Αt the time of the Great Depression

                                      

His favorite charities dealt with Greek war orphans 
of the Second World War.                                             
He was honored by both U.S.President Richard Nixon
and King Paul of Greece for his various philanthropic
efforts outside the ring.                                                  

Our ship was docked in Scarborough, Tobago.

"My Dear Son, you wrote to me
                               [that you will go to San Diego.
Do not neglect to visit your uncle John
                                                    [who lives nearby
and tell him that I hope to see him before I die...''

This was written in the letter
                           [that I received from my mother
in which she was referring
                       [to her expatriate younger brother.....

San Diego, California
           [is known for it's natural deep-water harbor...

Thirty miles northeast is Escondido
                                 [where John lives, he is a barber....

Uncle John greeted me with great emotion
and told me that when he saw me,
                                         [as if in slow motion,
his life flashed before his eyes......

He took me on a tour,
               ending with a surprise !!!

He showed me a statue saying
                             [he is "The Golden Greek"....
It was Jim Londos,
        [and if he were alive and could speak,
he would tell you at the time
                               [of the Great Depression
his wrestling was able to boost
                              [the morale of our nation.

__________________________________

*Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // page c63// e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS//
_______________________________________________________________

The New Yorker - Jim Londos a Greek professional wrestler who was one of the most popular stars who performed on the professional wrestling circuit during the Great Depression.

* Jim Londos was born Christos Theofilou in 1897 in Argos, Greece. As the youngest of thirteen children. At age thirteen he ran away from home and eventually ended up emigrating to the United States.
Working whenever he could, Theofilou took several odd jobs including cabin boy, construction jobs and posing nude for figure drawing classes.Theofilou landed a job as a catcher in a carnival acrobatic act. It was during this period that he was exposed to professional wrestling and began training.
Londos' first matches would be as "The Wrestling Plasterer" Christopher Theophelus, a gimmick that saw him coming to the ring in overalls. After a number of years he dropped this in favour of wrestling under the name Jim Londos and being a no nonsense wrestler.
To compensate for his lack of wrestling ability, Londos was well known for his good looks and his well muscled physique. He capitalized on this by having himself matched up against the ugliest opponents he could find.This promotional tactic worked very well and Londos became one of the most popular wrestlers in the 1930s and early 40's.
Considered to be a national hero in Greece, Londos once drew a crowd estimated to be made of nearly 100,000 fans to see one of his matches when he traveled there.

Londos retired in 1953 and would spend the remainder of his life working for charitable organizations. His favorite charities dealt with Greek war orphans of the Second World War. He was honored by both U.S. President Richard Nixon and King Paul of Greece for his various philanthropic efforts outside the ring.
Londos died of a heart attack August 19, 1975 and is buried at Oak Hill Memorial Park in Escondido, California.

* photo: Scarborough, Tobago, part of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago




 isos  

Seven Grateful Souls and I

Each family member received
the same portion - a slice of bread

The telegram brought great emotion

                                                   [to the entire family.
Uncle Jim informed us that his ship, "Minerva Emily",
will anchor in Crete for a few hours, for bunkering*..

Memories were awakened and all remembered 

                               [the time they were hungering...

It was the time after our country was looted by invaders
who stole everything like bandits, 

                                                 [as black market traders.

Still sell in Germany Stolen Greek ancient treasures.

(Irony, these shops fearing theft,
                                [take strong security measures)..

Those years of German occupation and suffering,
the family was hungry
                              [and was devoid of everything.
The nine members were given
      [only nine slices of bread for the entire day.

After the defeat of the Germans we in a way,
were fed thanks to the help of the US,
                                            [ie the Marshall Plan,
but the poverty continued and then a young man,
uncle Jim, took on the heavy task
                                          [of his family's survival
and worked on ships for years,
                             [an act unparalleled, unrivaled.

Whenever uncle Jim's ship
                                [was coming to a Greek port,
he was greeted by the entire family,
                                        [grateful for his support.

This time he was greeted only by one,
                                               [the only one left alive,
me, the last survivor in the battle against time,
                         [but with me, for the reception arrive
seven grateful souls of the our family members...

Αfter fifty years we are all together again
            [and uncle while weeping... remembers.
_________________________________________________


*Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // page c55// e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS//
______________________________________________________________

notes

* The Marshall Plan, (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave $13 billion (approximately $130 billion in current dollar value as of August 2015) in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II.

* Effects of Nazi looting today, Approximately 20% of the art in Europe was looted by the Nazis, and there are well over 100,000 items that have not been returned to their rightful owners. The majority of what is still missing includes everyday objects such as china, crystal or silver.
Some objects of great cultural significance remain missing, though no one knows how many. This is a major issue for the art market, since legitimate organizations do not want to deal in objects with unclear ownership titles. Since the mid-1990s, after several books, magazines, and newspapers began exposing the subject to the general public, many dealers, auction houses and museums have grown more careful about checking the provenance of objects that are available for purchase in case they are looted.

* Germany returns 10,600 pieces of Greek history, stolen during WWIIJun, 19 2014 Author: newsroom This is the second batch of ancient artifacts being returned to Greece in the last two weeks
After 73 years, thousands of Neolithic pottery fragments that were illegally excavated and transferred to Germany during World War II return to Greece. Among them are 10,600 fragments of clay vessels, stone artifacts, and osteological material that were unearthed during excavations carried out between June and December 1941 by the Nazi occupation forces.

In an official ceremony that was held at Pfahlbau Museum, an archaeological open air museum on Lake Constance (Bodensee) in southern Germany on Wednesday, 10,626 Neolithic era findings were delivered to representatives of the Greek Ministry of Culture.

The first batch included two treasures of ancient Cycladic art, namely a female figurine 88 cm tall and a copper dish, that were illegally obtained by the Baden state museum in Karlsruhe. Succumbing to pressure from the Ministry of Culture, Harald Siebenborgen, Director of the German museum, finally agreed to return the ancient artifacts, worth 4 million euros.

Culture & Sports Minister Konstantinos Tassoulas referred to the symbolism of the gesture and to incidents of antiquity smuggling and destruction recorded across Greece during the Nazi occupation. He also referred to the recent repatriation of archaeological material unearthed at the site of Magoula Visviki and neolithic sites in Thessaly, central Greece, noting that such moves contribute decisively to the strengthening of bilateral ties.

The National Archaeological Museum will be the first stop of the repatriated antiquities before they are transferred to local museums.

“The return of the findings was a matter of principle for us”

The initiative for the return of the ancient findings belongs to the director of Pfahlbau Museum, Professor Gunter Schöbel. Talking to Deutsche Welle, he revealed the reasons that led him to this decision:

“Modern science understands the importance of respect and therefore knows how significant archaeological findings are for the identity of a country. In this sense, the return of the pottery fragments was a matter of principle for us.”
Commenting on the importance of the German initiative to return the archaeological findings, the Director General of Antiquities and Heritage, Maria Vlazaki-Andreadaki, told Deutsche Welle:

“This is a highly symbolic gesture. They recognize that the cultural treasures should not leave their country of origin. The museum itself came to us and announced the return. The findings are not especially important archaeologically, they are mostly undecorated pottery fragments, not among our priorities for return.”
___________________________________________________* Bunkering, What is Bunker and Bunkering..?? Bunker is simply the name given to the Fuel that is used to operate ships.. Bunkering is the action of supplying a ship with bunkers.. There are various types of Fuel Oil and within the Fuel Oils, there are many classifications, standards and grades..
___________________________________________________________________

 isos  

Giants and Dwarves

Our vessel sailed the river Río de la Plata
and with a load of flour,
                            [headed towards Calcutta.

The Pacific Ocean denied its name
and with huge waves
      [that name managed to defame....


Poets and writers
                   [very often misled me,
so I became a prisoner of the sea...

      "Smell the sea,
                      [and feel the sky
      let your soul & spirit fly.."


Van Morrison
       [didn't mention the word cry,
the famous Van Morrison
                                    [in his song.


      Believe me, I am not wrong......

      Longfellow writes that "the heart of the ocean
      sends a thrilling pulse through me."  
                                                         [so set in motion
      the imagination of young people and mine....

 After one month journey,
                                [an Albatross was the sign
   that..... we were approaching the shore.

   We, forty dwarves, maybe a little more,
   we the crew.....temporarily won
                            [against the Giant Ocean.


Ι shaved, put on my face after shave lotion
and together with my fellow sailors,
                      we went looking for hookers..

  The next day a bunch of Indian troopers
   came to guard the flour
                                  [and boarded the ship.

   While the Indian officer
                     [was drinking coffee sip by sip,
   he greeted me,
                        [saying hello Indo-European.

   Ι answered Hello dude,
                   but I am a Greek, a Mycenaean..
   I was born where the civilization was born.
   The Indo-European theory
                                           [died at the dawn
   of the decryption of the DNA,
   and after that ended
                the storytellers sway..

The result of this

                   [newly discovered analysis proves
59,000 years continuity of the Greeks

                                         [and lies disapproves...

___________________________________________________    
                               
*Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // page c50// e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS//
_______________________________________________________________



* Indo-Europeans, The second half of the 18th and early 19th century. developed by French Coeurdoux (1767), the Englishman William Jones (1786) and by the Germans Fr. Schlegex (1772-1829) and Fr. Bopp (1791-1867) theory of Indo-Europeans.

In theory people from India went to Europe and the 3rd BC millennium arrived in the Ural Mountains and others went to the D. Europe and others since 2000 BC They began to descend to the southern part of the Balkan peninsula as Ionians in 1800 BC as Achaeans and 1100 BC as Dorians.
Later it was seen as the cradle of Indo-European peoples or Iapetus (including other than Europeans and Indians and Armenians, Persians and Afghans) The northern or central Europe and others went east to India and others through the valley of Axios until Greece . That's why there are common words.
Indo-European theory reject recent research of DNA, made by universities in Europe and America, in which he participated and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and had the aim to investigate the biological roots of European populations.

Investigations have shown that the Greeks by 75-80% have Paleolithic origin to 80,000 years ago and by 20-25% Neolithic 9000-3000 BC.

 isos  

When I traced the routes of....

                   ...the Explorers

     In the forecastle
              [of the Liberty* "Greek Pine"          
        holding a thin rope,
                                  [a heaving line*, 
        I had a certain strange feeling.

Holding a heaving line

        It would be better said,
                       [a thought appealing...
        It would be better said,
                             [strange rationale....

        Our ship was sailing into the 
                                 [Panama canal,
        in the westerly direction
        and this was the cause
                  [of the connection
        between me.....
                    and the Explorer....

        Panama was the origin
                        [of our restorer
        and when we arrived in the canal,
        I said to him...
            ''tell me about your country pal''.

        He willingly talked to me about it all.

        When he mentioned
                     [Vasco De Balboa*,
        I heard weeping from Raul,
        because that was also the name of his mother..
        He said to me
       "they both belonged to the same family, brother.

                         _________ * * __________


        In a few hours it was my turn
                                        [to be emotionally moved.

        I traveled many years
                                      [and I never was unmoved
        when I traced the routes
                                       [of the past explorers,
        when I was trailing traces
                                      [of those old seafarers,
        in a way I was living mentally in their time.

        In Panama,
                      I followed Balboa, but the regime,
        as I was informed
                               [had executed him long ago.

        In the Pacific I followed Magellan, but woe
        the warriors of Lapu-Lapu* killed him in battle.            

        In the Atlantic I followed Columbus.....
                                        [and a sailor from Seattle
        told me that the explorer is in prison in Spain.
        In my short story (in the history of the world).... 
                                                            [a third stain ...
______________________________________________


*Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // c48// e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS// _______________________________________________________________



1. The Liberty ship was a class of cargo ship built in the United States during 
World War II.
SS John W. Brown on the Great Lakes in 2000. John W. Brown is one of only two surviving World War II Liberty Ships, the other being the SS Jeremiah O'Brien.





2. Heaving line (nautical term) : A rope with a heavy knot on the end light enough for a seaman to throw to a dock or another vessel. The bitter end of the heaving line is secured to the end of a heavier dockline or towing line so that it can then be hauled over



3. Lapu-Lapu (fl. 1521) was a ruler of Mactan in the Visayas. The Philippines regards him as the first Filipino hero because he was the first native to resist Spanish colonization through his victory over the explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Monuments of Lapu-Lapu have been built in Manila and Cebu while the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection use his image in his honor.

He is best known for the Battle of Mactan, which happened at dawn on April 27, 1521. The battle halted the Magellan expedition and delayed Spanish occupation of the islands by over forty years until the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564.

Besides being a rival of Rajah Humabon of Cebu, little is known about the life of Lapu-Lapu and the only existing documents about his life are those written by Antonio Pigafetta. His name, origins, religion, and fate are still a matter of controversy.

The Battle of Mactan (Cebuano: Gubat sa Mactan; Filipino: Labanan sa Mactan; Spanish: Batalla de Mactán) was fought in the Philippines on 27 April 1521, prior to Spanish colonization. The warriors of Lapu-Lapu, a native chieftain of Mactan Island, defeated Spanish forces under the command of Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed in the battle.

4. Vasco Núñez de Balboa: The 16th-century Spanish conquistador and explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519) helped establish the first stable settlement on the South American continent at Darién, on the coast of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1513, while leading an expedition in search of gold, he sighted the Pacific Ocean. Balboa claimed the ocean and all of its shores for Spain, opening the way for later Spanish exploration and conquest along the western coast of South America. Balboa’s achievement and ambition posed a threat to Pedro Arias Dávila, the Spanish governor of Darién, who falsely accused him of treason and had him executed in early 1519.


 isos  

Hopes and Tears

                 2011 – Athens - Syntagma Square  
                                                      

       In Syntagma Square
                                          [the people protesting,
              food and employment are requesting….

             The cause Austerity and Poverty.

            
             The police treat them with vulgarity.

             The rulers
                        [at the peak of unpopularity..

             I see between smoke
                                    [and tear gas,
             a placard lying on the grass………

             I read the torn slogan,
                              and right on cue...

            - "Leonard, I remembered
                       [your verse, and you.."
__________________________________________



* Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // page c12 // e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS

______________________________________________________________

2011 - When Leonard Cohen, mentally through,

visited Constitution Square in Athens

              First We Take Manhattan
                                       by Leonard Cohen

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within,

I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'm guided by a signal in the heavens
I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby
I love your body and your spirit and your clothes
But you see that line there moving through the station?
I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win
You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline
How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I don't like your fashion business mister
And I don't like these drugs that keep you thin
I don't like what happened to my sister
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby

And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
I practiced every night, now I'm ready
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I am guided

Ah remember me, I used to live for music
Remember me, I brought your groceries in
Well it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin…

   

Music video by Leonard Cohen performing First We Take Manhattan. 
(C) 1988 Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc.

*  Note : There are rarely definitive answers to anything Leonard has written (and indeed it is the purpose of poetry to invoke feelings and moods in people, even if the actual images conjured are completely different from one person to the next.

Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQ (born 21 September 1934) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist. His work has explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received a Prince of Asturias Award for literature.

The critic Bruce Eder assessed Cohen's overall career in popular music by asserting that "[he is] one of the most fascinating and enigmatic … singer/songwriters of the late '60s … [and] has retained an audience across four decades of music-making … Second only to Bob Dylan (and perhaps Paul Simon) [in terms of influence], he commands the attention of critics and younger musicians more firmly than any other musical figure from the 1960s who is still working at the outset of the 21st century."

The Academy of American Poets has commented more broadly on Cohen's overall career in the arts, including his work as a poet, novelist, and songwriter, stating that "[Cohen's] successful blending of poetry, fiction, and music is made most clear in Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs, published in 1993, which gathered more than 200 of Cohen's poems … several novel excerpts, and almost 60 song lyrics … While it may seem to some that Leonard Cohen departed from the literary in pursuit of the musical, his fans continue to embrace him as a Renaissance man who straddles the elusive artistic borderlines."

isos...