MARCH 2012 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: vema@bigpond.net.au

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The fun begins!

The 2012 Sydney Royal Easter Show runs fromThursday 5 April to Wednesday 18 April andshowcases the best in Australian agricultureincluding home-grown produce and prize-win-ning animals.

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Mt ZiriaJust a couple of hours’ drive from Athens, themystical mountain birthplace of the ancient godHermes awaits

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Kytherians establish cultural homein Sydney

The realisation of a dream to establish a spir-itual home for Kytherians in the diaspora wasfinally celebrated with the official opening ofthe New Kythera House

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GREECEON ROAD

TO RECOVERYGerman Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (pic-

tured) said he was confident Greece was on the rightpath for recovery after tough decisions to secure a sec-ond bailout package. However, he warned there could beno guarantee of success.

"I am confident the difficult measures decided with thegovernment in Athens will put it on the road to recovery,»Schaeuble said in an interview in Sunday's La Republicanewspaper.

Greece averted the immediate threat of an uncontrolleddefault on Friday when private creditors agreed on abond swap that will cut the country's public debt andclear the way for a new 130-billion euro ($170.55 billion)bailout. Schaeuble said he was sure the best decisionspossible had been taken against a backdrop of uncer-tainty.

"But it wasn't easy and I cannot give a 100 percentguarantee of success,» he said.

Schaeuble said the need for another aid package forGreece could not be ruled out, but said «it is not the timeto speculate but to approve the second package forAthens." The austerity programmes did not create reces-

sion, he said, adding structural reforms were now need-ed to relaunch growth.

ST ANDREW’S THEOLOGICAL COLLEGEENTERS 27TH YEAR OF TEACHING

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The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA2/20 MARCH 2012

ST ANDREW’S THEOLOGICAL COLLEGEENTERS 27TH YEAR OF TEACHING

Thursday 1st March marked the official opening of theacademic year at St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox TheologicalCollege in Sydney. For the 27th consecutive year, the tra-ditional Doxology Service was celebrated in the CollegeChapel of St John the Evangelist and Theologian by theDean, His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, a-mong Faculty members, staff, alumni, students and guests.

After welcoming everyone His Eminence reflectedbriefly on the task of theology within the Church and Col-lege: “With God’s blessing we start our 27th academicyear of operation. As I always say from this place, on thisday, the beginning of the new academic year, we areaware how much is before us. We are a little college, butour divine ambition is, to be a college not of denomina-tional character, but a college which serves to preserve,and cultivate, the treasures of the first Christian millenni-um, which all Christians have in common. And it is atremendous mission, to have such a responsibility under-taken in a country which is not especially known as a re-ligious country. It is a free country, it is a secular state andcountry, and within this framework we are a few who tryto cultivate theology - to do theology if you will; though,theology is not something which can be done. It is some-thing which comes from above. It is an inspiration fromabove, and from us it is asked that we are only ready toreceive [from above], in order to serve our fellow humanbeings and our time. Theology, as two great figures of the

early Church have stated, isprayer. Prayer is theology. Ifyou can pray, you are a theologian; if you can theologiseproperly, you are a praying person. We have to be peopleof prayer. These were the statements of Nilus the Asceticand Evagrius of Pontus. Both have stressed this impor-tance of prayer. Prayer without tears is impossible. Howcan we communicate with God the invisible? How can wespeak of God the invisible? [...] You see, human languageis unable to define God. So God is a mystery. It is moreappropriate to call him a mystery. And he has been calleda mysterium tremendum, a tremendous mystery; mysteri-um fascinosum, a fascinating mystery; and my humbleperson tries to add a third dimension in the mystery ofGod, a mysterium salvificum, a salvific mystery is God.

So we are striving not for knowledge alone; knowledgeis good, but it is only the raw material to theologise. Wehave more the ambition to meet salvation, salvation in ourcollege, salvation in our Church, and salvation in our com-munity at large. I welcome you all to the new academicyear ...”

The Dean also warmly welcomed the two first-year stu-dents: Dimmitri Christou (Melbourne), and MarkellosMargelis (Sydney). He also welcomed Peter Anastasiadis(Sydney) who will be resuming studies at the third yearlevel of the undergraduate program. His Eminence wishedthem all enlightenment from above and patience, exhort-ing them to work together with their peers and the faculty

in order to fulfill the responsibilities and tasks of our smallcollege: to disseminate the treasures and institutions ofthe first Christian millennium.

The customary group photograph in the courtyard of theCollege was followed by a luncheon generously preparedby the tireless ladies’ auxiliary of the Archdiocese.

St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College is atertiary institution established in 1986 by the Greek Ortho-dox Church offering undergraduate and postgraduate de-grees of the Sydney College of Divinity which are fully ac-credited by the NSW Department of Education and Trainingand equivalent to those of Australian universities. Thesedegrees have international validity. They focus on Ortho-dox Theology and its related subject areas such as Bibli-cal Studies, Church History, Liturgical Studies, PatristicStudies, Orthodox Art and Architecture as well as PastoralEducation. They can lead to priesthood within the OrthodoxChurch. They can also be a pathway for further universitystudies leading to careers such as teaching and socialwork. They are also particularly useful for enriching one’sown Orthodox Christian faith.

For more information about Orthodox Christian theolog-ical education please visit the College’s website(www.sagotc.edu.au).

Mario Baghos

Left: The customary group photograph in the courtyard of St Andrew’s Theological College. Right: The Dean, His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos and His Grace Bishop Seraphim of Apollonias,with the two first-year students

Athens open-air cinema among world's best An Athens open-air cinema located within view of the

Acropolis has been described as one of the world'sbest, by the CNNGo travel website.

Topping a shortlist of ten, Cine Thiseio is describedas having a "majestic view" that is unrivalled by any ofthe multiple roofless cinemas that operate in Athensduring the summer months.

"From your seat at Cine Thiseio you not only get toview the latest blockbuster but also the Acropolis, andthe Parthenon that sits on top. The best view is at night,"wrote journalist Hoishan Chan, who is based in HongKong.

Peculiarly, however, the caption beneath the photo ofthe cinema in Chan's piece says: "Movie magic as closeto Mount Olympus as possible."

Mt Olympus, of course, lies 263km from Athens, put-ting some of Athens' other open-air theaters a stepcloser.

CNNGo's top-ten list also includes 1,200-seater RajMandir Theatre in the Indian city of Jaipur; the Kino In-ternational, the former East Germany's showcase moviehouse; the 4DX in Seoul, which only screens 3-D filmsand adds movement, scent, wind and water effects.

CNNGo is a subsidiary of CNN and describes itself

as the ultimate insider guide to the Asia-Pacific region.Although it is neither the oldest nor the only open-air

cinema with a view of the Acropolis as the websiteproudly proclaims (Cine Vox was built in 1920, and CineParis claims the same view), Cine Thiseio is certainlyone of the best of its kind and justifyingly hung up on

tradition. Owner Thomas Maniakis doesn’t need tochange a thing: with the walls hiding under a thick blan-ket of fairy-tale ivy, the screen big and bright (just likethe moon) and the chairs on the right side of uncom-fortable to stop you from falling asleep, Cine Thisio is areal throwback to the 1950s but with none of the usualhitches.

Built right on Apostolou Pavlou, it screens every filmat full volume and, no matter how hot it gets, this hum-ble little theatre always seems to invite a breeze.

Throughout the winter, Maniakis had issued an openinvitation to graffiti artists to come tag his wall (he evenstuck his number in the programme box promising topay for the spray cans), but no one indulged him. Thedoodles that make regular appearances instead arediligently painted over until next summer or until thenext rampant teenager comes along.

As for the crowds, they are a balanced mixed ofaged and youthful though both are appreciative of thehomemade sour cherry cooler, the sweet preservesand the tsipouro-cum-fish roe combo for those alcoholi-cally inclined. The film repertoire strongly veers to-wards the classic.

ATHENSNEWS

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/21

Editorial

MARCH 2012

Dr Archivides “Archie” Kalokerinos, one of the mostsignificant figures of Australia, has passed away atthe age of 84.

Son of Greek parents from the island of Kythera, inGlenn Innes, Australia, on September 28 1927, hewas always proud of his Greek heritage - “...myGreek background acted, always, as the guiding lightthrough the darkness and unknown.”

“Dr Archie” as he was affectionately known, tookhis medical degree from Sydney University in 1951and then spent six years in England. On his return toAustralia he was appointed Medical Superintendentof the hospital at Collarenebri, a town 500 milesnorth-west of Sydney.

In 1965 he tried his hand at opal mining at CooberPedy. He became a world expert on opals, and in1967 and 1971, wrote two definitive books on thesubject. Later, becoming disillusioned with opal min-ing, he returned to medicine at Collarenebri, wherehe served until 1975.

Dr Kalokerinos became very concerned about thehigh mortality rate of Aboriginal children in northwestern New South Wales. He came to the conclu-sion that the infants had symptoms of scurvy, a defi-ciency of vitamin C, and he treated them accordingly.At one stage, in one Central Aboriginal community,every second Aboriginal Infant was doomed to die ininfancy. The death rate, in the area supervised byArchie Kalokerinos dropped to zero after Archie ap-plied his “counter intuitive” therapy. Dual Nobel prizewinner Linus Pauling, in the foreword to Kalokerinos’book Every Second Child, endorsed his views, and hisclinical acumen.

In 1975 the compelling film docudrama about DrArchie Kalokerinos and aboriginal healthcare, entitled‘’God Only knows Why, But it Works’ was produced.

Opening the Kytheraismos Conference II, in Can-berra, on the 15th September, 2006, then Prime Min-ister of Australia, John Howard, asserted that hecould “.... think of no other group that has more total-ly integrated itself into the mainstream of Australianlife, yet preserved a passionate love of their homeculture than the Greeks. They have really shown therest of the world and the rest of Australia how itshould be done. The people of Kythera”, he added,

“have made an enormous contribution to Australia,over a very long period of time. They have made aparticular contribution to regional and rural Australia”.

Amongst the many high achieving Kytherians in theroom, he singled out Archie Kalokerinos for specialmention. “Archie Kalokerinos practiced medicine incentral New South Wales, and through his consistentand selfless efforts saved the lives of many young in-digenous Australians”.

It would be interesting to perform a ‘Schindler’s Listtype analysis’ of the extended families of the children‘saved’, and determine how many aboriginal peopleowe their existence to Dr Archie Kalokerinos.

On 17th Dec, 1977 Dr Archie married CatherineHunter, at St Lukes Church, Mosman. In a brief auto-biography he wrote of her: “There is one non-Greekwho I need to thank. It is my English wife, Catherine.She tolerated a great deal when I became obsessedwith what I was doing. In the end, there is nothing liketeamwork”.

From 1976 to 1987, Dr Archie worked with theAboriginal Medical Service. From 1982 to 1992, heconducted a medical practice in the northwesternNSW town of Bingara. Former Mayor of Bingara, JohnWearne, speaks for an entire community when he

says “...many people in Bingara will grieve for theloss - he was much revered in Bingara”. His officeswere situated within what is now, the newly renovat-ed Roxy ‘complex’. This is only fitting, as the Roxycomplex, including theatre, café and museum, ‘me-morializes’ the contribution that Greek-Australianshave made to rural Australia.

Dr Kalokerinos would later enter a number of con-troversial debates, including those surrounding vacci-nation, sudden unexpected shock, sudden unexpect-ed unconsciousness, otitis media, sudden infantdeath syndrome, and shaken baby syndrome.

Dr Kalokerinos was a Life Fellow of the Royal Soci-ety for the Promotion of Health, a Fellow of the Inter-national Academy of Preventive Medicine, a Fellow ofthe Australasian College of Biomedical Scientists, Fel-low of the Hong Kong Medical Technology Associa-tion, and a Member of the New York Academy of Sci-ences. He was presented with The Australian Medalof Merit for Outstanding Scientific Research.

He retired from full time practice in 1993, and apartfrom performing occasional ‘locums’ in Tamworth, hespent most of the latter part of his life doing privateresearch. He subsequently moved from Tamworth toCooranbong on the Central Coast, and then to BondiJunction in Sydney.

In 2000 he was declared the Greek Australian ofthe Century by the Melbourne newspaper, Neos Kos-mos.

Archie recounted his life in his autobiography, Med-ical Pioneer of the Twentieth Century, a book that hasnever been out of print, and which is available fromBiological Therapies Publishing, Melbourne.

Archie’s most endearing qualities, Daan Spijer, ar-gues, were his humanity and honesty, and these arequalities that emerged throughout his life. Those whohad been privileged to meet “Dr Archie” will knowthat these qualities were evident even more forcibly,in personal encounters.

He passed away peacefully, on 1st March 2012His intellectual, vibrant and engaging presence will

be sorely missed. May his memory be eternal.Archie was the beloved husband of Catherine and

adored father of Ann, Helen and Peter.

Greek-Australian friend of indigenous AustraliansDr Archie Kalokerinos passes away

Citizens “carry the country on their shoulders”By Nikos Konstandaras - Kathimerini, Athens

Society is under intense pressure in its structures,behaviour and mentality. Like a powerful flame con-centrated at one point, the crisis breaks down whatwe were, changes what we knew, creating a new al-loy of people and society. The eyes of the world areon this great experiment, as Greece may have manyspecial problems, but the problem Europe faces iscommon: How will its states give citizens the benefitsthey were accustomed to without falling deeper intodebt or provoking revolution? When does a people’sanger become unmanageable?

It is difficult to isolate the point at which a societybegins to lose its cohesion, when the instinct for self-preservation is relaxed. Is it because austerity keepsworsening the recession, with all its tragic conse-quences unleashing destructive forces among mar-ginalized groups? Is it caused by our society’s inabil-

ity to produce enough to cover its needs, or by thechronic dysfunction of our state and the systematicundermining of its institutions? Maybe it’s because,as a member of the eurozone, Greece can’t devalueits currency and so it devalues the incomes and livingstandards of its people?

Whatever the pressures, that which will determinethe future is whether there will be a critical mass ofcitizens who feel they have lost so much that theyhave nothing to fear from greater political and eco-nomic turmoil. Now that wages and pensions are be-ing cut, taxes raised, when one in four stores in cen-tral Athens is shuttered and one in five workers un-employed, we see what we are up against. Energeticyoungsters without jobs and the unemployed withouthope create an explosive mix.

What we can’t predict is when those who are nei-ther unemployed nor dependent on the next pay-check will reach breaking point.

When will the homeowner feel trapped by his ownhome, unable to pay his taxes, unable to find a buyerfor it?

When will bank deposits be used up, or lost (if weexit the eurozone)?

When will those whose savings went into govern-ment bonds realize they’ve lost more than half theirmoney?

When will we see the consequences of lost pen-sion funds? The huge debt reduction and the newloan (or new debt) can’t compensate for such losses.

What’s at stake is the backbone of society - citizenswho have worked, succeeded and invested, whonow carry the country on their shoulders. It is theirpatience, endurance and hope for an end to the crisisthat keeps society in the shape that we know. Thedeprivation of the fruit of their labors will create adeep rage where no one expects it, one whose pow-er will be as dangerous as it is unpredictable.

The Greek Australian VEMA MARCH 20124/22 TO BHMA

Angels All Around Us!

As I entered the Holy Monastery of St John of the Moun-tain (Forrestfield, Western Australia), just before 9.00am onSunday 19 February, I was swept up by the angelic voic-es of the Byzantine Choir from Sydney which was visitingPerth for a special purpose.

The harmonious voices of the nine chanters, led byChoir Master, Mr Vasilios Stavropoulos made me feel likeI was already halfway to heaven! It was a wall of soundthat hit me instantly once in the Monastery and that sur-rounded me throughout the service on that day. It was up-lifting.

It wasn’t long before the Monastery was full to capaci-ty with parishioners from all of Perth’s churches. Theycame to be present for the tonsuring of Father Thalassiosinto the Great Schema. This part of the service began at9.30am and lasted well over 40 minutes. With the blessingof His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, His Grace, BishopNikandros of Dorylaeon, presided over the service.

His Grace was assisted by Archimandrite Eusebios, Ab-bot of the Holy Monastery of Pantanassa (NSW), Archi-mandrite Evagrios, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St Johnof the Mountain, Archimandrite Elpidios, Parish Priest of StsConstantine & Helene, and Reverend Father Emmanuel,Parish Priest of Evangelismos. Among the parishionerswere the Honourable Consul of Greece, Ms Sofia Choli,and the Vice President of the Archdiocesan Council of the

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, Mr Stan Palassisand Mrs Evelyn Palassis.

I had never before witnessed the tonsuring of a priest-monk into the Great Schema (Greek: μεγαλόσχημος -megalo-schemos). It was something quite different to any-thing I had ever seen before. And to have the privilege ofwitnessing this special event taking place for our verydear Father Thalassios was an extra element of joy andhonour for me. I first met Father Thalassios in 2005 at StAndrew’s Grammar where I was the Vice Principal at thetime. In later years, we worked side-by-side, assistingtroubled students with their needs; Father Thalassios nur-turing their spiritual needs while I worked on their aca-demic and social needs. Now I was witness to his baptisminto the next degree of Orthodox monasticism.

Father Thalassios, dressed in civilian clothing, wasstanding inside the entrance of the church, escorted onone side by Father Arsenios from the Holy Monastery ofPantanassa, and on the other side by Father Evagrios. Thisin itself was a moving image. It was both humbling and el-evating to observe. As the service of the tonsuring began,I noticed tears rolling down the side of his face. He couldno longer contain his emotions which spilled to the forefor all to see and share.

In time, Father Thalassios was clothed in all of themonastic garments that constitute the position that he now

had attained. He was then motioned by His Grace to standnear the Bishop’s Throne. Here, Father Thalassios re-mained in pensive stance for the remainder of the service.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Grace acknowledgedand paid tribute to the three brothers Kakulas; Stavro, Mi-hali, and Irakli for their donation of the land on which theMonastery of St John is built. With only Mr Mihali Kakulasalive to receive the honour, it was indeed another movingevent. The near century-old stalwart of the Greek commu-nity of Perth was a full participant in the honours be-stowed upon him and his brothers, even helping to securethe dedicated plaque in its place on the wall of theMonastery’s Hall. Members of his immediate and extend-ed family were moved to tears. And rightly so!

From young to old, and all those in between, I felt sur-rounded by angels; angels offering something to their fel-low human beings, either through service and personalsacrifice, or through gifts such as the land on which theMonastery is built. And in doing so, they offer themselvesto God. This was the message that I took with me on Sun-day 19 February and this is the message I am sending toall of the readers of the Vema; we have angels all aroundus!

Dr Angela Evangelinou-YiannakisPerth, Western Australia

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Katerina + Kyriacos Mavrolefteros“Alexander the Great:

2000 years of treasures”* Hundreds of ancient treasures will be brought to Australia

Hundreds of ancient treasures datingback to the time of Alexander the Greatwill be brought to Australia for the firsttime this year.

In a coup for the Australian Museum, thelargest exhibition ever to come from theState Hermitage in Russia will go on dis-play in Sydney on November 24.

“Alexander the Great: 2000 years oftreasures” includes more than 400 objects,including helmets, statues, tapestries andart.

Among the loot is the polished black ba-salt statue of Cleopatra VII, the famousGonzaga cameo and a figure of Heraclesfighting the lion from the 2nd century AD.Alexander the Great was considered oneof the world’s great conquerors. He creat-ed the largest empire in history - fromGreece in the west to the river Indus in theeast.

Australian historian Professor Ken Shee-

dy said the exhibition will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many Australians.

“The Alexander exhibition brings to Syd-ney some of the finest known treasuresfrom the court and cities of Alexander theGreat and his Successors,” he said.

“Alexander’s remarkable empire, stretch-ing from the Mediterranean across to India,was carved out in battles and campaignswaged over a few short years.

“It barely outlasted his death at the ageof 32, but its legacy is still with us today.”Australian Museum director Frank Howarthsaid the artefacts will come in three ship-ments, each taking more than three days toreach Sydney by air, with much of the roadroute overseen by police escort.

They will be accompanied by 29 curatorsand conservators.

The date tickets will go on sale has notyet been announced, but people can pre-register for exhibition information at

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 5/23

Our Primate’s View

MARCH 2012

The Annunciation“Proclaim from day to day the good tidingsof the salvation of our God” (Psalm 95:2)

March is the month of the Annunciation of the Theotokos. Itis at the same time the month that inaugurates spring. Anatmosphere, therefore, of celebration and exultation fillsour soul during this month. But what is the spring in com-parison with the message of the Annunciation? This spring,as others previously, will pass and will be followed bysummer and cold winter. But the message of theAnnunciation will remain changeless even in the bitterhours of human adventure. This message is “the will of theHighest, an ancient and true will” and for this reason it doesnot grow old, nor does it decrease, nor is it replaced byany other value or any other truth. Therefore it is a final anddefinite message; hence, it is an incomparably great mes-sage: God becomes man. If the earth cannot by itself beelevated to heaven, then heaven itself will be lowered tothe earth. It is God’s decision, therefore, it is an initiativethat no one can restrain or cancel. “Wherever God wills, theorder of nature is defeated...” (Hymnology)

All hesitations and all doubts of our soul, whatever littlefaith and pessimism of our times are restrained and over-come by the simple fact that he who decides is not man,but God Himself. The Lord “Sabbaoth” decides - the Lord ofPowers - to become for man “God who is with us.” He willcover the distance. The cost is His own. We only have toaccept the preposition and to enter into the agreementfreely and sincerely in the New Agreement of Love. Theonly thing God asks from us is not to prevent Him to offerHis benefits to us; not to reject, out of foolishness, the mul-titude of His mercy, which is manifested every minute ofthe day in boundless forms of love.

This Grace that cannot be returned, this richness of giftswhich are given to us “freely”, is the deeper content of theAnnunciation of the Theotokos. This is the good news. Thismessage was first and foremost given as an archetypefrom the Angel to the Virgin, from Heaven to the earth. Itwas a vertical Annunciation, an announcement “fromabove”. Subsequently, however, the Annunciation broke theboundaries of the archetype of the one person (Angel) tothe one person (The Virgin), and became the communion ofmany persons towards the many persons. The Annuncia-tion became a horizontal movement, that transcends thetime of human history and tames it, enlightens and upliftsit, “Proclaim the good news from day to day...”

Each person of God - after this saving broadening of theindividual Annunciation to a banquet, for all humanity -becomes simultaneously sender and receiver, offering andreceiving, messenger and learner, saver and being saved.This happens not only once on a certain day but “day today”, hour after hour, minute after minute. “Proclaim thegood news”... all of you: Priests and lay people, young andold, wise or otherwise, sinful and virtuous, coward andbrave!

Proclaim one truth, which transcends all truths known tillnow: it transcends reason, causality, justice and prudence;it transcends all previous measures and standards of lifeand of thought. Which truth? - “the mystery of our God”. The“news” we are all called to communicate continuously to allpeople “day after day”, is not the kind of news that comesthrough the mass media and is described by the press:wars, invasions, armaments, conspiracies, thefts, robbe-ries, violence, conflagrations, murders, adulteries, hunger,and all other news worked out by man’s mind on earth: allthis is not news. They impress only on the first moment, butsoon they are inseparably old. Can you imagine what

would happen if a newspaper dared present again as“news” the material of the previous day? This is the natureof the things of this world. To grow old already when theyare born, to die in their “cot”. For this reason the only pleas-ant message, that is continuously new and yet changeless,does not concern the works of men, but the work of God:“The mystery of our God”. Being a mystery it is under-standable equally for the young and the old, the wise andthe unwise. And precisely for this reason all can proclaimit. What is the substance of this “mystery”? Simply that with-out any reason and cause, God loves man and the worldwithout limit. To be more precise: the mystery of God is theunreturnable grace of God towards man. Yet, unreturn-able grace is not only the love that does not find a returnin payment, but mainly the kind of love that axiomatical-ly does not demand nor endures a return payment!Because from its nature it is a product of absolute free-dom. The “mystery of God” already begins from themoment that God creates the world “out of nothing”.Nothing pre-existed that could force God to create, exceptthe absolute nothing. Therefore, God created withabsolute freedom. So the same “mystery” of God is contin-ued by the fact that although man at his best remains a“useless servant”, who simply does what he ought to do(Luke 17,10), God continuously loves him, continuously for-gives him unto “seventy times seven” (Mat 18,22). Mangoes astray, revolts, goes away, but God continuouslylooks after him; not only does He simply look after him, butHe “pursues” him, precisely as the psalmist emphaticallysaid: “Your mercy, O Lord, will pursue me all the days of mylife” (Psalm 22:6)

Within the context of this “mystery” of God the teaching forthe undeserved payment in return for every humanwork is somehow enlightened, namely that no act and nowill of ours - no matter how good they are - can “obligeGod”. There was a time when this teaching of the Churchtormented me. Because in all my sincerity and unaffected-ness I made this consideration: Since even a passing evilthought is considered to be an accomplished act andregarded as sin, then why should every good act or desireof ours not measure decisively in God’s eyes? Of coursethe Church does not say that our good actions and wills arenot at all taken into consideration by God, but it clarifiesthat such acts have not decisive significance, namely theydo not oblige God in respect of our salvation.

Therefore, while I considered such an evaluation of thehuman works and thoughts to be unjust; while I risked eventhinking insolently and considering “the divine to the mali-cious”, as the ancient Greeks said, I suddenly rememberedthe absolute freedom of God. For some time even thethought of such freedom was a stumbling block for me,because I thought of it, in a simplistic manner, as a kind of“absolutism” and “tyranny”, that is not in agreement with theimage of God as the All-good Father. It was after manyyears that I began to suspect that precisely because Godloves boundlessly and absolutely, His love, therefore, musthave no limitations or presuppositions on the part of Hiscreatures. Since He created ex nihilo with absolute free-dom, it means that He created also with absolute love.This absolute, unfathomable, inexplicable love of God andthe world - a love that is a “stumbling block” - is precisely“the mystery of our God”. It is the mystery, “which was keptsecret, since the world began”, as St. Paul writes (Romans16:25); it remained silent for a long time, and began tobecome word, a plain and direct message with the Annun-ciation of Mary, the Incarnation of God and the Theosis ofthe human person.

+ A.S.

By ARCHBISHOPSTYLIANOSOF AUSTRALIA

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA6/24 MARCH 2012

Anna and Mimi

When people ask me where I live, I usually say that Ilive in a modest bungalow on the eastern side of AnzacParade in Maroubra. Some days I leave my belovedMaroubra and cross the almighty Anzac Parade to theother side of the known universe.

One such occasion was the feast day of St Anthony. Iwent to church mid-week for the liturgy. I was surprisedto see so many people at my local parish on a week-day. I even checked my diary to make sure it was notSunday.

Their presence encouraged my resolution this year toattend more daily services. Regretfully, last month was atotal loss - although the spirit was willing; the diary wasfull.

Nevertheless I now plan to go as often as I can mid-week. My aim now is to go to services at least as manytimes as Sydney FC scores - which alas is not often.

Anyway I was impressed with the turnout. Just a fewrows ahead of me was a neighbour aged 96. She wasthere with four members of her family: her daughter,and her daughter’ daughter, her daughter’s - daughter’s- daughter and wait for it, her daughter’s - daughter’s -daughter’s - daughter. That’s her great great grand-daughter for those of us who did not do 4-unit Mathe-matics.

After the liturgy, the face of the priest was radiant ashe handed out the antidoron. It was a little before 10amand I left feeling very satisfied and thanking God for thisgreat opportunity.

It was then that I noticed the funeral cars pulling up inthe driveway of the church. The priest now had to trans-form himself. He would need to provide compassionand solace. It would be around lunchtime by the time heconducted the funeral and then concluded the burial atthe distant cemetery.

It was a warm summer’s day in January and thiswould then be followed by the agiasmo or blessings of

the houses in our local area. He might not finish untilaround 7pm.

This task would take two priests around three weeks,day-in and day-out, even with a helicopter.

What a long day! When does this man get time tobreathe?

Many often take it out on our priests but do not recog-nise the burden they carry. They are spiritual and com-munity leaders. Without them Greek-Australians wouldhave disappeared and merged into the great unknown.Their presence kept us alive and their contribution isheroic. My experience is that by-and-large we are wellserved by our priests in Australia.

Our Church in Australia is blessed with some everyfine, dedicated men who have given up everything forthis great vocation.

We underestimate the significance of their ordination.If I am correct, then His Eminence once said, that to be-come a priest - even if it were only for one day of one’slife - is the greatest honour. I can imagine that he isright.

Ordination, of course, is one of the sacraments of ourChurch. I have the privilege right now of checking anEnglish translation of “The Holy Sacraments of OurChurch” by George Psaltakis (Sotir, 2008) and as you

might guess I am up toChapter 5, “Ordination”. Ithas been going ratherslowly as are most ofthe tasks I undertake -remember, “the spirit iswilling but the diary isfull”. I find it quite inter-esting to read how thesacrament was institutedby Christ and the HolyApostles, the grades ofordination, the conduct ofthe sacrament and thegrace of priesthood.

Christ as the Founderof the Church performseverything through his

priesthood. Divine authority is bestowed on those whoare ordained.

Priests are people, like us, but they are also handed aheavenly power, which ‘God did not even give to angelsor to archangels’.

Enough of all this theology; you can read more aboutit elsewhere. It is more important to live these truths.And the simplest way to do this is through respect. I of-ten notice it when the faces of people light up as theyencounter the local priest. Children especially welcome

his presence.For me, this takes my mind back to that first Greek

reader I encountered in Greek afternoon school in the1950s. You may recall the one with Anna and Mimi.There is one image I will never forget.

It is the local priest and the children showing their re-spect as he is blessing them, kissing his hand.

So, if you live on the third planet of an obscure solarsystem of the Milky Way galaxy - and it does not reallymatter if it is west of Anzac Parade - relive the piety andrespect of Anna and Mimi.

We are lucky in Australia; there are many good priestsand a few more would not go astray because the har-vest in this great continent is truly large and the labour-ers are few. If by chance God has called you - then inyour own way and with serious, spiritual advice - thinkrealistically about this great vocation.

The views expressed are those of the author and not neces-sarily those of the VEMA or St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theo-logical College

letterfrommaroubra@gmail.com

Letter from

Maroubra

Since 1997, the Latsis Group and Eurobank EFG,under the auspices and coordination of the LatsisFoundation, publish annually a volume devoted to asingle archaeological museum, aiming to create aseries whose scholarly prestige and aesthetic ap-proach would contribute to a deeper knowledgeand further understanding of the various aspects ofthe history of Greek civilisation.

All of these volumes, which are freely availableelectronically, were also distributed gratis to select-ed recipients including universities, libraries, muse-ums, departments of antiquities and various culturalorganisations in Greece and abroad.

The VEMA newspaper would like to encourage itsreaders to avail themselves of the beautifully-illus-trated books on each of Greece’s major museums,by going to www.latsis-foundation.org and clicking‘The Museums Cycle’ within the Electronic Library ofthe website.

You will be rewarded and amazed!

The Museums Cycle

•The Archaeological Museum of Pella

•The Archaeological Museum of Thebes

•Marathon and the Archaeological Museum

•The Archaeological Museum of Olympia

•The National Archaeological Museum

•The Archaeological Museum of Delphi

•The Archaeological Museum of Herakleion

•The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

•Delos

•Elefsis: The Archaeological Site and the Museum

•The Archaeological Museum of Piraeus

•The Acropolis Museum

•Greece at the Benaki Museum

DK

THE LATSIS PUBLIC BENEFIT FOUNDATION

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 7/25MARCH 2012

Growing up fast and furious

Media’s impact on our children

Depression

Jack (not his real name) is a 15-year-old boy, broughtto the doctor by his mother, complaining of low mood,irritability, problems with attending school, troublesomebody aches and pains, and occasional episodes of see-ing and hearing things that were not there. On taking thehistory, the doctor was not able to find the cause ofthese symptoms, until he asked about his media use.Jack was staying up all night playing computer games.His average total media use in a 24-hour period was 17hours. He had only 2-3 hours of sleep, was not eatingwell, and was hardly getting out of his room. The doctorsuggested that his symptoms were due to his excessivemedia use. In the school holidays, Jack stayed at a farmwith very little electronic media, and his symptoms dis-appeared completely.

Albeit an extreme example, situations like Jack’s aregetting more and more common. Unlike Jack, however,such problems are hard to solve, as children and youngpeople find it hard to break the cycle of excessive me-dia use, and parents struggle to enforce the appropriatelimits.

When severe, excessive media use is often accompa-nied by other mental health problems such as depres-sion and anxiety. Numerous studies have shown thatchildren and adolescents exposed to too much televi-sion, internet, or computer games are more likely to bedepressed or have related symptoms. Below is a smallsample of these studies:

1) In a survey of 30,000 US high-school students,teenagers who reported more than 5 hours of internetuse and video games were twice as likely to be de-pressed or have suicidal thoughts as other teenagers1.

2) In a sample of children aged 6-17, the more ex-cessive the television and computer use, the more like-ly they were to have social, emotional and self-esteemproblems2.

3) In another study of teenagers, high internet users(more than 2 hours per day) reported worse relation-ships with their mothers and friends than low internetusers (less than 1 hour per day)3.

4) In a sample of university students, those with prob-lematic internet use (“internet addiction”) were ninetimes more likely to get moderate depression and fourtimes more likely to get severe depression than theirpeers. These students’ grades, schoolwork, job per-formance, sleep and ability to do house chores had alldeteriorated4.

In recent times, several ‘new’ depressive syndromesrelated to excessive media use have been described,including:

‘Facebook Depression’

Facebook depression is a new phenomenon definedas “depression that develops when preteens and teensspend a great deal of time on social media sites, suchas Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symp-toms of depression”5. Factors contributing to this phe-nomenon include the desire to feel connected and ac-cepted by peers and the intensity of the on-line world.

Some of these adolescents then become isolated intheir off-line world, and many then turn to unsafe pur-suits such as substance abuse, unhealthy sexual prac-tices, aggressive and self-destructive behaviours.

‘Hikikomori’

In the last 12 years, Japan has noted a disturbingtrend among its youth, which has been labelled Hikiko-mori, or severe social withdrawal. Features of this phe-nomenon include an individualistic mindset, having diffi-culties following the normal rules of society, strugglingto recognise their weaknesses and limits, and avoidingeffort and strenuous work6. They enjoy the internet andvideo games and nothing else. This phenomenon is notjust limited to Japan, but rapidly spreading around theworld. The authors describing Hikikomori note that itmay be an indicator “of a pandemic of psychologicalproblems that the global internet-connected society willhave to face in the near future”.

What comes first: the chicken or the egg?

What these studies do not often clarify is: what comesfirst? Does problematic media use cause depression, ordoes depression make it more likely to be addicted todifferent media?

It is easy to see how excessive media use can causedepression. Excessive media use affects sleep, eatinghabits, activity levels and sociability, and all those canaffect mood. Several studies that have followed teen-agers over time have shown that problematic mediause often comes before depression7,8,9. This means thatexcessive media use can in itself cause depression.

On the other hand, a depressed adolescent is likely tobecome more withdrawn and turn to media to keepthemselves occupied. Problematic media use could thusbe an indicator of other underlying problems.

Regardless of what comes first, media addiction anddepression is a toxic mix that can destroy the wellbeing,functioning and potential of the young person. If a youngperson has both, urgent help is needed.

The perspective of Orthodox Christianspirituality

Of course, electronic media did not exist at the time ofour Church Fathers. Neither did the modern understand-

ing of Major Depression. Despite this, the Church Fa-thers provide insights to suggest that both problemsmay have a common cause.

Many Church Fathers, including Evagrius, St John Cas-sian and St Maximus the Confessor, state that a majorcause of sadness is the frustration of sensual desires;in other words, not being able to attain something thatappeals to the senses, something that is worldly or ma-terial10. Also, addictions, or passions, are substitutes ofGod; they can be anything that captures the heart11.These substitutes are often material or sensual things:alcohol, drugs, money, gambling, popularity, sex, elec-tronic media. Electronic media are able to capture youngpeoples’ senses so strongly, that they can easily go onto also capture the heart.

It is perhaps too simplistic to say that materialismcauses both depression and addictions to media. Bothconditions are serious conditions that require medicaland psychological attention. However, the Church Fa-thers remind us that when we remove God from youngpeoples’ lives and simply offer the material and sensu-al world, we are going to end up with a lot of youngpeople living depressed, troubled and empty lives. Theproblems that we see with excessive media use arejust a natural consequence of this.

“Whoever has an attachment to anything visibleis not yet delivered from grief”.

The Ladder of Divine Ascent, II, 7.

By Fr George LiangasChild and Adolescent PsychiatristSchool Chaplain, All Saints Grammar, Sydney

1 Messias E, Castro J, et al. Sadness, suicide, and their association withvideo game and internet overuse among teens: result from the Youth RiskBehavior Survey 2007 and 2009. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviour2011; 41: 307-315.

2 Russ SA, Larson K, et al. Association between media use and healthin US children. Academic Pediatrics 2009; 9: 300-306.

3 Sanders CE, Field TM, et al. THe relationship of internet use to de-pression and social isolation among adolescents. Adolescence 2000; 35:237-242.

4 Christakis DA, Moreno MM, et al. Problematic internet usage in UScollege students: a pilot study. BMC Medicine 2011, 9:77.

5 O’Keeffe GS, Clarke-Pearson K, et al. The impact of social media onchildren, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics 2011; 127: 800-804.

6 Kato TA, Shinfuku N, et al. Are Japan’s hikikomori and depression inyoung people spreading abroad? Lancet 2011; 378: 1070.

7 Van den Eijnden RJJM, Meerkerk G, et al. Online communication, com-pulsive internet use, and psychosocial well-being among adolescents: alongitudinal study. Developmental psychology 2008; 44: 655-665.

8 Primach BA, Swanier B, et al. Association between media use in ado-lescence and depression in young adulthood: a longitudinal study.Archives of General Psychiatry 2009; 66: 181-188.

9 Lam LT, Peng Z. Effect of pathological use of the internet on adoles-cent mental health: a prospective study. Archives of Pediatric and Adoles-cent Medicine 2010; 164: 901-906.

10 Larchet J. Mental disorders and spiritual healing: teachings from theearly Christian East. Hillsdale NY: Sophia Perennis; 2005; 93-95.

11 Mihailoff, V. Breaking the chains of addiction: how to use ancientEastern Orthodox spirituality to free our minds and bodies from all addic-tions. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 2003; 17-18.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA8/26 MARCH 2012

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The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 9/27MARCH 2012

THEY KEEP GOING - RAIN, HAIL OR SHINEWeek in and week out, rain hail or shine, devoted Scrip-

ture teachers visit schools to offer their faith to children.This commitment was applauded at the Sixth Basic Ac-creditation Course for new Scripture teachers. It was heldat Belmore, at the parish of All Saints.

Fr Agathangelos Masteas welcomed the participants tothe new sports centre of All Saints College. This is locatedimmediately behind the church.

More than 30 teachers heard about the role of specialreligious education in State schools. Fr Constantine Vari-patis is the Greek Orthodox representative on the Inter-Church Commission on Religious Education. He said thatthe Scripture classes were a way of broadening the edu-cation of children. They provide another dimension to thelearning of some 4,500 children each week.

Teachers heard about the challenges for religion in aworld that is largely non-religious and apathetic to theChristian message. This is the same world that offers verylittle in return for non-believers.

The major sessions were conducted by three experi-enced and professional teachers.

An outline of a basic religious lesson was provided byMrs Maria Kollias. She emphasised the value of maintain-ing interest. She showed how to involve the learners andwarned against religious instruction that is passive.

Fr Panagiotis Mavrommatis was released from his du-ties at St Euphemia College to attend the seminar. He hasbeen involved in the Scripture program since 2007. FrMavrommatis stressed the personality of the teacher andhow it was important for teachers to embody Orthodoxyin their words and actions.

The final session was presented by Mrs Helen Magdaswho has been involved in every aspect of Greek Orthodoxreligious education for more than 25 years. Her contribu-tion will be acknowledged at a celebration of religiouseducation to take place at Parliament House.

In her session, Mrs Magdas showed the three differentways in which the Kindergarten to Year 7 curriculum from

Pantanassa Monastery may be used in our schools. Thecurriculum can be accessed online (http://www.pantanas-samonastery. org/resources.html ).

The Basic Accreditation Course is held annually near thebeginning of the school year. It is designed to provide anintroduction to new teachers. This year it was hosted bythe parish of All Saints Belmore, and we are grateful to FrChristos Triantafyllou and Fr Agathangelos Masteas fortheir continued support of special religious education.

Further details of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese spe-cial religious education program are available on the Arch-diocese web-site at: http://www.greekorthodox.org.au/general/aboutus/organisations/specialreligiouseducation

Dr Jim AthanasouSt Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College

Participants in the Sixth Basic Accreditation course - Belmore

Fr Panagiotis Mavrommatis, Fr Constantine Varipatis and Fr Agathangelos Masteas

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA12/30 MARCH 2012

Kytherians establish a magnificent culturalresource centre in Sydney

In 1922 a group of Kytherian migrants, recently ar-rived in Australia, met in a café in Sydney to plot thedestiny of a new fraternal association, to be called theKytherian Brotherhood of Australia.

For those founding members, it was paramount toprovide a new spiritual home for the thousands of mi-grants who were to follow in the migration waves thatsaw much of Kythera’s young men and women travel toAustralia to establish a new life in a new home.

After years of making property investments and thenan ill-fated attempt to run a licensed social club in Re-gent Street Chippendale, the Kytherian Association ofAustralia (as it is now known) has finally established amagnificent cultural resource centre, library and meet-ing room at its premises at 24 King Street, Rockdale.

On 17 February 2012 the realisation of a dream to es-tablish a spiritual home for Kytherians in the diasporawas finally celebrated with the official opening of theNew Kythera House. In the presence of the Consul-General of Greece, Mr Vassilios Tolios as well as in-vited guests and dignitaries, Father Sophronios Konida-ris and Father Constantinos Varipatis performed theAgiasmos blessing of the new cultural space .

The President of the Kytherian Association, Victor Ke-preotis, opened the proceedings by reminding every-one that this new cultural and historical resource centrewas a result of the combined efforts of successivecommittees over the years and represented the centre-piece of the Association. He paid tribute to the inspiredarchitectural design by architect Eva-Marie Prineas andthe work of the builder Stan Giaouris in helping to com-plete the extensive refurbishment.

Father Sophronios congratulated the Kytherians forremaining close to their roots and being proud of theirheritage in constructing a dwelling which would be ofmuch reflection and education. He also observed that,just as in Kythera a stationary car can be seen rollinggently uphill near the famous Monastery of Myrtidiotis-sa, so Kytherians were being drawn inexorably closerto Our Lady of the Myrtles Church in Kogarah by havingrelocated from Chippendale to Rockdale.

The Greek Consul-General noted that a lot of devotionwas evident in the creation of this new cultural spaceand was also a vivid representation of Kytherian activ-ities, not just here but around the world. According to MrTolios, this gives us hope for the future and for ouryounger generations.

A highlight of the evening was the re-presentation ofthe first minute book of the Kytherian Association thathad been held in safe custody up until now. Past Presi-dent John Prineas read from the exquisitely hand-writ-ten minutes of the first meeting held on 14 May 1922and for a moment it was as though the room had beentransported back in time. Ninety years later, the Kyther-

ian torch still burns brightly in the diaspora.The new resource centre has an excellent library

which is not just Kythera-specific but covers manythemes relating to Hellenism and the general migrationexperience. Other subject areas include the Greek Warof Independence; Byzantium and Greek Orthodoxy; ar-chaeology and the Minoan colonisation of Kythera; Clas-sical Greece and the history of the Parthenon; Greekfolkloric costumes and dancing; Hellenic cuisine; pho-tography; the Smyrna catastrophe and Greece duringWorld War II; modern Greek history and much more.The cultural centre also features computers, scanner,printers and a large drop-down screen and projector toenable lectures and presentations to be made. The cen-tre will comfortably seat up to about 80 visitors.

The new Kythera House library and research centreis a welcome addition to the Greek-Australian culturallandscape.

George VardasCultural Officer

Kytherian Association of Australia

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 13/31MARCH 2012

For bookings or enrolment information please contact Mrs Sophie Balayannis on (02) 9311 3340

or sbalayannis@stspyridon.nsw.edu.au or visit www.stspyridon.nsw.edu.au

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The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA14/32 MARCH 2012

Farewell to unflaggingconservationist

of Greek folk Domna Samiou, Greece’s foremost folk singer

who died on Saturday March 10 of leukemia, dedi-cated most of her 84 years to recording, research-ing, salvaging and disseminating the sounds of thecountry’s folk music tradition. She did so until thevery end.

Samiou made it her duty to remind the rest of us,in her deep distinct voice, of how people used tosing in the old days, as well as how they danced,came together and had a good time.

“She was the voice of the kind of Greece we de-serve,” noted singer-songwriter Dionysis Savvopou-los, who is credited with bringing Samiou into thelimelight by inviting her to sing alongside him back in1971.

Samiou turned into a woman whose dedication,self-denial, obstinacy and, above all, love urged herto keep traveling around Greece, acquainting localaudiences with the sounds and tunes of the coun-try’s traditional music.

She was born in the Athenian neighborhood ofKaisariani in 1928, after her parents had fled theirnative village on the outskirts of Smyrna in Asia Mi-nor.

At the age of 13, Samiou began taking music les-sons under the guidance of prominent musicologistSimon Karras. At Karras’s association for the dis-semination of Greek music, Samiou immersed her-self in folk and Byzantine music traditions as well asresearch methodology, while at the same time at-tending night school. As a member of the Simon Kar-ras Choir, she came into contact with the NationalRadio Foundation (EIR) and was eventually hired bythe corporation’s National Music Department.

Ten years later, in the 1960s, Samiou embarked onher own travels around the Greek countryside,recording music material for her own archive. Mean-while, her voice was already known outside ofGreece, as her travels frequently took her to placeswhere members of the diaspora resided.

Samiou also performed extensively aroundGreece, appearing at folk festivals as well as at es-tablished cultural venues such as the Herod AtticusTheater, the Little Theater of Epidaurus and theAthens Concert Hall, among others.

In 1981, the artist founded the nonprofit DomnaSamiou Greek Folk Music Association. Meanwhile, alarge portion of her archive has been digitalized bythe Lilian Voudouri Music Library. In 2005, Samiouwas the recipient of a national award from PresidentCostis Stephanopoulos.

“We owe her a great deal and what is certain isthat saying thank you, as heartfelt as it might be, isnot enough to include the gratitude of an entire na-tion,” noted Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos in astatement following Samiou’s death. He was speak-ing on behalf of many of us - in fact all of us.

ATHENSNEWS

New Benaki wing to change cultural landscape

The upcoming opening of a one-of-a-kind museum hasbeen billed as unexpectedly good news, a ray of light withregard to local cultural affairs hard hit by the ongoing cri-sis. The sixth annex of the Benaki Museum and formerresidence of prominent modern Greek artist Nikos Had-jikyriakos-Ghika, is scheduled to open its doors to thepublic in early April.

Located at 3 Kriezotou Street in Athens, close to Syntag-ma Square, it will showcase the Ghika Gallery as well asthe Interwar and 1930s Museum. The building was donat-ed to the Benaki Museum by the artist himself.

The new Benaki wing, developed thanks to the persist-ent efforts of the museum’s director Angelos Delivorrias,offers a panorama of leading examples of modern Greekculture, beginning in the 1920s and continuing up to the1970s.

The museum will be inaugurated on Monday, April 2,while the following day will be dedicated to the numerousdonors who have contributed to its development with aguided tour of the premises.

Meanwhile, news of the opening has been greeted withrelief, given that only recently the Benaki Museum hadlaunched an appeal with local visual arts fans to con-tribute to its financing by suggesting a new program forsponsorships and attracting new members.

On the Kriezotou building’s top floor, visitors can take alook at Hadjikyriakos-Ghika’s fully restored atelier, com-plete with his library and brushes. The artist’s unalteredliving quarters, including the living room, dining room andhis office, are situated on the fourth floor, where his trip-

tych piece, “Kifissia,” is also on display. Furniture and per-sonal items have also been restored, creating the feelingof a lived-in space. The third floor is divided into two ar-eas: The first section includes the artist’s art gallery andthe last section of the Interwar Museum, which also takesup the first and second floors. The final touches on thesecond and third floor are set to take a work-in-progressform in the presence of the audience.

The ground floor, which is also divided into sections, ishome to the Litsa Papaspirou Hall, a restored interwarresidence showcasing 17th-and 18th-century furniture aswell as works by various European artists.

The Ghika Gallery is expected to change the city’s cul-tural landscape.

Greece goes to Eurovision Song Contest 2012with 'Aphrodisiac'

Eleftheria Eleftheriou (pictured) won the national selec-tion and will represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Con-test 2012, with the song Aphrodisiac.

Eleftheria was one of four acts competing to representGreece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

The song won the national selection programme Ellini-kos Telikos 2012 and the winner was decided by a 50/50mix of televoting and a jury.

The winning song Aphrodisiac is composed by DimitrisStassos.

The Eurovision 2012 semi-final rounds will be held inBaku, Azerbaijan on May 22-24 and the final on May 26.

The 57th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in BakuCrystal Hall, which is under construction near the area ofthe State Flag. The motto is "Light your fire".

The Baku Crystal Hall is the arena with a capacity of upto 23,000 spectators. Approximately 16,000 people will beable to attend each of the three Eurovision Song Contestlive shows in May.

ATHENSNEWS

Maroussi bids to keep hold of 1896 marathon winner's cup

The Municipality of Maroussi, the birthplace of SpyrosLouis who won the gold medal in the marathon at the1896 Olympics, is collecting donations to prevent the cupawarded to the athlete at the first modern Games (pho-to) being auctioned.

Maroussi Mayor Giorgos Patoulis said the local au-thority had opened a bank account to collect donations.He thinks that up to 190,000 euros would be needed toensure that the cup is not auctioned.

Spyros Louis was presented with the cup, a silvermedal, an antique vase, an olive branch and a diplomaby Greece's King George I for winning the race inAthens. Louis was the only Greek athlete to win at thegames and was hailed as a national hero.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 15/33

Health

MARCH 2012

‘FLU VACCINE : NOW IS THE TIME

FOR YOUR ‘FLU SHOT!Each year at this time I like to remind people that the in-

fluenza vaccine, more commonly called the flu vaccine isnow available. The influenza virus is constantly changingso it is important to receive vaccination against the fluevery year in order to be protected against the most com-mon strains.

Again this year the seasonal influenza vaccine will in-clude one strain of the Influenza A (H1N1) also known asthe Pandemic strain or swine flu strain.

Getting an annual flu vaccination is a very important andeffective measure in preventing the illness. And the besttime to be vaccinated is in March or April to ensure max-imum protection. The protection develops two weeks af-ter getting the injection and lasts up to a year. Thereforeevery year people need to be re-vaccinated.

People who have been vaccinated for the swine flu pre-viously should also be vaccinated with the 2012 seasonalinfluenza vaccine.

Influenza is a highly contagious infection of the nose,throat and lungs. Its effects are rapidly felt throughout thewhole body. Every year during the winter months, mostparts of the world experience an outbreak of influenzaknown as ‘flu.

Most young and fit people will recover fairly quicklyfrom influenza, but for others, it can be a serious life-threatening illness. In an average year it’s estimated that1500 Australians die and 20,000 to 40,000 are hospi-

talised as a result of the flu. Influenza is caused by a virus.There are two main viruses which cause the disease, in-fluenza A and influenza B. Each year, the virus changesslightly so that different forms of one of these viruses ap-pear every year. The health authorities in this country goto great lengths to try to anticipate the change so that avaccine can be developed.

The Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee recom-mended strains for the 2012 season are:

• A/California/7/2009 (H1N1) - like virus; • A/Perth/15/2009 (H3N2) - like virus; • B/Brisbane/60/2008 - like virus These are the three strains expected to circulate this

year.Influenza is generally spread by ‘droplet infection’. That

means it is spread by the coughs and sneezes of an in-fected person which create little droplets which hang inthe air. These droplets are then inhaled by other people.The infection starts in the nose and throat of the recipientperson and may spread further down into the lungs whichcan result in bronchitis or pneumonia.

The patient with influenza will typically complain of feel-ing cold shivers or a high temperature which may comeon suddenly, aching muscles or (myalgia) and joint pains,a sore throat and a bad cough. The person feels very un-well and may be tired and lethargic for several days.

Almost anyone can get influenza, but there are a num-ber of ‘high risk’ groups who are likely to be affected.

The single most important preventative measure onecan take is to be vaccinated against the ‘flu. The vaccineis a single injection which can be given by your familydoctor.

The aim of the immunisation is to expose an individualto either a dead or inactive virus so that the body canmount an antibody response. The response is remem-bered by the immune system so that if it is exposed to areal influenza attack, the body can mount a much quickerand larger response to it.

The best time to be vaccinated is before influenza oc-curs in the community. This is usually Autumn, but vacci-nation can still take place in the first few months of Win-ter.

For the 2012 influenza season the following groups areeligible for a free influenza vaccine:

• All people aged 65 years and over• All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged

15 years and over• All people aged 6 months and over who are at severe

risk of outcomes from seasonal influenza, such as thosewith chronic conditions, including cardiac disease; respira-tory diseases including: COPD, asthma and cystic fibrosis;diabetes and renal failure and people with neurologicalimpairment who have compromised respiratory functionand people with impaired immunity and children aged 6months to 10 years on long term aspirin therapy.

• Pregnant womenIn addition, people who can transmit influenza to per-

sons at an increased risk such as staff at nursing homes,nurses, volunteer workers and persons who provide es-sential community services should consider vaccination.

The vaccine should not be given to anyone who suffersfrom severe egg or chicken feather allergies. The vaccineis a safe vaccine. It can cause redness or soreness at theinjection site, but severe side effects are extremely rare.Inactivated influenza vaccine has been available for overfifty years. Since that time, the formulation has been con-tinually improved resulting in far less adverse reactions.

In 2010 there were adverse events in children under 5years of age with Fluvax. As in 2011 again in 2012 the Flu-vax is not registered for use in children less than fiveyears of age. The Australian Technical Advisory Group onImmunisation has advised that Influvac or Vaxigrip brandsof influenza vaccine are suitable for children between sixmonths and five years of age under the National Immuni-sation Program.

Now’s the time! Talk to your family doctor about the fluvaccine.

Most people are aware of the benefits of having a vac-cination each year to protect themselves against influen-za.

The National Health and Medical Research Council alsorecommends that all people over 65 years of age shouldhave an additional vaccine known as the PNEUMOCOCCALVACCINE. This vaccine is now provided free to all Aus-tralians over 65 years of age. This winter be fully covered:add pneumococcal vaccination to your ‘flu vaccine. Talk toyour doctor about the pneumococcal vaccine.

Immunisation is there to protect you against disease.Now is the time to talk to your doctor about both the

pneumococcal vaccination and the seasonal influenzavaccination.

* The information given in this article is of a general nature andreaders should seek advice from their own medical practitioner be-fore embarking on any treatment.

HEALTHNEWS

WITH DR. THEO PENKLIS *

Gen Y becoming diabetes generationOne in three people from Generation Y

will become part of Generation Diabetesor "Generation D", according to a newnational diabetes assessment report.

The alarming report, entitled "Diabetes:the silent pandemic and its impact onAustralia", has prompted some of Aus-tralia's leading research and consumeradvocacy groups to demand a renewedfocus from the federal government onthe health issue.

Diabetes Australia CEO Lewis Kaplansaid it should be an immediate priority torecommit to the United Nations resolutionto develop a formal national action planto tackle diabetes.

"Time is of the essence because, unlikeother developed nations (and) despiteagreeing to these global recommenda-tions, Australia has failed to take compre-hensive action and implement change,"he said.

It is estimated that, by 2025, Type 2 di-abetes will triple in prevalence and affectthree million Australians.

However, Type 2 diabetes is potential-ly preventable in many people.

The report says there is a continuingrise in the occurrence of Type 1 diabetes,

especially among children aged up tofour years, although it is unpreventable.

It said prevalence of Type 1 diabetes inAustralia was one of the highest in theworld and was increasing at about threeper cent a year.

The report's lead author, JonathanShaw from the Baker IDI Heart and Dia-betes Institute, said the future was not

looking positive."What is critical now is for us to take

urgent responsibility and act firmly andfast to contain the significant burden ouryounger generations and children are setto endure," Associate Professor Shawsaid.

"The battle against diabetes requiresconcerted efforts on a number of fronts -

strategies to slow down the rapidly risingnumber of those developing the diseaseand ensuring those living with diabetesare able to manage this insidious condi-tion effectively.

"We must also do everything we can tofully understand diabetes via research."

The report says 275 Australians are di-agnosed with diabetes every day, whichcan result in visual impairment, kidneydisease or limb amputation.

It says while the current estimated an-nual health bill for diabetes was morethan $6 billion, it would increase dramat-ically as more people were diagnosed.

"Considering diabetes entirely a matterof personal responsibility will certainlyfail to address this public health chal-lenge," Prof Shaw said.

"A well-planned and coordinated wayto reach all levels of society is now criti-cal for the future of this country."

Representatives from Baker IDI Heartand Diabetes Institute, Diabetes Australia,the Juvenile Diabetes Research Founda-tion and Novo Nordisk launched the re-port in Canberra earlier this month.

Source: AP

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA16/34 MARCH 2012

Windows to OrthodoxyBe Warned: The Immortals are Coming. Or are They?

By Guy Freeland*

The Quest for Immortality

I am usually a died-in-the-wool cynic when it comes toprophecies of sensational scientific, technological ormedical developments. However, I intend to throw mynative caution to the winds in order to examine an ex-traordinary medical prophecy which, if it should prove tobe correct or even fractionally correct, would have earth-shattering consequences for every aspect of human ex-istence, and not least theology. It is the claim recentlymade by a leading biological scientist that the first per-son to live for a thousand years has already been born.There you have it. Spend a few moments taking deepbreaths before reading on if this is news to you. What isbeing predicted is the achievement of human physicalimmortality.

The quest for immortality in this life has a very long his-tory. The Ancient Chinese alchemists sought the elixir oflife (a potion which would prevent death through ageing)and the quest was taken up by medieval European al-chemists. Of course, the alchemists’ quest for immortali-ty was as fruitless as their search for the philosopher’sstone which would turn base metals into gold. But nowthe hunt for the keys to physical immortality has beentaken up again, on a very different basis, by biologicaland medical scientists.

Threescore Years and Sixty?

Before I get down to real business a distinction must bedrawn. I am hearing everywhere that, on the basis of ex-isting medical advances, it should now be possible to in-crease life expectancy to a cut-off point of around 120.What all this is about is the summation of incremental ad-vances in medicine. Doctors have reached the stagewhere they think that they can, if they catch us in time,administer enough tests, pop enough shovelfuls of pillsinto us, subject us to as many surgical “procedures” asthey think good for us, sufficiently reorganise ourlifestyles and restrict our diets to enable many to ap-proach 120.

Have reservations about a fifty year extension of thePsalmist’s threescore years and ten (Psalm 90:10; 89LXX)? Well, I must warn you, as I have personally discov-ered, the pressures to conform to the dictates of modernmedicine are incredibly powerful. It seems that the onlyway of opting out - males only need apply - is to flee toMt Athos (and I have heard of monks they have got eventhere). Oh well, everyone tells me that I am completelyout of order. Smack! Smack!

The incremental extension of first world life (a totally dif-ferent story for the vast bulk of humanity) has of coursebeen accelerating for decades. In the days when I wasregularly scooped up and taken down in the middle ofthe night to a concrete bunker - a slice of my early child-hood took place under the only aerial battle in history -around 75 was considered a commendable age to reach.When I was an undergraduate you needed to reach 80.By the time of the new millennium you would have hadto clock up close to 90. Now, centenarians are alreadytwo-a-penny and the price fast dropping. 120? Yes, I canswallow that prediction.

Immortality?

No, it is not incremental “advances” that are my focus butwhat the next generation of developments could have instore. I am a mere layperson in these matters, but let memention three relevant areas of research (my informa-tion derives mainly from recent TV documentaries).

First, the medicine of the future (in fact it has already be-gun) will be genetically based. Descending from the lev-

el of organs and their ills to the molecular level will indu-bitably increase accuracy of diagnosis by orders of mag-nitude and open up powerful new methods of preventionand treatment. The determination of the human genomewas of the greatest significance but now medical deci-sions can be based on the genomes of individuals.

Second, everyone knows of the wonder of twentieth-century heart transplant surgery. The ideal, however, hasalways been not for a transplant or artificial heart but abrand-new heart. This is no longer pie in the sky. A ge-nius by name of Dr Doris Taylor has actually grown anew beating rat’s heart. She hit upon the brilliant idea ofwashing out all the cells from a heart (with detergent!)leaving a structure which looks like a ghostly skeleton.She then reclothed the “ghost heart” with stem cellswhich grew into heart cells and formed a new function-ing heart.

A human heart has been successfully skeletonised, butthe hope is to be able to use (probably) a pig’s heart,skeletonise it and then reclothe the ghost heart with stemcells grown from ones taken from the patient. Thismeans that the new heart will have the patient’s ownDNA - it will uniquely be their own heart! If this is suc-cessful it will open up the possibility that the same pro-cedure could be used to grow other organs.

These two developments won’t, however, give us im-mortality: we still need to understand, my third field, whatactually causes ageing and then find a “cure” for it. Thecause of cellular ageing (which accounts for around 80%of all ageing effects) has now been found in break-through research which won the Tasmanian researcherProfessor Elizabeth Blackburn (along with others) the No-bel Prize in 2009. The main points are as follows.

At the ends of chromosomes there are tips known astelomeres. The reason cells malfunction, stop reproduc-ing and eventually die is that the telomeres shorten witheach cell replication. The ends of chromosomes becomesticky and mess up the genetic material. So, is there away of keeping the telomeres long? Yes, the enzymetelomerase does just that and, moreover, a gene whichcontrols its production has been located. OK, why notpump the gene into our ageing cells and make us youngagain?

Unfortunately, telomerase also promotes the replicationof immortal cells we definitely don’t wish to encourage,cancer cells. There is, however, some hope ways can befound around the problem.

But where do these developments lead - immortality?Some think so but others see such predictions as science

fiction. Cells have been rendered immortal in the lab butit is a long way from that to personal physical immortal-ity.

But what if those who predict that death from ageing willbe conquered should prove to be right? Incremental in-crease of longevity has so far not been an unmitigatedsuccess. To live to 100 (or 120) in good health with allyour marbles is one thing, to increase life-span as anend in itself is an entirely different matter. In practice,longevity is often bought at the price of an addition of 10-17 years of cellular ageing in highly stressed long-termcarers.

Beware the Struldbrugs

In 1727 Jonathan Swift, the Irish Anglican (no, not an oxy-moron) Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin publishedhis famous satire, Gulliver’s Travels. It tells of the voy-ages of the fictitious ship’s surgeon, Lemuel Gulliver, tofabulous lands. The best known is the voyage to Lilliput,where everything, including the people, is scaled downone inch to a foot. In the voyage to Brobdingnag the sit-uation is reversed and it is Gulliver who is the midget. In-terestingly, there could be an Australian connection withthe inspiration for Gulliver’s Travels as Gulliver claimsWilliam Dampier (who in 1683 and 1699 explored partsof the Australian coastline) as his cousin.

It is on the third voyage that Gulliver visits the Struld-brugs, individuals characterised by a mark on their fore-heads who are born immortal. But far from beingblessed, the Struldbrugs are the most miserable and de-spised of human beings. They are not free from the rav-ages of age and cannot even properly communicate withone another as their languages belong to different eras.They do not advance in wisdom and are still subject tovice:

“They were not only opinionative, peevish, covetous, mo-rose, vain, talkative; but incapable of friendship, anddead to all natural affection, which never descended be-low their grandchildren. Envy, and impotent desires, aretheir prevailing passions.”

Although few in number, they pose social problems:

“As soon as they have completed the term of eightyyears they are looked on as dead in law; their heirs im-mediately succeed to their estates; only a small pittanceis reserved for their support; and the poor ones aremaintained at the public charge.”

Gulliver becomes totally disillusioned:

“... from what I had heard and seen my keen appetite forperpetuity of life was much abated. I grew heartilyashamed of the pleasing visions I had formed; andthought no tyrant could invent a death, into which I wouldnot run with pleasure, from such a life.”

The prophets of the new medical age are on a quest forthe “fountain of youth” not immortality per se, but a greatmany of the consequences noted by Swift remain even ifthe promise is for a healthy, youthful immortality.

Orthodoxy and Immortality

Well, physical immortality might be nothing more thanscience fiction; the problems which still need to besolved might prove insurmountable. But I doubt it. Ifphysical immortality is a possibility in theory then it willbe achieved and there will be some who could see their1000th birthday. And if one can make 1000 then (barringwalking under transport systems of the future) why notanother, and another?

Whatever is to be said for and against this envisagedBrave New World (and it could very likely bring about its

Jonathon Swift, from an 1840 edition of Gulliver’s Travels.

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 17/35MARCH 2012

Windows to Orthodoxy

Cont. from previous page

own destruction) it surely clashes with traditional Ortho-dox values. Christianity has never exalted longevity as avirtue or desirable end in itself. There are wise old peo-ple but old age is no guarantee of increased wisdom orvirtue. What matters is not extension of life but how onelives one’s life, however long or short it be.

A Christian might very well pray to be given time toamend their life but the Christian wisdom is that oneshould live each day as if it were one’s last. The immor-tality Christianity teaches is not physical, temporal im-mortality but eternal.

Many martyrs, including famously St Ignatius, and indeedChrist Himself, could very easily have avoided martyr-dom. What Christians have traditionally prayed for is notpreservation from ageing and death but for a good death(something that seems often to have been forgotten inour own time). Of course we don’t pray for a martyr’sdeath. Instead, we pray, in the words of the liturgy:

“That the end of our life may be Christian, painless,unashamed and peaceful, and for a good defence at thefearful judgement seat of Christ.”

(The Divine Liturgy, St Andrew’s Orthodox Press.)

The Christian understanding is that our existence isgrounded in the human life cycle. Liturgical rites of pas-sage punctuate the stations of life from birth throughdeath. To know when your time of departure has comeand to die in the peace of Christ is the Christian ideal.Medical interventions simply to prolong life at all costsare inconsistent with Christian tradition and are some-times shockingly cruel. In Adam Elliot’s Oscar-winningAustralian “Claymation”, ‘Harvie Crumpet’, Harvie findshimself at a retirement home where he meets a manwho is so old that he “has given up the will to die”. Butfor a Christian, death is a part of life, not a denial of life.

Genesis teaches us that we came from the earth - thatis, we are the products of the natural world and naturalprocesses - and that when our biological cycle of lifecomes to its close we return to the earth. One generationgives way to the next, the life cycles of individual humanbeings spiral through time. But physical immortalitywould break the life cycle and ... Well, you might say thatphysical immortality would be the best thing since the in-vention of sliced bread; but my reply would be:Remember the Struldbrugs.

* The author is an Honorary College Lecturer at St Andrew’sGreek Orthodox Theological College, Sydney.

A collection of thirty-three of Guy Freeland’s Vema articles isscheduled for publication by ATF and St Andrew’s Orthodox Pressin June under the title Windows to Orthodoxy.

The Struldbrugs, from an 1840 edition of Gulliver’s Travels. JEWS, CATHOLICS TEACH US A LESSONIn February this year, parish priests and scripture co-

ordinators went back to school. They learnt about theways other faiths organise their religious education pro-grams. Participants came from all parishes and even in-terstate.

This was part of the first annual training day for scrip-ture coordinators. They organise the special religiousprogram in our State public schools. It is known popu-larly as Scripture.

This program reaches more children than any otheractivity of the Orthodox Church in Australia.

Dr Ann-Maree Whenman from the Australian CatholicUniversity encouraged participants to ask the question:“Why is it important to have special religious educationin schools?”

The answer for Greek Orthodox is that it satisfies theneeds of the children. It provides them with essentialcontact with their faith. Many parents are isolated fromtheir faith and unable to pass on the essential truths. Itadds to their learning and development.

Rachelle Schonberger from the New South WalesBoard of Jewish Education painted a picture of whatGreek Orthodox religious education can become with alittle will and determination. She outlined their network ofprofessional scripture teachers. She described an ex-tensive educational program designed to reach out tothe community through the school.

The numbers of Jewish students are far fewer thanOrthodox and they are concentrated in a few regions ofSydney but they still manage to provide a teacher wher-ever there are three or more Jewish students. They seereligious education as a key part of Jewish identity.

There were many parallels with the Greek Orthodoxprogram but also many lessons to be learnt. We valuedthis input from our colleagues in other faiths who re-sponded eagerly to our invitation. Although our faithsdiffer, we are united in having a core religious belief to

guide our lives. Priests, visitors and parish scripture co-ordinators at the first training day

Participants from the annual training day went awaywith a broader picture of their role. For it is only by look-ing at others that we can judge ourselves. It was goodto see the similarities and the differences between thefaiths.

The general impression is that we are well on the wayto being organised but that much more needs to bedone.

One participant noted, “The importance of Scripture isunderestimated at all levels and our parishes often fo-cus on the wrong things. There is a need to restore re-ligious education to an important place in our communi-ty.” We have much to learn.

Dr Jim AthanasouSt Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College

athanasou@gmail.com

LEFT: Dr Whenman encouraging participants to thinkabout the big issues. RIGHT: Rachelle Scholberger empha-

sising zeal and drive for religious education

Melbourne to get new cultural centre for Greek community

In the presence of Arts Minister Simon Crean andParliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicul-tural Affairs Senator Kate Lundy, Australian Prime Min-ister Julia Gillard announced a $2 million investment inthe establishment of the Antipodes Centre for GreekCulture, Heritage and Language at the Antipodes Lons-dale Street Glendi, Melbourne's renowned Greek Fes-tival, on Saturday, February 25.

The new cultural center will be located in the heartof Melbourne’s Greek community as part of a multi-purpose building on the corner of Lonsdale and Russellstreets.

The aim of the center is to celebrate the contributionof Australia's Greek community and the special andhistorical connections between Greece and Australia.

The state-of-the-art facility will showcase the Greekcommunity's history, displaying valuable archives builtup over decades, and host special exhibitions and per-formances.

It will also provide support to new and existingGreek migrants through programs run by the GreekOrthodox Community of Melbourne & Victoria.

The Greek Orthodox Community has a long history inrunning successful cultural activities in Melbourne, in-cluding the Greek Film Festival and the Antipodes Fes-tival, which is the largest celebration of Greek cultureoutside of Greece.

Established in 1897, the Greek Orthodox Communityhas provided $6.2 million toward the project, including$1.2 million from donations alone.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA18/36 MARCH 2012

Arts, Food & WineListening to Music

Editor: Imogen Coward

By Taliesin Coward

Last month I explored some concepts surrounding musicand interpretation. This month I’ve decided to take youthrough some of my favourite classical performers (sev-eral violinists and one singer) and their CDs. For thebeginner who’s yet to discover who’s who and what’swhat, this may serve as a starting point from which tostrike out from; and for the avid collector, they mightdiscover some new treasure or gem which had previous-ly slipped under their radar. The selection of works andinterpretations also hint at the cultural treasure trove(including influences from Eastern Europe, theMediterranean and the Far East) absorbed into WesternArt Music over the last 150 years or so.Firstly though, a quick guide to how to read the overlyacademic way of citing CD details: first the title (in ital-ics), date of issue, performers or principle performer,publishing company, and finally catalogue number. Thecatalog number refers to the master-disc from which theCDs were stamped. A CD may be later republished witha different title, but the catalog number will stay thesame, making it possible to track down apparently out-of-print recordings.

Con Amore, 1987, Kyung Wha Chung - violin, PhillipMoll - piano, Decca, 417 289-2. This CD contains as charming a collection of miniatures(short pieces) as one could hope to find. Chung playsever popular crowd pleasers including pieces byKreisler’s Liebesleid, Tchaikovsky’s Valse sentimentale,and the every popular Salut d’amor by Elgar. Whetherthe piece is slow and wistful, or a flashy display of musi-cal fireworks, Chung plays with a marvelous sense ofmusicality. I can heartily recommend Kyung WhaChung’s Con Amore to anyone looking for a collectionof simply good music.

Schubert Lieder, 2005, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau - bari-tone, Gerald Moore - piano, Deutsche Grammophon,00289 477 5765.

Fischer-Dieskau is in possession of one of the best clas-sically-trained voices ever heard. Though a baritone, hisvoice is quite light and bright, giving it a smooth velvetytimbre that avoids the sometimes aggravating brightnessof the tenor, and the ‘barrel-tone’ quality of some deep-er voices. This collection of 21 CDs is either for themusic collector or musicologist, and presents the com-plete works (at least those known to exist) of Schubert’slieder (German art-song).

An die Musik, 2005, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau - bari-tone, various pianists and orchestras, DeutscheGrammophon, 000289 477 5556.

Another collection of songs sung by Fisher-Dieskau, buthis time with greater variety in styles and composers.Songs rang from Bach’s Ich habe genug, Wolf’sVeborgenheit (a truly beautiful recording), Schumann’sDichterliebe song-cycle, to Mozart’s Der Vogelfängerbin ich ja (Papageno’s song from The Magic Flute). Alsoincluded is a DVD of Fischer-Dieskau singer Schubertlieder. An excellent (not to mention less pricy) collectionfor those who like the human voice.

Wieniawski, 1995, Itzhak Perlman - violin, SamuelSanders - piano, London Philharmonic Orhestra, EMIClassics, 7243 5 66059 2 3.

This CD contains a rather rare collection of pieces byvirtuoso violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski(pronounced ven-y-ef-ski), including his two violin con-certi, two polonaises, and several miniatures includingthe spectacular encore piece Scherzo-tarantelle. Out ofthe performers I have heard play these musical, but tech-nically challenging pieces (the reason for their rarity),Perlman is one of the best: performing the pieces withflair and a whimsical sense of humour that renders thepieces a delight to listen to. Not all fireworks and whim-sy, though, as the slower second movements of each con-certo are played in a manner designed to show off their

beautiful melodies, and equally beautiful tone of a mas-terfully handled violin.

Virtuoso Violin, 2001, Itzhak Perlman - violin, RoyalPhilharmonic Orchestra, Pittsburgh SymphonyOrchestra, EMI Classics, 7243 5 74765 2 2. I have to admit I got this CD for one reason, Perlman’sincredible performance of Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, apotpourri of tunes from Bizet’s now popular operaCarmen (trivia time: Carmen was box-office ‘flop’ whenit premiered). The CD is however, stuffed full with high-ly enjoyable Spanish virtuoso music, from Granados toSarasate (if you’re curious, on youtube you can hear a1903 recording of Sarasate playing some of his ownmusic). A delightful (and cheap!) collection with some-thing to please everybody.

Nathan Milstein: Aristocrat of the Violin, 2009, NathanMilstein - violin, various pianists and orhcestras, EMIClassics, 50999 6 98667 2 2.

Nathan Milstein, while less well known to the publicthan his fellow violinists Oistrakh, Kreisler and Heifetz,was nevertheless recognized by them as being one of thegreat master violinists and (more importantly) musiciansof his day. Milstein was noted for his bright, silvery toneand the effortless with which he played the most techni-cally and musically demanding pieces. This 8 CD setcontains a broad cross-section of his huge number ofrecordings includes various sonatas, concerti by Brahms,Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns and Dvořák anda wealth of encores. If you’re only going to have set ofviolin music in your house, this is the one to get.

Great Violinists: Milstein - Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky,Bruch Violin Concertos, 2003, Nathan Milstein - violin,various orchestras, Naxos Historical, 8.110977.

If the above collection seems a tad excessive, you maylike to try this CD (reasonably priced around the $10mark). Recorded live, the performances of these threeconcerti (regarded as some of the greatest ever written)are some of the most exciting, energetic recordings I’veheard. Excellent and exciting recordings of great music,what more could you want?

Bach Sonatas for Unaccompanied Violin, 2001, NathanMilstein - violin, EMI Classics, 7243 5 66869 2 2; &Bach Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin, 1998, NathanMilstein - violin, EMI Classics, 7243 5 66870 2 8.

Sooner or later someone will tell you that Bach was oneof the greatest composers who lived, and cite his unac-companied sonatas and partitas for violin as proof ofthis. Unfortunately most recording of these pieces can besummed up by the words dull, repetitive, tedious,monotonous and downright unmusical. Fortunately thisis not the case with these recordings. Milstein was par-ticularly known for his interpretation of Bach’s music,and his recordings of theses sonatas and partitas are theonly I’ve heard which make musical sense of the piecesand make them highly enjoyable to listen to. Perfect for

the Bach enthusiast, the poor violin-student who’s tryingto come to grips with some of the most complicatedmusic ever written (anyone up for keeping four separatemelodies going at once on a four-stringed instrument?),or someone who wants to find out what all the fuss isabout.

Écoutez!Arts Review

Couture Chocolate by William Curley (published by Penguin-Viking 2011)

Setting aside the fine and performing arts for amoment, in this book we get a guided tour of the artof making chocolates, combining not only high techni-cal skill, but also a certain flair of invention and visualpresentation. Indeed, of the many meanings of theword couture, it is the concept of ‘designer’ synony-mous with high fashion and superb craftsmanshipwhich applies to this book. Curley, one of Britain’sforemost chocolatiers, guides the reader through thebasic history of chocolate and fundamental chocolatetechniques including tempering and ganache.Alongside these, he presents an extravaganza ofchocolate recipes ranging from traditional chocolatetruffles to not so traditional Japanese inspired flavourcombinations, as well as cakes, biscuits and othersweet treats including chocolate dipped honeycomb.The combination of beautiful photography alongsidestep-by-step instructions (again with plentiful photo-graphs) is delightful. The inclusion of a helpful guide toretailers of specialty chocolate ingredients and equip-ment in the US, UK and Australia, make this book bothinspiring and fantastic resource.

Cost: around $60

Cacao Power: Certified Organic Pure Raw Chocolate Powder

What makes the perfect hot chocolate? It all depends on who you ask... some use all milk, others milk and wa-ter, do you like double cream, or perhaps added cinnamon, vanilla, or shaved chocolate as well as cocoa...the listgoes on. In truth, it seems that the best hot chocolate is in fact the simplest. The key ingredient? Raw cocoa pow-der. The vast majority of cocoa powder we can purchase is ‘dutched’. This is when the beans are processed toneutralise their natural acidity, and apparently also helping the cocoa powder to stay suspended in a liquid (suchas when mixed with milk), and turning it a darker, slightly reddish colour. The Cacoa Power raw cocoa is, by con-trast, cold-pressed and untreated resulting in a powder which has a lighter colour, an intense chocolate aromaand, for good measure, greater nutritional benefits. Sweetened to taste and used as you would use ordinaryunsweetened cocoa powder, Cacao Power makes an intensely aromatic and smooth hot chocolate. It is avail-able from some health-food stores (hurrah, a health-food which tastes fantastic!).

FFoooodd && WWiinnee

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 19/37MARCH 2012

SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW 5 - 18 APRIL 2012

The 2012 Sydney Royal Easter Show (the Show) runs fromThursday 5 April to Wednesday 18 April and showcasesthe best in Australian agriculture including home-grownproduce and prize-winning animals.

The Show was established by the Royal AgriculturalSociety of NSW (RAS) 190 years ago and is Australia’slargest annual event which brings together 14,000 ani-mals, the biggest carnival in the southern hemisphere, 300Showbags, 160 food outlets and more than 900,000 visi-tors.

TicketsShowLink tickets are available via the Easter Show websiteand metropolitan Australia Post outlets.

ShowLink tickets include entry to the Show and same dayreturn travel on CityRail services, Sydney Olympic ParkMajor Event Buses, regular Sydney Buses, T-way Busesand Sydney Ferries services (excluding private buses andpremium bus and ferry services).

Price: Adult $36.00, Concession $27.50, Child $23.50

Pre-purchase an Early Bird ShowLink Family ticket from 6February - 20 March 2012 at and save up to 15%.

What’s new in 2012?• Showtime Spectacular: A free two and ahalf hour Australian themed arena production,featuring Australian music, the Sydney RoyalRodeo Series - Australia’s only internationalrodeo, the RAS Stockmens’ Ride which pays trib-ute to the people of the bush, the ShowTimeFreestyle MotoX stunt motorbike riders and the‘Colours of the Outback’ pyromusical fireworksdisplay. Location: Commonweath Bank Arena• Sinbad High Dive Show: The pirate themedhigh dive show sees a group of daring acrobatstake to the high dive board for a dazzling and dar-ing adventure. Location: The Park• Ashton’s Entertainment presents ‘CircusCircus’: come and see the non-stop action,amazing costumes and stunts from world-classcircus performers. Location: Amphitheatre• A World Champion Unicyclist and FireJuggling Comedy Show. Location: Kids Carnival• Brand New Super Slide in the Kids Carnival• ‘Taste of the Show by Sydney Royal’Food Hamper - plan a picnic at the Show with amouth-watering selection of award-winning gour-met produce. Order online before 20 March 2012• Food and Wine Garden: For the first time atthe Show there will be a designated Food andWine Garden, featuring some of the finest foodand wine that NSW has to offer. • Heritage Trail - experience the history behindsome Show favourites as you follow a designat-

ed route around the Showground• Reserved Grandstand Seating in theupgraded Main Arena

Rides & CarnivalThe Show is home to the largest carnival in the southernhemisphere with almost 60 of the biggest and best rides.The carnival has two precincts at the Show, with the ‘CocaCola Carnival’ dedicated to older thrill-seekers and ‘KidsCarnival’ developed especially for families with young chil-dren.

You can save more than 25% on carnival rides by pre-pur-chasing Early Bird eVouchers online. Visit to find out more.

ShowbagsShowbags were first developed especially for the EasterShow more than 100 years ago. Showbags are unique,themed bags of gadgets, merchandise, lollies and treatsand vary in price, with some Showbags starting at $1.

There are 300 to choose from at the 2012 Show so visitand preview the Showbags online before making your

purchase. Showbags will be officially launched on 7 March- so make sure you vist see what’s on offer in theShowbag Pavilion this year.

Great Australian traditions

All the Show favourites are back in 2012 including theWoodchopping and Sawing Competition, the WhipcrackingChampionships and the colourful street parades. The bestof the Show entertainment takes place in the Common-wealth Bank Arena where the action never stops. Theevening entertainment program - Showtime Specta-cular -begins with the Sydney Royal Rodeo Series, followed by anadrenalinpumping performance by professionalstuntmotorbike riders and the RAS Stockmans’ Ride. Don’t missthe spectacular fireworks display, The Colours of theOutback Pyromusical, which will light up the night skyevery evening in the Showtime Spectacular.

Meet the animals The Sunday Telegraph Animal Walk lets you walk with theanimals on a pathway which leads you past 14,000 ani-mals of all different shapes and sizes. Beef and dairy cat-tle, sheep, poultry, pigs, goats, alpacas, horses, dogs andbaby animals in the Dairy Farmers Farmyard Nursery arejust some of the aninmals you can cross paths with as youtake a stroll along this interactive and educational walkthrough the animal pavilions.

While you’re visiting the animals, make sure you stop in atthe Dairy Farmers Milking Barn to watch a milking demon-stration and take a break to watch our favourite Aussieshearers as they show you what’s involved in shearing asheep.

Interactive Farm ExperiencesThere are plenty of interactive opportunities to enjoy at theShow: say ‘G’day’ to a farmer in the animal pavilions,wash a chook, shear a sheep, milk a cow, pat a piglet,feed the baby animals in the Farmyard Nursery and watchthe Yard Dog Show.

Food loversThere is a festival of flavours at the 2012 Show. Stick tothe traditional Show favourites of fairy floss and dagwooddogs or try something a little more gourmet and sampleyour way around the Woolworths Fresh Food Dome orrelax in the brand-new Food and Wine Garden. You cansample some of NSW’s best wines, accompanied by aplate of locally-sourced gourmet produce in a range oftapas-styled dishes from Café NSW.

Don’t miss the best of Australia’s prize-winning productson display in the world-famous District Exhibits, where10,000 pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables are arrangedin spectacular displays especially for the Show.

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA20/38 MARCH 2012

Travel

BY H. ARGYROPOULOS

Mt Ziria (also known as Kylli-ni), which occupies the westernpart of the Corinth district in thePeloponnese, is less than 150kilometers west of Athens andoffers the nearest alpine land-scape to the capital, with firforests and picturesque lakes.The only reminders that you arein fact in Greece are the details:old stone houses, many chapelsand the state of some of the for-est roads. The latter comes asno surprise, given that Ziria hasthe Peloponnese’s second high-est peak, at 2,374 meters.

You will surely need morethan just a weekend to acquaintyourself with the area - which,according to myth, was thebirthplace of the cunning godHermes - and enjoy most ofwhat it has to offer. The musts inthe area are the villages of Evro-stini, Goura, Trikala and Kasta-nia, the Feneos plateau and theman-made Doxa reservoir aswell as Lake Stymfalia, associat-ed with one of the 12 labors ofHercules.

Evrostini (or Zacholi), the seatof the homonymous municipality,lies on the northern slopes ofthe mountain and is accessiblefrom Derveni, on the Athens-Pa-tra highway. One of its highlights

is a walking route and the smallwooden bridges under planeand chestnut trees along the Za-cholitikos River, which traversesthe village. Another is the Churchof Aghios Georgios, on the edgeof the village. It is an architectur-al feat, given its 17 domes andthe 40 days approved for itscompletion by the Ottoman ad-ministration in 1811. In an ironictwist, the church hosted twoGreek revolutionary war coun-cils against the Turks about adozen years later.

The route south to Tarsos andFeneos is superb. The road en-ters a dense black pine and firforest which hosts rich fauna, in-cluding foxes, wildcats, eagle

owls, pine martens and francol-ins. Irises bloom on the road-side, while honeysuckle and dogroses are seen in the clearings.

From Ano Tarsos, almost de-serted in winter, follow a dirtroad to the Panaghia ton Vra-chon Monastery for about a kilo-meter. After the first turns, you’llsee a unique natural monument:Huge, yellow and gray smoothrocks dominate the landscape,strongly reminiscent of Meteora.

Somewhere between them liesthe deserted monastery withfine mountain views.

Back in the village, follow thepaved road to Feneos and thenturn right to the Doxa reservoirand the Monastery of AghiosGeorgios. This is one of themost beautiful areas of the dis-trict, full of pine, fir and oaktrees around the blue man-made lake. In a commanding lo-cation above the lake is thestunning 17th-century Monaste-ry of Aghios Georgios, worthvisiting for its defensive archi-tecture and excellent iconogra-phy.

A little further south is ancientFeneos, with the ruins of an

acropolis and a temple dedicat-ed to the god of medicine, As-clepius. West of there is Goura,a beautiful village, full of stone-built, two-story houses andmansions dating as far back asthe early 19th century.

An eastern approach to themountain starts from the sea-side town of Xylokastro and as-cends via Pellini, a village withstone-built houses and large,flower-filled courtyards. About22 kilometers to the southwestis Trikala - Upper (Ano), Middle(Mesea) and Lower (Kato) - anincreasingly popular tourist des-tination tucked into the lush for-est which offers several lovelyguesthouses - mostly open onlyduring weekends in the fall. Thearea is excellent for countrywalks.

The road leading in an easter-ly and then southerly directionfrom Trikala eventually bringsyou to the Stymfalia area andthe head village of Kalliani.

The Monastery of AghiaParaskevi is a 20-minute walk,tucked into a gorge, and 10 min-utes away is the village of Stym-falia, full of fountains. Furtheralong the northern side of thelake are a sequence of pictur-esque and lush villages wellworth visiting: Kionia, Karteri,Lafka and Kastania.

Mt ZiriaJust a couple of hours’ drive from Athens, the mythicalmountain birthplace of the ancient god Hermes awaits

Take the high road

Where to eatTaverna Korais, in Evrostini: excel-

lent fasolada (bean soup), famous grill- people come from afar; KoutoukiStaikou, in ancient Feneos: famoustaverna on the Doxa reservoir - goodambience and superb view of thelake, don’t miss the wild boar and lo-cal sausage; Yiannis Kouloukos, inMesino: traditional taverna with finedishes, excellent service, the breadand grilled meats are superb; Kli-mataria, in Goura: small taverna, tastyfare and low prices, always open;Gogolas, in Karya: very good grill, ex-cellent table wine.

Where to seeThe historic Monastery of Aghios

Vlasios, built around 1400 - from theflower-filled courtyard you have fineviews of the Sythas River valley andthe villages of the Trikala area; thesmall folk history museums in Feneosand Louka; the Trikrina spring near theXenia hotel in Kastania, where nym-phs bathed young Hermes, accordingto mythology; on neighboring Mt Hel-mos, the village of Zarouchla and LakeTsivlou, the result of a landslide; the16th-century Tower of Kordis in Pyr-gos, northeast of Evrostina, with a folkhistory museum.

ActivitiesTake a walk or bring a bicycle to

explore one of the most idyllic autumnspots alongside the Doxa reservoir,or longer routes in the area; hike onMavro Oros (Black Mountain) at 1,800meters. Alternative activities firmGreek Adventure (tel 6944.667.683)manages a track for jeeps at the footof Goura and offers guided treks,paintball and cycling around the lake.Lake Stymfalia is a birdwatcher’shaven in the autumn. Test your wintersports skills at the small skiing center10 kilometers from Upper Trikala (tel22430.22229).

Where to staySemeli, in Goura: comfortable and

clean, excellent service and break-fasts with local fresh produce andhomemade jams (tel 27470.51319);Evrostini: superb guesthouse of justfive rooms (all with fireplace), hos-pitable hosts, very good breakfast (tel27430.32122); Kallisto, in Goura:small, picturesque and hospitableguesthouse, fireplace in the lounge(tel 27470.51080); Pigi Tarlampa, inTrikala: excellently styled upmarkethotel (tel 24430.91267); and Mysaion,also in Trikala: traditional guesthouse(tel 27430.91141).

How to get thereA car or motorcycle is indispensa-

ble. From Athens, it takes about 90minutes to Xylokastro, Lykoporia orDerveni via the Athens-Patra highway,past the Corinth Canal, and fromthere it depends on the destination.Goura is 162 km from Athens. Theroads are generally good and thereare great routes for 4x4 vehicles onunpaved forest roads, which are onlyaccessible by regular cars in dryweather. Useful phone numbers:Evrostini municipality: 27430.30100;police: 27470.51201; Goura healthcenter: 27470.51333.

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