Salonica - The movie

"SALONICA is about Thessaloniki, the northern Greek city at the crossroads of the Orient and Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean. The film tells life stories, resembling short novels, which unite to relate a more general story involving many protagonists and interwoven plots – resulting in a cinematic narrative of Thessaloniki.

What makes this city historically unique is the fact that for 450 years it was mainly Jewish and the predominant language was Spanish. This is because Thessaloniki was populated by the Jews who were expelled from Catholic Spain in 1492 and who subsequently found refuge in the Ottoman Empire – up until their almost total annihilation by the Germans during the Shoah in 1943.

The history of the Jews of Salonica is an unfamiliar, yet profoundly European story. It is a story that echoes across the whole Mediterranean region from Spain to Italy and from the Balkans to Turkey. It is unique, because there has never been another predominantly Jewish city of this size anywhere in Europe.

Against this background, SALONICA takes a close look at the city today, meeting very different people – Jewish survivors, Russian immigrants, gypsies, Greek-Macedonian nationalists – thereby telling of the city’s modern reality, a display of historical layers and stories. From a great variety of real life stories SALONICA paints a cinematic fresco of a place and a century torn apart by violence."

A film by Paolo Poloni

ΕΛΒΟ - Θεσσαλονίκη

ΕΛΒΟ - Θεσσαλονίκη, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Πορεία πραγματοποιούν αυτή την ώρα στους κεντρικούς δρόμους της Θεσσαλονίκης οι εργζόμενοι στην ΕΛΒΟ, με κατάληξη το Υπουργείο Μακεδονίας – Θράκης. Οι εργαζόμενοι διαμαρτύρονται για τη σταδακή απαξίωση της γραμμής παραγωγής του εργοστασίου, γεγονός που μπορεί να σημάνει και το οριστικό κλείσιμο του εργοστασίου. Στο στόχαστρο της κριτικής τους βρίσκεται ο υπουργός Εθνικής Άμυνας Ευ.Μεϊμαράκης, καθώς λένε ότι από τη νέα παραγγελία των ρωσικών τεθωρακισμένων μεταφοράς προσωπικού, όλες οι εργολαβίες έχουν καταλήξει σε ρωσικές εταιρείες, και για την ΕΛΒΟ «επιφυλάχθηκε»ο ρόλος της συναρμολόγησης των … καθισμάτων.

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Κατάληψη του Παύλου Μελά - θεσσαλονίκη

Κατάληψη του Παύλου Μελά - θεσσαλονίκη, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

I was there when after a meeting people decided to tear down the fence surrounding the Pavlou Mela army camp in Thessaloniki, partly to stop one of the city's last remaining open areas being turned into a concrete tomb, partly to forstall any effort by the government in Athens to turn it into an internment camp for immigrants.

Weddings Vs Riots - which are more stressful?

Just looking through the pictures I took yesterday. I was asked to take pictures of a wedding, something I found more nerve wracking than covering a riot. At least with protests and demos there are always more chances to take another photograph, but if I made a mess of something during the ceremony then there is no way to go back and do it all over again.

Usually when I go out and photograph an event I just need a handful of images that work and I don't need to worry about the rest. That logic doesn't work in the case of weddings as everyone wants their picture taken and there no excuses for mucking things up.

The situation wasn't helped by the fact that is was sweltering inside the church so half the time my glasses fogged up making focusing a mite difficult. Just as well there were no extra lights for video as I think the bride and groom would have melted on the spot.

Blogs c1998 - 2009 RIP?

I just finished reading an article by Charles Arthur on the Guardian website that seems to imply blogging is on its way out, the victim of its younger, flashier cousins, Facebook and Twitter. According to a Technorati study quoted in the New York Times as well just 7.4 million of the 133 million blogs in existence were updated in the three months covered. Actually, this sounds about right, as when I think of all the blogs I have set up for myself or others over the last few years most have fallen by the wayside. The result of lack of interest of my part and that of my students.

Ironically, I blog far more frequently on this blog now than in the past, usually finding time to add something most days whereas when I started I doubt if I posted more than once a week, sometimes less. I guess that blogging is not for everyone. If you are interested in keeping in contact with your friends and family then Facebook makes far more sense. Also Twitter is much easier to handle since all you have to do is write no more than a handful of sentences, if that.

I think it was inevitable that blogs, which were some of the first platforms that allowed non - technically minded folk to add stuff to the internet would cede their role to more suitable applications. One size does not fit all and for every person who wants to write a 2000 word op - ed there are hundreds who just want to know what their friends did last night at the party.

Similarly, the whole "wow" factor that goes with any new innovation also wears off and what you're are left with is a tool, which has to be used well if you want to get people's attention. So blogging has become just another way of connecting with others on the web, part of a range of ways of communicating with a wider audience. As a result the initial wave of people starting blogs was never going to be sustainable.

Also I have noticed that the way blogs are being used is changing, origially they were considered to be some kind of diary which I suppose people were meant to keep up for years. Now blogs are being set up for a specific duration, designed to get a message out and then left when no longer needed.

Actually, because we have got over the hype connected with blogs and the whole web 2.0 phase we can now think about much more fundemental questions such as what is it I want to share? Now I guess people are thinking more carefully about what they want to say as opposed to simply stating that they have a presence on the internet. Once again when the technology becomes boring the social implications become fascinating.

Lydia is feeling much better

Lydia, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who expressed their concern on the blog and elsewhere. I spoke to Lydia again and she was bright and breezy today, so it seems that yesterday's fears were groundless. However, no TV, PC or games for the next couple of days and plenty of rest.

Out of the blue

Sometimes life has a way of slamming the complacency right out of you. Today I received the call that parents dread, "your child has had an accident". Lydia fell while playing and banged her head, so it was off to the ER for X-rays and tests. Thankfully, it seems that no damage has been done but the doctors say that we should keep an eye on her for the next few days. To tell you the truth I'd be much more reassured if they kept her in for observation as she had been vomiting and looked very pale, but the doctor who examined her seemed to think she'd be OK at home.

No sooner than I had absorbed this shock than I got another one, a very good friend sent me an SMS asking if I could visit him in Cyprus, he is quite seriously ill and while his condition is not critical I know that he could do with the support of friends at this difficult time. Having lost someone close to me recently I know just how important it is to devote time to friends and family.

Concerts in Thessaloniki

Nomo in Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

After finally getting my hand on a flash for my camera I couldn't wait to try it out and so I went to a concert on the seafront to see what was worth taking pictures of. I came across these guys, Nomo from Ann Arbour, Michigan. A tad more relaxed than the last gig I attended by the Spanish ska/punk band, BOIKOT which involved all manner of moshing and other high jinks.

I've been adopted

I've been adopted, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Not the cat, me. The cat next door has adopted me.