Nothing is happening in the Irish music scene right now. The summer slump. I have made myself busy by downloading and editing ABCs. My latest set is two 3-part reels, Mayor Harrison’s Fedora and The Cup of Tea. This will be included in the November-December playlist once one of my pals makes sure the chords... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 20/22
Wednesday, August 24th, 11am. The storm is showing no signs of moving on. Since 8:30am we have had heavy rain, thunder and lightning, one lightning strike being so powerful that it has knocked out our electricity and mobile networks. My bother-in-law sent me this text recently: “The rain falls in the Northern mountains of Ethiopia.... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 21/2022
επισύνδεση Judging from what I’ve read, the word is unfamiliar even to Greeks. Word’s auto-correct also flags it as being either incorrect or non-existent. When talking about phones, σύνδεση and αποσύνδεση are ‘connection’ and ‘disconnection’ respectively, but επισύνδεση is an add-on, specifically wire-tapping. It’s not necessarily illegal if a warrant is issued, but the question... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 19/2022
She’s alive. He didn't kill her. He may not have even managed to blind her. The ex-husband attacked her with caustic acid. He was stressed out with the debts she was accruing. After a spate of three femicides in the past month, this was one more act of wanton violence. In my last post I... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 20/2022
Ξυλάγγουρο = an Armenian cucumber. God knows what that is. Bigger than a gherkin but smaller than a standard cucumber. A synonym is αντζούρι. However, ξυλάγγουρο is used mainly as an insult with two basic meanings. 1) A tall, thin awkward person, and 2) someone who is thick and uneducated. Regarding the first definition, I... Continue Reading →
Irish Music in Northern Greece 15/2022
The musicians: Kate, Panos, Gregory, Andy, Anna, Evridiki, Luke, Petros, Kathleen, Vasilis, Robert We were locked down in January but from February to July we have manged to hold very successful sessions. Last night, 4th August, was different; we did a gig. We were well received in the Σπίτι του Φύλακα in Angelohori. About 200... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 18/2022
The good weather means festivals. My village has just had one, which I missed because I was present at another one in Epirus. The feast of Αγία Παρασκευή is celebrated on 26th July. Paraskevi was a second century saint who survived being boiled in oil and thrown in a snake pit. She was less fortunate... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 19/2022
πρόσφορο = a (religious) offering One of the problems in learning Greek is that a change in stress and/or word-ending can change meaning: πεζοδρόμιο/πεζόδρομος/πεζοδρόμος = pavement/pedestrian precinct/walker or hiker; διάδρομος/διαδρομή = hallway, aisle/itinerary, route. In the same way, το πρόσφορο differs from η προσφορά, which means ‘an offer’ from the verb προσφέρω. Interestingly, there is... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 17/2022
Nature wins. This pavement was clear until a few days of wet weather made it impassable! In the country, the sentencing of public figures and their subsequent release has been an issue over the past week. This embittered article https://www.sdna.gr/politiko-deltio/ellada/984694_o-korkoneas-eleytheros-o-lignadis-eleytheros-o-filippidis-spiti-toy talks about two well-known public figures and a convicted security officer. Lignadis, head of the... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 18/2022
μπαϊπασάκης (plural μπαϊπασάκηδες) – a person who has had a heart bypass By chance I ran into a former student a few days ago. She was with a friend, and my wife and I met up with them in the evening. We also had breakfast the following morning where the subject of fitness walking cropped... Continue Reading →
Irish Music in Northern Greece 14/2022
Lawrence (GDAE-tuned uke), Tikitu (mandola), Jaqui (harp), Giannis (accordion), young Giannis (σαντούρι - Greek hammer dulcimer), Kostas (βιολόλυρα - a GDAE-tuned Cretan lyre) and Apostolos (Irish bouzouki) 8th July. We finally met Jaqui and Lawrence in person. They are the couple, resident in Malta, who organised sanity-saving online sessions during lockdown. We ate at Kathleen’s... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 16/2022
In LinNG 14/2022 I mentioned the deaths of two people who drove off the harbour wall in Nei Epivates. They were a mother and son. A couple of years ago, the woman's daughter committed suicide. Her husband later died of a broken heart. Although they were receiving counselling, the widow and her son did not... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 17/2022
γλειφτρόνι = an arse-licker I have opted for the more vulgar translation because the suffix -ρόνι adds more venom to the original word γλείφτης. Indeed, www.slang.gr describes the suffix as a “γαμοσλανγκοκατάληξη”. I’ll let you work out that one for yourselves! I think the ν in the middle of the word is wrong. From γλείφω... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 16/2022
εκδίδω – literally “to give out” The modern Greek for ‘give’ is δίνω but when combined with prefixes, the older form -δίδω is usually used as in the following examples: αποδίδω (yield or attribute), μεταδίδω (transmit or infect), προδίδω (betray). εκδίδω has two main meanings: 1) publish or edit (books, papers, decisions, rulings etc) and... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 15/2022
Driving standards in Greece are reasonably good and predictable. Things can go wrong because of the poor condition and build-quality of the roads as well as the weather. In the rain cars can concertina into each other mainly due to poor drainage and shit tyres. On salaries of €700 a month, replacing a set of... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 14/2022
The village is full of life as day trippers make their way from the city to the beach, bars and restaurants. Given fuel prices, I imagine people are unwilling to wander further afield into Halkidiki especially if it is only for the day. I searched “Fuel Poverty Greece” online and, unsurprisingly, there is no shortage... Continue Reading →
Greek Word 15/2022
Διπλοκούρσα or διπλή κούρσα = the practice of taxi drivers taking additional passengers/fares, the additional fares not being metered. I cannot remember the details, nor can I find anything online, but sometime during the first PASOK administration (1981-85), there was a big change which affected taxi drivers. Until the change, I think anybody could paint... Continue Reading →
Irish Music in Northern Greece 13/2022
19th June 22. Midday. I have just posted LinNG 13/22, and now I am contemplating this afternoon’s session. How many will show up? To be honest, although we have always had a reasonable turn-out, I find the anticipation a bit stressful. This should be the last session as we are taking a break in July... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 13/2022
In all the years I have been associated with Glasgow, I am only aware of one change of street name. In 1986 St. George’s Place became Nelson Mandela Place. In Greece, changing the name of a street is quite a common occurrence. I first witnessed it shortly after PASOK’s first victory in October 1981. Οδός... Continue Reading →
Life in Northern Greece 12/2022
Roads are a reminder that Greece has not recovered from its economic collapse in 2010. A few months ago, I posted a picture of a sink hole in Ethinikis Antistasis St. Recently, I’ve been using the bus more often, and I can honestly say the bad roads combined with most buses’ poor suspension can put... Continue Reading →