nighthawk

Howdy! Well, the usual awareness of Greece that we, Portuguese, usually have is that it somehow has surpassed us in economic terms, that they have that blonde long haired singer who lives in the States and whose name I can't remember anymore and maybe that there are some islands, old ruins and beaches. But I do welcome your optimism! Edit: I've just been told that his name is Yannis, that he is dark haired and that he has a moustache! That's how aware I am of him!

We bought it together with Psarantonis' My thoughts are like wine old in Athens. It does contain 19 songs but it's a single CD. How many songs does the original contain? Well, it wouldn't be the first time they'd have made a double CD into only one. I have a double CD which was later published in just one, so I guess it's perfectly possible...

I don't think there's any fundamentalist here who'll be bothered by a joke... If there is, sorry. Anyway, I'd like to share this great laugh with you. It has subtitles in Portuguese but not to worry, it was taken from Mad TV. Click here.

That's cool, Christo. Here it goes: http://pwp.netcabo.pt/0222881101/Files/t3.wmv Now, that's the link. But you had a simpler way of finding it out: all you had to do was go to my first post, click on edit and see what was written there. Naturally, you couldn't have edited my post but you could have seen the entire link between the url signs there. Give it a try just to check that out and you will also see how to write a "click here" or "go here" or whatever you wish instead of the entire address.

I'm glad you liked it that much! I found it absolutely brilliant! Well, sorry, I haven't got anything like that right now (certainly not that funny) but if I ever do I guarantee I'll post the link here. Btw, if anyone's interested, I'm sure you all know how to import the trailer to your hard drive, right? But just in case, click on the link (if it doesn't work, just let me know and I'll post the exact link instead of the "click here" thing) with the right mouse button and choose save as and you'll be downloading the file.

I laughed my pants off with this trailer and so did a lot of people. I mean, I don't usually laugh that much but I was still laughing later on just remembering scenes like the "whys?" and when he kills Judas. So... Isn't it really? Just wondering...

:blink: some question! You're right, that was a funny remark to make!

Oh, golly, that was me, not Celeste! Why does she always forget to say no at the "remember me" option?

Ok, whatever, then... But you just missed a very good laugh, believe me. Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones

No Nikh, it is not. Would you care to explain, please? Did you have to wait a lot for it to load and gave up? Was it always buffering making it a drag to watch? Didn't you, somehow, get the joke? Haven't you ever watched Terminator? What?

Sorry?... What?

Well, well... Of course, you're perfectly right. And so am I. It's just that I, personally, both as an artist and an art consumer, like to think of art as a coin of multiple sides... As I'm sure it is.

Two thingies: a) Celeste, Celeste, so do I say you're old because you listen to jazz? Don't forget to add I say it in a jokingly manner... And, oh, btw, don't forget to add that you listen to jazz oldies. But I digress a little... Jazz is for all ages, anybody who's interested. Personally, I like live jazz and find recorded jazz... interesting. But if I really meant it when I said it, then I'd only be listening to the latest whatever on the market... b ) As for suffering... I believe this has already been spoken of previously but let my add my two cents worth if I may. Everybody suffers. Suffering being an intense sort of feeling may thus easily lead to art. What I mean is what do you really think of as "suffering"? Because it may be simply about intensity and globally named "suffering" by someone, as in suffering to give birth to a new being. But there was pleasure too, let's not forget that. There isn't only suffering, there is (thankfully) a whole plethora of intense feelings which go from terrible to ecstatic through very many nuances. And they all, being intense, may lead to creativity and to art. Not all good art is about suffering, is it? Very much on the contrary, many times, it can be about feelings of great inner peace and other positive ones. So... I really don't know how to interpret Dalaras's words. What does he mean by that (possibly) global word suffering? I bet he may mean more than just that. On the other hand, if he doesn't, well, he's in his own right... But great pleasure (together with suffering) can be had by giving birth to a new song, new lyrics, by performing it in front of others, by recording it (which can be quite boring but still interesting when the final result is, at least, satisfactory), by the memories it may bring (even bad memories are sometimes nostalgic, go figure!). To cut it short, most artists aren't masochists nor people who suffer more than most. They suffer and rejoice like everybody else but know how to give it an "artistic" shape. It's more interesting to make art inspired by what we observe and the peculiar way we view it than to mainly center our attention in ourselves and our little sufferings. Is suffering a good inspiration source? Certainly so. But not alone. Fortunately. Or art would become dull and depressing. Instead, it is like life: varied.

Yes... You really don't need to shout to be heard... There are millions of musicians in the world and many know how to do things. I admit it's an interesting version and I'm very glad I got to know it. Still, there's a Portuguese saying that goes "nem oito nem oitenta" (neither eight nor eighty). Do you get my drift? Do I like it? Yes. But despite Dalaras knowing what he does, I still believe there's a touch of revolt in the song that might somehow have been a little put aside in favor of the melancholic side of it. It could be better balanced but that was probably a choice and that's also merely an unbiased opinion - from a musician, mediocre and unknown as I may be, too.

Truly funny! No, I will not try to defend myself. Apart from the fact that I was mostly kidding. But if you really want a short review, I think Delinikolas' version is, naturally, less complex and drier, if you know what I mean. I also thought Dalaras somewhat exaggerated in some longer notes and made the music too melancholic and too little revolted. Of course, that's a possible reading of the song... Furthermore, it was a live recording... Anyway, I'm still not used to his version, that's all. And that's my CRIME.

Thanks a lot, I loved reading through all of that! Now, does anybody know whether there's a translation for Kir Kostaki ela konta? Thanks.

And chapeau bas to you too, dear Olga. The hill is also a place from which the apostle preached to the Athenians (I don't remember the name of the rock in the Akropolis).

Geske, yes, I'd like to see your interpretation of the text too. Just remember texts are supposed to have many different meanings according to the reader... But you do know that, so why on earth are you so upset? And, frankly, it's the first time I hear about this particular writer. When I read your post, it didn't seem literally true - but it could have been, especially in the 60s or the 70s. So, I too wondered about how related to any specific fact that was or else what kind of meaning the author intended to express with it. Now, if I start thinking of meanings, I'm sure I could find a hundred and justify them... That's what a literary text is all about. Or is it not?

I give you the credit of believing you're making a clumsy joke!

Wow! Surely cigarette smoking is harmful but just try to find out how many dangerous substances you get from the cars and buses on the streets that you walk in, the pavement itself, the factories that manufacture everything that you buy, the things that you buy and use and I don't mean simply all the garbage that you eat and drink (and I may include here much of the so-called healthy food)... Do you think they couldn't have found possible substitutes for many of those already? The whole world is guilty of an economic health crime! Well, try to find out about those and then maybe you can share all your new feelings... Edit: And, btw, we are indeed speaking of things unrelated to Dalaras in a part of the forums that should be about Dalaras... I've just read about that in some other part of the forums and I guess I must agree: even though it's possible to go on doing things like that anywhere it also brings about the risk of chaos.

Not really, I was mostly speaking in general terms...

Debating religion, arguing about religion might just be the hardest thing of all, I guess even more than politics. Personally, I have a profound belief in God. Not in the Catholic God, not in the Orthodox God, not in any other particular God mainly built by men and their organizations. There's a basic philosophy to every religion and usually religions were created to: a) Humankind's spiritual need of self-justification; b ) The political and social need of organizing decent societies in a better way than if it were simply organized by the army or the police - in a word, making order out of tendencial chaos. I can see that a lot of people declare themselves to be atheists. So, why do you argue with God? Have you lost your mind? You cannot argue with an entity that does not exist. I can see those people feel, very often, deceived by a God that would supposedly be a Great Father in Heaven and take care of us all. I would too. And I do, everytime I give God human thoughts, human needs, a human form, human anything. But it may just be that there is a God and He isn't human at all. It would simply suit us all fine if He were... and if He took good care of what we wish were His responsibilities. Well, maybe those responsibilities belong to the men and women of this world. From all I know, even Jesus always stressed His kingdom was not of this world. So, I like to mix religions a little, in their essence, for all they may have that's mainly positive. All the rest may just be human wishes and rituals... For all I know, then, there may even be a God of which we are a part (and therefore important as every part of a body has its main and simultaneously relative importance to the whole) but He may not even be aware of each of us individually. Or... as the defenders of reincarnation put it... maybe we simply choose the kind of life we need to live and God won't interphere with our choices. That way, he'd make us important. But since this is a world of hard work, there are always very many ocasions in which we could blame God for everything we do, either as standalone persons or as communities, smaller and larger. Well, I always try to be positive, at least whenever I'm able. And that strength can many times be found in Christianism or in Budhism, for example. When, I can't... well, I suppose it must be my own fault - but I always learn something from it (I hope)... Just my two cents or it would never end...

If it's about Dalaras, for example Taksidi sta Kithira and Kir Kostaki Ela Konta

Very good, Olga! I'd say Dalaras, taking into account that he shows a good knowledge of the "art of well singing" and that he makes all the arrangements to his songs and acts as some kind of discrete maestro, must have studied music. I don't know where he did that or if he did it at all, but I could just guarantee that. Music is a very hard art, a lot of work involved (I know what I'm saying cause I studied music - then I gave it up, precisely when I decided to take a long trip to Greece, but I always kept making music). I'm not saying it's all hard work. At times, I'm simply unable to make a decent song even if I put a lot of work into it. So, I'm a believer in magical moments of inspiration... But inspiration alone doesn't lead people very far if they're lacking the necessary tools which, in this particular cause, would be a lot of previous hard work in learning a lot about music, its techniques and all its subtleties. I believe a good musician must have both and that's the distinguishing factor. Just an opinion...

With whom would I like to see him singing? Hmmm, the style would be most influenced by the partner but here go a list of possible or less possible artists I'd like to see him with (be it for the curiosity of the final result): Psarantonis Christos Zotos David Bowie JJ Cale Jacques Higelin