The
Daily Gyro
Updated
Daily on
Greek Time
August 10, 2005
Is it just us, or does this seem like the slowest summer ever in the DC area? It
must be slow in the rest of the Greek world as well, because it’s pretty hard
finding anything remotely interesting with which to fill up this space, even on
a weekly basis. We’re glad that it’s August because hopefully the Greek world
will get off vacation by the time September hits.
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The remains of Atlantis has been discovered and supposedly it’s off the coast
of Cyprus, or actually, it’s Cyprus, or a huge chunk of it that was lost
underneath the ocean between Cyprus and Syria. According to an Iranian-American
architect, Robert Sarmast, enhanced sonar images show “unmistakable remains of
man-made structures” near Cyprus. At a news conference last Thursday, Sarmast
showed color slides of what he claimed to be the Atlantis acropolis. Having
based his research on Plato’s description of Atlantis, Sarmast plans on making
a $5 million documentary film on the discovery next year, has the backing of
the Cypriot government’s tourist organization and looks to make “the discovery
part of something that will benefit Cyprus for decades.” In a related story,
the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot are looking for government sponsorship by
tourist-dependent nations looking to claim them as their home.
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It turns out that astronomers may have actually discovered a tenth planet in
our solar system beyond Pluto. Working names by the astronomers at Cal Tech had
suggested everything from the gracefully appropriate Persephone (already taken)
to the crude Xena, after the warrior princess made famous by Lucy Lawless.
Naming rules for planets are pretty specific in that they can’t be named after
anyone still living, political figures after the 19th century or
figures from any of the major religions. If only these rules applied to
airports or streets in DC, then there wouldn’t be such a rush to name
everything in the District after Ronald Reagan.
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The contest for who will be chosen to bail out struggling Olympic Airlines came
to an end last week when a Greek-US consortium was tapped by the Greek Finance
ministry in a move to privatize the carrier. It’s hard to imagine what Olympic
will be like with a little American input, but it sounds much better than the
German bid, but maybe not as intriguing as either the Dutch or British bid. It
remind us of a t-shirt that used to be popular in Greece back in the late
80s/early 90s among the vendors at the Monestiraki in Athens – something about
hell being a place organized by the Greeks with Germans in charge of the
hospitality industry.
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No news coming out of Greece in the summer time would be complete without the
troubles of getting to the islands. With ferries again the subject of criticism
for their age and reliability concerns, the good-old fashioned seaplane is
making a comeback on trips to islands that lack runways. Seaplanes were used
for regular commercial flights during the 1930s, by the occupying Germans
during World War II and also by Indiana Jones in the beginning of Raiders of
the Lost Ark and by guests arriving at Fantasy Island. A free fedora and
bullwhip or a greeting by Tattoo would certainly add something to the Greek
island vacation experience.
Other Servings of The Daily Gyro
06/30/2010
08/31/2009
08/03/2009
03/25/2009
08/28/2008
08/27/2008
08/13/2008
04/02/2008
03/25/2008
08/30/2007
08/14/2007
03/05/2007
02/14/2007
01/22/2007
11/06/2006
10/02/2006
09/18/2006
09/04/2006
09/01/2006
08/14/2006
07/13/2006
07/10/2006
06/25/2006
06/05/2006
05/03/2006
04/04/2006
03/22/2006
02/21/2006
01/30/2006
01/17/2006
01/11/2006
01/09/2006
01/05/2006
01/04/2006
12/12/2005
11/28/2005
11/16/2005
10/31/2005
10/17/2005
10/03/2005
09/12/2005
09/02/2005
08/29/2005
08/10/2005
07/27/2005
07/13/2005
07/06/2005
06/27/2005
06/13/2005
05/23/2005
05/16/2005
05/06/2005
05/02/2005
04/25/2005
04/18/2005
04/13/2005
04/08/2005
04/06/2005
04/04/2005
04/01/2005
03/30/2005
03/28/2005
03/25/2005
03/23/2005
Read
past feature articles.
