was too dumb to know better but I won’t believe it even though we were both born in Washington Heights)

Roger Clemens (because he was a mercenary not a Yankee, thought he was our best mercenary)

Mike Piazza (not because he was a bad guy but because I don’t believe the mercenary really wanted to hit him with the bat in the world series and a very stupid boss--a genuine Baltimoron--once attacked me for defending Clemens)

All the Arizona Diamondbacks

All the Florida Marlins

All the California Angels

And now for the obligatory self-righteousness (ie. if I were a baseball executive I would have definitely stopped it, had I known, blah blah blah)

Shame on Bud Selig, who is doing the right think now, but if he had done the right thing years ago he would not have to do anything now

Shame on the Players Union officials and Agents--who don’t care that some of the people who pay their salary will get sick and die prematurely, that children who look up to their clients (including their own) will get sick and die prematurely.

Shame on the players who WERE clean, for not having the guts or brains to find a "manly way" of keeping their livlihood clean. Locker room loyalty is one thing, but a lot of kids endangered their lives because they looked up to your locker room neighbors them and took their examples. You didn' have to rat on your friends, but you should have tried harder to warn the kids. Your agents could have put you in touch with some good P.R. people.

Amen.

2007-12-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

A Christmas Story or, God Bless You Mr. Davis

We buried my dad today: Rev. Father Anthony Sirigos—eternal be his memory. The grieving thing is still puzzling to me. Memories are coming and going with great frequency now, random, ridiculous and sublime…like life. Memories and feelings from everywhere and nowhere, mainly about family and holidays. My family life did not completely revolve around the Church because my father became a priest after I was 24 years old. That was more the case with my little sister Dimitra, who was twelve at the time. Still, some of my most powerful memories of my dad are church-related. Actually, my very first strong memory of my dad is from church. It was a bright Sunday morning and we are in the Three Hierarchs Church in Brooklyn. Me and my dad. I’m between 2 and 3 years old. My very earliest life memories, however, are of my Pappou, my father’s father: walking through the park, playing ball, eating rice pudding. My dad and Pappou were completely different people, not knowing each other for my father’s first 17 years. My Pappou had the sometimes irreverent but strong faith of a sailor; my dad was the kid with his father far away, always in church, helping, talking to the priests. Pappou didn’t know what to make of his “new” son’s desire to be a priest and his devout mother was not thrilled either, even though Greek Orthodox priests can marry and provide their parents with grandchildren. I learned about life from both of them. A nice Greek balance.

So I’m in church, a little kid standing on the pews to see what’s going on. Possibly I’m chattering away about what’s happening (can any of you imagine that?) and finally I pull on my dad’s suit jacket and whisper: “Pote tha teliosi? when will it end? ” and he whispers back “otan teliosi, when its finished,” and I say “OK”. I think I said that a few times each Sunday. I wonder sometimes if sitting near us some Greek American Hollywood screenwriter visiting his family for the weekend overheard us, the one who put the identical words in the mouths of Michaelangelo and Pope Julius, bickering over the delays in the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the movie “The Agony and the Ecstasy”. It came out in 1965 and the scenes in our church began around 1963. Michaelangelo was played by Charlton Heston, one of the best-remembered actors in Greece.

In recent years I often marveled at the fights that adults have with each other: friends, family, colleagues, lovers. Some heal quickly but some wounds last a long time, fester, and infect the whole relationship, which often dies. I have observed that the healthy relationships are not the ones with less fights, because human individuals will clash with those closest to them—especially the ones they love most-- but those whose wounds heal quickly. And the wounds heal quickest when after a few minutes, or hours or days, sometimes longer, the party that struck first, or struck hardest or deepest, makes it up to the other. It’s a powerful emotion that overcomes me when I see the opposite, when two people who do care for each other and at least respect each other, do nothing to make up for the pain they have caused. No restitution. No apology, nothing. And if it happens often enough the love dies. My feelings as I observe these scenes border on anger, because it has always seemed to me SO EASY to make it up to the other person. And I realize now I learned this from my dad.

Ours was a typical close-knit Greek immigrant home, loving and strict. Dad worked two, sometimes three jobs. Mom took care of my father’s ailing mother and that was not always pleasant. There was love lots of it, but there was discipline too. Punishments abounded because there were lots of rules. Sometimes they were mildly corporal and/or harshly verbal. You didn’t see it in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but it was there. The children sometimes thought the punishment was unfair. And we didn’t always get what we wanted (kids are raised differently today eh?) But I must have picked up very early that after a little time went by after some punishment or disappointment, dad did something special. An unexpected toy, a little 45 rpm record from Woolworth’s. Or just an outburst of singing at the dinner table. Sometimes old songs from his childhood, sometimes hymns. Especially at Christmas. My dad’s favorite carol was Oh Come All Ye Faithful. It was the first carol he sang in Church every Christmas if he was in charge, but nobody knew that was his favorite because he couldn’t quite pronounce it, so many were not sure which song it was. God bless him.

My dad made up for a lot at Christmas time. It was his favorite part of the year and it became so for me and my sisters. 1947 must have been a great time for Christmas in America. The war was over: good triumphed over evil, the depression was a painful but ever more distant memory. Great movies with Christmas themes were made: Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. There are no coincidences as some of my friends say. Right, I respond, there is fate and there are accidents, but which are which? 1947 in my father’s life was no accident. He finally met his dad, but that was bittersweet because there were no common memories, experiences, or projects, between them. Nothing. I don’t think they wrote each other very much. But there was one thing that created a bond immediately: Pappou’s Christmas tree. It must have been quite ordinary, the typical little tree with a handful of ornaments and some lights that merchant seamen put up in the corner of their homes or rooms and which is only alive and lit up every few days or weeks when they returned from the sea. Pappou must not have had time to take it down because my dad arrived in mid January. He explained as much as he could about Christmas in America until the next winter came along. With so many awkward silences between them after they first met, it was probably their first real conversation. Dad had never seen a Christmas tree. He just left 1947 Greece. No Santa Clause, no trees, no carols—a rich Greek Orthodox tradition for celebrating Christ’s birth yes, but not the magic time of year for children that the west invented, and at 17 years old without having had a father, my dad was still very much a child. He only just got a father to teach him the life of men--his life in Greece was filled with war widows and the wives of men at sea.

In his first year in Boston whatever free time he had between school and working he spent racing around town “discovering” America. And the mysteries of American Christmas. By the following holiday season, having observed the activities and setups of the stores and civic centers, he put up his first elaborate tree. Ornaments, lights, tinsel and garlands, and the part of my father’s first Holidays in his new country that was to become his trademark: his first nativity scene. For his three Christmases in Boston the scenes were simple affairs. He rapidly mastering the secular part of the festival thanks to his working at the local Howard Johnson’s restaurant. Not too many of those left, maybe one or two? The last one in New York closed in Times Square two years ago. But they still make that ice cream: ambrosia in my family came in the form of Howard Johnsons ice cream. Pistachio. The only shade of green I really like outside of trees, and then only in ice cream. The Greek gods never had the pleasure. It was all ours. That ice cream proved we had the best daddy. Every week we had an ice cream feast.

He moved to New York in 1950 when winter in America was still a very Christmasy time –when it meant something and was a valuable if not vital part of our lives: there were now dangerous Cold War and Korean war overtones that Christmas carols drowned out for a couple of weeks. He attended the High School of Commerce and worked at various local Howard Johnsons. He finally landed at the shiny, bustling Ho Jo’s at Rockefeller Center, the one owned by the Spiropoulos family of William Spiropoulos High School in Flushing Fame. He learned a lot about being a good American, and Hellene and good Orthodox Christian from Mr. Spiropoulos. My dad was later named one of the executors of his will. That was quite an honor for a kid off the boat—its was the Queen Fredericka by the way and when dad came to America in 1959 it was owned by the Evgenides family from my dad’s birthplace, the island of Siphnos. But what he really learned from the Spiropoulos establishment was how to decorate for Christmas. Naturally—they were across the street from the capitol of Christmas in New York: Radio City Music Hall. My childhood begins and ends at Radio City. It is my first memory of a place outside my home, and when they threatened to tear it when I was 17, adulthood was banging on my door. Radio City is a magical place of holiday (Christmas and Easter) and movie memories. And the Rockettes. Some dads gave their children their old Playboy magazines when they came of age, mine introduced me to the Rockettes. Must be why I like tall women. Then again for me, all women are tall women.

The happiest times of my dad’s first years in America were when he was decorating Howard Johnsons for Christmas. Mine were helping my dad decorate at home. Now every boy believes his dad invented or was the first to do many great things. My conceit is the family nativity scene. It was NOT just a stable and manger and a couple of clay figurines. There were houses all aglow from flickering Christmas lights, trees and a sleigh pulled by 8 individual reindeer and churches, and town halls, all set on snowy, cottonball-cloth-covered boxes meant to evoke, if not the hills of Bethlehem, the dales of New England towns at Christmas. I will swear forever that until 20 or so years ago, NOBODY had anything like this in their homes. Not like dad’s. Sure some families had a stable and figurines, but that was it. Now its an industry with expensive buildings etc. People marveled at our Nativity scene with the little cardboard houses and baby Jesus, who only made his appearance in the manger on Christmas Day. Priests, family friends and cousins, Greeks and non-Greeks delighted in it, but none of them undertook to reproduce what my dad had done., not for a long time anyway. His living rooms were coming to life for Christmas since 1948. Christmas comes but one a year and in the Sirigos household, it was Paradise. And at 7 years old, miracle of miracles, a Lionel electric train appeared going round and round the tree. A huge perfect man-made circle around nature’s finest Douglas fir, sheltering baby Jesus, the Logos of the Universe, and providing a home for Santa Claus, the bringer of gifts. Isn’t that a nice bunch of archetypes Dr. Jung?

And there was Mr. Davis. God bless Mr. Davis. Eternal be his memory. He was blessed and he blessed all the children of New York and the thousands of others who visited there from across the country and around the world. Mr. Davis was the General Manager of Radio City Music Hall. To this day because of Mr. Davis the title of General Manger is wonderful and powerful to me. It is part of the mystique of being a sports fan: Brian Cashman is the GM of the Yankees, the man I hope has recovered the magic touch of his early tenure and finally stirs the pot the right way so that the Yankees return to glory in this final year of the existence of the glorious Yankee Stadium—yes they will tear down next year, every bit of it. The other side of the coin is the Knicks GM Isaiah Thomas. He is a different story. As many a manager at a greek restaurant would say: “what tha chell is gon on?”

Mr. Davis, however, was God, or pretty close to Him. He was in charge of all of it: the Rockettes dancing on the stage, the banks of multicolored lights glowing in the golden arches that continued the perfect half-circle of the proscenium arch, the sometimes thundering, sometimes whispering, shimmering and thrilling sounds of the Mighty Wurlitzer Grand Organ—which I once actually got to play, to the delight of my dad when I told him. All of it, including the endless lines that snaked around the cavernous theater (6000 people were in there, all laughing, gasping, crying and delighting at the same time—nothing like it outside Epidauros these days) was under the command of the serious Mr. Davis, who became most genial when My dad introduced him to me and my little sister Kelly and her funny white hat with the sheep ears. We were suddenly VERY important. Mr. Davis waved his influential hand and ushers immediately whisked us to the FRONT OF THE LINE. For those of you who may have stood in the rain and snow and cold for hours at Radio City, eat your hearts out. Just kidding. This would happen for a number of years without incident. Who’s my daddy? The guy who’s more powerful that Mr. Rockefeller at Rockefeller Center. I never saw any Rockefeller or Guggenheim or Astor kids getting the Mr. Davis treatment. Well, maybe they had secret passageways.

Anyway, this continued for 5 or so years, but one year, Mr. Davis was not so genial. It shook me up a bit, but I didn’t know at the time that those were tough times for the Music Hall. The crowds were not what they used to be. The management (not Mr. Davis! his staff must have let him down) picked some clunkers to show. But times and Hollywood had changed. Family movies were no longer the blockbusters that used to jam the Hall and the blockbusters of the day, the Godfather, etc, were not deemed appropriate for the Christmas or Easter Shows. The Music Hall was in danger of going the way of the original Penn Station and the great Paramount and Roxy theaters. They were going to turn it into office space! It was saved, thanks God, but in a different form. Yes the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular is spectacular, but the original Christmas show with the occasional good movies were truly wonderful. And the Rockettes are still there, taller than ever God bless ‘em. I had a cup of coffee with one once. Her name was Holly. Said so right on her RCMH jacket. She was one of the shorter ones on the left or the right side (the amazons were in the middle of the line) a quite reachable 5’6”. Holly! How’s that for the name of a girl who danced in the Christmas show, a cute recruit in the Parade of the Wooden soldiers? I forgot to tell dad about that. I wonder what else I forgot to do….

Back to the very changed Mr. Davis. Struggling to make ends meet, worried about a new generation of Rockefellers lowering the boom, literally, on the Music Hall he shook his finger at my dad: “Now Tony this is the last time.” But we were whisked to the front of the line again, my peace of mind restored. That was around 1971. Its happened again in 1972, 1973 and I think, for the last time, in 1974. Mr. Davis, God bless him some more, always said the same thing: “Now Tony this is the last time.” By that time maybe it crossed my young mind that dad was a little too pushy, but it worked. And you know what, he had a lifelong dream of becoming a priest that was obstructed by bad luck and good but sometimes oblivious parents and by 1975, with some health issues beginning to creep into his life, that dream was dead as a doornail. But he never gave up. He continued to support his family, be there for us, and serve the Church. Every Sunday we got up at 6 AM to set up the chairs for the children in the Three Hierarchs church hall for the Sunday School worship services. 6 AM, after he came home at midnight from the restaurant business on Saturday night. Many times he had to work Sunday afternoon and evening after he and my sister and I finally put away the chairs and the huge life size icons when the Sunday School children had gone home.

I imagine that if Mr. Davis is no longer with us God has put him to good use. Maybe his blend of seriousness and geniality is perfect for helping St. Peter control the line waiting to pass through the gates of Heaven. He will recognize my dad or course, with or without the beard of his priestly years, which I never quite got used to. Mr. Davis will spot him striding towards him and he will raise his sainted arm and gently point to my father and say “now Tony you’re gonna have to wait on line like everyone else.” So please pray for my dad, Father Anthony Sirigos, of Siphnos Greece, East Boston, Hell’s Kitchen, Washington Heights, Brooklyn, and the hearts of many. Pray to comfort him while he waits on what must be a long celestial line. Nobody knows what its like. Maybe it’s a cold drizzly November for his soul. His feet might be hurting after years of standing, first as a waiter on men and then as a servant of God. And pray for Mr. Davis. He might not be in the warm lobby as in the old days. He might be out in the cold too, his genial side comforting those waiting on line. Pray for all of them too.

God bless and Happy Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all.

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