Painting the town green
Panathinaikos fans are preparing to dress in green and cheer their team on in the vital game against Spanish powerhouse Barcelona in the group round of the European Championship.
“I am going to be there at 8 p.m. to make sure that I have the best view,” said Konstandinos Sifakis, a devoted Panathinaikos fan. “No way am I going to lose a chance seeing them play against Barcelona, and win too.”
Ticket booths opened on Sunday October 9, and in two days fans snatched up 62,000 of the 65,000 available tickets. “I went Tuesday afternoon to buy my tickets and it was crazy,” said Achileas Papadopoulos, a Deree student who waited three hours in line. “I mean crowds of people… Continue reading
Mercedes Café drives into winter 2005-2006
As you take your last step up the stairs and enter the room, a comfy looking sofa beckons, but the last thing you think of is sitting down. Music pounds from all directions. Above the music, laughter lingers and glasses clink. Behind the sofa a big glass window overlooks the streets of Glyfada. Two doors face each other on either side of the room. To the right, the door opens and Greek music streams in. To the left, the door opens and house music bounds in. You make your choice, or you go back and forth. Welcome to Mercedes Café.
On October 9 Mercedes Café is making its comeback; lead by legendary Tsilichristo and the team of Destijl Club. On… Continue reading
Persuade, communicate and have fun
The clock strikes 6:45 p.m. The teams’ preparation time is over and Manolis Moschopoulos grabs his seat. Old members escort their partners, all new members, in to Room 602. The debating session is ready to begin.
“I call this house to order,” said Moschopoulos, president of the debating club. The new members scan the room. Some nibble on their pens; others flip through their notes. Their partners, familiar with the norms, sit back and face their opposition, and the first speaker is ready to take the floor.
The debating club is back in business. Voted Student Union’s Best Club of the Year for 2004-2005, the club is in its eighteenth year.
With a firm agenda for the year ahead, the… Continue reading
Deree’s Athletics Department Goes “Gold”
After a quick workout in the gym and a few games of hoops, the bell sounds which means it’s time for class. Later, intramural soccer kicks off followed by a cool-down swim in the Olympic-sized pool. The recreational program at Deree has gone all out.
“The recreational program we provide is as good as that of any American university or college,” said Arthur Christopher, Athletics Director. Deree has tennis courts, a basketball court, a soccer field and track facilities, a fully equipped gym, and a pool that is closed and heated during the winter season.
“From team sports to intramural activities to overall fitness and physical education classes, we offer a program that covers the whole spectrum of student fitness… Continue reading
Bonus Rocks the College
Lights fade. A yellow box illuminates the center stage. Behind the curtains, someone strikes chords on an acoustic guitar. Then, a drum triplet blasts the curtains open, warping the audience to the 1980s as the instruments pump out the Scorpions’, “Rock you like a hurricane.”
The rock band Bonus performed live on Sept. 23 at the Pierce Theater. The Deree College Ambassadors organized the event.
“We’re going to rock this college,” said Nassos, Bonus’s lead singer and acoustic guitarist, after the opening song. “We’re going to turn this place into a School of Rock.”
Attendance was lower than expected due to poor weather conditions, said college ambassador Aikaterini Papaioannou. The audience, however, applauded the band with shout outs and… Continue reading
Bookcrossing
Ever thought about setting your books free? There are some people who do just that, and they are members of a large online community, called “bookcrossing.” Members let their books free to travel and touch other people’s lives.
Bookcrossing.com started in 2001 and it was the idea of Ron Hornbaker (screen name “Reno”), who co-founded the site. Ever since, it has been growing. “The big bang occurred during the second year because of the media coverage, and since then the growth rate has not decreased,” said Reno in an article for the Greek magazine Epsilon a few weeks ago.
In August 2004, the word bookcrossing has been added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary as: “the practice of leaving a… Continue reading
Film Review: Hotel Rwanda checks on a hero
Hotel Rwanda tells the story of Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), a hotel manager who in the midst of the civil conflict between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 saved about a thousand Tutsi refugees. Since his wife (Sophie Okonedo) is a Tutsi, Rusesabagina found himself trying to save his family from the Hutus while trying to protect the Tutsi refugees by housing them in the hotel, like an African Oskar Schindler.
The film is a decent drama that touches on an important moment in African history. The Oscar nominations of Don Cheadle for best actor and Sophie Okonedo for best supporting actress were justified by their performances. Nevertheless, some of the scenes between the couple are overly melodramatic.
Nick… Continue reading
Drama Club actress bows out with fond memories
The Deree Drama Club has just taken its bows after the premier of Oscar Wilde’s play, “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Nicole Kalogeropoulos, who played grumpy Lady Bracknell, the mother of Gwendolyn, stands outside the Black Box Theater cradling bouquets of flowers in her arms. Every time she starts walking towards the entrance of the Communication building, spectators who want to congratulate her on her performance stop her.
Nicole owns a room the minute she enters it. Several months after the last performance of the play and far away from the stage and applauding crowd, she sat in room 705 wearing a denim shirt and beige pants – and the aura of a star. But the Miami-born Nicole may end… Continue reading
Performers, Planning and Showcase Theaters Make Cultural Events a Must
The huge theater adorned in beautiful red hues and wood captivate me as I walk down the aisle. I sit in one of the soft seats and wait for the show to begin.
The Pierce College theater, with a 730-person capacity, is one of two theatres on the American College of Greece campus. The other, a black box theatre with moveable seats and set in the Communication building, has a capacity of around 250 people.
The College holds a host of cultural events every year: ballets and other dance performances, concerts, film previews, plays. Several concerts are scheduled for this November and December (see below for details).
“We always try to organize quality events and we expect students to attend,”… Continue reading
A Black Box full of Scripts, Fruits and the Importance of Being Ernest
It’s 6:15 p.m. on a Monday and the Deree Drama Club is gathered outside the Black Box Theater, getting ready for its regular rehearsal. “It’s time to go in guys,” shouts the director, and the production moves into the dark Box.
They kick off their shoes and start with their exercises, inhaling and exhaling always from the stomach. A couple of minutes later, they all take their up scripts and start reading their parts out loud. But this is no ordinary rehearsal. Along with the script, each actor has a piece fruit in his hand. The task is to learn how to talk and eat at the same time.
The Deree Drama Club decided in the spring of 2004 to… Continue reading