The linespeople at the Australian Open have been replaced by a robot, Hawk-Eye Live, this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whenever a ball drifts long or wide, the real-time, 12-camera set-up inside each court will trigger a “fault” or “out” call which will be played over the sound system.
But in an interesting turn of events, eight everyday heroes, including paramedics, police officers and surf lifesavers, will provide the soundtrack for the robot.
Steven was diagnosed with COVID-19 last year.
Among the eight is Steven Gelagotis, a Greek Australian paramedic for Ambulance Victoria who contracted COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic last year and is now dedicated to spreading the message that youth can contract the deadly virus as well.
Mr Gelagotis told The Sydney Morning Herald that being selected to voice part of the Australian Open is an honour, as he would always sit in front of the television when he was younger and call ‘out’ and ‘fault’ as he watched the tennis tournament.
“It definitely wasn’t something I expected, but I see it as an honour to be able to represent Ambulance Victoria and have my voice featured in the line calling,” Mr Gelagotis told the Australian media outlet.
“The Australian Open is an iconic sporting event and I remember as a little kid, in front of Mum and Dad, I would sit in front of the TV and yell out the line calls in different accents to pretend I was a linesman. It is an extreme privilege to be part of the Australian Open this year.”
Mr Gelagotis joins NSW SAS volunteer Simon Merrick, Queensland lifesaver Kyal Thornton, and others in the prestigious role.
Why do people pursue Greek studies and what is the practical application of the language in someone’s career and personal life? In what ways can the Greek language broaden someone’s perspective and why is it important for the community to work collaboratively towards preserving the teaching of the language and tradition in the Antipodes?
These were some of the topics discussed during the ‘Pathway Stories in Careers through Greek Language’ online event held on Sunday and organised by the Macquarie University Greek Studies Program and the University’s Greek Association (MUGA) on the occasion of International Greek Language Day which is celebrated annually on February 9.
The over 30 attendees who joined in the conversation from Australia and Greece alike, had the opportunity to listen about the Greek language from a list of guest speakers including Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General John Chrysoulakis, Consul General of Greece in Sydney Christos Karras, THI Australia’s representative George Giovas, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University Professor Panos Vlachopoulos and Head of Macquarie Uni Modern Greek Studies Program Dr Patricia Koromvokis who was also moderating the discussion.
Ήμουν ομιλητής στη διαδικτυακή εκδήλωση που διοργάνωσε το Πρόγραμμα Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών του Παν/μίου Macquarie (Sydney) & η επικεφαλής του, δρ Π. Κορομβόκη. Θέμα της εκδήλωσης «Μονοπάτια καριέρας μέσα από την ελληνική γλώσσα» και αφορμή της η Παγκόσμια Ημέρα Ελληνικής Γλώσσας. pic.twitter.com/B4W1FPcf8N
Greek Deputy Minister for Education Zetta Makri was not present due to unforeseen circumstances but her speech was read by Dr Koromvokis.
Among the attendees were Greek Studies Foundation President Theofilus Premetis, who has been supporting the Greek Studies Program for over 25 years, representatives from Sydney primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions and Greek Student Associations Presidents from Macquarie, Sydney and NSW Universities.
“The goal of today’s event is not to promote the indisputable value of the Greek language but to answer tangible and crucial questions,” Dr Koromvokis said before she invited the speakers to take the stand.
The highlight of the event was a number of graduate and undergraduate students who shared their thoughts on the role of Greek studies in their careers and way of thinking.
Chrysoulakis: ‘Modern world needs the Greek Language’
During his speech, Secretary General of Public Diplomacy and Hellenes Abroad, Giannis Chrysoulakis, expressed the hope that he will soon be able to visit Australia and praised the organisers of the event.
“For us in Greece, your opinion and point of view [with regards to Greek Studies] are very important.
“Modern Greek studies is a key part of a broader picture that reflects what Greece is today,” said Mr. Chrysoulakis, talking about the multiplicity of the Greek language and its inseparable relationship with the Greek word ‘Logos’.
“Greek is a language that from its very beginning raises questions and is always in a quest to find and look for answers.
“I urge you to share with others the knowledge you have acquired during your studies because our modern world needs the Greek language and the Greek way of thinking,” Mr Chrysoulakis said and encouraged the students to look further into the “Study in Greece“.
Consul General Karras: ‘Language is a way of thinking’
For his part, Consul General of Greece in Sydney Christos Karras spoke about how language learning can influence one’s way of thinking not only from a career perspective.
“A language is above all a way of thinking and a vision of life. This especially applies to the Greek language, which has an uninterrupted history of over 35 centuries and it has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language,” Mr. Karras said.
“The Greek language is the mother of universal values that give meaning to our existence and has added to the world words and concepts such as Democracy, Dialogue, Philosophy, Mathematics, Architecture, Theater,” said the Consul General going on to share with the students how three of Greece’s greatest contemporary poets – Cavafy, Kalvos and Solomos- were bilingual.
Representing The Hellenic Initiative (THI) Australia, member of the board George Giovas referred to the organisation’s educational programs that aim to promote Greek language and culture learning and he revealed his desire to expand his Greek language skills.
“Greek language is what brings us together, what unites us and what keeps us close to our roots,” said Mr. Giovas,before a total of ten Greek Studies Program undergraduate and graduate students went on and shared their thoughts on how the Greek language opened pathways into their careers.
Among them was undergraduate student, George Svolos who described his studies as an ‘Odyssey’ that will assist him achieve his goals.
“I am in my fourth year and I aspire to become a Greek language teacher; what I have learnt during my studies have been an Odyssey that travelled me to Greece. To our culture, to our philosophy, to our Orthodox faith and history,” said Mr. Svolos, thanking his tutors who “have been supporting him as their own child “.
“We feel proud and excited when we hear young people speaking so passionately about Greek studies,” said Dr Koromvokis, visibly moved.
“I am touched by the students’ speeches and their passion for the homeland. What I have heard today motivates me to work harder towards finding ways for them to visit and experience Greece. I have an obligation to do so. Thanks for the amazing experience,” Mr Chrysoulakis said.
The event concluded with the Secretary General reciting verses from Nikiforos Vrettakos poem ‘The Field of Words’ and with Dr Koromvokis announcing that more meetings like this will follow.
The faces of Greek Revolution heroes, such as Nikitaras and Georgios Karaiskakis, have recently been popping up around Athens in the form of street art.
The special art series called ‘1821-2021’ is by Greek artist, Evrutos, and has been created to mark the bicentenary of the Greek War of Independence this year.
“Graffiti for me is a way of externalising the aesthetics of my ideas based on nation and patriotism. Through graffiti I want people to feel what was born inside me when I came in contact with the history of our country,” the artist, who wishes to remain anonymous, told protothema.gr.
Greek military commander, Georgios Karaiskakis, by Evrutos. Credit: Evrutos/Instagram.
Evrutos’ use of bold, thick outlines and splashes of color, brings the heroic figures to life and sends a message to Greek society, reminding them of the contributions these great men made to Greek history.
“The image is there, publicly visible and everyone derives the conclusions and messages caused by its viewing,” the artist, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Zougla.
“The message of each art is not something given and is received by everyone differently. What I do is a form of personal expression, a personal need for ‘confession’.”
Evrutos is currently studying at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, but has been involved in the fine arts since he was a child, on an amateur level. He started experimenting with graffiti and spray last December.
Emmanouil Argyropoulos is known as the first Greek aviator to fly over Greece, as well as the first Greek man to die in the Greek Air Force.
Early Life:
Emmanouil Argyropoulos was born in 1889 and was the son of the diplomat Georgios Argyropoulos, Ambassador of Greece to Russia.
He studied civil engineering in Germany and aviation in France.
In January 1912, he returned to Greece and brought with him his dismantled private plane, a single-seater Nieuport IVG, with 50 horsepower.
First flight over Greece:
With the help of engineers from a military unit in Athens, Argyropoulos re-assembled his private plane and after a few days he was ready for his first flight in the Greek skies.
On February 6, 1912, he announced his project through the Athenian newspapers, defining the area of Rouf in Athens as the place of take-off and time on Wednesday, February 8.
Emmanouil Argyropoulos is known as the first Greek aviator to fly over Greece.
On the scheduled date, crowds flooded the makeshift airport to admire the unprecedented spectacle. At exactly 8.10am, Argyropoulos’ plane “took off” to the applause of the crowd, among whom were King George I, then-Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and many officials.
The flight, which marks the birth of the Greek Air Force, lasted 16 minutes and was a complete success.
An hour later, a second flight took place, with Eleftherios Venizelos as a passenger. The plane made a few circles over the take-off area at an altitude of 80 metres and landed successfully after 4 minutes.
On February 12, 1912, Argyropoulos made another flight over Paleo Faliro. Crowds of people from Athens and Piraeus rushed to admire the fearless Greek aviator. The crowd raised Argyropoulos in their arms and brought him triumphantly to the royal platform, where he received the warm congratulations of King George I.
Later life andDeath:
When the Balkan Wars broke out in October 1912, Argyropoulos joined the Armed Forces, with the rank of lieutenant.
On April 4, 1913, he took off from the Lebet airport of Thessaloniki (in today’s Stavroupoli), with a Blerio 11 aircraft (booty from the Turkish army) and fellow fighter and poet Konstantinos Manos. Their mission was to detect the areas occupied by the Bulgarian army near Thessaloniki.
During the flight, his aircraft suffered mechanical damage and crashed near Lagadas, Thessaloniki. Both occupants died instantly. Argyropoulos was only 24 years old and Konstantinos Manos was 44 years old.
The coronavirus pandemic has put on hold hundreds of community events around Australia, but as the saying goes, where there is will there’s a way.
More than 300 people of all ages, attended this year’s scaled down, ‘Alfresco BBQ and Children’s Fair’ event in lieu of South Australia’s annual Cyprus Community Festival which normally attracts more than 4000-5000 people.
The event, held at the Community’s Centre in Welland near Adelaide on Sunday, featuring Cypriot delicacies prepared by the community’s dedicated volunteers, live music and kids’ activities.
Photo right: SA Cyprus Community President Andreas Evdokiou/The Greek Herald
South Australia’s Cyprus Community President Andreas Evdokiou said that the festival, is an integral part of the Cypriot culture as it keeps the community together.
“With this year’s event we aim to replace the annual festival and bring our people together in a COVID-safe environment. The attendees will enjoy sheftalies and the traditional Cypriot souvla BBQ as well as loukoumades,” Mr Evdokiou told The Greek Herald.
But what is the secret behind a successful event? Its volunteers!
“Cyprus Community is our home. It’s our heart and soul. Our mission is to keep South Australia’s Cypriot diaspora together and pass on the traditions to future generations,” said Former President Christos Ioannou who was on souvla duty together with Kyriakos Kourougiannis, Charalambo Charalambous and Antonis Stasoulis.
Near them, Thekla Petrou, Myrianthi Filippou and Toula Kourougianni from the Ladies Auxiliary were preparing the mouthwatering loukoumades as they’ve been doing for many years.
“From 1975 we’ve been contributing to the community and with various events throughout the year we try to attract new members to keep the culture going,” said President of the Ladies Auxiliary Ms Thekla Petrou.
The Annual General Meeting of members of Sydney Olympic Football Club Limited (SOFC) will be held at the Canterbury League Club (Terrace Bar), 26 Bridge Rd, Belmore at 6.30pm on Thursday 25 February 2021.
During the AGM, Sydney Olympic will provide the president’s report and financial statements from the 2020 season. A re-election of directors will also take place during the meeting.
“The AGM is a great opportunity for Life Members and Season Pass Holders to get together and hear about not only the previous year but plans for the future,” Club CEO John Boulous said.
“It is an opportunity to ask any questions and provide feedback, we are always interested to hear from our Members which will help us continue grow the Club”.
Life Members and Voting members are eligible to attend the AGM, with 2021 season pass application forms to be available to complete.
“Season Pass Holders can apply for their season pass ahead of our big Round 1 match against Sydney United 58 FC at Belmore Sports ground on Saturday 27 February,” Boulous added.
Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the last agenda item.
A pilot version of digital platform, myConsulLive, has officially been launched at the Greek Consulate in Perth to offer diaspora a fast and easy way to communicate with officials and apply online for documents and certificates.
Consul in Perth, Ms Georgia Karasiotou, tells The Greek Herald that the program has been going well so far and it is expected to be rolled out across Australia in the near future.
“More than ever in the last year, we have realised how useful and necessary it is to be able to do some work remotely,” Ms Karasiotou says.
“It is true that many of the transactions of the Consulates cannot be done without the physical presence of the citizen concerned, for example, the issuance of a passport or a notarial deed. There are others, however, where the services our fellow citizens need can be done by utilising the means technology gives us, such as the issuance of some certificates or photocopies of acts.
Μέσω της υπηρεσίας myConsulLive οι πολίτες θα μπορούν να συνομιλήσουν με προξενικό υπάλληλο με βιντεοκλήση. Είναι ένα πρώτο βήμα στο σχέδιο ψηφιοποίησης των προξενικών υπηρεσιών, που έχει στόχο να εξυπηρετούνται καλύτερα και να ταλαιπωρούνται λιγότερο οι Έλληνες του εξωτερικού. pic.twitter.com/Rs5RZK9a2u
“This is the philosophy of myConsulLive, which is a personalised service in the sense that the appointment via teleconference gives, on the one hand, the citizen the opportunity to provide the required proof of identity and on the other hand, to communicate directly with a Consular Officer.
“But the obvious, big advantage of myConsulLive is that for some services our fellow citizens will no longer need to take leave from work or travel to visit the Consulate.
“For Western Australia, which is half the size of Europe, but also for the whole of Australia, this is a great relief. That is why, starting from Perth, the platform is expected to operate in the rest of our Consulates in Australia in the near future.”
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was briefed on the first steps of the digitisation of consular services abroad at an e-meeting he held with the Greek Consulate General in New York back in December 2020.
Since then, the Perth Consulate, along with the Greek Embassy in London and Greek Consulates in New York, Toronto, Canada, Boston, Istanbul and Dusseldorf, have all been digitised.
The simmering tennis feud between Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios has exploded ahead of the Australian Open, with the world No.1 declaring “I don’t have much respect” for the Aussie star.
Speaking in his pre-Australian Open press conference, Djokovic was asked what he thought about Kyrgios calling him “a tool” on Twitter in mid-January.
The name-calling came after Djokovic made a list of requests to Tennis Australia and the Victorian government for tennis players stuck in hard hotel quarantine.
“Off the court, I don’t have much respect for him, to be honest. That’s where I’ll close it. I really don’t have any further comments for him, his own comments for me or anything else he’s trying to do,” Djokovic said.
As for Kyrgios’ on-the-court antics, Djokovic is far more willing to lavish praise on the controversial 25-year-old star.
“I think he’s good for the sport. Obviously he’s someone that is different. He goes about his tennis, he goes about his off-court things in his own authentic way. I have respect for him,” Djokovic said.
“My respect goes to him for the tennis he’s playing. I think he’s a very talented guy. He’s got a big game. He has proven that he has a quality to beat any player really in the world in the past.”
The feud between the pair dates back to a 2019 podcast, where Kyrgios described Djokovic’s “sick obsession” with wanting to be liked.
Djokovic and Kyrgios have only played each other twice, both in 2017 (at Indian Wells and Acapulco) and both times the Australian won.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is facing mounting anger over claims he attended a dinner that exceeded the limits on gatherings on the very day health restrictions had been tightened to stop transmission of the virus in Greece.
“[He] ought to say a very big sorry to the Greek people,” Nasos Iliopoulos, the spokesman for the main opposition party Syriza, said as criticism of the incident grew.
“It’s even worse when it has happened on the day that the government has asked citizens to remain indoors from 6pm.”
Mitsotakis was visiting the Aegean island of Ikaria to meet medical staff, when he found himself in the line of fire after he and his entourage were filmed enjoying lunch on the terrace of the harbour-front home of MP Christodoulos Stefanidis.
Media reports described the leader’s entourage as being far in excess of the limit of nine people congregating at any one time.
Μπράβο στον Κυριάκο που άνοιξε την εστίαση. Για την πάρτη του βέβαια αλλά μην έχετε και απαιτήσεις ρε μαλακες pic.twitter.com/rOIuUzvlV3
In no time, images and video footage of the event were circulating on the internet. By Sunday, the Syriza leader and former Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, had also uploaded the video on his Instagram account, castigating the government for “profound presumption and arrogance.”
For his part, the minister holding the dinner, Stefanidis, defended Mitsotakis and acknowledged that a crowd had spontaneously congregated outside the building to see the PM “up close,” but insisted that during the brief time people were inside his home health protocols were upheld.
“During the meal all the measures … were observed,” he told The Guardian, noting that the entourage not only dined outdoors but that the number of people around each table was strictly limited with mask-wearing studiously observed in between.
“I am sincerely sorry that the images and conditions, beyond the space where the Prime Minister was [and] where people had converged spontaneously to see him up close, were not correct.”
A crowd had spontaneously congregated outside the building to see the PM “up close.” Photo: Keep Talking Greek.
Responding to the criticism late on Sunday, the government’s spokesman Christos Tarantilis criticised the opposition for suggesting that “a fiesta” had taken place in Ikaria in which Mitsotakis had participated, calling the claims inaccurate and divisive.
But he added: “in the Prime Minister’s future tours every possible care will be taken so that the wrong image is not created.”
This is not the first time Mitsotakis has been in the spotlight for flouting rules his own government has set.
In early December, the politician was criticised after images emerged of him posing with admirers during a mountain biking excursion with his wife in the Parnitha range north of Athens. No one was wearing a mask or keeping social distancing rules. He subsequently apologised.
Imagine a Greek backyard without a lemon tree? Impossible, and this isn’t only to spice up the look of the garden. Lemon is known to be a great source of Vitamin C, improves skin quality and helps with digestion. Oh, and it also tastes amazing with spanakopita.
Sage
Native to Greece, Sage was originally used as a meat preservative and to preserve memory. Salvia officinalis, as it was called in ancient times, was used for warding off evil, snakebites, increasing women’s fertility, and more. The Romans referred to sage as the “holy herb,” and employed it in their religious rituals. Common sage is grown in parts of Europe for distillation of an essential oil.
Mint
Photo: Nicole Lindstrom/WanderLust
According to Greek mythology, Minthe was a Greek water nympth to the river Cocytus. She wanted to seduce Hades after seeing his golden chariot but was thwarted by Queen Persephone, who turned Minthe into the herb, mint. Today, it used primarily for cooking and to settle people’s stomaches. It has a warm, fresh, aromatic, sweet flavour with a cool aftertaste.
Artichoke
Native to the Mediterranean, artichoke was created in Greek mythology when Zeus turned his desired into a thistle after being rejected. Varieties of artichokes were cultivated in Sicily, with the the Greeks calling them kaktos. In that period, the Greeks ate the leaves and flower heads, believing it was highly healthy and used it as an aphrodisiac, a diuretic, a breath freshener, and a deodorant.
Lavender
The ancient Greeks called the lavender herb nárdos, and was used to heal aches and pains from labouring. The flower was sold for the equivalent of a farm worker’s month salary. After scientific analysis in the 21st century, it’s been found that lavender can be used to improve sleep for people with insomnia. It can also treat certain hair diseases.
