Irish music and life in northern Greece
19th March 2022. It’s years since I have been to a museum yet in the past 10 days I have visited two. My brother-in-law loves military history, so he asked me to visit the War Museum here in Thessaloniki or, rather, the Thessaloniki Branch of the War Museum (in Athens). ‘Branch’ was how παράρτημα was... Continue Reading →
The adventure continues. A week and a half of success. Our session on Sunday 13th March went very well with 15 musicians turning up. We returned to the Dubliner on Thursday 17th March for the St. Patrick’s party and to hear Tir Fada. They were really on form as were the blues band that followed... Continue Reading →
κυβερνοεπίθεση – cyberattack The Greek Postal System, ELTA (ΕΛΤΑ), has been hacked. This has resulted in a temporary shutdown of all the computer systems in every post office branch in the country. The story is here: https://www.protothema.gr/greece/article/1224191/kuvernoepithesi-sta-pliroforiaka-sustimata-ton-elta/ And in English: https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1180274/greek-postal-service-reports-cyber-attack/ Here are some other ‘cyber-‘ words. Although the English word ‘cybernetics’ is a borrowing... Continue Reading →
4th March 2022. Salonika slopes downwards from the Seikh Sou Forest to the sea. About 40 years ago the “peripheric” ring road was built cutting through the forest. The areas that were city-side have since been built up. My mother-in-law’s home is near the forest, and I used to walk to the highest point, from... Continue Reading →
ημερίδα – a seminar In all the years I have been involved with Greece and Greek, this word escaped me until a week or two ago. It is not a word I have known previously but forgotten. I’d managed to get through life without ever seeing it or consciously hearing it. I’m sure the following... Continue Reading →
The Dubliner’s website has been updated. Our next session is being advertised so we are getting ready for Sunday 13th March. I have talked previously about Grevena’s St. Patrick’s Festival and its cancellation in 2020 and 2021. It will not receive any support this year either, but I have been asked to organise a session... Continue Reading →
In GW 05/2022 and LinNG 05/2022 I referred to the murder of Alkis Kambanos, an Aris supporter who was killed, it seems, by rival PAOK fans. Alkis was stabbed in the buttocks. At the time I wondered if there was a ritualistic element to this. The answer is yes and no. The ‘no’ is the... Continue Reading →
οπαδός – a fan In LinNG 05 I referred to the murder of Alkis Kambanos, which has received a lot of press, radio and TV coverage. My word of the week, οπαδός, is the everyday word for a sports fan. A synonym is φίλαθλος. Kambanos was a victim of football violence, translated here as οπαδική... Continue Reading →
Our fourth session got underway on Sunday 13th February. Another enjoyable afternoon in a wonderfully busy pub. Great to have been there. Next one up is 13th March, the St. Patrick’s session. Ken, the manager, has also arranged a party for the day itself, the 17th. Currently, I am reading Mark Mazower’s The Greek Revolution... Continue Reading →
One of the infuriating things about the UK media is their foot-dragging when it comes to identifying Muslim terrorists. When Sir David Amess was murdered, it was not until the next day that the fucker was named, whereas when the MP, Jo Cox, was murdered, we knew within minutes that the perpetrator was a white... Continue Reading →
A quiet period. Our last scheduled practice had to be cancelled and rescheduling was not possible. However, music is back so our next session will take place on Sunday, 13th February at 4:30pm. Let’s hope it goes well. The problem with a session is the “unknown”. Who will turn up? How many? What time? We... Continue Reading →
In the space of two months, two former presidents have died. Karolos Papoulias in December and Christos Sartzetakis yesterday, 3rd February. Both men were 93. Both men were northerners, Papoulias from Epirus and Sartzetakis from our own Thessaloniki. Both men were equally well-known in Greece though Sartzetakis was better-known internationally. This was because he prosecuted... Continue Reading →
σκρόφα What a great word. It sounds as if it means something bad and indeed it does. If you didn’t speak Greek or any of the Romance languages, some rogue might be able to convince you that putana meant something nice like a species of pear or a child’s toy. It has a nice sound,... Continue Reading →
In 1986-87 Greece was covered in a blanket of snow. At the beginning of 2019, snow covered the north of the country. This month, very unusually as it turns out, Thessaloniki has escaped the worst (sunny but very cold) while Athens is in chaos and some of the islands are snow-covered for the first time... Continue Reading →
Some very sad news. A young Irish primary school teacher was murdered while jogging on the banks of the Royal Canal near Tullamore. Her name was Ashling Murphy. She was only 23 years old. Ashling was one of us, an accomplished fiddler. Here she is when she must have been a very young teenager. You... Continue Reading →
Two words for the price of one this week. πακετάς, plural πακετάδες = a delivery person. Walking past a γυράδικο today, I saw a job advert on the window “ΖΗΤΕΙΤΑΙ ΠΑΚΕΤΑΣ” I was wondering why anyone would be looking for someone to wrap and box food for takeaways. Small eateries don’t usually have that level... Continue Reading →
A bit of a mouthful this week in which ‘f’ and ‘th’ sounds are pronounced in succession. αυθυποβολή = autosuggestion It is made up of three components: αυτο + υπο + βολή. You might be wondering why or how αυτο has become αυθ but more about that later. The word came in this headline: Έρευνα:... Continue Reading →
The reason why I didn’t go to Evosmos is because I looked at the map and saw that it was very built-up. I thought parking would be difficult and queuing long. Moreover, I couldn’t find information on which vaccine they were doling out. I decided to stick with my local health centre and finally managed... Continue Reading →
αναμνηστική = a booster injection. αναμνηστικός/ή/ό is an adjective which means ‘commemorative’, but αναμνηστική [δόση is understood] seems to be the favourite word currently for a booster injection. I have been unable to find out how it has come to mean booster. You can also say επαναληπτική, which makes more sense as it means ‘repeat’.... Continue Reading →
12th January 2022. It has just been announced that the music ban has been extended until 23rd January. In today’s www.voria.gr there was an article saying that the music ban alone has resulted in a 50% drop in turnover for the catering sector. Lockdown cost the sector even more. It seems pointless too. Though new... Continue Reading →
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