This week’s National Herald’s compilation of events and people in the community includes Nia Vardalos’ sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
TORONTO, CANADA – Canadian-Greek actress Nia Vardalos seems to have a lot to say about the citizens of Greece and their hand in the financial crisis. Vardalos just finished production on a sequel to the 2002 blockbuster My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Just like anyone who has something to say, Vardalos took to Twitter to express her disappointment. She tweeted that, “as a very proud Greek, I’ve encountered comments such as, ‘they should have paid their taxes.’ The ignorance of this comment is profoundly upsetting and selectively obtuse. I would have hoped society wouldn’t simply swallow the jaded media’s typical dissemination of false information. Greece is a beautiful nation of hardworking, loving people who would invite you into their home and even give you their bed. Please don’t judge a country’s people based on the actions of a government. This article explains the politics.”
ASTORIA – All across the United States Greek-Americans are feeling the effects of the ongoing financial crisis in Greece. Greek Chicagoans, a community of more than 300,000, are trying to adapt to the ensuing crisis. Locals are worrying about their families and properties in Greece. Victoria Sdoukos and her mother have actually cancelled renovations on their family home in Greece because of the crisis. Sdoukos says, “You don’t know if the work is going to get done people are suffering right now and it may very well be the case they’ll take the money and you won’t hear from them.” In Astoria, the Greek epicenter, many are torn between the decision to say yes or no to the Referendum. Maria Kyprianides, a 29-year-old Greek resident who has family in Greece says, “People can’t go on like this anymore, it’s like having a knife to your throat.” Neoklys Melis, 40, is now working at Café Bolis in Queens. Just weeks ago he decided to close his mechanics shop in Greece and move his family to New York. Melis says, “You know, you just work to break even. You need to do something in your life, and I have a family, so I came here.” Konstantisnos Platis, the owner of Tastee Corner, seems to be just as stuck as every other Greek-American. Platis says, “I don’t know who to believe, which side to believe now. The people are optimistic, but the people are pessimistic too.”
WASHINGTON, DC – On Friday, Jul. 20, The Smithsonian American Art Museum will be featuring one of the 19th century’s most famous sculptures as well as a new exhibition about artist Hiram Powers. One pivotal piece is a life-size plaster model of the “Greek Slave,” the Washington Post reported. The new exhibition “Measured Perfection” will reveal the inner workings of the artist and innovator, Hiram Powers, who adapted long-established traditions in sculpture to new technologies of the 1800s. The exhibit features finished and unfinished artworks and tools to reveal Powers’ creative process and experimentation. There are 15 sculptures, plaster molds, casts and other tools, the Post reported. The Smithsonian acquired the materials from Powers’ studio in Florence, Italy in 1968. The sculpture was so famous during its time that Powers applied for a U.S. patent to protect his design.
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