This is a great comedy, made by Mel Brooks in 1974, quite possibly his best movie.

Frederick

The hero, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, played by Gene Wilder, is the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, who wants nothing to do with the family whatsoever.

However, things change when he inherits the family castle in Transylvania. Frederick slowly gets sucked in the aura of his grandfather’s work and creates a monster of his own, with the help of his lab assistant, Igor.

Igor

Igor is the grandson of Igor, the assistant of Victor Frankenstein, and is played by Marty Feldman.

Frederick is trying to be nice to the monster, who is a sensitive soul.

The Monster

The monster played by Peter Boyle, loves violin music, but is a little «A B Normal», like the label on the jar from which Igor stole the monster’s brain. There are some wonderful scenes with the monster and the blind hermit, full of unlimited fun.

So the monster abducts Elizabeth, Frederick’s fiance, but it turns into something good for her, as she falls in love with the monster. The following quotation says it all:

Elizabeth

Elizabeth: [after sex with The Monster] “Oh. Where you going?… Oh, you men are all alike. Seven or eight quick ones and then you’re out with the boys to boast and brag. YOU BETTER KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. Oh… I think I love him.”

Inga: «Would you like a roll in ze hay»?

Elizabeth and the monster finally stay together, Frederick discovers the joy of beautiful Inga, his local personal assistant, played by Teri Garr, and it all ends well.

A few pointers to differences between the film and the novel.
The movie is in modern times, the hero is not mad scientist Victor, but his grandson.
Transylvania has nothing to do with the novel, it is brought in by Brooks in reference to the Dracula horror movie genre.
There is no Igor in the novel; in the 1931 movie there was an assistant to the Doctor, who in the comedy becomes the grandson of the original assistant.

Frau Bluecher

There is no Swiss subtlety in the movie, but repeated allusions to Germany. Frau Bluecher is the best example, the housekeeper of the castle.

The second best example is the pseudo-German «word» schwanzstuecker, derived from a German word for «tail», or penis. The monster is large in all departments, and this is the secret weapon with which he conquers Elizabeth. In clear contrast with the novel, the Brooks monster is quick to discover his gifts that can make him very attractive to the ladies, and instead of wasting his time begging this creator to create a female double for him, he snatches Frederick’s wife to be. The following dialogue makes it all very clear:

Inga wondering

Dr Frederick Frankenstein : “For the experiment to be a success, all of the body parts must be enlarged.”
Inga: “His veins, his feet, his hands, his organs vould have to be increased in size.”
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: “Exactly.”
Inga:  “He would have an enormous schwantzstuker.”
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: “That goes without saying.”

But at the end, Frederick transfers some of his intellect to the monster, who can now reason and becomes quite an intellectual, and in return he gets the Monster’s supernatural  schwanzstuecker, as Inga is more than happy to discover.

Introduction

In the context of an online course I am taking, I recently read von Clausewitz’s «On War» and from the discussion that followed, realized that there was significant confusion on the meaning of the term «absolute» war, and its relation to «total» war. So I wrote an answer to a question in the discussion forum of the course and here I present an enhanced version.

The question of war is pertinent more than ever today, with the Western World facing its biggest challenge since World War II. In parallel to the activities in the theater of war in Syria, we now see terrorist activities developing at a massive scale in the heart of Europe.

Carl von Clausewitz

Absolute War

If we agree that «absolute» war is a concept coined by Clausewitz, then we should try to understand what Clausewitz meant by «absolute» war. I will quote some passages from Book I, and then comment. All references are from von Clausewitz’s «On War».

«We see, therefore, how, from the commencement, the absolute, the mathematical as it is called, nowhere finds any sure basis in the calculations in the Art of War; and that from the outset there is a play of possibilities, probabilities, good and bad luck, which spreads about with all the coarse and fine threads of its web, and makes War of all branches of human activity the most like a gambling game.»(Book I, 21)

It is interesting to note that in the above passage of Clausewitz the absolute is equated with the mathematical. The lack of it leads to lack of a sure basis. He seems to be saying that War is not a deterministic phenomenon, and that there are many factors that mat make it like a gambling game.

«Theory must also take into account the human element; it must accord a place to courage, to boldness, even to rashness. The Art of War has to deal with living and with moral forces, the consequence of which is that it can never attain the absolute and positive.»(Book I, 22)

«The War of a community—of whole Nations, and particularly of civilised Nations—always starts from a political condition, and is called forth by a political motive. It is, therefore, a political act. Now if it was a perfect, unrestrained, and absolute expression of force, as we had to deduct it from its mere conception, then the moment it is called forth by policy it would step into the place of policy, and as something quite independent of it would set it aside, and only follow its own laws, just as a mine at the moment of explosion cannot be guided into any other direction than that which has been given to it by preparatory arrangements….But it is not so, and the idea is radically false.» (Book I, 23)

I believe that the highlighted passage (in bold) gives the answer to the question. «Absolute» war is a theoretical construct that never materializes, simply because the human and social actors engaged in war are far too complex. Absolute war is like the explosion of a mine, subject ONLY to the laws of physics. But even at the height of military operations, there are so many other factors partaking in the process, that the last thing one can speak of is «absolute».

So, to wrap up, Clausewitz used the term «absolute» to denote a notion of war that can never materialize in human communities and with human actors.

Erich Ludendorff

Total War

«Total war» is a term that was comprehensively used in a series of articles published by Leon Daudet in 1918 (Daniel Marc Segesser, Controversy: Total War). Leon Daudet was a French journalist and writer.

[Total war] is the extension of the struggle in its pronounced as well as its chronic phases to the fields of politics, economics, trade, industry, intellectual abilities, jurisprudence and the financial world. Not only armies fight in battle, but also traditions, institutions, customs, codes, minds and most of all banks.^[17]

Segesser concludes that

«The concept of “total war” was thus born out of the conviction that a radicalization of warfare as well as a comprehensive mobilization of human and material resources was necessary at a time when France was on the defensive in Verdun in 1916 and after the unsuccessful Nivelle offensive in 1917 when it tried to hold its ground.^[19]«

After Daudet, the term was used by the German General Erich Ludendorff in his book Der Totale Krieg (The Total War) published in 1935. In it he promotes the idea that war should mobilize all the resources of the Nation, and thus be a Total War.

«Total war requires enormous things from the commander. Effort and labour will be expected from him that have never been asked for from commanders in the past, not even from Frederic the Great.^[27]«

Building on the work of Ludendorff, Joseph Goebels delivered his 1943 speech a storming call to engage in «Total War». Here are some excerpts.

«Total war is the demand of the hour… We can no longer make only partial and careless use of the war potential at home and in the significant parts of Europe that we control. We must use our full resources, as quickly and thoroughly as it is organizationally and practically possible. …The total war effort has become a matter of the entire German people. No one has any excuse for ignoring its demands. A storm of applause greeted my call on 30 January for total war. I can therefore assure you that the leadership’s measures are in full agreement with the desires of the German people at home and at the front. The people are willing to bear any burden, even the heaviest, to make any sacrifice, if it leads to the great goal of victory.» (Nation, Rise Up, and Let the Storm Break Loose, by Joseph Goebbels).

Goebels continues to describe the total war measures taken, like the drafting of all capable men (factory workers were exempt), the mobilization of women in civic duties, and so on.

When Goebels made his speech, the situation in Hitler’s Germany was critical. The battle of Stalingrad was lost and Germany was for the first time facing defeat. No wonder that Goebels calls all Germans to full mobilization.

From the brief references above, one can conclude that «total» war as defined by Daudet, Ludendorff and Goebels was the last resort to a war machine that had run into trouble and needed (or so some people had thought) to command all the resources, material and human, of society at large.

The term «total» war has also been used loosely by journalists and historians to characterize World War I, due to the technological advances in the means of warfare. However, this use is rather informal and lacks any real significance.

Conclusion

«Absolute» war is the functioning of the military machine as if it were lacking all human elements. It is therefore an abstraction that never materializes.

«Total» war is one where the military machine mobilizes all human and material resources of society.

Introduction

In the context of a MOOC I am taking on the First World War and Modern Philosophy, I read the pro-war views of two German philosophers, Eucken and Husserl. In this short essay I will discuss Eucken’s two major arguments for just war, drawing from Eucken’s “The Moral Power of the War” (1) and supplement his views with Husserl’s as expressed in “Fichte’s Ideal of Humanity.” (2)

The two philosophers

Rudolf Eucken (1846 – 1926) was a German philosopher, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1908.

Edmund Husserl (1859 – 1938) was a German philosopher of Jewish descent.

I had not heard of Eucken until I took the MOOC, but knew of Husserl as a rigorously trained philosopher, who was disallowed for university duty by the Nazis and later resigned from the German Academy. I was not aware of his pro-war writings.

Both of Husserl’s sons were enlisted in 1914. Wolfgang Husserl died in the battlefield of Verdun in 1916. Gerhard Husserl was injured in 1917, but survived.

First argument

The first major argument put forward by Eucken is that this war is a just war because it “is waged by a whole nation for the purpose of self-preservation,  the maintenance of its sacred goods, and a defense against violent attacks, it will strengthen solidarity among the people, unveil hitherto dormant powers, and increase the standard of life.”

Eucken’s first argument can be summarised as follows:

The nation has purposes, war is the only way of achieving them, and therefore war is just.

Eucken identifies the “purposes” of the nation, but does not prove that the only way of achieving them is by waging war. I would have expected Eucken to identify at least one other way of achieving these purposes and then proceed to critically examine why war is the only way. Please note that by default, should there be another way of a nation achieving its purposes, this “non-war” way would be preferred over war.

Therefore the first argument is flawed, as its second premise is unfounded.

Second argument

In the second argument, Eucken introduces the higher forces that comprise an invisible network that unites the German people and leads them to a noble path. The people believe in these higher forces and allows them to be certain that their war deeds are not in vain, because they are done for the shake of these forces.

Husserl builds on this second argument. He elevates the German national Ideal to the Ideal of a genuine and true people. He asserts that «we exist in order to realize the pure Ideals… (we) wish to conquer in the war so that there be continued the revelation of divine Ideas in our glorious German people.»

The second argument can be rephrased as follows:

The German people are on a noble path by virtue of an invisible network of higher forces. The German people are genuine and glorious and they exist in order to realize the pure and divine ideals, which are necessary for the world to exist as a moral world. When the German people go to war, this war is fought to protect the pure and divine ideals from which morality springs, therefore it is a just war. They have to be victorious so that they continue being the carriers of divine ideals.

The flaw in this argument is the presumed exclusivity that the German people have in their union with the higher forces, their destiny to be the bearers of pure and genuine ideals, their morality. Why are the Germans unique in all of these? Why aren’t there other people who are in union with the higher forces? This is where the second argument collapses.

Summarising, Eucken’s arguments for just war are shaky and dangerous. They promote the concept of the “privileged” people and present war as a one way street.

References

1. The Moral Power of the War (Die sittliche Kräfte des Krieges) by Rudolf Eucken, 1914. Translated by Anton Leodolter
2. Fichte’s Ideal of Humanity (Three Lectures) by Edmund Husserl. From Edmund HusserlAufsiitze und Vortri~ge (1911-1921), Husserliana XXV, ed. Thomas Nenon and Hans Reiner Sepp (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1987), pp. 267-293. Numbers in text placed in square brackets refer to these pages.]. Translation by James G. Hart

Haruki Murakami, by danetta

This is a post about oysters and the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. In a speech delivered to his fans in Fukushima, Japan, the writer used «frying oysters» as a metaphor to writing novels.

I start with the sppech as reported by the Guardian and the Asahi Shimbun, and then make a detour to the origin of Murakami’s J. Press short novels.  I conclude with  long quotation from the first J. Press short novel «Hotel Lobby Oysters».

November 2015  (1&2)

KORIYAMA, Fukushima Prefecture–In a rare public appearance, author Haruki Murakami likened the writing of his novels to frying oysters in remarks to about 200 literary fans here on Nov. 29.

Murakami appeared at the local literary conference as a surprise guest along with fellow writer Hideo Furukawa and Motoyuki Shibata, a leading translator of American contemporary literature. (2)

His wife can’t stand the dish, so he has no choice but to cook and eat them alone, he told the audience, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

“I am lonely, but they are delicious,” he added. “Like the relationship between solitude and freedom, it moves in an endless cycle. Picking out single words that are contained within me is also a solitary act so [writing novels] is similar to eating fried oysters by myself.

“When my mind grows pressured when I think that I am writing a novel, I feel more relaxed when I think that I am only frying oysters.” (1)

1974 (4)

In 1974, Tokyo-based apparel giant Onward Kashiyama licensed the traditional American gentleman’s brand J. Press for the Japanese market. In the U.S., J. Press was well-known as a campus retailer for the Ivy League and its graduates on Madison Avenue, but in Japan, Onward took the brand to the masses, opening J. Press corners in dozens of department stores across the country. Upon its entry to Japan, the brand quickly became a favorite of Baby Boomers who had grown up on Ivy League style in the mid-1960s and still wanted to wear tweeds, oxford-cloth button down shirts, and khaki pants as adults. J. Press did well in Japan, and in 1986, right smack in the Bubble Economy, Onward bought the American company outright.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Onward spent massive sums on advertising J. Press in the print media. The classic ad format, often seen on the back cover of lifestyle magazine Popeye, showed a Japanese or American man telling a colorful story about their favorite trad clothing item. In 1985, as Japanese pop culture went in more avant-garde directions, Onward came up with a new idea — asking up-and-coming novelist Murakami Haruki to write a very short story inside each month’s advertisement for magazines Popeye, Box, and Men’s Club.

1985-1987 (4)

Onward approached Murakami about the J. Press ads through writer, editor, and legendary game designer Itoi Shigesato. According to Murakami’s afterword in Yoru no Kumozaru (『夜のくもざる』), the collected edition of the works, he was given license to write whatever he wanted. “Just have fun with it,” Itoi told him. So once a month from April 1985 to February 1987, Murakami wrote a “short short” (短い短編), which was set on its own page with an illustration by famed artist Anzai Mizumaru at the top and a small J. Press logo in the lower left corner.

The J. Press Stories (translations are by Morales unless otherwise noted):

1. Apr 1985 – “Hotel Lobby Oysters” 「ホテルのロビー牡蠣」
2. May 1985 – “The Party” 「”THE PARTY”」
3. Jun 1985 – “Elephant” 「象」
4. Jul 1985 – “Picnic” 「ピクニック」
5. Sep 1985 – “French Horn” 「ホルン」
6. Nov 1985 – “Pencil Sharpener (Or Watanabe Noboru as Fate)”「鉛筆削り (あるいは幸運としての渡辺昇)」(translation Jay Rubin)
7. Dec 1985 – “Julio Iglesias” 「フリオ・イグレシアス」
8. Jan 1986 – “Time Machine (Or Watanabe Noboru as Fate Part 2)” 「タイム・マシーン (あるいは幸運としての渡辺昇 ②)」(translation Jay Rubin)
9. Mar 1986 – “Croquette” 「コロッケ」
10. Apr 1986 – “Cards” 「トランプ」(translation Jay Rubin)
11. May 1986 – “Newspaper” 「新聞」
12. Jun 1986 – “Donut-ization” 「ドーナツ化」
13. Jul 1986 – “Antithesis”「アンチテーゼ」
14. Sep 1986 – “Eel”「うなぎ」
15. Oct 1986 – “Takayama Noriko and My Libido”「高山典子さんと僕の性欲」
16. Nov 1986 – “Octopus”「タコ」
17. Dec 1986 – “Wrench”「スパナ」(translation Jay Rubin)
18. Jan 1987 – “Donuts, Again” 「ドーナツ、再び」
19. Feb 1987 – “Attack of the Mushikubo Old Guy”「虫窪老人の襲撃」

1987

Murakami shoots to global fame with his 1987 novel Norwegian Wood.

Hotel Lobby Oysters

Here’s the first J.Press ‘short short’, Hotel Lobby Oysters:(3)

At the time I was sitting on the hotel lobby sofa and vaguely thinking about oysters. Not lemon soufflé, not pencil sharpeners – oysters. I don’t know why. I just suddenly realized that I was thinking about oysters.

The oysters I was thinking about on the hotel lobby sofa were different from oysters thought about anywhere else. They were shaped differently, they smelled differently, and their color was different, too. They weren’t oysters harvested in some cove. They were pure oysters harvested in a hotel lobby.

After thinking about oysters for a while, I went to the sink to wash my face, then retied my tie and returned to the sofa. When I got back, the oysters had already disappeared from inside my head. Again, I don’t know why. Maybe it was because I washed my faced or because I retied my tie. Or maybe the hotel oyster season is extremely short.

When the girl came 17 minutes after our appointed time, I told her about the hotel lobby oysters. The image was so distinct I felt like I had to tell someone about them.

“You want to eat oysters?” she asked.

“No, these oysters, they were purely oysters as a concept, unrelated to my appetite,” I explained. “The oysters came into being as the very essence of oys—“

“But you do want to eat some, right?” she said.

When she mentioned it and I settled down to think about it, I certainly had developed an incredible desire to eat oysters. We went to the hotel restaurant and ate 25 oysters while drinking wine. Sometimes I think my appetite originates from a really strange place.

Sources

1. Librarians in uproar after borrowing record of Haruki Murakami is leaked, The Guardian
2. Haruki Murakami reveals that frying oysters helps him write novels, The Asahi Shimbun
3. Selling Out: Murakami’s ‘Short Shorts’, Peach Fuzz
4. Murakami Haruki’s Advertorial Short Stories, neojapanisme

Motoi Yamamoto was born in Onomichi, Hiroshima in 1966 and received his B.A. from Kanazawa College of Art in 1995. He has exhibited his award-winning creations in such cities as Athens, Cologne, Jerusalem, Mexico City, Seoul, Tokyo, and Toulouse. He was awarded the Philip Morris Art Award in 2002 as well as the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2003.

The field of modern and contemporary art is crowded with artists who have worked with unconventional materials. From Meret Oppenheim’s mink-lined teacup to Joseph Beuys’s felt and suet, to Wolfgang Laib’s use of bee pollen, the list is endless. Enter Motoi Yamamoto. He uses salt to create mental maps, miniatures of the mind. Yet, in his case, he doesn’t seem to choose materials merely for the sake of novelty or originality.(5)

Throughout the ages of Japanese history, salt has played an elemental role in cultural and spiritual tradition. Salt has acted as a symbol of mourning and is often mythically related to taboos and superstitions, spiritually representing purification.

Yamamoto forged a connection to salt while mourning the death of his sister, at the age of twenty-four, from brain cancer and began to create art out of the element in an effort to preserve his memories of her. Salt, is used in funeral rituals and by sumo wrestlers before matches. It is frequently placed in small piles at the entrance to restaurants and other businesses to ward off evil spirits and to attract benevolent ones. Yamamoto’s art radiates an intense beauty and tranquility, but also conveys something ineffable, painful, and endless. (1)

Motoi Yamamoto, Bellevue I

While at first Yamamoto’s salt patterns look random, closer scrutiny reveals that each installation is in fact a true labyrinth with limited points of entry leading to the center of the work. He notes comparisons to western European mythology where labyrinths symbolized rebirth… Through creating these intricate labyrinths of salt, Yamamoto says he expresses both the re-creation of a memory, as well as the physical representation of how memories are formed. Seen in another way, his saltworks also look eerily like one-dimensional flattened brains, metaphorically mimicking the corridors and paths of memory.(3)

Motoi Yamamoto

Both Tibetan Sand Mandalas and Diné [Navajo] sand paintings have similar principles of execution, where the creators use colored sand to make elaborate displays which are ritually destroyed after completion to represent the inconsequence of humans in the metaphysical scheme. Yamamoto has a comparable intent with his process, wherein the salt mazes are enjoyed only briefly, then swept away. He requests that any salt used in his installations be returned to the nearest sea.  (3)

It is the role of salt in his culture and the nature of his sisters illness that led Yamamoto to begin creating temporary pictures of the brain out of salt. This journey of his, this attempt to reconnect with his sister, remember her through the process of work has led him to create amazing drawings which confront the viewer with the reality of death.(4)

Here’s what Yamamoto has to say about his work:

Drawing a labyrinth with salt is like following a trace of my memory. Memories seem to change and vanish as time goes by. However, what I seek is the way in which I can touch a precious moment in my memories that cannot be attained through pictures or writings. I always silently follow the trace, that is controlled as well as uncontrolled from the start point after I have completed it. (4)

Sources

1. Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto, Laband Gallery
   September 8 – December 8, 2012
2. Monterey Museum of Art Hosts Return to the Sea, Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto
3. Yamamoto Motoi | Saltworks
4. Motoi Yamamoto’s Salt Drawings Are An Incredible Testimony to The Artists Love For His Sister
5. MOTOI YAMAMOTO RETURN TO THE SEA: SALTWORKS. Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art

WARNING TO THE READER

This article must be avoided by all people who cannot tolerate, accept, and so on, the naked female body. Please abandon ship now and seek safe passage to another destination.

The Condor Club, North Beach, San Francisco, 1973

Introduction

This is a story about a place, the night club «The Condor», a female dancer, Carol Doda, a Public Relations (PR) agent, «Big» Davey Rosenbeg, and a fashion designer, Rudi Gernreich. Together, they made «topless entertainment» a reality in San Francisco in the early 1960s.

Carol Doda in The Condor

Carol Doda

Carol Ann Doda was born in Solano County, in Northern California, on Aug. 29, 1937, and raised in San Francisco. Her parents divorced when she was 3.

As reported in LIFE magazine (11 March 1966) Ms. Doda held a number of jobs like prune-picker, file clerk, ballroom dance instructor and cocktail waitress before becoming an employee of the Condor nightclub in San Francisco’s North Beach.

Enter a caption

The Condor

The Condor had a different name and owner before 1964. Its name was «House of Pisco», named after the drink «Pisco Punch». Pisco is a late 16th century brandy made from grapes that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru. It was available in San Francisco since the 1830s when it was first brought from Pisco, Peru via ship by rawhide and tallow traders trading with California towns. During the California Gold Rush of 1849 the brandy was readily available in San Francisco.

In 1964 «The Condor» needed a push to its business, which was moderate in volume to say the least.

Hiring «Big» Davey Rosenberg as a PR man was one thing. It turned out that it was more than enough.

«Big» Davey Rosenfeld in The Condor Club with three of the performers (1972)

«Big» Davey Rosenberg

«Big» Davey Rosenberg was a public relations agent in San Francisco. He was not a moderate man. He once told a Playboy interviewer.

«I personally am responsible for the name ‘topless entertainment’… I personally put ‘topless’ in the dictionary.»

Davey Rosenberg was the right man in the right place on the 19th June 1964, the day that changed «The Condor» and many other things in San Francisco and the United States of America.

Rudi Gernreich

Rudi Gernreich

Rudi Gernreich, was an Austrian-born American fashion designer and early gay activist who had learned about female fashion in his aunt’s dress shop in Vienna. Rudi and his mother fled Austria after its annexation to Nazi Germany, where Hitler had banned nudity, among many other acts. Austrian citizens were advocates of exercising nude, a rejection of the over-civilized world. Gernreich was very much against sexualization of the human body and the notion that the body was essentially shameful, which was reflected prominently in his designs. (MessyNessy)

His genial way of cutting fabrics and his dramatic vision of female silhouette gave him the idea to create the top-less swimsuit. Trying to avoid any connection with pornography, he incorporated the idea of ​​topless in every outfit.(afashionhistory)

In 1964 Gernreich designed the monokini, a topless swimsuit. The monokini had a rough reception.

Widely censored in the media and renounced from all corners including Vatican officials and the U.S Republicans, who tried to blame the suit on the Democrats’ stance on moral issues. Even the Soviet Union chimed in, calling it barbarianism. Never intended by the designer to be a commercial success, over 3000 monokinis at $24 were sold in New York in the summer of 1964 at leading store like Henri Bendel. (MessyNessy)

L-R: Davey Rosenberg, Gino del Prete, Carol Doda, and Herb Caen at the Condor Club on 22 October 1965

Synthesis

At this point we have all the ingredients required to put together the story. But having all the ingredients of a story is not enough. They have to somehow come together. In this story, the agent who brought them together was Davey Rosenberg.

The Condor’s publicist, «Big» Davy Rosenberg came up with the idea to have Carol Doda dance in a monokini. The garment was brought for $25 at the I. MAgnin store in San Francisco, and on the 19th June 1964, it all came together. Carol Doda, wearing Rudi Gernreich’s monikini  performed topless that night.

In a 2009 interview with The San Francisco Chronicle, Ms. Doda, a former secretary and cocktail waitress, said: “The minute I knew I existed in life was the night I started the Condor thing. The only thing that mattered to me was entertaining people.”  (The New York Times)

Within a few days, women in clubs all the Broadway St. clubs of San Francisco were sporting the monokini in many of the clubs lining San Francisco’s Broadway St, effectively reinventing the burlesque era of the early 20th century and ushering in the era of the topless bar.

Carol Doda

From a 34B to a 44DD

There was a technicality though that had to be addressed. Carol Doda’s natural bust was not big enough for the monokini dance.

Ms Doda was transformed from a 34B to a 44DD by 44 surgical treatments (the number was “just a coincidence,” she said) in which emulsified silicone, was injected at a cost of about $12,000 in today’s dollars. The procedure has since been banned, but Ms. Doda, who began every day with a bowl of Wheaties, said she suffered no health complications. Her bust was said to have been insured for $1.5 million. (The New York Times)

Carol Doda with Bay Area wrestling pesonality Woody Farmer (1980) – Bay Area News Group Archives

The 1965 Bust

On April 22, 1965 Doda was arrested with Gino del Prete, owner of the Condor Club during police raids to stop bare-bosom shows in North Beach.. They were cleared when two judges instructed innocent verdicts. Judge Friedman’s memorandum to opposing attorneys reads,

«Whether acts … are lewd and dissolute depends not on any individual’s interpretation or personal opinion, but on the consensus of the entire community …» 

Epilogue

Carol Doda is no longer inhabiting this planet. She passed away a month ago. But her legacy stays on.

“I don’t believe topless is a fad,” Carol Doda told the (San Francisco) Chronicle in January 1967. “It’s something that’s going to stay — like burlesque.”

The day started with snow on the ground and the trees, the bushes, the table, the umbrella, and so on.

The concept of this menu was developed by my alter ego, Niccolo Spiro Salvatore Domenico Francesco Morosini. I confess I have an affinity to the Venetian Republic, la Serenissima, Florence, and Italy in general.

Home made bread

Home baked bread

Made with flour from the region of Macedonia, Drama.

Smoked salami from Corfu

There are still some artisans producing delicious food. This salami is spicy and rich. The best antipasto for a cold day. I can see the traces of the influence of Venetian rule on the island of Corfu. Corfu has never been ruled by the Ottoman Turks.

Olives from Amfissa

I served two types, the juicy salty big ones, and the sweet wrinkled (hamades), the ones made from olives that have fallen on the ground and not picked.   Amfissa is a provincial city 10 km away from Delphi. The breathtaking valley of olive trees that you see from Delphi belongs to the area of Amfissa. That’s where the olives come from.

Rolled Cabbage with pork sausage cooked in duck fat

I had some sausages from the Basque country and used them as filling in the cabbage rolls. I served them with a light sauce of coriander and lemon juice.

The sausage and duck fat were produced by the artisan ANNE ROZES on France, Basque Country. The cabbage is locally produced in Marathon, and it is like silk. Very tender, sweet, the perfect companion to duck fat.

Tourte with Ewe

I roasted the ewe, cut it to small cubes and then marinated it in a mix of herbs and spices. The tradition of preparing a tourte with meat comes from the island of Crete, another place in Greece that has been ruled by the Venetian Republic.

Cheeses

Both the fresh cheese and the Gruyere come form the island of Crete.

New Year’s Gateau

A traditional gateau of the north of Greece, with butter, flour, eggs and lemon zest.

Wines 
Patrimo, 2001
Feudi di San Gregorio

La Poderina
Poggio Banale 1997
Brunello di Montalcino

Champagne Laurent – Perrier
BRUT

Yesterday is a day to be marked on the modern Greek political calendar.

It may be a very important day.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Almost 400,000 members voted Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis as the new leader of the «New Democracy» party of Greece. Mr. Mitsotakis crafted a clear political agenda for this election and campaigned hard on the basis of this agenda. His opponent, Mr. Meimarakis merely advertised the fact that he was the favorite of ex prime minister Mr. Karamanlis and the powerful political machine he operates in the party.

This vote is a radical departure from the line of ex prime minister Mr. Kostas Karamanlis, who was promoting and supporting Mr., Vaggelis Meimarakis, a veteran of the party and follower of Mr. Karamanlis.

Kostas Karamanlis

New Democracy under the stranglehold of Mr. Karamanlis and his followers has become an aged party, out of sync with society, as the two national elections of 2015 have shown.

Syriza, the governing party, is truly a transfiguration of PASOK, the party that rules Greece for most of the period following the military dictatorship of 1967 – 1974.

Alexis Tsipras

Under the pink cover and the empty words of populism, Mr. Tsipras is a cheap replica of Andreas Papandreou.

Andreas Papandreou

The coming of Syriza to power is not the beginning of a «left» leaning period of governance in Greece, it is simply the extension and continuation of the most extreme populist trends in PASOK.

Therefore Greece is a country where the economic and social crisis has not triggered a political turmoil, but only a change of guard so that the old and dated PASOK and New Democracy could be followed by the young Turks of the «new PASOK», Syriza.

Until yesterday that is. The election of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the first truly significant political development in Greece in the 21st century. Because a significant percentage of the body of citizens decided that the Karamanlis period of New Democracy is over. And with it ends the post military dictatorship era, 1974 – 2016.

This election is a political event of major proportion.

Mr. Mitsotakis received the mandate to rejuvenate the party and make it a party that follows a new track, abandoning the «cast» like Karamanlis tradition. It is not an easy task. As a matter of fact, it is an extremely difficult one. But it can be done, and it opens a window of optimism in the cloudy political skies of Greece, where there has been nothing new since 1974.

Konstantinos Karamanlis

What was new in 1974, was the marvelous twins, New Democracy and PASOK. They did well and brought the country to an almost complete disaster in 2015.Now Syriza is continuing the work of PASOK.

The election of Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos as the President of the Hellenic Republic in early 2015 indicated the underlying «good relations» between Mr; Karamanlis and Mr. Tsipras. Mr. Pavlopoulos has served as a minister under Mr. Karamanlis and is considered to belong to the «inner circle» of the ex prime minister.

In the period preceding yesterday’s election, it was almost openly disclosed that Mr. Karamanlis and Mr. Tsipras are on the same wagon, and this would be continued with the election of Mr. Meimarakis as the leader of New Democracy. Where there is smoke there is fire.

But New Democracy broke ranks and is now on a new route.

The coming months are going to be critical.

Mr. Mitsotakis has a lot to do, but the most important thing for now is to focus on the important. He must solidify his power base, listen to the people who elected him, craft a manifesto for the rejuvenation not only of New Democracy but also of Greek Politics at large, and receive a stamp of approval for all of this by a National Congress of New Democracy, that will also be an opportunity to bring new, currently idle, social and political groups in the party.

As the Chinese say, if you want to go fast, you must walk, not run.

Epicurus was an Athenian philosopher who lived from 341 to 270 BC.

After his death some of his followers traveled to Rome, found champions of Epicureanism there, and set up Epicurean societies. Epicurean philosophy became very popular among the highly educated and intellectually oriented Romans.

Epicurus

A prominent Epicurean School was established in Naples, initially directed by Siro.  It was there that a community of Epicureans flourished.

When it comes to the world of ideas and how they apply to everyday life, one needs to ask whether philosophical discourse is contained and restricted in the discussions of the school, the community, a group of friends. Of course we would not expect all people to be engaged in the discussion, but it is interesting to establish the degree to which these discussions have an impact on everyday life.

Today’s post is about one artifact that provide an indication that the presence of the Epicureans in the area of Naples was known to wider circles and was on occasion a topic of satire and humor.  

In 1895, excavations at a Roman villa at Boscoreale on the slopes of Vesuvius unearthed a remarkable hoard of silver treasure, including 109 items of tableware, which the owner had stashed in a wine tank prior to the eruption that buried the region of Naples in AD 79. This prestigious collection, dating from between the late 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD, testifies to one of the finest periods in Roman silverware and reflects the taste of wealthy Campanians for drinking cups with relief decoration.(1)

Among the cups, sixteen in number, two are especially noteworthy. They are four inches high, and form a pair; they are ornamented with skeletons in high relief, so grouped that each cup presents four scenes satirizing human life and its interpretation in poetry and philosophy. (2)

These two silver cups, famous for their strange decoration, are embellished with gold. They formed a pair of modioli (from the Latin, meaning “small measures”), so called because their shape is reminiscent of the modius, a container used to measure wheat. A Latin inscription on the base of one of the cups gives their weight and the name of their owner, Gavia. (1)

The scenes from one of the two cups of poetry and philosophy

One of the two cups depicts two prominent Hellenistic philosophers, Epicurus and Zeno. 

On the left side of the picture above we have two skeletons engaged in a mute dialogue. The skeletons are the two philosophers, who were known for their deep differences.

At the left the Stoic Zeno appears, standing stiffly with his philosopher’s staff in his left hand, his wallet hanging from his neck; with right hand extended he points the index finger in indignation and scorn at Epicurus, who, paying no heed to him, is taking a piece of a huge cake lying on the top of a small round table. Beside Epicurus an eager pig with snout and left foreleg uplifted is demanding a share. Over the cake is the inscription: τὸ τέλος ἡδονή, ‘the goal of life is pleasure.’ The letters of the inscription, as of the names of the philosophers, are too small to be shown distinctly in our illustration.(2)

Zeno of Citius was a Greek philosopher (334-262 BC) who stood opposite to Epicurus. He founded the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from around 300 BC. Zeno believed that pleasure is a vice. Stoicism became the foremost popular philosophy among the educated elite in the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire.

Bronze piglet from a villa in Hercolanum

A few words about the piglet are in order.

Epicureans were likened to pigs by many of opposing views, in order to denigrate the principal Epicurean view that the goal of life is pleasure. This has been documented by the Roman poet Horace.  

In an epistle addressed to his melancholy friend and fellow poet, Albius Tibullus, Horace wrote: (3) 

Treat every day that dawns for you as the last.
The hour that’s unhoped for will be welcome when it comes.
When you want to smile then visit me: sleek, and fat
I’m a hog, well cared-for, one of Epicurus’ herd.

The bronze piglet we see above is in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, and was found in the Villa of Papyri in Herculaneum, where it supposedly partnered Epicurus’ bust. 

In my view the presence of the piglet on the cup is fully justified by the association of Epicureans with pigs. It is quite interesting to note the humorous aspect of the depiction.  

The two cups have similar and complementary repoussé decoration depicting the skeletons of tragic and comic poets and famous Greek philosophers, beneath a garland of roses. Greek inscriptions engraved in dots form captions, and are accompanied by Epicurean maxims such as: «Enjoy life while you can, for tomorrow is uncertain.» (1)

Drinking cups like these were used at the verbal sparring matches held at Roman banquets. As at Trimalchio’s feast (described by Petronius in the Satyricon), the guests sought to outdo each other in erudition, using Greek philosophical and literary references to promote sensual and intellectual pleasures. The choice of a ring of skeletons to decorate these modioli is neither macabre nor particularly surprising, but is on the contrary a hymn to life—an incitement to enjoy the present. This same theme is often represented—admittedly with less panache—on everyday items such as earthenware goblets, lamps, mosaics, or funerary monuments. Trimalchio himself had articulated silver skeletons placed on the table for his guests (Satyricon, 34, 8-10), reminding them that humans should be humble, as even the most enlightened poet or philosopher cannot avoid death.(1)

Both cups had evidently long been in use; there are still some traces of gilding, which, however, seems not to have been applied to the skeletons. While the explanatory inscriptions are in Greek, a Latin name, Gavia, is inscribed on the under side of the second cup, in the same kind of letters as the record of weight. The Gavii were a family of some prominence at Pompeii; we are perhaps warranted in concluding that the cups were made by a Greek for this Pompeian lady, and that afterward they came into the possession of another lady, Maxima, who formed the collection.(2)

After looking at the cup with the two philosophers we can clearly assume that the philosophical dialogue between Stoics and Epicureans was conducted out in the open and was an item of discussion and satire among the wealthy.

References

(1) Boscoreale Treasure, Louvre Museum, Paris, France

(2) Pompeii, Its Life and Art, by August Mau

(3) Epicurean Happiness: A Pig’s Life?  David Konstan. Journal of Ancient Philosophy Vol. VI 2012 Issue 1

Το βράδυ της 13 Φεβρουαρίου 2016 έγινε στο Ολυμπιακό Στάδιο της Αθήνας ένας ποδοσφαιρικός αγώνας, στον οποίο η ΑΕΚ, νεοφώτιστη στην Πρώτη Εθνική (αλοίμονο μου, την λένε Premier League σήμερα) ενίκησε με σκορ ένα μηδέν τον ήδη πρωταθλητή Ολυμπιακό.

Ναι, δεν είναι ψέματα, ο Ολυμπιακός έχασε και μάλιστα απο την νεοφώτιστη ΑΕΚ.

Οι προβολείς όμως στράφηκαν και πάλι στο υπόβαθρο, στο παρασκήνιο. Τη λεγόμενη «παράγκα», ή ακόμη χειρότερα, τη «συμμορία», ένα παρα-κύκλωμα με διαιτητές και παράγοντες, που διάφοροι ισχυρίζονται ότι υπάρχει και κατευθυνόμενη απο΄τον μεγάλο «άνδρα» του Ολυμπιακού κ. Μαρινάκη κάνει τα πάντα για να κουμαντάρει το ελληνικό ποδόσφαιρο και να διευκολύνει τον Ολυμπιακό.

Ο Ολυμπιακός και ο κ. Μαρινάκης έχουν «κατηγορηθεί» αλλά η ελληνική δικαιοσύνη δεν έχει ακόμη αποφανθεί. Οι έρευνες είναι ακόμη σε στάδιο προανάκρισης.

Ενδεικτικές «κατηγορίες» εναντίον του Ολυμπιακού είναι ότι ορίζει και επηρεάζει τους διαιτητές που «σφυρίζουν» στους αγώνες με αποτέλεσμα να επιβαρύνονται οι αντίπαλοι και να ευνοείται ο ίδιος. Παραδείγματα είναι τα πέναλτυ που δίνονται «χαριστικά» στον Ολυμπιακό, και οι σκληρές αποφάσεις (π.χ. αποβολές) εναντίον ομάδων όπως ο ΠΑΟ.

Η χθεσινή νίκη της ΑΕΚ έδωσε αφορμή για να ξεσπάσει ο κ. Μελισσανίδης μαινόμενος κατά της «συμμορίας».

Ο κ. Μελισσανίδης είναι ο ισχυρός ανήρ της ΑΕΚ. Μετά τον αγώνα δόθηκε στην δημοσιότητα το φύλλο αγώνα στο οποίο αναφέρονται διάφορα συμβάντα και στιχομυθίες ανάμεσα στον κ. Μελισσανίδη και τον παρατηρητή διαιτησίας κ. Δημήτριο Κύρκο. Όλα τα στοιχεία είναι από το φύλλο αγώνα που διέρρευσε.

Enter a caption

Στιχομυθία πρώτη. Μελισσανίδης προς Κύρκο: «Αρχίδι τι ήρθες να κάνεις εδώ; Πάλι στον ίδιο αγώνα ρε ξεφτιλισμένε;»

 Στιχομυθία δεύτερη.Μελισσανίδης προς Κύρκο: «Θα σε λιώσω. Θα σε πνίξω με το κασκόλ. Θα σε γαμήσω γαμώ τη συμμορία σας.»

Στιχομυθία τρίτη.  Μελισσανίδης προς Κύρκο: «Θα σε τινάξω στον αέρα. Ξέρω που μένεις, και τι κάνεις. Είσαι μέλος της συμμορίας.»

Δεν χρειάζεται να σχολιάσω τις στιχομυθίες, τα λένε όλα οι λέξεις.

Επιβεβαιώνεται ο φαύλος κύκλος του «αίματος» ανάμεσα στις δύο πολωμένες «παρατάξεις».

Επειδή εκτός από τα «γαλλικά» ο κ, Μελισσανίδης διαθέτει και χιούμορ, έκανε και την ακόλουθη δήλωση.

Ο Ολυμπιακός από την άλλη μεριά κατηγορεί με τη σειρά του τη διαιτησία, ως πανάθλια.

Όσον αφορά το παιχνίδι ποδοσφαίρου, ήτανε μάλλον κακό και θα ξεχαστεί γρήγορα.

Όπως προανέφερα, είμαι οπαδός του ΠΑΟ.

Αλλά αυτή η κατάσταση με αρρωσταίνει.

Δεν χάρηκα με την ήττα του Ολυμπιακού. Γιατί όλα τα λύματα βγήκανε ξανά στους δρόμους. Άνοιξαν οι βόθροι και ανασάναμε τα αρώματα!

Έτσι όπως έιναι τα πράγματα, μόνον κοπρολάγνοι θα απολαμβάνουν τα του ελληνικού ποδοφαίρου!

Antioquia is one of the nine states (or departments) of Colombia, the beautiful South American country. Its capital is the city of Mendellin, the second largest city in Colombia after Bogota, and, quite possibly, the most beautiful.

Coat of arms, Antioquia, Colombia

Its name derives from Antioch, the Greek-Roman city. Its ruins today can be found near the city of Antakya in Turkey, very near the Turkish – Syrian border. Antioch was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great’s generals.

I write this post because I still cannot figure out how a state in Colombia was named after a Greek-Roman city that very few Europeans would know today.

As it is natural in these cases, when the mind wanders about, there will be no theme or concrete topic for the reader to focus on. Instead I will just observe and note the items I encounter in a random walk through history, geography and culture.

Antioquia is a beautiful place, combining mountain ranges with coastal zones.

Puente de Occidente, Santa Fe, Antioquia, Colombia

Santa Fe is a picturesque little town. Getting there you may cross the Puente de Occidente (Bridge of the West), with 291 meters of length. This suspension bridge, built in 1887 by the American educated Colombian engineer Jose Maria Villa, was the longest of its kind on the American continent at the time. You can see its location on the map below, marked with a green ellipse.

Santa Fe, Antioquia, Colombia

As I was looking at the map, I noticed a locality named «Filadelfia», and I marked it by a red ellipse. For the record, there is at least one more Filadelfia in Colombia, in the state south of Caldas, southwest of Antioquia.

Santa Fe, Antioquia, Colombia

In 1813 Antioquia was declared a sovereign and independent state with Santa Fe as its capital, a status it maintained until 1826, when Medellín was chosen as the new departmental seat

Salgar, Antioquia, Colombia

On 18 May 2015 a landslide occurred in La Libordiana region of Colombia. At around 3 a.m., the landslide went through the Salgar municipality in Antioquia state.The landslide occurred after days of rain in the mountains above the town.

Recovery operations in Salgar, Antioquia

A survivor remarked: «People were just screaming everywhere, and I ran to help, but the river was impassable, and all the bridges were covered.»Another said «We ran outside to the road and went into the chapel, and the lights went out and we were in the dark. Then we looked with flashlights and saw that everything was gone.» The force of the landslide destroyed houses and ripped limbs from victims’ bodies.According to Salgar mayor Olga Eugenia Osorio, the town of Santa Margarita, one of four towns that lies within the Salgar municipality, was «erased from the map.

Jerico, Antioquia

Jerico is a town in Antioquia, known as the «Athens of the Southwest» because its people promote cultural activities. It is also considered as the most beautiful town in Antioquia, because of its beautiful landscape.

Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia: A housewife attending to her laundry with a public library in the background

But the indubitable star of Antioquia and Colombia is the city of Medellin.Rich and poor at the same time, the battlefield of the war of the Colombian State against the druglords, in the 21st century Medellin has been rejuvenated. The photo above shows a housewife attending to her laundry on the rooftop of her house. The neighborhood (barrio) is poor, but this has not prevented the construction of a modern library which we can see in the background. All of a sudden, there are other things to do in a poor neighborhood, there are options to the youngsters growing up.

The most spectacular of the new public libraries of the rejuvenated Medellin is «Biblioteca Espana», built in Santo Domingo. At the end of the 20th century, the northwest barrio of Santo Domingo, located in the 1st commune, was considered one of the most dangerous places in Latin America. As late as 2003, the people were not allowed to stay on the streets after 5 p.m. and the area was controlled at night by urban militias.

Plaza Botero, Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia

Fernando Botero, the sculptor and painter, is one of the sons of Medellin. A public plaza, has been created to honor him and to give to the public of the city a chance to enjoy art while taking a break.

Fernando Botero: The death of Pablo Escobar, 1999

In 1999, 6 years after Escobar’s death, Botero painted «The death of Pablo Escobar», who was another son of Medellin. In 1989, Pablo Escobar, one of the most notorious drug lords in history, was named by Forbes magazine as the seventh wealthiest man in the world, with an estimated fortune of $25 billion.

Pablo Escobar’s grave in Medellin

Pablo Escobar was killed in 1993 by a Special Unit of the Colombian Police. He is burried in Medellin. From Escobar I now turn to FARC, the military force that has engaged the Colombian State in a bloody conflict for many decades now (since 1964).

FARC soldiers in Antioquia

Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is a military group that has a marxist-leninist and anti-imperialist political platform. Negotiations to end the conflict have been going on for sometime now.

Photograph: Luis Acosta

The good news is that in September 2015 at a meeting in Cuba, Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos (left), and Farc’s chief, Rodrigo Londoño (right) – known as Timochenko – said the two sides had agreed on a formula for transitional justice and to sign a final deal by March 2016.

Time to leave art, politics, drugs, nature, sightseeing, and go to grab a bite of food.

Bandeja paisa

Bandeja paisa is a typical dish in Antioquia. It literally means the «platter of a person from the Paisa region». It features red beans, eggs, rice, plantain, chorizo (sausage), chicherron (fried pork belly or pork rind), morcilla (black pudding), avocado and lemon.

Arepas – Colombian corn cakes

Arepas, the Colombian corn cakes, are to be found everywhere. They are like bread for the Colombians and they thoroughly enjoy them. So it is only natural to have the good, and the bad. You try and find out.

Mondongo is a tripe soup, that can be enjoyed all over Colombia.

Apostol Beer, Colombia

Apostol is a Colombian microbrewerie that has been producing excellent beer since 2009.

Aguardiente Antioqueno

Aguardiente, Colombia’s throat-burning anise-flavored national liquor is a must according to all travel writers.

Coffee plantations in Antioquia, Colombia

All good meals end with a coffee, and I have had a really good one!

Coffee grows plenty in Antioquia.

Time to say goodbye, and prepare for the next visit.

The migrant crisis has reached an acute  state in Greece and Europe for more than one year now. Millions of people from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries are flooding Greece aiming to continue their journey to other European countries. Some 45,000 of them are now stuck in Greece, after the northern borders of the country have been closed. Approximately 14,000 of them are in the area of Idomeni, a village of 150 inhabitants.

Photo: Hundreds of people arrive at the passport office in Kabul to apply for new travel documents. SLOBODAN LEKIC/Stars and Stripes

Images of the migrants stuck in Greece near the border with FYROM (Macedonia) are all over the news. On the 17th March 2016 the EU leaders met and finalized the EU proposal to Turkey to stem the flow of migrants to Europe. An agreement was reached with Turkey on the 18th March 2016. According to the agreement, every migrant arriving in Greece after the 20th March 2016 who does not qualify for asylum in a European country will be returned to Turkey. In exchange, a Syrian refuge who is in Turkey and has not attempted to cross illegally to Greece, will be given asylum to a European country. There is a cap to this, of 72,000 people. There are significant implementation issues for the agreement to run smoothly. However, the big question remain: «Can the flow of migrants from the Middle East to Europe be stemmed?»

It is obvious that the European leaders and their advisors think that the flow can be stemmed. The deal with Turkey is structured on the basis of this hypothesis. Why is this the case? How can this be proven to be a reasonable assumption?

Quite simply put, the flow can be stemmed provided that the causes of the massive migration can be addressed so that migration is no longer the path to the future for millions of people. It is therefore essential that we know which are the causes of the migration, and that we examine how they can ills behind creating them can be cured.

The war in Syria has made the whole phenomenon look like a mass exodus of people from the battlefields of the Syrian war. This is the explanation that best suits the European Union’s agenda. The war stops, therefore the migration flow  declines and eventually stops. All we need – in this case – is to stem the flow from Turkey to Europe and wait until the flow stops.

Photo: Boy on a destroyed tank in Kobane, Syria. Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty Images

Before I proceed I would like to clarify the terminology. Following the BBC, I use the terms migrant and migration to describe the phenomenon. I suggest that the word refugee is not needed, as it creates confusion and obfuscates the phenomenon at large. A migrant is a person who decides to leave their country of residence in order to move to another country. No matter what the reason is, political persecution, economic need, or something else, the migrant is a man determined to move and seek asylum in another country.

The confusion with the terminology arose out of the need qualify a migrant as a refugee in case the reason for their decision is political persecution.Being a refugee qualifies the migrant for automatic granting of asylum by the receiving country, whereas a simple migrant who, say, emigrates in order to make a living (so called financial refugees) has no right to asylum whatsoever and is not accepted.

In order to establish the causes of the phenomenon, we must make sure we have the facts relevant to it. Lets begin with the country of origin.Where do the migrants come from?

The origin countries

According to Frontex, there were 1.83 million «illegal border crossings» into Europe in 2015 compared to the previous year’s record of 283,500. As we see in the Eurostat chart above, the three top origin countries of the migrants are Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. A total of 363,000 Syrians fled the war and entered Europe seeking asylum.

So far we have established one probable cause for the migration. The war in Syria. Assuming that this is the only cause, we have an issue to deal with in our analysis. How do we explain the migration from Afghanistan and Iraq as a result of the war in Syria?

Before addressing this issue it would be useful to gather some facts on the migration from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Afghan refugees walk through a beach where they will wait to board a dinghy sailing off for the Greek island of Chios, while they try to travel from the western Turkish coastal town of Cesme, in Izmir province, Turkey, March 6, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Afghanistan

The Afghanistan population is approximately 33 million. Male life expectancy is 59 years, and female 61 years. Unemployment is over 50%, while 38% of the population lives below the poverty demarcation line.Afghanistan is practically a country whose economy is destroyed and more than one third of its territory is under the control of the Taliban insurgents.

Eurostat  figures show that 178,000 Afghanis entered Europe in 2015 seeking a better life.

Slobodan Lekic writes in «Stars and Stripes»:

«Afghans are now the second-largest contingent of migrants heading for Europe, after Syrians but ahead of Iraqis fleeing from the murderous Islamic State jihadis in the Middle East, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the European Union’s statistical agency. But exact numbers are difficult to come by because many of the Afghans heading east have already been living as refugees outside Afghanistan’s borders. A good proportion of those traveling to Europe live in Iran, where some 900,000 Afghans have resided since the 1990s.»(1)

Dasha Afanasieva reports on the Afghanis in Turkey:

«The EU is not even discussing these issues and is exclusively focused on Syria,» Kati Piri, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Turkey, told Reuters last month.

«Even if the Syrian crisis would be solved tomorrow, there would still be a serious refugee crisis, with a large number of refugees in Turkey who don’t have access to their rights.»

Afghan migrants in Turkey interviewed by Reuters said that over the past few years they had been denied interviews with U.N. refugee agency UNHCR that would formally determine their refugee status, a key step in the journey to being resettled.

Polat Kizildag, program coordinator at ASAM, an organization which registers asylum seekers in Turkey, said they were generally told they were ineligible because Turkey was the third country on their journey and the expectation was that they apply for refugee status in their second, in many cases Iran.

Human rights groups have said Iranian forces deport thousands of Afghans without giving them a chance to prove their asylum status and that they are pressured to leave the country.

«More than 63,000 Afghans came to Turkey last year, a sharp rise from 15,652 in 2014, according to ASAM (an organization which registers asylum seekers in Turkey), counting only those who registered. Some came directly from Afghanistan, others from Iran, where they had tried unsuccessfully to settle.(6)

Iraq

Iraq has a population of approximately 37 million people and its oil dependent economy is in a terrible shape. In her NPR report, Alice Fordham says:

«Everything seems to be working against the Iraqi economy. The government is waging a costly war with the Islamic State while dealing with falling oil prices, millions of displaced citizens and staggering costs for reconstruction of cities ruined by fighting.» (7)

Add to this the effects of the civil strife and you have the makings of an explosive situation. According to a report by the International Organization for Migration, more than 3 million people have been displaced in Iraq by violent conflict since January 2014.  Dominik Bartsch, the U.N.’s deputy humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said 10 million people were expected to need humanitarian support by the end of the year in that country, where 3.2 million were already displaced. (4)

In the past years there has been  migration within the region, which is now becoming migration to Europe. In a New York Times article, Ken Arango wrote in September 2015:

«Adnan al-Azzawi, 45, was in Damascus, Syria, from 2004 to 2011, and then returned to Baghdad. He recently sent his family on the migrant journey, and they wound up in Belgium. He hopes to join them soon.» (3)

The mix of the origin countries is changing

Since September 2015, the mix of migrants by country of origin has changed significantly. The extensive quote below is from Chris Tomlinson’s article (5):

The number of Syrian migrants is falling, while the number of Afghans, Iraqis and West Africans continues to grow, according to the European Union’s (EU) Frontex agency.

The organisation, which is tasked with monitoring and controlling movements around Europe’s borders, has revealed that the new wave of migrants aren’t necessarily fleeing conflict, but rather “aspiring” for a better economic situation, according to two agency reports.

The first document talks about migration coming through the Greek islands from the Middle East. They state that in recent months the percentage of Syrian migrants is decreasing.

According to the agency, although Syrians represented 56 percent of the illegal migrants that crossed into Greece in 2015, by December that number had fell to 39 percent.

The report also said that Iraqis and Afghanis as a percentage of the migrants had dramatically increased with the share of Iraqis more than doubling from 11 percent in October to 25 percent by the end of December. Afghani numbers also have increased to one third of migrants crossing into Greece.

Photo: The Aigli Hotel, a bankrupt resort near Thermopylae Greece, is now an official migrant center. Sergey Ponomarev for the New York Times.

First conclusions

What we can conclude from the Iraqi situation is that the tide of migrants will become stronger. When 10 million people are displaced and in danger of their well being, the tide will not only be big, it may also be unstoppable.

If the findings of the Frontex reports are valid, the wave of migrants from the Middle East to Europe will continue to come strong, contrary to the views that it will stop once the Syrian war is over. The reasons behind the migration are not restricted to the geographical territory of Syria, nor are they confined to fully blown war. There is an intense feeling of insecurity both in Iraq and Afghanistan, and this feeling is not going away if we believe the relevant reports.

If insecurity drives the migration, this is not strictly a political issue. It is also an economic issue, and it is related to demographics.

Given all of the above, the migration crisis facing the Middle East and Europe is here to stay. And this raises a lot of questions regarding the adequacy of the EU – Turkey agreement regarding the flow of migrants. If the migration tide is not just the result of a war in Syria that is going to end, what are the chances that an agreement to control the flow of migrants from Turkey to the EU will prove to be totally inadequate?

European politicians have developed a piecemeal approach to tackle issues, no matter how big or small they are. As the collapse of the American financial system in 2008 has shown us, piecemeal measures do not work when the issue is a big crisis that transcends the ordinary. The Europeans do not seem to have learned this lesson. If we judge from the way the Greek crisis is being handled, the piecemeal approach thrives.

Is this going to work in the migrant crisis facing Europe? I do not think so. A year from now the situation in Greece will be intollerable, with many more migrants stuck in the country unable to move either to Europe or back to Turkey. The northern borders of Greece will continue to be closed for the migrants.

And what is the worst of all, the economic conditions that make migration inevitable also fuel insurgency in the Middle East.

Sources

(1) Afghans join Syrians, others migrating to Europe, by Slobodan Lekic. Stars and Stripes. Published: September 18, 2015.

(2) In Syria: Four Years of War. The Atlantic.

(3) A New Wave of Migrants Flees Iraq, Yearning for Europe, by Ken Arango. The New York Times, September 2015.

(4) U.N. sees refugee flow to Europe growing, plans for big Iraq displacement, by Tom Miles. Reuters, September 2015.

(5) EU Border Agency: Syrian ‘Refugee’ Numbers Declining, Economic Migration Exploding, by Chris Tomlinson. Breitbart, January 2016.

(6) Afghans feel forgotten in Europe’s migrant crisis, Dasha Afanasieva. Reuters, 6 March 2016.

(7) Iraq Faces A Perfect Economic Storm, Alice Fordham. NPR parallels, January 2016.

Some time ago I wrote an article about Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama. All photos in the article were black and white. Today’s post is about Moriyama’s color photos.

“When I look at Shinjuku, I see a stadium of human desires.”

«Making a definitive declaration of intent or meaning kills the photograph.»

«Photography never reaches a state of completion. That is what makes it interesting—amazing..»

«… to shoot images is to receive shocks from the outside world.»

«…looking at images leads to the discovery of a new language. That is what I am about.»

«When I take snapshots, I am always guided by feeling, so even in that moment when I’m taking a photograph it is impossible to explain the reason for the exposure.»

«I’ve never been attracted to places that are very hygienic, I like a touch of squalor.”

«There is something very vernacular, something I can feel and smell as Japanese in what I do. So if at first glance the pictures might look quite American, there’s a belief in Japanese tradition that comes out in them even if I’m not always conscious of it.»

«The surprising quality of photography is it unites the déjà vu with the jamais vuand then the feeling of the photographer with the feeling of the spectator in a continual layering of emotions.»

«Travel has never been a destination but rather a constant state of mind.»

«There is no moment equal to another even if you repeat the same gesture.»

«Even though I go to Buenos Aires, San Paolo, Hawaii, New York, I will shoot with my five senses, so it’s the same.»

«All the photographers, and all the people that are active in making something, all the artists, they have a very strong desire, a passion. It’s like being at the core of desire.»

«As long as my legs, my back and my stomach are well, I will take photographs in the street forever. I do not have the intention to leave the camera.»

All quotes are Daido Moriyama’s.

Sources

1. Daido Moriyama: The Shock From Outside. Interview with Ivan Vartanian
2. Daido Moriyama: Low life in Tokyo. Mark Hudson, The Telegraph, 18 October 2012.
3. Daido Moriyama in Color. Domus

A visit to Nuremberg’s Kongresshalle (Congress Hall) and the Documentation Center which is located on site requires a minimum of 2 hours. To get there by car you must be careful (unless you have a GPS). The signs are few and small. It is as if nobody wants to know about it. It is as if it is a burden, a leftover that should ideally have been disposed off.

The map above shows the location of the Congress Hall in the overall area known as «Nazi Party Rally Grounds». It is marked as number 5.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

This entrance, like most of the building, is closed. Entry is through the Documentation Center. The facade is made of granite panels.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

The unfinished building is the largest Nazi building that survived the second world war, and most of it is not used. Some areas on the ground floor are used for storage. I had an impression that I was looking at a modern lifeless Colosseum. It just so happens that this was the inspiration of the architects who designed the hall.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

The actual height of the building is 39 meter,s compared to the planned 70 meters. The diameter is 250 meters. A few meters farther down this corridor, one could hear bobcat equipment operating inside what looked like a storage area.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

The U shaped building never had a roof, although this was the design of the Nuremberg architects Ludwig and Franz Ruff. As we enter the horseshoe, we face west. To the right (North) is the Documentation Center, to the left (South) is the home of the city’s symphony orchestra.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

The roof would cover over 50,000 people.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

Photo in the Documentation Center

Photo: N. Moropoulos

Photo in the Documentation Center

Photo: N. Moropoulos

The lake by the Kongresshalle. Notice that there are no signs whatsoever. This is in Germany, a country where people are obsessed with being precise and accurate.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

The Southern Wing of the huge building today is the home of the city’s symphony orchestra. I had mixed feelings about this. Why is the «monument» of Nazi Germany used as a concert hall? Only if it is not considered a «monument».

Photo: N. Moropoulos

The amusement park right next to Kongresshalle. More question marks here. The park is literally a few meters away form the huge structure. In my mind such proximity almost neutralizes Kongresshalle, makes it just another of the buildings of the city. It makes you forget.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

«Every Wednesday Family Day  with half prices.»

I read that starting in Spring, the whole area becomes a huge beer garden.

Photo: N. Moropoulos

On the way out of Nuremberg, I noticed that a power transformation block of the original Party Rally compound has become a Burger King.

Photo credit: Rick Steve

Now that the visit is over and I had a chance to collect my thoughts, and I have read a little about the grounds, things are clear.

The Party Rally Grounds are not an area designated as historic, and thus it is not protected nor is it preserved. In a few years, the Congress Hall may become a football stadium, or something else. History is thus dissolved into  the razzle-dazzle of everyday life, never to emerge again as collective knowledge, as collective conscience, as memory, as awareness, as appreciation of what Man can do.

.

Executive Summary

Dear non-Greek speaking readers, I am honored to have you visiting my site.

This is to let you know that this post is written in Greek only. It describes an agonizing attempt to sacrifice a white lamb to an unfulfilled love. Similar to the sorry state of the love itself and the unfortunate love stricken author, the sacrifice fails miserably.

The  post is not translated because the whole story is built around cultural references that only a Greek speaking person can decode to an adequate level, and thus appreciate the level of genius that is required in order to write this post. I am a modest person by nature and thus do not want to elaborate this point further.

Εισαγωγή

Το Πάσχα ανάμεσα σε όλα τα άλλα είναι και η θυσία του αμνού. Ο αγνός και αθώος αμνός θυσιάζεται. Πληρώνει με τη ζωή του για κάποιον σκοπό κάποιων άλλων, εκτός από αυτόν.

Η θυσία σαν τελετουργία πάει χιλιετίες πίσω.

Αρχίζοντας από τον Όμηρο, διαβάζουμε στην Ιλιάδα για την εκατόμβη που προσφέρουν ο Οδυσσέας και ο Χρύσης στον Φοίβο Απόλλωνα για να ελεηθεί τους Δαναούς.

Ευκαιρία να δούμε μερικές σχετικές λέξεις στο Ομηρικό κείμενο, με τη βοήθεια του λεξικού Liddell $ Scott, ενώ οι αποδόσεις στα νέα ελληνικά είναι των Ι.Θ. Κακριδή και Ν. Καζαντζάκη.

• αυερύω, αυέρυσα: έλκω το κεφάλι του θύματος προς τα πίσω, έτσι ώστε να κόψω το λαιμό του. Η απόδοση στα νέα ελληνικά είναι «αναλαιμίζω»
• σφάζω, έσφαξα: σφαγιάζω τα ζώα που πρέπει να προσφερθούν ως θυσία. Η λέξη δεν έχει αλλάξει, είναι η ίδια στα νέα ελληνικά!
• δέρω, έδειρα: αφαιρώ το δέρμα. Στη νέα ελληνική, η λέξη είναι γδέρνω.
• σπλάγχνα: εντόσθια που φυλάσσονταν και τα έτρωγαν οι προσφέροντες την θυσία. Στη νεοελληνική έχουμε τη λέξη «σπλάχνα». Δηλαδή χάσαμε στη διαδρομή των χιλιετιών ένα «γάμμα».
• οβελός, οβελοίσιν: σούβλα. Στη νεοελληνική χρησιμοποιούμε και την λέξη «οβελίας».

Ομήρου Ιλιάδα, Α’ 440 – 469 (απόδοση Ι.Θ. Κακριδής, Ν. Καζαντζάκης)

Τότε ο Οδυσσέας ό πολυκάτεχος μπρος στο βωμό τη φέρνει

και την παράδωσε στου κύρη της τα χέρια λέγοντας του:

«Χρύση, ο ρηγάρχης Αγαμέμνονας με στέλνει να σου δώσω

πίσω την κόρη, και να σφάξουμε περίσσια αρνιά στο Φοίβο,

να ελεηθεί, αν θελήσει η χάρη του, τους Δαναούς, τι αλήθεια

με πίκρες έχει πολυστέναχτες ποτίσει τους Αργίτες.»

Τούτα μιλώντας του την έδωκε, κι αυτός την κόρη εδέχτη

όλο χαρά᾿ κι εκείνοι γρήγορα τ᾿ αγιάτικα σφαχτάρια

στήσαν αράδα, στον καλόχτιστο βωμό του Φοίβου γύρω.

… (η ευχή του Χρύση)

Είπε, και την ευκή του επάκουσεν ο Απόλλωνας ο Φοίβος·

κι ως ευκηθήκαν και πασπάλισαν μετά τ᾿ αγιοκριθάρια,

αναλαιμίσαν τ᾿ αρνοκάτσικα, τα σφάξανε, τα γδάραν,

χώρισαν τα μεριά, τα τύλιξαν τρογύρα με τη σκέπη,

διπλώνοντας τη, κι από πάνω τους κομμάτια κρέας πιθώσαν.

Σε σκίζες πάνω ο γέρος τα ‘καιγε, και με κρασί φλογάτο

τα περεχούσε, και πεντόσουβλες στο πλάι του οι νιοί κρατούσαν.

Και σύντας τα μεριά αποκάηκαν και γεύτηκαν τα σπλάχνα,

λιανίσαν τ᾿ άλλα και περνώντας τα στις σούβλες να τα ψήνουν

επήραν γνοιαστικά, κι ως ψήθηκαν, τ᾿ αποτραβήξαν όλα.

Κι απ᾿ τις δουλειές αυτές σα σκόλασαν κι ετοίμασαν τις τάβλες,

έτρωγαν, κι είχαν ως εταίριαζε καθείς το μερτικό του.

και σύντας του πιοτού θαράπεψαν και του φαγιού τον πόθο…

Πάντα υπάρχει ένα άσπρο αρνάκι

Εμπνευσμένος από τους Δαναούς,  αλλά και τον Άγιο Ιωάννη, που απεικονίζεται ως παις με τον αμνό, αποφάσισα να θυσιάσω κι εγώ έναν αμνό.  Ο Κατακουζηνός δεν αναφέρει θυσίες, καθόσον το ποίημα είναι παιδικό. Όπως όμως όλοι γνωρίζουμε, τα αρνάκια μπορεί να πάθουνε πολλά χειρότερα από το να σπάσουν ένα ποδαράκι!

 Αλέξανδρος Κατακουζηνός, «Το αρνάκι»

 Αρνάκι άσπρο και παχύ

της μάνας του καμάρι

εβγήκε εις την εξοχή

και στο χλωρό χορτάρι.

Απ’ τη χαρά του την πολλή

απρόσεκτα πηδούσε

της μάνας του τη συμβουλή

καθόλου δέν ψηφούσε.

«Καθὼς παιδί μου προχωρείς

και σαν ελάφι τρέχης

να κακοπάθης ημπορείς

και πρέπει να προσέχεις».

Χαντάκι βρέθηκε βαθύ

ορμά σαν παλληκάρι

να το πηδήση προσπαθεί

και σπάει το ποδάρι!

Μαρία η μοιραία γυναίκα

Ο αμνός θα θυσιασθεί στην ποδιά της Μαρίας της Πενταγιώτισσας. Μπας και σπάσει η γκίνια και ο έρωτας μου παύσει να είναι ανεκπλήρωτος.

«Μαρία Πενταγιώτισσα», Δημώδες Άσμα της Φωκίδας

Στα Σάλωνα σφάζουν αρνιά, Μαρία Πενταγιώτισσα

Αχ, και στο Χρυσό κριάρια, μωρή δασκαλοποόλα

Και στης Μαρίας την ποδιά, Μαρία Πενταγιώτισσα

Αχ, σφάζουνται παλικάρια, παιδιά σαν τα βλαστάρια

Μαρία, πού ‘ν’ τ’ αδέρφια σου; Μαρία Πενταγιώτισσα

Αχ, μωρή δασκαλοποόλα, που ‘σύ τα κάνεις ούλα

Διονύσιος ο αισιόδοξος

Το Πάσχα είναι η Άνοιξη.  Και είναι ο ξανθός ο Απρίλης που βρίσκεται πίσω από την θυσία του αμνού, αυτός φταίει για όλα, που έστησε χορό με τον έρωτα και μου πήραν τα μυαλά, και θυμήθηκα την Μαρία, και μόνο με μια θυσία θα ηρεμήσω.

Τώρα που το καλοσκέφτηκα, για τη θυσία φταίει και ο Σολωμός και όλοι οι ρομαντικοί ποιητές που με έκαναν τόσο ευαίσθητο και κάθομαι και ασχολούμαι με ανεκπλήρωτους έρωτες. Όχι ότι η Μαρία η Πενταγιώτισσα δεν το αξίζει, χαλάλι της όλα, αλλά η θυσία είναι θυσία.

Όπως έχετε καταλάβει ευρίσκομαι ενώπιον διλήμματος. Να θυσιάσω ή να μη θυσιάσω;

 Διονύσιος Σολωμός, «Ελεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι»

ΣΧΕΔΙΑΣΜΑ Γ΄, Απόσπασμα 6, Ο ΠΕΙΡΑΣΜΟΣ

Έστησ’ ο Έρωτας χορό με τον ξανθόν Απρίλη,

Κι η φύσις ηύρε την καλή και τη γλυκιά της ώρα,

Και μες στη σκιά που φούντωσε και κλει δροσιές και μόσχους

Ανάκουστος κιλαϊδισμός και λιποθυμισμένος.

Νερά καθάρια και γλυκά, νερά χαριτωμένα,

Χύνονται μες την άβυσσο τη μοσχοβολισμένη,

Και παίρνουνε το μόσχο της, κι αφήνουν τη δροσιά τους,

Κι ούλα στον ήλιο δείχνοντας τα πλούτια της πηγής τους,

Τρέχουν εδώ, τρέχουν εκεί, και κάνουν σαν αηδόνια.

Έξ’ αναβρύζει κι η ζωή σ’ γη, σ’ ουρανό, σε κύμα.

Αλλά στης λίμνης το νερό, π’ ακίνητό ‘ναι κι άσπρο,

Ακίνητ’ όπου κι αν ιδής, και κάτασπρ’ ως τον πάτο,

Με μικρόν ίσκιον άγνωρον έπαιξ’ η πεταλούδα,

Που ‘χ’ ευωδίσει τς ύπνους της μέσα στον άγριο κρίνο.

Αλαφροίσκιωτε καλέ, για πες απόψε τι ‘δες;

Νύχτα γιομάτη θαύματα, νύχτα σπαρμένη μάγια!

Χωρίς ποσώς γης, ουρανός και θάλασσα να πνένε,

Ουδ’ όσο κάν’ η μέλισσα κοντά στο λουλουδάκι,

Γύρου σε κάτι ατάραχο π’ ασπρίζει μες στη λίμνη,

Μονάχο ανακατώθηκε το στρογγυλό φεγγάρι,

Κι όμορφη βγαίνει κορασιά ντυμένη με το φως του.

Μάρκος ο απαισιόδοξος

Ο Μάρκος ο Βαμβακάρης έπιασε αλλιώς το θέμα της Άνοιξης.  Βαθύτατα ερωτικός τύπος, ο Βαμβακάρης μάλλον περνούσε ερωτική απογοήτευση όταν έγραψε αυτό το ποίημα και το σχετικό τραγούδι.

Είναι όμως ακριβώς αυτή η ικανότητα να κρύβεις μέσα σου το ολόκληρο το βαθύ σχίσμα που χωρίζει τον ψεύτη ντουνιά από τα ματόκλαδα που λάμπουν, που σε κάνει μεγάλο (ή μεγάλη).

Κι έτσι ο Μάρκος που εδώ τα βλέπει όλα μαύρα ξαφνικά συνέρχεται και λίγο μετά τραγουδά για τα λαμπυρίζοντα ματόκλαδα.

Το αποφάσισα. Δεν την γλυτώνει τη θυσία ο αμνός.

Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης, «Τι μ’ ωφελούν οι άνοιξες»

Τι μ’ ωφελούν οι άνοιξες, τι οι ομορφιές του κόσμου,

αφού ο κόσμος χάνεται, ψεύτη ντουνιά κι έξαφνα ο εμπρός μου,

αφού ο κόσμος χάνεται, ψεύτη ντουνιά κι έξαφνα ο εμπρός μου.

Τι και αν λιώσαν μάνα μου, απ’ τα βουνά τα χιόνια,

τι και αν θα `ρθει η άνοιξις, ψεύτη ντουνιά, αχ και κελαηδούν αηδόνια,

τι και αν θα `ρθει η άνοιξις, ψεύτη ντουνιά, αχ και κελαηδούν αηδόνια.

Όλα στο κόσμο μάταια, τα πάντα ματαιότης

κι ένα λουλούδι ψεύτικο, ψεύτη ντουνιά, είναι η ανθρωπότης,

κι ένα λουλούδι ψεύτικο, ψεύτη ντουνιά, είναι η ανθρωπότης.

Χάλασε ο φούρνος!

Ετούτη λοιπόν την Άνοιξη, με τον ξανθό Απρίλη και τον Έρωτα, με τη Μαρία την Πενταγιώτισσα να με κολάζει με τη σκέψη της, με τις εικόνες της εκατόμβης θυσίας των Δαναών στον Φοίβο,  επήρα τον λευκό αμνό και τον έβαλα στον φούρνο για τη θυσία.

Καλή ποιήτρια η Κική Δημουλά, δεν λέγω, αλλά ο φούρνος της μου τα χάλασε όλα!

Η θυσία απέτυχε!

Ο αμνός δραπέτευσε!

Η Μαρία Πενταγιώτισσα θα μείνει για πάντα όνειρο!

Και για όλα αυτά φταίει η ποίηση!

Κική Δημουλά, “Πάσχα στο φούρνο “

Από τη συλλογή «Ενός λεπτού μαζί» (1998)

Βέλαζε το κατσίκι επίμονα βραχνά.

Άνοιξα το φούρνο με θυμό τι φωνάζεις είπα

σε ακούνε οι καλεσμένοι.

Ο φούρνος δεν καίει, βέλαξε

κάνε κάτι αλλιώς θα μείνει νηστική

χρονιάρα μέρα η ωμότητά σας.

Έβαλα μέσα το χέρι μου. Πράγματι.

Παγωμένο το μέτωπο τα πόδια ο σβέρκος

το χορτάρι η βοσκή τα κατσάβραχα

η σφαγή.

Ηθικό δίδαγμα

Μην ερωτευθείτε την Μαρία την Πενταγιώτισσα.

Μην διαβάζετε ρομαντικούς ποιητές.

Μην εμπιστεύεσθε τον φούρνο μιας ποιήτριας αν θέλετε να ψήσετε κάτι. Καλύτερα στον φούρνο της γειτονιάς.

Αν σκέφτεσθε να κάνετε μια θυσία, καλύτερα να θυσιάσετε τον εαυτό σας, ή ένα κομμάτι του. Ο αμνός είναι πολύ βολικός, αλλά σε τελική ανάλυση δεν φταίει τίποτε να πληρώνει τα δικά σας τα σπασμένα.

‘It can be said without exaggeration that the history of painting would remain unchanged had Dürer never touched a brush and a palette, but that the first five years of his independent work as an engraver and woodcut designer sufficed to revolutionise the graphic arts.’

Erwin Panofsky, 1943

Albrecht Dürer is one of the great Renaissance artists. His home was in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, which at the time was a free city, and the center of Renaissance Art in Germany.

Today the house is a museum. In this post I will show some photos I have taken during my visit there.

Dürer purchased the house in 1509.

First known engraving to show the house (1714) Source: Wikipedia

Photo showing the house (between 1860 and 1875). Source: Wikipedia

A 1909 photograph of the house. Source: Wikipedia

The house after the 1944 bombing of Nuremberg. Source: Wikipedia

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

Today the restored house is a museum.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

Do not expect to see any works of art inside. There aren’t any.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

The house itself is the item on exhibition.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

You get transferred to the 16th century Germany.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

If there are spirits and Durer’s spirit is in the neighborhood, you get to say hello. But even if there aren’t, the place has an aura.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

Best to go when it opens so that there are not many people around.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

The space is limited, and the noise and clatter dissipate the effect of the space and the artifacts.

The top of a stove – Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

As I was going around, I was wondering. «How many servants did Durer have?»

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

How many days per year on average did he spend in the house? Durer was traveling a lot in his peak period.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

The atelier of the master is a disappointment. The over enthusiastic curators have created a space that looks more unreal than real.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

There is a huge printing press in the middle, where demonstrations are made.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

Maybe this is what the visitors want to see.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

But not me.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

As my tour around the house ends, I find myself in the kitchen.

Albrecht Durer’s House in Nuremberg. Photo by N. Moropoulos

Time to go.

As I exit the house I cannot help but feel the joy of having met in an indirect way the great master.

Hauptmarkt, Nuremberg, in the 16th century

Introduction

In another post, I have written about Albrecht Duerer’s House in the Old City of Nuremberg. The master was one of the famous sons of Nuremberg.

Today I am going on a different trip to Nuremberg.

Hauptmarkt is the main square in Nuremberg’s old town. Its two landmarks are:

• Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady) – on the right far side
• Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful fountain) – on the left near the center side

Frauenkirche, Nuremberg, October 2010, Photo: N. Moropoulos

Frauenkirche was built between 1352 and 1362.

Schöner Brunnen, Nuremberg, October 2010, Photo: N. Moropoulos

Schöner Brunnen was built from 1385 to 1396.

Hauptmarkt, Nuremberg

This post presents some of the square’s and its monuments’ photos and the relevant historical context, structured in two sections: The period 1927-1938, and The Second World War.

Frauenkirche, Nuremberg, 1850

For many reasons, Nuremberg became one of the three favorite Nazi cities in Germany, along with Berlin and Munich.

Hauptmarkt, Nuremberg, circa 1891

As a result, Nuremberg was bombed extensively during the Second World War.

Hauptmarkt, Nuremberg, circa 1891

The period 1927-1938

A lot of the photos in this post were taken before, during or after Nazi rule.

This is not an accident. Nuremberg was one of Hitler’s favorite cities, and it is there that the National Party Convention took place, starting in 1927.

The 3rd National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) Congress («Day of Awakening») was held on August 19 – 21, 1927 in Nuremberg. (3)

The first Nazi Party Rally in Nuremberg took place in 1927, and it was an impressive event, in spite of the fact that at the time NSDAP was a small and almost insignificant party, albeit a party that had recovered Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch of 1923.  (2)

In May 1928 elections, the NSDAP only managed 2.6 percent of the vote nationwide. (4)

Hitler in Hauptmarkt, with Frauenkirche in the background, 1928

«The Party selected Nuremberg for pragmatic reasons: it was in the center of the German Reich and the local Luitpoldhain was well suited as a venue. In addition, the Nazis could rely on the well-organized local branch of the party in Franconia, then led by Gauleiter Julius Streicher. The Nuremberg police were sympathetic to the event.»(3)

The music band of  SA in front of Frauenkirche, 19-21 August 1927

Hitler’s 1927 speech

Here are some excerpts form Hitler’s speech to the party members and friends in the 1927 Nuremberg meeting.

«When we examine the concept of power more closely, we see that power has three factors: First, in the numerical size of the population itself. This form of power is no longer present in Germany.

62 million people who seem to hold together are no longer a power factor in a world in which groups with 400 million are increasingly active, nations for which their population is their major tool of economic policy.

If numbers themselves are no longer a power factor, the second factor is territory. This, too, is no longer a power factor for us, even seeming laughable when one can fly across our German territory in a mere four hours. That is no longer an amount of territory that provides its own defense, as is the case with Russia. Its size alone is a means of security. If the first two sources of power, population, and territory, are inadequate, there remains always the third, that which rests in the inner strength of a people. A nation can do astounding things when it carries this power in its own internal values. When, however, we examine the German people, we must to our horror see that this last power factor is no longer present.» (1)

Hitler and Hermann Goering with Frauenkirche in the background, 1928

«…

That leads to what the large parties proclaim, namely to a nation that thinks internationally, follows the path of democracy, rejects struggle, and preaches pacifism. A people that has accepted these three human burdens, that has given up its racial values, preaches internationalism, that limits its great minds, and has replaced them with the majority, that is inability in all areas, rejecting the individual mind and praising human brotherhood, such a people has lost its intrinsic values. Such a people is incapable of policies that could bring a rising population in line with its territory, or better said: adjust the territory to the population.» (1)

March in front of Frauenkirche, 1934

Hitler’s rise to power in 1933

«When elections were finally held again in July 1932, the Nazis got a whopping 37.4 percent of the vote.

…

It was a chilly winter day in 1933 when the German dictatorship began. Thermometers showed a temperature of minus 4 degrees Celsius — the skies were clear. At about 10 a.m., Adolf Hitler, head of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), made his way down Wilhelmstrasse in the heart of Berlin.

The 44-year-old Hitler was on his way to the Reichskanzlei, seat of the Weimar Republic’s government, where both he and his cabinet were to meet with President Paul von Hindenburg. A feeling of relief was in the air. For months, the German state had been limping from one failed government to the next, with three general elections having been held within 10 months. Hopes were high that the next government would provide some desperately needed stability. The swearing-in ceremony was set for 11 a.m.

Hindenburg, 85 years old at the time, spoke for just a few minutes, expressing his pleasure that all had finally managed to come together to form a coalition. Then he turned the floor over to Hitler, and nodded in appreciation as the new chancellor promised to uphold the constitution and govern for the good of the nation. It was Monday, Jan. 30, 1933 — exactly 75 years ago — and Hitler had finally reached his goal.» (4)

Hitler saluting a parade, Frauenkinche in the background, 1934

«The 6th Party Congress was held in Nuremberg, September 5–10, 1934, which was attended by about 700,000 Nazi Party supporters. Initially it did not have a theme. Later it was labeled the «Rally of Unity and Strength» (Reichsparteitag der Einheit und Stärke), «Rally of Power» (Reichsparteitag der Macht), or «Rally of Will» (Reichsparteitag des Willens). The Leni Riefenstahl film Triumph des Willens was made at this rally.» (3)

Schöner Brunnen, Nuremberg 1938

The Nuremberg Race Laws

«At the annual party rally held in Nuremberg in 1935, the Nazis announced new laws which institutionalized many of the racial theories prevalent in Nazi ideology. The laws excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of «German or related blood.» Ancillary ordinances to the laws disenfranchised Jews and deprived them of most political rights.

The Nuremberg Laws, as they became known, did not define a «Jew» as someone with particular religious beliefs. Instead, anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents was defined as a Jew, regardless of whether that individual identified himself or herself as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community. Many Germans who had not practiced Judaism for years found themselves caught in the grip of Nazi terror. Even people with Jewish grandparents who had converted to Christianity were defined as Jews.» (5)

Schöner Brunnen, Nuremberg, Nazi postcard

‘A long-term policy in this war is only possible if one considers it from the standpoint of the Jewish question.’  Joseph Goebbels.

The Second World War

Schöner Brunnen in a cement corset, surrounded by ruins. 1945

During the war, Nuremberg has been one of the key targets of the Royal Air Force (RAF) raids. In the following sections I quote extensively from the RAF Bomber Command Archives.

Frauenkirche surrounded by ruins. 1945

10/11 August 1943

653 aircraft – 318 Lancasters, 216 Halifaxes, 119 Stirlings to Nuremberg.

The Pathfinders attempted to ground-mark the city and, although their markers were mostly obscured by cloud, a useful attack developed in the central and southern parts of Nuremberg. The Lorenzkirche, the largest of the city’s old churches, was badly damaged and about 50 of the houses in the preserved Altstadt were destroyed. There was a large ‘fire area’ in the Wöhrd district. 16 aircraft – 7 Halifaxes, 6 Lancasters, 3 Stirlings – lost, 2.5 per cent of the force. (7)

Hauptmarkt, Nuremberg, 1945.

27/28 August 1943

674 aircraft – 349 Lancasters, 221 Halifaxes, 104 Stirlings – to Nuremburg.

33 aircraft – 11 of each type on the raid – lost, 4.9 per cent of the force.

The marking for this raid was based mainly on H₂S.

47 of the Pathfinder H₂S aircraft were ordered to check their equipment by dropping a 1,000-lb bomb on Heilbronn while flying to Nuremberg. 28 Pathfinder aircraft were able to carry out this order. Nuremberg was found to be free of cloud but it was very dark. The initial Pathfinder markers were accurate but a creepback quickly developed which could not be stopped because so many Pathfinder aircraft had difficulties with their H₂S sets. The Master Bomber could do little to persuade the Main Force to move their bombing forward; only a quarter of the crews could hear his broadcasts. (7)

Nuremberg in ruins, with Frauenkirche in the background. 1945

«H2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed in Britain during World War II for the Royal Air Force and was used in various RAF bomber aircraft from 1943. It was designed to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing, allowing attack outside the range of the various radio navigation aids like Gee or Oboe which were limited to about 500 km.» (Wikipedia)

Schöner Brunnen, Nuremberg, 1946

30/31 March 1944

This would normally have been the moon stand-down period for the Main Force, but a raid to the distant target of Nuremberg was planned on the basis of an early forecast that there would be protective high cloud on the outward route, when the moon would be up, but that the target area would be clear for ground-marked bombing. A Meteorological Flight Mosquito carried out a reconnaissance and reported that the protective cloud was unlikely to be present and that there could be cloud over the target, but the raid was not cancelled.

795 aircraft were dispatched – 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitos. The German controller ignored all the diversions and assembled his fighters at 2 radio beacons which happened to be astride the route to Nuremberg. The first fighters appeared just before the bombers reached the Belgian border and a fierce battle in the moonlight lasted for the next hour. 82 bombers were lost on the outward route and near the target. The action was much reduced on the return flight, when most of the German fighters had to land, but 95 bombers were lost in all – 64 Lancasters and 31 Halifaxes, 11.9 per cent of the force dispatched. It was the biggest Bomber Command loss of the war.

Most of the returning crews reported that they had bombed Nuremberg but subsequent research showed that approximately 120 aircraft had bombed Schweinfurt, 50 miles north-west of Nuremberg. This mistake was a result of badly forecast winds causing navigational difficulties. 2 Pathfinder aircraft dropped markers at Schweinfurt. Much of the bombing in the Schweinfurt area fell outside the town and only 2 people were killed in that area. The main raid at Nuremberg was a failure. The city was covered by thick cloud and a fierce cross-wind which developed on the final approach to the target caused many of the Pathfinder aircraft to mark too far to the east. A 10-mile-long creepback also developed into the countryside north of Nuremberg. Both Pathfinders and Main Force aircraft were under heavy fighter attack throughout the raid. Little damage was caused in Nuremberg. (8)

«This was the night when more than 100 Allied bombers — all on the same mission — were lost. Come dawn, more than 700 men were missing, as many as 545 of them dead. More than 160 would end up as prisoners of war. In one night alone, the RAF had lost more men than in the entire Battle of Britain.

…

He (Commander Harris) wanted a huge force — well over 700 bombers — to drop 2,600 tonnes of explosives on Nuremberg.

The historic city had plenty of major industrial targets, including tank and engine factories, but it was also of huge symbolic importance to the Nazis. Hitler had staged his rallies there and regarded it as the ‘most German’ of German cities. And it had not been touched for months.»

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592084/Still-insult-sacrifice-Exactly-70-years-ago-RAF-suffered-worst-night-losing-106-bombers-545-men-raid-Nuremberg-So-going-unmarked.html#ixzz47kggP72Z
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Hauptmarkt, Nuremberg, 1948

2/3 January 1945

Nuremberg:

514 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups.

4 Lancasters were lost and 2 crashed in France.

Nuremberg, scene of so many disappointments for Bomber Command, finally succumbed to this attack. The Pathfinders produced good ground-marking in conditions of clear visibility and with the help of a rising full moon. The centre of the city, particularly the eastern half, was destroyed. The castle, the Rathaus, almost all the churches and about 2,000 preserved medieval houses went up in flames. The area of destruction also extended into the more modern north-eastern and southern city areas.The industrial area in the south, containing the important MAN and Siemens factories, and the railway areas were also severely damaged. 415 separate industrial buildings were destroyed. It was a near-perfect example of area bombing. (6)

Frauenkirche, Nuremberg, October 2010. Photo: N. Moropoulos

Epilogue

Today the wounds of the war have healed.

Schöner Brunnen, Nuremberg, October 2010, Photo: N. Moropoulos

It is only the tourists who raid the beautiful city. Let us hope it will remain this way.

Sources

1. Alfred Rosenberg and Wilhelm Weiß, Reichsparteitag der NSDAP Nürnberg 19./21. August 1927 (Munich: Verlag Frz. Eher, 1927), pp. 38-45.

2. German Propaganda Archive, Calvin College.

3. Wikipedia, Nuremberg Rally.

4. Jan. 30, 1933: The Story behind Hitler’s Rise to Power. Spiegel

5. The Holocaust, A Learning Site for Students. USHMM.

6. Royal Air Force Bomber Command. Campaign Diary 1945. January 1945

7. Royal Air Force Bomber Command. Campaign Diary 1943. August 1943

8. Royal Air Force Bomber Command. Campaign Diary 1944. March 1944

P1: Justice will prevail.
P2: The stronger will prevail.
P1: You are a slave of the dominant powers.
P2: I am just a realist.
P1: David overpowered Goliath.
P2: If you believe the scriptures, he has.
P1: You are an atheist.
P2: You are just day-dreaming.
P1: I need to believe in something.
P2: You can believe in the flowers that bloom.
P1: You blasphemous creature!
P2: You can believe in the love that makes you forget everything.
P1: I believe in justice!
P2: Justice is something that exists only between equals.
P1: You are an agent of the oppressors.
P2: It is people like me who may eventually get you out of the hole
P1: I am the descendant of Plato.
P2: What matters is what you are today
P1: I give up, there is no point in talking to you
P2: Decline is inevitable in closed societies

Photo from http://www.ennaeurope.org/ennaws/news/read/1:811:Structured_Dialogue_Group_on_ESIF_looking_for_experts.html

P1: I am proud.
P2: Why?
P1: Because I went through a tough negotiation and I am the winner.
P2: Who says you are?
P1: I do.
P2: Does anyone support your view?
P1: My friends do.
P2: Who are your friends?
P1: The ones who have the same views with me.
P2: So if I had the same view with you yesterday I am your friend.
P1: Yes, you are.
P2: Do I gather then that the ones in disagreement with your view are your enemies?
P1: Yes.
P2: I presume you did not negotiate with a friend.
P1: No.
P2: Then you must have negotiated with an enemy.
P1: Yes.
P2: So your enemy says they won.
P1:Yes, they do.
P2: And who am I to believe?
P1: You will believe me, because I am your friend.
P2: What if I am your friend but I think that on this occasion your view of the situation is wrong?
P1: Then you will become my enemy.
P2: It appears that being your friend is almost like being forced to agree with anything that you do or say.
P1: I never said that friendship is easy.

Summary 

This is a post about kokoretsi, the offal delicacy, grilled on charcoal. The challenge is that on this occasion there is no spit.

Περίληψη

Αυτό το άρθρο έχει θέμα του το ψήσιμο του κοκορετσιού στα κάρβουνα. Η πρόκληση προέρχεται από το ότι το κοκορέτσι δεν έχει περαστεί σε σούβλα, αλλά είναι σε δίχτυ.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

«Εκ του τέλους άρχεσθαι»  Άγνωστος Σύγχρονος Φιλόσοφος

Ο Galip Tokoz, ιδιοκτήτης της αλυσίδας ταχυφαγείων Sampiyon Kokorec, δήλωσε σε δημοσιογράφο εφημερίδας: «Το κοκορέτσι είναι για τους Τούρκους σαν την μορφίνη».

Αγαπημένο το κοκορέτσι και στην Ελλάδα μας. Σύμφωνα με διάφορα άρθρα που διαβάζω στο διαδίκτυο, το έτρωγαν και οι Αρχαίοι Έλληνες χιλιάδες χρόνια πριν. Ένα άρθρο αναφέρει ότι στον Όμηρο το κοκορέτσι είναι η «πλεκτή». Στο έγκυρο λεξικό Liddell-Scott όμως αναφέρεται ως σπείρα, συστροφή, σχοινί, κορδόνι.

Άλλη μια λέξη που αναφέρεται ότι είναι το κοκορέτσι στην αρχαία ελληνική είναι «μίμαρκυν». Στο ίδιο λεξικό όμως η λέξη «μίμαρκυς» ορίζεται σαν λαγός σε σούπα ή στο ίδιο του το αίμα, με αναφορά στους Αχαρνείς του Αριστοφάνη.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

Δύσκολο λοιπόν το να βρεις την άκρη με τους αρχαίους Έλληνες και το κοκορέτσι. Όχι τόσο δύσκολο όμως για τους σύγχρονους. Μαζί με τους Τούρκους και τους Αλβανούς είμαστε σήμερα οι μόνοι που τρώμε κοκορέτσι.

Σύμφωνα με τον καθηγητή Μπαμπινιώτη, η λέξη κοκορέτσι προέρχεται από την αλβανική kukurec. Η αλβανική καταγωγή αναφέρεται και από   την «That Best Bite» που αναφέρει ότι το κοκορέτσι μπήκε μαζικά στην Τουρκική αγορά ταχυφαγείων στη δεκαετία του 1960, όταν πολλοί Αλβανοί δούλευαν στην κρεαταγορά της Κωνσταντινούπολης.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

Πρόσφατα έψησα για πρώτη φορά ένα κοκορέτσι στο δίχτυ στα κάρβουνα, γιατί η ψησταριά ήτανε μικρή και δεν χωρούσε σούβλα. Είχα τόσο  μεγάλη αγωνία για το τελικό αποτέλεσμα, που αποθανάτισα το ψήσιμο και έτσι προέκυψε αυτό το χρονικό. Η αγωνία είναι εν μέρει δικαιολογημένη, αφού μέχρι τώρα δεν είχα ψήσει ποτέ κοκορέτσι στο δίχτυ στα κάρβουνα.

Το κοκορέτσι το έφτιαξε ο ΛΑΜΠΡΟΣ, ένα εξαιρετικό κρεοπωλείο στη στενή Ευβοίας, από όπου προμηθεύομαι τα κρεατικά μου. Ζύγιζε 3 κιλά όταν το πήρα. Αφού στράγγιξε καλά ολονυκτίς, ήτανε έτοιμο για ψήσιμο. Πριν το βάλω στην φωτιά το αλάτισα και πιπέρισα ελαφρά. Όταν η πρώτη ύλη είναι υψηλής ποιότητας, πρέπει να διαφυλαχθεί ως κόρη οφθαλμού η πραγματική γεύση και τα αρώματα της, χωρίς διαστρεβλώσεις.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

Η αρχή του ψησίματος έχει ένα βασικό σκοπό. Να «ιδρώσει» το κοκορέτσι χωρίς να καεί.  Αυτό σημαίνει δυνατή φωτιά, αλλά και αρκετή απόσταση από τη φωτιά, με δεδομένο ότι δεν έχεις την ευχέρεια να γυρίζεις το κοκορέτσι συνέχεια, αλλά μόνο κάθε 5 λεπτά περίπου. Το χρώμα είναι πολύ ανοικτό.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

Μετά από 20 λεπτά το χρώμα έχει αρχίζει να αλλάζει, ενώ έχει αρχίσει να στάζει. Το στάξιμο το σημάδι ότι η θερμοκρασία είναι η σωστή.  Όσο περνάει η ώρα το χρώμα σκουραίνει, ενώ αρχίζει και η ευωδία από τις σταγόνες που πέφτουν στα κάρβουνα και εξαερώνονται σκορπίζοντας εκατομμύρια σωματίδια στον αέρα. Στο χρονικό αυτό σημείο πρέπει να μειωθεί η απόσταση από τη φωτιά, ενώ η συχνότητα γυρίσματος γίνεται 10 από πέντε λεπτά.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

60 λεπτά. Αρχίζει να μελώνει. Αυτό που βλέπετε στην επάνω μεριά είναι μια κρούστα γεμάτη νοστιμιά. Με την πρόοδο του ψησίματος βλέπετε και την αισθητή μείωση της διαμέτρου του κοκορετσιού. Καλό σημάδι, και απόδειξη της φρεσκάδας των υλικών. Προσθέτω κάρβουνα στη φωτιά, όχι πολλά, ο στόχος είναι η συντήρηση και όχι η ενίσχυση.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

120 λεπτά. Η θερμοκρασία έχει ανέβει πολύ, και αρχίζει να σκουραίνει το έντερο, με την εμφάνιση του φαινομένου Maillard. Η κρούστα επεκτείνεται, το χρώμα σκουραίνει ακόμη περισσότερο.

Το φαινόμενο Maillard είναι στην ουσία ο γάμος μορίων υδρογονάνθρακα με αμινοξέα, στον οποίο προστίθενται και μόρια νατρίου και θείου. Το σκούρο καφέ χρώμα και η έντονη μεστή γεύση (umami)  οφείλονται σε αυτό το φαινόμενο. Το φαινόμενο για να εμφανισθεί απαιτούνται θερμοκρασίες πάνω από 120 βαθμούς Κελσίου. Αν σκεφτούμε ότι το νερό βράζει στους 100 βαθμούς, έχουμε την εξήγηση γιατί τα βραστά φαγητά ή τα φαγητά χύτρας δεν έχουν σκούρο χρώμα, παρεκτός εάν έχουμε προηγούμενα τσιγαρίσει τα υλικά.

Όπως έχει πει ο κάτοχος βραβείου Νόμπελ στη Χημεία Jean-Marie Lehn, «Το φαινόμενο Maillard είναι η πιο διαδεδομένη εφαρμοσμένη χημική αντίδραση στον κόσμο.»

Προσθέτω κάρβουνα στη φωτιά.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

160 λεπτά. Το καραμέλωμα έχει απλωθεί παντού. Το μόνο που μένει τώρα είναι να γίνει τραγανό το έντερο στην εξωτερική επιφάνεια, χωρίς όμως να στεγνώσει μέσα.

180 λεπτά. Το τέλος του ψησίματος. 3 ώρες, για 3 κιλά.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

Προσέξτε πόσο έχει μικρύνει η διάμετρος! Επίσης, πόσο λεπτή είναι η «φλούδα» με τα έντερα. Και έτσι πρέπει στο κοκορέτσι με φρέσκα υλικά. Σε πολλές ταβέρνες βρίσκω κοκορέτσι τεραστίων διαστάσεων με μια φλούδα έντερα περίπου μισό πόντο. Αυτό δεν μου αρέσει, και «μυρίζει» κατεψυγμένα έντερα από την Ισπανία και εντόσθια από πολύ μεγάλα ζώα.  Το σωστό κοκορέτσι όμως θέλει εντόσθια από μικρό (κάτω του 12μηνου) ζώο και φρέσκα έντερα.

Kokoretsi – Photo: N. Moropoulos

Το αποτέλεσμα της διαδικασίας είναι – χωρίς μετριοφροσύνη – εξαιρετικό. Τα έντερα τραγανά έξω, ζουμερά μέσα, τα εντόσθια γεμάτα χυμούς και αρώματα. Το αλάνθαστο τεστ, το λίπος, είναι γλυκό και δεν σε μπουκώνει. Όσο καλύτερο το ζώο, τόσο καλύτερο και το λίπος του. Το ίδιο ισχύει και για τα γλυκάδια, τα οποία όπως λέει και το όνομα τους είναι γλύκισμα. Τα εντόσθια γεμάτα νοστιμιά.

Μπράβο στον ΛΑΜΠΡΟ που έχει τέτοια ποιότητα, μπράβο και στον ψήστη που ολοκλήρωσε την αποστολή του!  Ζήτω το κοκορέτσι! Και την επόμενη φορά ένδοξο σπληνάντερο! Και γαρδούμπες!