Clik here to view.
AUSTRALIAN APOKRIATIC APHORISMS
When I was young, apokries didn’t exist in Essendon. Communal Greek celebrations back then consisted solely of the Greek National Day march to the Shrine of Remembrance, sundry dances and barbeques...
View ArticleClik here to view.
KOURABIEDES AND IDENTITY THEFT
The whole affair took place while I was having a coffee with a friend at one of the cafés on Toorak Road, near my office. My friend a particularly patriotic gentleman when it comes to matters Hellenic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A WEEKEND OF HATE
When Slav-FYROM members of the community burnt Greek flags at their protest last Sunday, to the chant of "F*ck Greeks", I became distressed. Had they chanted "F*ck Greece," I would have been just as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SPEAKING ENGLISH IN THE IDES OF MARCH
On the morning of the Sunday of the Lonsdale Street Greek Festival, I was ensconced in the Epirus tent, clad in full Vlach regalia. As pedestrians were rather light on the ground, I decided to amuse...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MISSING THE BUS
Eaton Mall does not exist. It has never existed. Instead, if GPY& R advertising agency, on behalf of Public Transport Victoria are to be believed, the space occupied by one of the most vibrant and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVOLUTION UNHINGED
Towards the end of his life, the great scholar of what is referred to as the Greek Enlightenment, Adamantios Korais wrote: “The increase and spread of education in the French nation gave birth to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PAN-MAC PROBED
Interview by Dean Kalimniou with Chris Moutzikis, Chairperson of the Pan-Macedonian Association of Melbourne and Victoria.Recently, the speaker of the Greek Parliament stated that among other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
TIGHT-ROPE WALKING
Ακροβασία, renderable in English as “tight-rope walking,” literally signifies walking on tiptoes. In his recently released poetry collection of same name, poet Dimitris Troaditis takes the reader upon...
View ArticleClik here to view.
LARES
The image of the Three Hierarchs on the small oval icon can barely be seen. This is because the metal backing has begun to rust and the oxidization has spread to the front, obscuring the august Saints’...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ON BINSCABS AND LIBRARIES
Most nights, I read to my daughters from a rather tattered and worse for wear story book by Georgia Tarsouli, entitled: “Στης Μαμάς την Αγκαλιά.” It has been in my custody ever since my primary school...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PYROMANIACS UNREPENTANT
“The greatest blow given to this beautiful city was dealt by the Greek soldiers, who burnt Izmir at the time of their retreat. Don’t pay attention to those who say that it was burnt by Turks. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE EUROVISION CODE
I don’t know about you, but I am incensed but not unduly astonished at the poor reception afforded by Europeans to Greece’s worthy contribution to the Eurovision song contest.In the song “Όνειρο μου,”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DEFINITION SHIFT
Some years ago, I was re-reading Stratis Myrivilis’ classic anti-war novel «Η ζωή εν τάφω,» (Life in the Tomb), a harrowing account of life in the trenches of the Macedonian Front during the First...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE HOLOCAUST OF THE OLD GODS
Superficially, at least, Constantine Cavafy’s enigmatic last ever poem, completed just days before his death in 1933, “On the Outskirts of Antioch,” focuses upon an episode in the life of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE BATTLE FOR ARAB CRETE
For the approximately one hundred and thirty five years, Crete, an island that is in the Greek popular consciousness, inextricably linked to the foundations of civilization and Greece itself, was one...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ΚΕΦΙ
“Do you know why we Greeks are so successful?” the bright eyed, animated lady with the most luminous teeth asked me as she adjusted her necklace upon which was strung a Santorini-blue, evil eye.“We...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MACEDONIA MALIGN
When the Macedonian Issue caused an anti-semitic pogrom.Though the omens were there for those who could read them, it was an article in what is now the oldest newspaper of Northern Greece, “Macedonia,”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE MAGIC OF PILLOWS
Why a recent play staged by young Greek-Australians in Melbourne, is historically significant.The illustration accompanying this text has been supplied by my five year old daughter, two days after she...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MACEDONIAN MALADROITNESS
In the nineties, which is the time that most Greek-Melburnians became aware of the “Macedonian” issue, the natural inclination of the community, was to express its solidarity with the Greek people by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PHOS: LIGHT ON TROUBLED WATERS
“A little farther, we will see the almond trees blossomingthe marble gleaming in the sunthe sea breaking into waves.” Giorgos SeferisThere is a common narrative within our culture that seeks to reduce...
View Article