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ASTORIA, N.Y. – The Archdiocesan Hellenic Cultural Center will host
the film screening of
Apo Torosyan’s movie,

The Morgenthau Story
on October 25 at 5 p.m.

It tells the story of Ambassador Henry Morgenthau's
commitment to helping humanity, especially the victims of Ottoman
Turkish oppression whe he served as U.S. Ambassador in Constantinople
from 1913 to 1916. In 1923, during the aftermath of the genocide and expulsion
of Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians, he helped save thousands of lives by
successfully leading the Refugee Relief Committee in Greece.

Refreshments will be served before the screening.

This event is sponsored by KRIKOS INC.

Directions to the Hellenic Cultural Center:
27-09 Crescent Street, Astoria, NY 11102.

For more information, contact
Kristina Kostakis at: 718.626.5111
or Fax: 718.626.1398. hellenicculturalcenter@
verizon.net

On Friday November 30th there will be a great event at Hungarian House in Manhattan, featuring great live Greek folk music and plenty of space to dance, plus a very relaxed atmosphere in which to do it! All levels of dance experience are welcome and encouraged!

Lefteris Bournias, an amazing Greek clarinet player will perform together with Kavala Brass Band. It will be an wonderful evening of Greek dance music mostly from Makedonia. All his performances are electrifying, and he will play all your favorite dances including marina, leventikos, raiko, triti pati, nizamikos, patrounino, and many more.

Please join us.
The fun starts at 8pm
Tickets $10 at the door.
Kavala Brass Band is:
Lefteris Bournias (clarinet)
Michael Ginsburg (trumpet)
Morgan Clark (accordion)
Belle Birchfield (baritone horn)
Jordan Scanella (electric bass)
Seido Salifoski (percussion)

What:
THE MEGA PICNIC MEETUP EVENT OF THE YEAR!!! MEETUP.COM IS 5 YEARS OLD!!!
When:
Saturday, September 29, 12:00 PM
Event Description: I know it is not Halloween... But THOUSANDS of Meetup
people will be there.
Meetup.com is FIVE years old and to celebrate we are going to be a part of the BIGGEST Meetup picnic. Actually, this is going to be a MEGA picnic THOUSANDS OF PEPOLE will be there!!! Several Meetup groups in attendance including the Co-Host organizers Elizabeth Busch and Scott Heiferman, the world famous Co-Founder & CEO of Meetup.
People as far as Tampa have confirmed coming to this Meetup event. This event is going to be HUGE
What is the Mega Meetup Picnic?
The Mega Meetup Picnic will be a great opportunity to meet other Meetups and to showcase the diversity and power of Meetups. There will all kinds of Meetups representing the amazing variety of community New York has to offer.
  Food vendors will be present and bathroom facilities will be available. But please plan to bring your own chairs, blankets, etc... Food: noon - 4p.m. Several vendors to be there to sell food and beverages from around New York. 5 Boroughs Ice Cream, Erica's Rugelach Bakery, Wine Cellar Sorbets, and Super Mac will all be there selling food. Additional food vendors will include Fleurimond Catering (a Meetup member's company), Schnack, Vitamin Water, and Willie's Dawgs.
Live Music: noon - 3:30 p.m.
BAND LINE-UP:
12:00 - JESSICA LEE
(inc. members Jessica, Oz, Bob, Jason, Phil) 12:30 - JASON VITELLI
1:00 - OZ
(inc. members Oz, Bob, Justin, Cynthia, Maria) 1:30 - PHIL ROBINSON and the BLISS JOCKEYS (inc. members Phil, Justin, Jason, Oz, Jessica, Hector, Cynthia, Stefanie, James, Maria)
I personally have yet to meet the legend Phil Robinson. Phil Robinson is the organizer of The NY Musicians Group and a Meetup.com staff member. 2:00 - RAIN OF THE ROCK
(inc. members Justin + Hector)
2:30 - DAVE SASSCER and the MOJO CONGA JAM 3:00 - RICH CASELLA
Rich Casella and his band is awesome... We are so lucky to have them perform at the picnic. Rich recently had a breakthrough performance at The Lions Den and a warm up at The Town Tavern. At both events he had fans cheering for more... A DO NOT MISS PERFORMANCE! Rich Casella is also the meetup organizer of The NY Collective.
_________________________
Additional Fun in the Park
Charades Tournament
Culture for the Non-Cultured will host a friendly competition in Charades, so bring your acting and mime skills with you to the picnic! Teams will be formed, and will compete against each other to get team members to guess a movie, book, or celebrity without using any words -- only gestures. Whichever team wins 2 out of 3 guesses goes onto the next round, until teams have to break apart to compete against each other. The remaining individuals win prizes at the end!
Yoga Class
Integral Yoga Pranayama and Meditation Meetup Group will be hosting an outdoor
Yoga class. Space will be limited, so email Elizabeth to let her know if you want to participate. Bring your own mat.
Dream Insights
The NYC Dream Meetup will offer free insights into people's dreams (dreams of the night) at the Mega Meetup Picinic.

Spanish Language Clinic & Games
The New York Spanish Language Meetup will be hosting games (board and non-board) in Spanish and a Spanish language clinic where they plan to offer information about Spanish classes.
This will be a great event to meet/network with a lot of different people and meetup groups. Bring some sort of activity like a frisbee, playing cards, ball, or just yourself and we will do what we do best. HAVE SOME FUN!

HOW DO I GET THERE?

We will be at Nethermead in Prospect Park Print out this handy little Map of the park with Subway stop information. You can also use HopStop.

This is a two-part event!

You are welcome to attend one or both parts (there is separate registration for each).

Greek Dancing....
... to live music on the 27th.

We will dance dances from Macedonia, performed by the Kavala Brass Band, that we learned at GAFS.

Kavala Brass Band features the inimitable Lefteris Bournias on Clarinet - even if you don't dance you've got to see Lefteris play!

Hungarian House is a relaxed, caual atmosphere. We'd love to see you there.

Please note - the phone # for Hungarian House is only good on the night of the show.

Let's meet at the Metropolitan Opera House and see the exhibit of Maria Callas' s custom-made jewelry.

Admission is free. Afterwards, anyone who wants to can join the group at Niko's at 2161 Broadway at 76th St. for a snack...

I'll fill in more details about where exactly we should meet, before the event.

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
The soprano who commissions her own stage jewels?now that?s a diva. As if Maria Callas weren?t already the incarnation of the term, the legendary singer also collaborated on the designs for the tiaras and necklaces she wore as Tosca and Norma, not to mention baubles for performances as Lucia, La Gioconda and Lady Macbeth. The Met exhibition Maria Callas & Swarovski: Jewels On Stage at the Metropolitan Opera, which runs through March 3, 2007 in Founders Hall, features 43 pieces of stage jewelry Callas wore around the world, all of it crafted exclusively for her with stones of Swarovski crystal by Atelier Marangoni, the Milanese jeweler.

?Each jewel was very much related to the specific opera,? notes Rinaldo Albanesi, a curator of the show who says that Callas was intensely involved in the conception of virtually every piece. ?For her, there was the music, the acting, the costumes, the hair dressing?and the jewels. She had to feel comfortable and often suggested changes to lighten the weight or to make sure they caught the stage lights in just the right way.? The Met is the latest stop on a world tour that began in 2003 in Verona, the city where an unknown 23-year-old Callas made her Italian debut in the title role of La Gioconda on August 2, 1947?wearing a Marangoni crown studded with stones of Swarovski crystal, the show?s earliest piece.

Marangoni created Callas?s stage pieces from sketches by costume designers and the diva?s directors, including Franco Zeffirelli and Luchino Visconti. The superstitious Callas had a penchant, Albanesi says, for wearing in later productions a piece of jewelry she wore the first time she sang a role. But during the preparations for La Traviata at La Scala in 1955, Visconti would not let Callas wear an emerald ring she was attached to. ?You must sing without the emerald,? he told her, Albanesi reports. Visconti was a fiend for historical accuracy, requiring that pieces be manufactured using techniques appropriate to an opera?s period setting.

Among the standout pieces are a crown Callas wore in Naples in 1949 for her only performances in Verdi?s Nabucco; a necklace and jewel-encrusted bonnet created for her appearances as Lucia with Herbert von Karajan; a tiara of colored crystals and artificial pearls she wore as Fedora, at La Scala in 1956; and the crown of laurels she commissioned for her 1954 Chicago (and U.S.) debut in Norma. Callas paid for pieces created before 1954; later, the opera companies paid the bills. Atelier Marangoni was acquired by Swarovski in 1999, paving the way for the exhibition.

A matched set of diadem, necklace, and earrings has a Met provenance. Designed by Met stage director Dino Yannopoulos for Callas?s debut season and her first Tosca in the U.S., the crystal pieces are ?the most beautiful stage jewelry ever created,? Albanesi says; they took more than 100 hours to create (though, as if betraying a secret, Albanesi notes that the cut of the stones is anachronistic for Tosca). The diamonds were so magnificently bright that when Callas performed a scene from the opera on ?The Ed Sullivan Show,? she could wear only the earrings.

The jewels were memorably on display at the Met earlier this season?on stage. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of their glittering debut, they were worn by Andrea Gruber, Maria Guleghina and Aprile Millo, the three divas who this season sang Tosca, not in Callas?s shadow, but in her sparkling Swarovski jewels. ?Bill Goldstein

Exhibition at the Metropolitan Opera (Concourse Level)
January 19 - March 3, 2007
Free Admission
Open Monday - Friday: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Sundays: noon to 6:00 pm
(except JAN 26, FEB 6, 16, 26)