April 1, day of truth
April Fool’s Day signaled the beginning of the Anti-Advertisement festival in Athens, the third activity of the non-profit group activA. The festival is an ongoing project that attempts to critique some aspects of advertising through exhibits of video art, photography, net art, graphic design, performance act, sculpture, painting and lectures.
Booze Cooperativa, a café-exhibition center, hosted the festival’s opening, which featured the projection of a video showing how advertising subtly influences people’s opinions. “A bank, for example, wants to promote loans to its clients but it does that indirectly,” said Rania Gorou, a professional photographer. “There are many bank ads that suggest that money doesn’t bring happiness, but what they sell is money. Don’t you think that’s a contradiction?”
The… Continue reading
Device promises cosmetic relief
Women have a new ally in the struggle for beauty. Dectro International has launched a new device that promises to battle the problems of body hair, aging and grog-blossoms.
The machine uses advanced pulsed light technology. Its 1200nm wavelength reaches deeper roots of hair than other machines that have a 900nm capacity. Advanced pulsed light technology is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and used by cosmetic dermatologists in Boston to treat skin imperfections. “Permanent hair reduction, photo-facials for vascular and pigmented lesions, acne and leg veins are available with FDA clearance,” said Dr. Dwight Scarborough, a cosmetic dermatologist in Ohio.
According to the manufacturer of the device, the powerful light permanently reduces body hair, wrinkles, fine lines,… Continue reading
What dog owners need to know about the Kalazar virus
Seven years ago the Ellinas family learned that their two-year-old dog, Ada, had contracted Kalazar, a parasite carried by a type of sand fly. It commonly affects dogs in the Mediterranean and Greece, where about 500,000 housedogs have been diagnosed with the disease. It is unknown how many stray dogs have it.
The only way a dog can contract the disease is if it is bitten by the sand fly. Kalazar can be fatal, but with proper and immediate treatment a dog can live a long, healthy life.
Veterinarian Andria Stoitsui has had several patients with Kalazar in her 17 years of practice. “The thing with Kalazar is that you could decide to take your dog to the beach or… Continue reading
Match Point: Woody Allen’s Comeback
Match Point (2005)
Written and directed by Woody Allen
With Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox, Penelope Wilton
Woody Allen left his beloved Manhattan for the first time in his film career and returned to the big screen with Match Point, a pleasantly surprising film that received an outstanding reception at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005.
The story takes place in modern-day London. Irishman Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), a young ex-tennis professional, lands a job as a tennis instructor at a very exclusive tennis club, where he meets his first rich student, Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode). Discovering their mutual interest in opera, Tom invites Chris… Continue reading
Dance Rockabilly, Sing the Alternative
The music of the Greek bands Old House Playground and Dustbowl flooded the crowded Planet Music, a live stage club in the center of Athens on an April night. The difference in sound which swung from country-rockabilly to alternative excited the fans that danced and sang along with the bands.
Old House Playground opened the evening with Ain’t gonna rain today, from their debut album, The Whore and the Dog. The fans savored their drinks and music, which made a great combination. “They played very well, even though the singer was sick with fever,” said Jenny Kapatai, who sings professionally. “What I also enjoyed was Conor’s bass, which has never sounded so good.”
Tryfon Lazos, the band’s singer,… Continue reading
Jewelry Museum welcomes turtle-theme exhibition
The Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles opened its turtle-theme exhibition, “Art Ecology–Culture,” showcasing 340 non-precious pieces of jewelry, souvenirs, decorations, toys and soaps, on March 19 at the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum near the Acropolis.
The items from around the world had been collected by Mrs. Lily Venizelos, the president and founder of Medasset, over a period of 25 years from all over the world. “The collection is a combination of beauty, ethnicity, civilization and conservation,” Venizelos said.
The exhibition was held on the second floor of the museum. The pieces were set in display cases, each case displaying three or four items from different parts of the world and mixing jewelry with the toys and decorations.
The… Continue reading
Tattoos make their stamp on Athens
A breathing ground for the arts, Technopolis, in Gazi, opened its doors onto an unconventional type of art last weekend: tattooing. The second annual Tattoo Convention set up studio for tattoo artists from Greece and around the world. “Coming to festivals is a good way to learn from other artists and enjoy their work,” said a tattoo artist of twelve years from Thessaloniki.
Contests such as the Best Black, Grey Tattoo and Best Tribal Tattoo fired guests up to cheer in support of their favorite artists and tattoo shops. No limit was set on the number of tattoos each artist could enter into the contests. The judges awarded first and second prize for the Best Color Tattoo to G. Mavridis… Continue reading
ACG Celebrates Sports and Friendship
The 2nd International Sports Festival returns to Aghia Paraskevi Campus on March 20, to celebrate sports and friendship between four countries.
Organized by the Office of Athletics, the three-day festival is one of the biggest athletic events of the academic year. More than 500 students of both sexes will compete in basketball, table tennis, soccer, swimming, tennis and volleyball. The participating schools are the American Universities of Sharjah, Cairo and Beirut, the American Colleges of Thessaloniki and Lebanon and the University of Balamand.
Athletes will not only have the opportunity to experience sports competition at an international level, but to build new friendships as well. “The resulting social interaction will make the festival more pleasurable for everyone,” said Arthur Christopher,… Continue reading
Faculty research seminar lecture looks on Metaphors in Aristotle
Deree Professor Joanna Patsioti addressed students and faculty on Aristotle’s study of metaphors and their use in both classical and contemporary contexts. Patsioti elaborated on the definition of metaphors in Aristotle, who was “the first to offer systematic study of metaphors and their connection to analogy”.
She also referred to classical texts by Isocrates and Plato, as well as more contemporary thinkers, who argued that metaphors play a role that’s not only decorative but also substantial in our language.
She said metaphors are often a reflection of the culture that produces them. In maritime Britain, for example, metaphors related to the sea abound.
In the discussion that followed the lecture, audience members noted the aesthetic aspect of metaphors in language… Continue reading
College thanks fire watch volunteers
President Dr. John S. Bailey honored the students and staff that guarded the campus against forest fires during August and early September.
The Mayor of Aghia Paraskevi, Vassilis Giannakopoulos, the Naval Commander of the neigbouring Eastern Mediterranean Military Command and the Captain of the 4th Athens Fire Brigade also hailed the contribution of the volunteers and the College towards protecting Mount Imittos. “It’s the only forest we’ve got left” said Giannakopoulos, who began talks with local educational and research institutes to coordinate activities against natural disasters.
Manos Moschopoulos, the President of the ACG Student Government, stressed the importance of extracurricular activities in creating a sense of volunteerism among the students as well as the initiatives taken by student leaders at… Continue reading