Hello, Carnival; Good-bye Meat

7 Feb

The Carnival season won’t start until next month in Catholic countries (Mardi Gras isn’t until March 8), but the Carnival season in Greece kicks off on February 12 and will run until March 6 this year.  The dates are different but the significance is the same.

The dates differ for the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox because of two things: Firstly, Catholics use the Gregorian calendar, while Orthodox use the Revised Julian calendar.  Secondly, for Catholics, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, while for Orthodox, Lent begins on Clean Monday.

The concept behind Carnival for both denominations is the same, though.  Carnival marks a season of revelry before Lent begins.  Lent is the forty-day period before Easter when Christians prepare for the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ by fasting and other means.  Since certain foods cannot be eaten during Lent and would spoil before the forty days are up, they had to be eaten ahead of time.  According to some accounts, this resulted in gluttonous parties in the days leading up to Lent, a season we now celebrate as Carnival.

In Greece, Carnival is known as Apokriés (Αποκριές), which literally translates to “saying goodbye to meat.”  Each week there are different celebrations to say good-bye to the favorite foods we’ll be giving up.

2011’s Key Carnival Dates for Eastern Orthodox:

Triodion: Sunday, February 12th
Tsiknopempti or “Burnt Thursday”: February 24th
Tsiknopempti Weekend: Friday, February 25th – Sunday, February 27th
Main Carnival Weekend: Friday, March 4th – Sunday, March 6th
Clean Monday: Monday, March 7th

Just as in other Carnival celebrations around the world, Greeks celebrate Apokriés with parades, floats, and wild masks.

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Groundhogs Agree: We Will Be Sprung from Winter Soon

3 Feb

Today is Groundhog Day.  Today is Groundhog Day.  Today is Groundhog Day. Yesterday was Groundhog Day.  Apparently both Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck agree: spring is on the way!

With all the thundersnow and ice NYC’s been hit with, spring can’t come soon enough.  I thought it might be a nice time to share some spring images with you that I took last year at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden Cherry Blossom Festival.

 

 

 

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Daily Frappe Introduces Me to Its Readers

3 Feb

Yesterday I was featured on Daily Frappe!  They published a new article I wrote on best-selling author Eric Metaxas and linked to yesterday’s post here on the young Egyptians protecting the Library of Alexandria.

A few years ago Daily Frappe published an article I wrote on the 76th Annual Greek Independence Day Parade a few years, and it is an honor to be collaborating with them again.

Daily Frappe was founded over Easter Weekend 2005 as “a community for the millions of people of Greek decent that are scattered by geography but united by heritage,” according to the website.  A quick scan through the message boards and you’ll discover Greeks from the United States to Australia.

The articles Daily Frappe publish cover the full spectrum of the Greek diaspora.  There are articles about restaurant chains, films, and even Facebook.  The articles tie heritage to current events in a relevant way.

Mmmm… now I could really go for a frappe.  Metrios, please.

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Youth Guard Library of Alexandria During Egyptian Protests

2 Feb

While protests rage in Egypt, the country’s youth have banded together to protect the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, according to The Guardian.  Imagine a country where people want to loot a library and it’s the young people who organize themselves to protect this historic building and its millions of books.  It says a lot about the value they place on knowledge and literature.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina—which can shelve 8 million books and holds, and among other facilities holds a planetarium, four museums, and a manuscript-restoration laboratory—was inaugurated on October 16, 2002.  However, this expansive cultural center stems from the rich legacy of the Royal Library of Alexandra, also called the Ancient Library of Alexandria.

In 331 BC, the Greek king Alexander the Great founded the small town of Alexandria along the shores of the Mediterranean.  It became an incredibly important city, and for almost a thousand years Alexandria was Egypt’s capitol.  The library was founded by Demetrius of Phaleron in 3rd century BC, during the Ptolemiac dynasty.  Demetrius of Phaleron was an Athenian who was forced to flee to Alexandria because the citizens viewed him as a pro-Macedonian pawn and then Demetrius I of Macedon came to power and, ironically, forced him out.  When he had lived in Athens, Demetrius of Phaleron was friends with the dramatist Menander and when he moved to Alexandria,  Demetrius himself began to write prolifically.  Among his writing subjects was literary criticism.  Alexandria at that time was run by the Macedonian general Ptolemy I Soter.  This Greek rule of Alexandria perhaps allowed Demetrius of Phaleron to establish the Ancient Library of Alexandria, which he built in the style of the Greek philosopher Aristotle’s educational institution The Lyceum.

Demetrius of Phaleron’ Ancient Library of Alexandria did more to further world knowledge and cultural understanding than any other library in the world, according to research, because, unlike most libraries, the Ancient Library of Alexandria specifically sought out books from other parts of the world.  Book publishers today are always talking paper availability and price, but back in ancient times Egypt was one of the few countries that could easily reproduce documents because of its access to papyrus.  The Library pulled books off of boats that docked along the Mediterranean and made copies of their manuscripts.  Furthermore, the libraries attended book fairs in Greece and collected new books.  Ptolemy III Euergetes paid a huge sum of money for The Library to “borrow” (he never actually returned them) from Greece the original manuscripts of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles.

Unfortunately, Julius Caesar burned the library down in 48 BC.  It wasn’t until 2002 that Alexandria finally opened Bibliotheca Alexandrina to stand in for the Ancient Library of Alexandria.  Today, in the wake of violent conflict in Egypt, Bibliotheca Alexandrina stands another day because the youth of the country want it to.

Ismail Serageldin, director of the Bibliotheca Alexandria, posted this statement on January 30, 2011, to the main page of the library’s website:

Events deteriorated as lawless bands of thugs, and maybe agents provocateurs, appeared and looting began.  The young people organized themselves into groups that directed traffic, protected neighborhoods and guarded public buildings of value such as the Egyptian Museum and the Library of Alexandria…. The library is safe thanks to Egypt’s youth, whether they be the staff of the Library or the representatives of the demonstrators, who are joining us in guarding the building from potential vandals and looters.

It is said that the following words were carved into a wall at the Ancient Library of Alexandria:

The place of cure for the soul.

Gripster: The Greek Michael Scott

1 Feb

Did you catch The Office last Thursday??  Not only did Ricky Gervais finally make a guest appearance–for anyone who doesn’t know, long before Gervais offended everyone at this year’s Golden Globe Awards, he wrote, directed, and starred in the show that inspired NBC’s The Office–but Michael Scott (Steve Carell) played a Greek character.

We’ve seen Michael take on a lot of different personalities over the years.  Who can forget Date Mike?  The persona he puts on for dates is decidedly less cool than his normal self.  There was Caleb Crawdad, a personality he took on for a murder-mystery game.  He once even put on a fat suit and called himself Michael Klump, after the Klumps from the Nutty Professor.  And there is Ping, his offensive portrayal of a Chinese food delivery man, mentioned again in last week’s episode.

In last week’s episode, “The Seminar,” he dresses up as a Greek character named Mykonos to help Andy with a seminar.  “Mykonos is loosely based on another Greek character I do, Spyros, who is more about the ladies,” Michael explains to the camera.

He unbottons the top few buttons of his dress shirt.  The pointy collar sits over the outside of his jacket.  He slicks his hair back.  Essentially, he’s the Greek version of a “Guido.”

As with most of Michael’s characters, though, Mykonos doesn’t sound Greek at all.  At one point he utters German, and then later on he gets called out for seeming more Italian than Greek.  Of course, there’s also the fact that Mykonos is not a Greek name but rather the name of a Greek island.

Endearing Holly saves the day.  She gives him a character background that explains his mixed-up portrayal, and even joins in, with a pretty good Greek accent, as his wife.

* * *

No word yet on a Greek version, but, as a Greek-Swedish-American (Greekish-American), I’m happy to report that a Swedish version of The Office is scheduled to air this fall.

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Penelope: NYC Restaurant Review and Mini Mythology Lesson

31 Jan

My sister treated me to lunch at Penelope on Friday, which was the perfect antidote to the snowy day.  The shabby chic look of the décor, in white and powder blue, reminded me of my Victorian dollhouse.  There were antique-looking light fixtures, salvaged wall art, and even a picket fence at the hostess desk.  Located in the Curry Hill area of New York, Penelope (159 Lexington Avenue, at 30th Street) is one of the cuter little restaurants in a neighborhood dominated by Indian buffets and grab-and-go bagel shops.

If you’re in the mood for a sophisticated take on comfort food, head over to Penelope.  The menu offered up so many vegetarian options, though there were also plenty of meat dishes.  There was Ellie’s Spinach Pie, which is described as “yia yia’s greek country recipe” [sic]; The John-Oliver, a goat cheese and olive tapenade sandwich on cranberry-pecan bread; and Grilled Three Cheese, which for a buck more you can add artichoke hearts to.

I ended up getting the Mac & Cheese.  It wasn’t quite as good as the one made at Chat’n’Chew, but I loved that they put tomato on it—just the way my mom serves it.

For dessert, my sister and I split a Peanut Butter Blondie, and I had a latte.  So good!

Next time, I’d like to come for brunch.  Their Nutella French Toast sounds amazing.

When Jennifer Potenza opened the restaurant in 2003, she named it after her pet turtle.

Fans of Greek literature, though, may remember that Penelope is also the name of Odysseus’ faithful wife in The Odyssey.  While much of the action in Homer’s epic poem revolves around the adventures of cunning Odysseus, who fends off the Cyclops and the sexy Sirens, it is also a story of profound love.  There’s no reason for Penelope to believe that her husband has survived when, days turn into years and still Odysseus has not returned from the Trojan War, and yet Penelope remains faithful to Odysseus by refusing to accept offers from any of the one hundred (108 to be exact) suitors that come into her life.

Twenty years later, Odysseus returns.  Penelope doesn’t believe it’s him at first, and it’s only after he tells the secret that only he and she knew about how part of their bed is made from an olive tree that she believes it is truly him.

One can pick out Penelope in artwork because artists depict her at a loom and with her legs crossed.

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Gripster: Can Greeks and Hipsters Coexist?

28 Jan

All that talk about Portlandia made me wonder what the Greek population in Portland is like.

According to census data from, oh, about a decade ago, .5% of the population in Portland is Greek.  The Pacific Northwest city has its fair share of Greek restaurants and holds one of the biggest Greek festivals in the country.  Still, Zest reports that the hipster movement is pushing out at least one Greek diner.

Can Greeks and hipsters coexist in Portland?

Well, he predates the aughts’ hipster culture, but Art Alexakis is at least one example of a Greek-American—and a Christian—who came out of the alternative arts culture of Portland.  Although he’s originally from Los Angeles, it wasn’t until Alexakis moved to Portland that he formed the 90s band Everclear.

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Writing Wednesday: Consider This Me Updating My Website

26 Jan

Barbara Vey recently wrote a blog entry called “Update That Website” for PW.  The article is aimed at authors who either don’t have a website at all or fail to update it.  She suggested that even writing one blog entry a month is enough to keep readers interested and let them know that you are indeed alive and working on your next writing project.

Well, consider this me updating my website.

Given the publishing industry’s emphasis on writers using social media, I’ve gotten the impression that writers should be in constant communication with our readers.  I wonder, though, what readers really want to hear about from their favorite authors.

How often do you think authors should update their websites?

What sort of content do you want authors (meaning ME!) to update their website with?  Do you only want to hear news related to the specifics of an upcoming book and speaking engagements?  Do you want to read about the creative processes?  Do you want to know what was for dinner last night?

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The Quotable Greek: I Know Nothing

24 Jan

One thing I know, that I know nothing.

This is the source of my wisdom.

~Socrates

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Gripster: Portlandia, Hipsters, and Greek Myth

21 Jan

The new IFC series Portlandia has been getting major press.  My eyes have been rattling around in my head, they rolled back so far.  Are hipsters still in?

But, after seeing this clip about how in Portland the dream of the nineties is still alive, I’m amused.  Plus, I love Fred Armisen.

Portlandia is also the name of a sculpture located at the entrance of the Portland Building (1120 SW 5th Avenue, in Portland, Oregon).  Sculpted by Raymond Kaskey, it’s based on Portland’s city seal, which features a woman, the Queen of Commerce, in Classical garb, brandishing a trident.  Wikipedia quotes The Morning Oregonian as stating on March 22, 1878, that the lower portion of the seal contains a wreath of myrtle.

Sound familiar?

The Greek muse Erato was often portrayed wearing a wreath of myrtle and roses.  Interesting, since Portland is none other than the City of Roses.  Erato, the muse of lyric poetry, is often depicted carrying a lyre; however, Portlandia carries a trident, which is the traditional symbol of the Greek god Poseidon.  The irony here is that with its sheaf of grain, the city seal was supposed to recognize Portland’s agrarian, which a pitchfork would have symbolized.  The similar-looking trident symbolizes fishing, and Poseidon used it to wreck havoc on the land by creating earthquakes.  Of course, the Queen of Commerce is standing by a body of water so perhaps she is also Queen of the lower Columbia River.

Another possibility is that Portlandia is based on the Greek goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.  Aphrodite is often depicted with myrtle and roses.  She is often positioned by the sea, but she holds a scepter instead of a trident.  Aphrodite is the Greek incarnation of the Phoenician goddess Astarte, whose symbol is the star.  In the seal of Portland, a star hovers above the Queen of Commerce.

It’s interesting the way Greek mythology resurges, insinuating itself in pop culture.  Does this mean we might be seeing Greek hipsters—Gripsters—in Portlandia?

Portlandia airs tonight at 10:30 on IFC.

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