Global Greece: Καλά Χριστούγεννα σε Όλους! Merry Christmas To All Our Friends Around the World!

The Adoration of the Shepherds, El Greco

With this magificent painting by one of our most famous Global Greeks, El Greco, we at Global Greek World wish all our friends around the world

Καλά Χριστούγεννα και Καλή Xρονιά με Υγεία, Χαρά και Ειρήνη!

Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year!

El Greco was born Domenikos Theotokopoulos in 1541 in Crete, at that time part of the Republic of Venice, and the centre of Post-Byzantine art. He trained and became a master within that tradition before travelling at age 26 to Venice, as other Greek artists had done. In 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of Mannerism and of the Venetian Renaissance. In 1577 he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo, El Greco received several major commissions and produced his best known paintings.  To read more about El Greco, Click Here

The Onassis Foundation (USA) is currently hosting an exhibition

THE ORIGINS OF EL GRECO:

ICON PAINTING IN VENETIAN CRETE

through February 27, 2010 

 with early works by El Greco.

Don't miss this fascinating exhibition  at 

The Onassis Cultural Center, New York

Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Entrance on 51st or 52nd Street between 5th and Madison Avenues

For more information, Click Here 

Global Greek Celebrity Chef, Cat Cora, Keynote Speaker at Deree College Symposium, " Greece as a Culinary Destination"

This week it is Athens' turn to welcome famous jet setting Greek American Chef, philanthropist and entrepreneur, Cat Cora home to Greece!

A talented, smart and dynamic woman who has taken America by storm and is currently promoting the benefits of our wonderful Mediterranean Cuisine and lifestyle all over the USA and the world, Cat Cora is the first,and the only, female winner of the Iron Chef America competition! This is no mean achievement and she deserves congratulations all round!

She has recently inaugurated what promises to be a highly promising new venture which is none other than Kouzzina by Cat Cora at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. This is a Greek themed taverna style restaurant right down to the ouzo! We like the fact that at the opening, in a toast to his daughter's latest accomplishment, Cat Cora's father Spiro asked the group to raise a glass to the memory of Walt Disney as well. In Greece it is common practice to remember those who have left this world for higher things...(Read  about the opening in the Orlando Sentinel)

Cat Cora, who has just returned from a weekend in Crete (the home of the Mediterranean Diet)  for wine and olive oil tastings,  features in this month's issue of Greek Vogue and will be the keynote speaker during a workshop on “Greece as a Culinary Destination,” organized by DEREE – The American College of Greece. The workshop will bring together Cora with some top culinary and tourism professionals such as Yiannis Boutaris and fellow Greek American Food Writer and critic Diane Kochilas, and is designed to celebrate the new B.S. in International Tourism and Hospitality Management major at Deree – The American College of Greece (DEREE – ACG).

The three- hour workshop will take place at the John S. Bailey Library at DEREE tomorrow,  Monday, December 14, 2009, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Following the discussion, Cat Cora will offer a live cooking demonstration, titled “Modern Twist on Greek Classics.”

Culinary tourism has been exploding globally, as countries and tourism enterprises seek to differentiate themselves in the crowded leisure market by appealing to travelers’ particular interests.

Greece has one of the most distinct culinary traditions in the world, and its traditional cuisine, what is universally referred to as the Mediterranean Diet,  has acquired mass appeal in recent years mainly because of persistent reports that it is especially beneficial to human health.

Congratulations on your success Cat Cora! We at Global Greek World welcome you to Greece and wish you all the best in all that you undertake!

Καλη Επιτυχία! Good Luck!

To read more about the event at Deree Click Here

To read more about Cat Cora   Click Here

To follow Cat Cora on Twitter, Click Here

To read Cat Cora's interview in Greek Vogue, Click Here (interview in Greek)

Global Greek Films and Conservation: Award-Winning 'World Water War' Screens at UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen!

Macedonia Airport, Greece, 2035....A metallic briefcase carried by a private aircraft becomes the cause of several killings...what on earth could it have in it to justify so much bloodshed?

This week has not been a brilliant one for Greece on the European stage. In the light of so many doomsday predictions regarding the Greek Economy which have been directed at Greece in the last couple of weeks, we feel that we in the Global Greek World need to dwell on something much more positive!

What better way to start the week than with the news that the award-winning short film 'World Water War' by two Greek students, Stelios Alexandrakis and Menelaos Pamboukidis from the Aristotelian University Film School in Thessaloniki, was screened at the U.N. Climate Change Conference on Monday 7 December 2009 , in Copenhagen.

World Water War succeeded in winning the short film competition 'Think. Act. Change' organised by the European Union's EPP - European People's Party, earlier this year, sending out a strong message for the protection of the environment to European and World Leaders. In London last month, and renamed World War III, it also won the Best Made by an Organisation Film Award in the 'One Minute to Save the World' International Film Competition.




What was especially pleasing was that the 2nd prize in the 'Think.Act.Change' competition went to another Greek entry 'Our Last Shot' by fellow student Kostas Karydas...



Our congratulations and our thanks go to these three sensitive and talented young people who by creating such excellent short films ensured that the urgent message of conservation and environmental protection would come through loud and clear to all those who can do something about it.


Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.... How many of us who read this poem ever believed that that time would come in our lifetime? Unfortunately it has and in a world of continually shrinking natural resources, destroyed by man's greed for more and more worldly goods, T.S. Eliot's words from his poem Wasteland, have never been more frighteningly relevant...

Have we got the message? It will be interesting to see if we have and what we plan to do about it while there is still time, but more importantly, what our leaders do about it after Copnhagen!

For the sake of our future and that of our children we will be waiting to see the results...

Global Greek Films:Τί Είναι Αυτό? What is That?

'What is That?' - 2007
an excellent, beautifully made short film by Greek director Constantine Pilavios.

Poignant, and sensitive, with a universal message which transgresses all language barriers, it is a wonderful example of what we Global Greeks can achieve!
We are sure it will move you as much as it moved us...
Let's hug them tight, they made us who we are! 

Global Greek Humour: Greek Politics and the Gummy Bear Song!!!

Something to get the weekend going on a happy note!

From ANT1 TV

Kalo SavvatoKyriako everyone!

One for Greek PM George Papandreou - PASOK....(Radio Arvyla)




And one for Leader of the Opposition candidate Dora Bakoyannis - Nea Dimokratia ...(OLA 10)