Balkan Beats 14

B A L K A N B E AT S BIMONTHLY MAGAZINE CREATED BY THE VOLUNTEERS OF

UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS

ISSUE NO: 14 FREE PRESS

BALKAN BEATS

BIMONTHLY MAGAZINE United Societies of Balkans is a Non Governmental Organization, founded in Thessaloniki in 2008, by a team of active young people.

The organization was created as a response to the pressure of constant changes in the Balkan and Eastern European region and under the need for the creation of a better social environment.

Key areas of the organization’s activities concern the defense of human rights, the organization of youth exchanges and training courses, which will bring young people from Balkans and Europe together, the organization of local educational seminars and multimedia production (web radio, videos, documentaries).

Main goals of the organization -To promote the values of non formal learning, volunteering, active citizenship and democracy for the creation of a better future for European youth.

-To promote human rights, solidarity and respect for diversity.

-To build healthy cooperation bridges between countries of the Balkan area and that of Eastern Europe with the rest of Europe.

-To locate and multiply the special cultural attributes of our societies.

-The break down of prejudices and stereotypes between Balkan countries.

Property of Balkan Beats The United Societies of Balkans, NGO, does not necessarily share the opinions expressed in Balkan Beats.

It is illegal to reproduce any part of this publication without referring to the source. This magazine is distributed free of charge.

CONTENTS ACT REACT

SOCIAL & POLITICAL ISSUES

USB NEWS

Angelique Kourounis: “I am not a message maker. I just would like to send the idea.”

YOUTH MOBILITY- sharing experiences: 1. “Γιατί ςτο τζλοσ το πιο ςημαντικό πράγμα είναι οι άνθρωποι..”; Εμπειρίεσ των ςυμμετεχόντων ςτο πρόγραμμα; “Green Power”, Σαρδηνία 2. Romania… A country of enigmas

GOOD PRACTICES : 1. For Stateless People of 21st Century 2. “You can dream and wish even without a cherry tree...”

FOURTEENTH EDITION MARCH APRIL TWO

THOUSAND

SIXTEEN

UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS, NGO ALAMANAS 9, 55438, AGIOS PAVLOS TEL. / FAX: 0030 2310 215629 WWW.USBNGO.GR

TRAVEL

CULTURE

LEGION

SANTORINI: WINTER WONDERLAND BETWEEN SKY AND SEA

MUSIC

New Technologies

All around the world: Belgium

FESTIVAL

1. Music industry and dominant artists in 2016 2. John Lennon

Welcome to 6th edition of Thessaloniki Balkan Festival!

BALKANIZATER Petrinja – travel destination!?

TALENT/ART CORNER 1. ReBORN: “# Hush_TagSCANDALOUS POPSTAR DAVID RALMAS 2. The BULGARIAN JOURNALISM : CORUPT OR NOT?!

3. SHADOWN self

New month, new things to check, rate, see and show!

SPORT 1. Top 10 Most Popular Sports in The World 2. Olympic Game 3. Mathidiata 4. Thess Marathon

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USB opportunities

“International Food Making” youth exchange in Riga: We search for participants!

APV, 28-29/05 & Youth Exchange, 20-28/06/2016 Riga, Latvia.

United Societies of Balkans are looking for 6 participants from Greece, 14-17 years old! Applications deadline 10/05/2016.

More information: http://goo.gl/JnolGj Youth exchange “Youth Activism through Social Media Storytelling” 13 – 19/06/2016, Vienna, Austria: We are looking for 5 participants from Greece!

United Societies of Balkans is looking for five participants. Applications deadline 08/05/2016.

More info: http://goo.gl/BbIA6m Contact email: mobility@usbngo.gr Two positions for a short EVS in Poland!

We are looking for 2 EVS volunteers from Greece to take part in a multicultural EVS project in Szczecin, Poland. (July-August 2016) More info: http://goo.gl/KlfisD Deadline: 10/05/2016 EVS position in Zagreb for 12 months We are looking for 1 EVS volunteer from Greece to take part in a project in Zagreb, Croatia (September 2016-August 2017) More info: http://goo.gl/GDC0dT Contact email: evs@usbngo.gr Short summer EVS in Lorca, Spain United Societies of Balkans are looking for 3 active and creative youngsters from Greece to take part in a short EVS project in Lorca, Spain (July 2016) More info: http://goo.gl/5p77X7 Deadline: 10/05/2016 Contact e-mail: evs@usbngo.gr Study trip in Bosnia & Herzegovina We are looking for one participant from Greece to take part in a study trip in Bosnia & Herzegovina which will take place in 13 different cities for 15 days. Do not miss it!

More info: http://goo.gl/FA1FI9 Deadline for applications: 10/05/2016 Contact e-mail: mobility@usbngo.gr Training course in Slovakia, we are looking for 2 participants We are looking for 2 youngsters to take part in a training course in Búč, Slovakia.

More info: http://goo.gl/KTbA7x Contact e-mail: mobility@usbngo.gr

ACT REACT “International Food Making” ανταλλαγή νέων στη Ρίγα: ψάχνουμε συμμετέχοντες/ουσες!

APV, 28-29/05 & Youth Exchange, 20-28/06/2016 Riga, Latvia. Οι Ενωμένες Κοινωνίες των Βαλκανίων αναζητούν 6 νέους/ες 14-17 ετών. Προθεσμία αιτήσεων 10/05/2016. Περισσότερες πληροφορίες: http://goo.gl/JnolGj Contact email: mobility@usbngo.gr Ανταλλαγή νέων “Youth Activism through Social Media Storytelling” 13 – 19/06/2016, Βιέννη, Αυστρία: Αναζητάμε 5 συμμετέχοντες για πρόγραμμα ανταλλαγής νέων! Προθεσμία υποβολής αιτήσεων 08/05/2016. Περισσότερες πληροφορίες: http://goo.gl/BbIA6m Contact email: mobility@usbngo.gr Μία θέση EVS στο μαγευτικό Zagreb για 12 μήνες Ψάχνουμε 1 δραστήριο νέο/α να συμμετέχει σε πρόγραμμα της Ευρωπαϊκής Εθελοντικής Υπηρεσίας στην Κροατία (Σεπτέμβριος 2016-Αύγουστος 2017) Περισσότερες πληροφορίες: http://goo.gl/GDC0dT Contact email: evs@usbngo.gr Δύο θέσεις για σύντομο πρόγραμμα EVS στην Πολωνία! Αναζητούμε 2 εθελοντές ΕVS για πρόγραμμα στο Szczecin της Πολωνίας. (Ιούλιος-Αύγουστος 2016) Περισσότερες πληροφορίες: http://goo.gl/ZqnolY Προθεσμία αιτήσεων: 10/05/2016 Contact e-mail: evs@usbngo.gr Καλοκαιρινό EVS πρόγραμμα στη Lorca της Ισπανίας Οι Ενωμένες Κοινωνίες των Βαλκανίων αναζητούν 3 δραστήριους/ες και δημιουργικούς/ες νέους/ες για να πάρουν μέρος σε μικρής διάρκειας EVS πρόγραμμα στην Ισπανία More info: http://goo.gl/5p77X7 Προθεσμία υποβολής αιτήσεων: 10/05/2016 Contact e-mail: evs@usbngo.gr Σχέδιο κατάρτισης Zero Youth Risks Challenge στη Σλοβακία Αναζητάμε 2 νέους/ες να πάρουν μέρος σε σχέδιο κατάρτισης στο Búč της Σλοβακίας Περισσότερες πληροφορίες: http://goo.gl/KTbA7x Contact e-mail: mobility@usbngo.gr

“Γιατί στο τέλος το πιο σημαντικό πράγμα είναι οι άνθρωποι..” Εμπειρίες των συμμετεχόντων στο πρόγραμμα “Green Power”, Σαρδηνία When we applied for the project 1 month ago, we couldn’t even imagine the great journey that we experienced the previous 10 days in Sardinia. We met each other for the first time on the airport, but we were all so happy about what was coming that all the possible problems seemed irrelevant.

Arriving at the airport of Alghero was great. The beautiful sun and the amazing landscapes could make you feel like you were on vacations in Greece. After a few hours there, we went straight to our new home, the wonderful Uri, a village near to Alghero where we joined the other team and our new roommates.

We were waking up early in the morning and after the taste of a great local espresso, we were inside and outside of the working room till dinner time working with non-formal education techniques, such as interactive workshops.

That kind of education is really different and makes you feel happier and more productive. We were mainly discussing topics about nature, the future of our world and the youth entrepreneurship in the eco field. We also had 2 beautiful excursions at Alghero and Sassari and 2 great intercultural nights where every team made presentations of her country.

In the end, the most important part is always the people. We met and exchange opinions and ideas with great and really different personalities from all over Europe and some unforgettable conversations took place there. We may be a few thousand kilometers away from each other now but we will remember these days.

The article is by Sotiris Savvas.

The project was funded by Erasmus+.

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Romania…

A country of enigmas

What could I possibly know about the Romania country. Me who once upon a time bragged proudly to be one of the best in Geography on Wednesdays after Math class? It sure is in the Balkans. And in the European Union, right? Its capital is Bucharest (thank heavens for travel agencies that have taught us by now that any good economic winter destination starts with a B like Bucharest, Budapest, Belgrade, Berlin, etc.). An aunt of mine has Romanian roots. Romanian is

also a Latin language. It has a population of over 20 million people, the biggest one in the Balkans.

Count Dracula along with his victims among them.

Other than that, silence. I sent my application after a lot of pressure and doubt –freaking best friends-, I finished with packing –freaking luggage- and now we’re waiting for that darned early awakening to run to the other side of eastern Europe for the “cultural identity of the Balkan peninsula”! We shall see…

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12 days later Romania… What do I know about Romania? Turns out it indeed is in both the Balkans and the European Union, along with Croatia on the other side, resting up at the north-western border of the peninsula and with Bulgaria, right above us on the map, through which we had to drive twice in order to arrive where we wanted. But where is that anyway? Who knows!? 32 participants, 8 Croats, 8 Bulgarians plus 8 of us. I’m having the hardest time to decide what I will miss the most. The smile of some of them that still warms my hands enough to expressively type non-stop “I miss you” messages daily and multiply on facebook? Or maybe the morning gazes of solidarity and solace each morning, wandering and wondering whether we’ll actually be on time or either have enough time for a quick bite or a hot cup of coffee? Maybe even our games, our actions, the activities had to push through and experience, from the simplest of tasks to the most astoundingly complex. And, then, of course, there were the incessant lessons of “how to say this in your language” that gradually and increasingly approached spicy-word levels. I’ll miss the taste I got from Croatia, the tie country, along with all of my fresh friends there that speak English so well, with its numerous islands that give the Greek ones down here fair competition. I will miss the spirit I felt from Bulgaria, that’s actually closer to us even more than any map can depict and faces with the same inexhaustible energy and joy the same difficult realities served by the modern world, a scenery disobedient to borders and limits the we too indeed share with our Bulgarian friends. I will miss the town of Craiova in Romania and all the warm and expressive people there that, under a peculiarly warm northern sun and in the same world of perpetuated uncertainty and absurdity, still manage to not cease to look forward whilst embracing a quite turbulent past in recent memory, a truth fundamentally universal and organically quintessential for every small piece of the Balkans.

In the end, whatever I miss the most or whoever I will long for more, I stand here speechless and wonderstruck, devoid of any accurate words to describe accurately the experiences and the prudence, the theories and the world views, or even the lessons that evolved into life lessons, indeed in the tiny span of time that a mere 12 day youth exchange programme touches. Only a single, unifying word overflows from each photograph, each message typed and every exchange that homeward bound returns a true, pure “change”… Ευχαριστώ! Thank you! Благодаря! Mulțumesc mult! Hvala!

I will see all of you again…

Anestis Ischnopoulos

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For Stateless People

of 21st Century

There is an orchestra and people behind the orchestra. They are walking with confused look of people from White Tower to Aristotelous Square. The weather is sunny, it means a lot of confused looks. What are these crazy people doing?

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F

irstly a boat came, and those on board stepped on to land by our clapping before starting to walk to Aristotelous Square in a sunny day of March. In a very short time, people saw these people were not famous. Who were these people? Where were they coming from? Why did we clap their coming? What did we do as a madding crowd?

The date was 20th March 2016, ‘sΕΛΑm’ the activity of Thess Diktio, the network of NGOs of Thessaloniki. The activity was under the European Action Week Against Racism (12-21 March 2016), due to this was a kind of simulation about refugees. Yes, it was about refugees who beside us on the streets, survive in the borders, try to go to the safety countries, fight for life humanly with subhuman conditions as stateless people of 21st century.

When we arrived in Aristotelous Square, another activity started which was about difficulties in the borders for refugees. We tried to act as a refugee based on the parts the coordinator gave us.

Then I just thought, ‘The weather was good, was not it?’. The answer of this question was quite clear; the weather would not be good enough while some people could not enjoy it, the ones who survive in the borders.

Organising meetings to discuss the situations of refugees in five star hotels, maybe it can be more comfortable. At the same time, it can be ironic. Meetings in all inclusive system to find a solution or to share ideas about the current situation of the refugees which they do not even have a regular place to sleep, except hope. It refers to a new notion as non-all inclusive system.

Thess Diktio wanted to sensitize the public opinion of the city, in the most important recreative area. It also pointed no discrimination through this activity. It is not possible to ignore people with categories as stateless, refuge, migrant and the others, but also possible to accept people how they are already. That is why these kind of activities have importance. Therefore people have awareness, even if there is only a person. After my last article ‘Have you ever imagined what you would need in Eidomeni?’ as a good sample, writing this article is not about chance. It is about the importance of the topic. Topic can be very hot, very difficult to touch.

Author Yeşim Bayrak

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“You can dream and wish even without a cherry tree...”

Today I will share with you the story of one amazing woman, who dedicated her life to charity for abandoned children in the foster home s. She is giving them hope by books and friendship in her project “Give a book”.

She is Blagovesta Pugiova Blagovesta Pugiova is born in 1987 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. She graduated in finances studies in the university of Bulgaria and in tax law in the London School of Economics and Politics. She is a founder of the initiative “Give a book” ,a network of volunteers who give as a presents both books and friendship to the abandoned children in the foster homes.

Thank to this initiative, she won different prizes as “A Person of the Year” of Bulgarian-Helsinki Committee, a prize “Contribution for the Freedom” of Move.bg, nomination for “A woman of the Year” and many more.

This initiative not only changed the attitude of the children in the foster homes, but also includes these children in a society by volunteers-mentors who help them to adapt. The project ran a lot of campaigns to give them a books as a presents, also work of the volunteers with children giving them better chance to development in life.

Furthermore, she is one of the most famous Bulgarian young poets, her first book “Tomorrow at 10:00 on the Moon” has been published in 2014 by the publishing house “Janet 45”.

About the mentorship developed in friendship, the improvement of the attitude of the children and orphans from the social institution, the scale of one cause, which pull together people, is telling us Blagovesta Pugiova in her interview for Darik Radio, Bulgaria.

How started the initiative “Give a book” and how it is going on?

This initiative started like a joke with one facebook page and I didn’t expect to be developed so much in four years. I am happy that after the first time when I carried books, came one more person , and one more, and one more… In the moment we are gathering a lot of people, who are inspired and see the meaning in this.

How many are you, Blagovesta?

The active people, that are going often to the children’s homes as friends, are maybe 200 people. In the different moments they have been different numbers. My future goal is that one day I will stop to control this process because a man and a child will be friends and they will see each other without our help.

Where are these people from?

They come from different places, but most of them from Sofia especially because in the Capital the

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volunteering is accepted better. In the province is a little bit harder for us and our big goal is to wake up and to motivate the people there.

Is it hard to find people that are inspired by your effort?

For example in Berkovitsa, where we work with the forest homes for a lot of time, the citizens see the children of the foster home more like somebody that can steal something, and not like child that needs help and communication. In the bigger cities is a bit easier.

For example in Varna there is a big group of people, who are going to children, but in Berkovitsa the volunteer is only one. There they just don’t accept the idea.

What is your way to include more people?

Mostly through the social networks - it is easier.

How would you explain to yourself the attitude of the people from the small villages/towns?

For the people of the villages they are “those from the social institution”, but they don’t realize that if they will include children from these homes in the society, they will help them a lot to change and the society will be changed and will become better.

For example, one occasion is when I took one from the kids with me to the cafe and he decided to go to the toilet, a woman from the cafe staff, decided that he came to beg and started to drive him out.

What are the changes in the kids for all these years when you work with them? Do they read books?

My answer is yes and no. In the years mostly was created one mentorship from volunteers to the children and we call it friendship. In the beginning we bought them books and they stayed in the bureaus. We decided that it is also necessary to go there and to read with them.

Well, ok but when you read to 10 children they are easily distracted. But, we noticed that when one volunteer read to one children and pay a special attention to him/ her, the effect is different.

The child perceive, what is read to him/her better and the words of the reader are special and important to him/her. There is no guarantee that all the children we work with are changing but most of them are already changed.

How can you see this change - is it very clear, did you see a very changed children?

For example, one children, who was helped by a friend of mine, he haven’t been to school 2 years and was dealing with stealing cars and he was 14 years old. In the last 2 years, when he is working with a mentor, there is a visible change. It can be notice even when you talk with him. When I met him for the first time his reaction was: “what are doing with me now? Go away!”. Now when he see me, he said: “Hello Blaga! How are you?”.

Now, he is going to school and has a very good marks.

Another example happened soon. It is for a child, who was in а special needs’ school. Sometimes when a child doesn’t cope good in a foster home , they send him/ her in the special needs’ school specialized in mental

retardation. And there he/she becomes worse and worse. The volunteer, who was a friend of this kid was doing everything was possible to transfer him in a regular school - even was fighting with institutions.

One month ago the child was transferred in a regular school and now he is very happy.

What is your regular job?

I am doing something very different. Until soon I was a tax consultant, and now I am a manager “Business Development” in a very big investment in Bulgaria.

From the very beginning I didn’t want “Give a book” to grow to something which has to be financed and which has administrative expenses etc. This year we run a project because it is impossible for us to cope with everything only with the volunteers without financing. We have two girls, Elena and Anelia, who are dealing with organization of the events and more.

They are doing it as a volunteers. Me, as a founder of the organization decided that I don’t want to receive money from this initiative .

We have 5 blitz questions.

The most valuable lesson from your parents is...

The Kindness.

If there was a movie for me it would be called…

“A little cowherd”, because when I was a child I was spending a lot of time in the villages of my grandparents, I was reading books with cows and it was one of the most free and beautiful periods in my life.

The luck is ...

I didn’t accept the luck literally. This is to do good and to see that this good is reflecting to the others.

I believe in …

Freedom. everybody has a freedom of choice and happiness.

As a child I wanted to ... as I child I was climbing on a cherry tree and from there to the roof and from there to the chimney and I wished 3 wishes: the first was all the people on the world to be happy and if they cannot come through the happiness via doing good things, then they to be happy with what they have. The second was my mother, my father, and all the relatives to be healthy and happy. The third was something from the current day like not to be examine in English.

Do you are continuing to dream for the same things and to wish them today?

You can dream and wish even without a cherry tree...

So, yes …

Source: Darik Radio, Bulgaria Adapted and Translated by Iva Veneva I don’t have what to add except to wish you don’t stop dreaming even without a cherry tree and let your dreams become true, especially if they are connected with honourable causes like Blagovesta’s one.

POLITICAL & SOCIAL ISSUES

Angelique Kourounis: “I am not a message maker.

I just would like to send the idea.”

POLITICAL & SOCIAL ISSUES

“My partner in life is Jewish, one of my sons is gay and the other an anarchist and I am a left wing feminist, the daughter of immigrants.

If Golden Dawn comes to power our only problem will be which wagon to put us on” Angelique Kourounis for 18th Thessaloniki Film Festival

During the 18th Thessaloniki Film Festival one of the documentaries attracted my attention more than the others.

It is a documentary about the Golden Dawn party in Greece.

From the very beginning till its end the documentary was breathtaking. I could not stop being serious even when the whole hall was shaking by laugh because of the tragic - comic characters and situations in it. But for me “Golden Dawn: Personal Affair” is more tragic than a comic story. It is a very intimate and sincere view for a Greek Nazi party from inside out, as a part of the 5-years work of a Greek journalist and director with French origins.

END! The lights was turned on.

I was like hypnotized by the idea and inspiration to do something on the topic of this documentary.

But what? I am just a volunteer, writing articles in U.S.B. magazine. What can I do? What?

My friend was like understanding my thoughts, and said: “She is

here. The director is over there.

Go!”.

I started to run as fast as possible through the crowded hall thinking what can I say and do. I was in front of her raw. She was sitting at the end of it. I quickly present myself as a reporter for “Balkan Beats” and before I finished my sentence she was interrupting me, preparing to go on the scene for Q&A session, and said to the man near her: “Give her my contacts!”.

That was my first meeting with Anguelique Kourounis, the director of “Golden Dawn: Personal Affairs”.

One week later later a few mails exchanged between us I was on Skype and was waiting for her to be connected for our interview.

From the very first sound of her “Hello” I was amazed of how positive and energetic is this woman. I asked her to introduce herself shortly. She answered me: “Well, I am a journalist. I cover Greece and Balkans area, Turkey,

POLITICAL & SOCIAL ISSUES

Cyprus, French-speaking areas (Switzerland, France, Canada, Belgium, Vaticana - Radio Vaticano). I have also been a movie maker for 12 years.”

After her simple answer I could not wait to understand what are her motivations to make the documentary for Golden Dawn party. She explained me that as a part of her job as a correspondent she “was obliged to cover Golden Dawn’s topics” but she shared also that she “saw what was the target, what they (1) are doing and … saw what the government wasn not doing, what the media was not doing and then when The Nazi party, The Facist Movement, the totalitarian movement became popular” she was always very interested in what they are doing.

I am curious to understand what is her personal reason to be interested in such a topic as a Nazi movement in Greece. She explained: “I grew up in the middle of a lot of stories about the war. My father in law was from the resistance against the Nazi. My grandmother was from the resistance against the Italians. My family in Poland was from the resistance against Nazi. So, I grew up with stories about the war. Everybody has the stories to tell to me. The Fascist movement in Germany, in Italy, in Spain, in Greece the Dictatorship I was always interested in that because it can be the next war. When you have such a movement in the European country, when this movement is the third political force in your country… besides what they say, beside what the media skip in target … you have to understand why they do this, why people vote for them, and why they are on this level. Because now this level is bigger than ever.”

I continued to ask her the question about the message of the movie - what exactly is it and did it change from

POLITICAL & SOCIAL ISSUES

the begging of shooting till the end.

Her answer was very sharp and explicit: “First of all I am not a message maker. This is not my job. That does not mean that I don’t have a point of view. I just would like to send the idea. I just show things that are very important for me, that I saw, that I cannot turn off. And I let the people to make their own conclusion.

People are free. I think that people are suppose to be intelligent enough to do the journalist that the most important for a journalist is to be on a right place in a right time and I was. It was my opportunity. I was in the right place in a right time in a meaning of on that moment they need some publicity, some positive publiciy. And they believed that I will give it to them. So the party gave the authorization to people to speak to me.

Because if you don’t have the authorization you cannot speak to journalists. This is a military structure. So, this helped me as well.”. She also added: “...I was not working alone. I was with Thomas Iakobi. It meant a lot for me. Because it is Thomas’s job. I am not a teacher. I don’t believe that you as a journalists, author, photographer can be in partial...Because it is not true. The work you use, the topic you choose, the angle you choose as a photographer … you take a place.

Then you have to be justice and to show all the true… but true is not even the correct word… A lot of people believe that they say the truth. I don’t think that I can show the truth. I show what I feel and facts. I tried to be as justice and as right I can. This is why in the movie you can see good sight and bad sight of these people.

There is something that a lot of people missed. They are against the movie. They say: “It make them nice.”.

My answer is: “I am not a message maker. I am not a politician. I am not such a militant. I made a movie in which I took the people and I said: “Look, I want you to understand us. It is not my job. It is not possible for me.” I gave tools to people to make their own decision. What I think is that is truth. I gave them the best tool and the mood…. the tool, because I think that is better. Because I cannot be objective, or photographer, or anyone else.”

I was wondering what preparation is needed to make a documentary like this and asked Angelique. She answered me very excited that the first interview she made was with the editor of one of Golden Dawn newspapers. The idea came from the newspapers she saw in one kiosk near to Golden Dawn’s office and also close to her home. The edition was with provocative and racist headings and Nazi photos.

She was amazed that it is possible to happen in Greece. She used to live in France where it would be impossible, because it is forbidden by the law even today. In the movie these newspapers can be seen. She saved them for 25 years before to be authorize to cover Golden Dawn phenomenon with all the other journalists. She has been as a reporter on each of their event, every their rally, every food or blood spreading, everywhere they are. That is the reason that they became used to her presence and later to gave her a permission to speak with their members, to be on their local and national meetings, protests and even in the homes of their members.

For me it is hard to believe that just to be on every their event is enough for her to get the authorization to shoot. She explained me that before she was 35 kilos more - thing that helps her a lot actually. Why? She explained it like this: “Because you know they are racist against women and against fat people. In the mind of those people fat people cannot be smart, cannot be intelligent ...and that worked for me and to be honest I ...cultivated this idea.”.

I am interested to understand if it is true that they started to think for her as a part of Golden Dawn. She

POLITICAL & SOCIAL ISSUES

is categorical in her answer: “I don’t know but I have never given them this idea. I have never said that I have thought what they think, that I share their political views or that I was even someone who have some sympathy for them. Always told the truth which was that I want to show the phenomenon Golden Dawn and what they have in their mind.” Then came in my mind the question if they consider her as somebody who is not dangerous was enough for them to give her the opportunity to meet their members and to come in their heads, homes and motivate to vote for Golden Dawn. She answered: “...you know as a German - nice looking, blue eyes… and this was like carte de visite for me. In their mind German is always Nazi.

When he introduced himself they said: “Ok, we have some common ideas.” Thomas did not have of course, you know...but the fact that I was with a German that also help the situation.”

Our conversation went slowly to the political reasons of the existence of a party like Golden Dawn. On my questions surprised Angelique the more in a process of shooting and she answered that many things were a surprise. And continued “I was very surprised by the person which is the major in the movie. He is a mix of positive and negative things thas guy… He did a lot for orphanage people in Africa. He helped them and said: “I helped them to show what means to be Greek because I want the black to stay in Africa.” It surprised me because I was asking myself what is better to help them from this point of view or not to help them at all. … This guy is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And the question which is always in my mind is: “What would has happened if there was no crisis? Would that guy stay in the right party or would he has decided to stay in Golden Dawn party?”

This question has no answer for me. … because a lot of people discovered Golden Dawn because of the crisis like Mrs Stella. … Mrs Stella was starving. She lost her husband during the shooting. Mrs Stella had to face a very difficult situation. She had to feed her granddaughter, her nephew and son and she is alone. And because the Greek State is what it is, her easiest option was Golden Dawn.”

Angelique would like to underline that she meant not only an economical crisis but also a political one.

She shared that in shooting the movie she met a lot of people who vote for Golden Dawn without any Nazi preferences but just because they have been disgusted by the Greek political system. “This crisis that we have in Greece - the economical problem is the consequence of the political and social crises we have been passing through.” in her opinion.

We are going to the topic of the problems in Greek educational system and trust in Greek media in a combination with economical and political crises and how they affect of the excisting of a phenomen of Golden Dawn as a third political power in Greece. “I think that Hollywood and the movies teach more than what is supposed to teach from books. And this is a problem. And if you add this to the fact that Greeks do not trust the media, they do not trust what the journalist said because they believe that journalists are a part of the problem, that the journalists are not independent…

You can understand how people can vote to Golden Dawn without realising that they vote for the Nazi movement.” Through my questions she understood that I wanted to get why the people vote for Golden Dawn in a process of shooting, Angelique answered: “If you like to understand someone you have to … live with him, to feel what he feels, to eat what he east, to put yourself in his shoes. I really tried but I have no answer. I think crisis doesn’t explaine everything. It is a mix. You have a crisis. You have a lack of historical education in the Greek education system. You have the lack of confidence of Greeks to worth the journalists...”.

POLITICAL & SOCIAL ISSUES

more power National Front start a make up operation 5-10 years ago. ...

I asked Angelique to make a quick comparaison between Balkan’s Nazist parties and the same in Europe and to give her opinion from her wide point of view of international journalist. Her answer is: “Look, all these parties, Jobbik - the Movement for a Better Hungary, Atack in Bulgaria, National Front in France, the nationalistic party in Poland, the Czech nationalistic party, the Belgium one, are fascist parties. They are not just right.

They are fascist. The different key between those parties and National Front is that to get

To catch voters Marine Le Pen first of all through her father away. Then she started to make the people feel like brothers to make them think she is from far right party. Because she wanted to be known as the populist party, as a movement, a real patriotic movement. … If National Front would have done what Jobbik or Atack or even Golden Dawn have done, they would never could have this place now in France. …

So, she has a media strategy, which is to get rid off everything showing she is fascist in order to have this respect she wants in order to convince French people she is not a bad person, not a mean person, not a fascist person, but a real true patriot who looks for prosperity to French people and France. That is her goal and she is on the top to realize it.”. Angelique continues with examples to break the human rights in Europe’s context, which were not judjed by European media and the biggest human rights’ defenders as Great Britain and France. She continued: “Now we agree with segregated Europe, 28 countries of European signed an agreement with Turkey which says that everyone who is coming to Greece after 20th March is going to be send back to Turkey even if he/she is a refugee. So, we get rid off one by one everything with humanitarian and political value, which make us different from Golden Dawn’s, Atack’s or Jobbik’s members. The difference is that they do it openly and we do it politically correctly.”

As a final of our conversation I asked Angelique to add something which she did not have a chance to say before. She said: “... first of all in this movie I am the person whose name is in front but it is a common work.

I couldn’t do this movie without people from Omnia TV, who worked 1 year without being paid. I couldn’t do this movie without Thomas Jacobi, who is my partner in work, who was with me everyday. He was beaten by Golden Dawn. And without him I couldn’t have done it.” and added “...what we want is to start discussion. We are going everywhere we are invited to show the picture and start a discussion with people.

Next month (April) we will be in Germany and we are going to go all over the world.”

I wish luck to Angelique Kourounis and her team because they are the live proof that an art like directing documentary can be also a tool for opening a serious political discussion.

(1)she means Golden Dawn

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SANTORINI: WINTER WONDERLAND BETWEEN SKY ANDÂ SEA

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The greek island has numerous assets to attract travellers.

Clearly romantic, it’s unfortunately a cruel trap for tourists in the summer. For five months in a year, impossible to escape the crowd in its 40km². But what happens in the winter time?

Actually, it’s paradise for backpackers in seek of adventure and fresh air…

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My journey begins with flight tickets for less than 17€ for the whole trip and 25€ one night in a 4* hotel in the very core of Santorini.

As unbelievable as it could be, the prices decrease almost three times but nevertheless, the island is actually as charming as in July.

After renting a car for almost nothing, the road is calling me. As I am the only foreign customer of the city, I have the occasion to talk and share with local people, always welcoming and helpful. I get all the tips that other tourists can’t have, like the best and cheap typical tavern, hidden in an unknown place on the beach. A perfect view with irreproachable service and meals. Fresh sea food, fish cooked in front of your eyes & real Greek menu.

Moreover if you are a wine-lover, you can taste amazing beverage like nowhere else (and for a French girl, it’s hard to admit!)…

Totally full, I can enjoy first the south of the island with ten degrees more than the rest of Europe in this season and a heart-warming sun. Far from the boring white beaches, here they are black or red. Really original. The weather is good so I try a short walk in the sea that is not even cold. The mount Athinos, Pyrgos and the small villages look more beautiful than I’ve imagined. The colours are intense and the empty places give me the possibility to capture moments and take pictures like postal cards, thing that you cannot do during summer time. To finish the day, I drive along the cost to reach the famous white and blue city: Ia. I just breath deeply and enjoy the soft iodic breeze. I scream with full lands & feel like in Titanic but as I am the only one in the ghost town, nobody can judge me. I’m on the top of the world, it looks like heaven, the heaven that I’ve always pictured. All the shops are closed and we can only hear the sound of the waves meeting the wind. I leave mournfully Ia to reach Thira and watch the marvellous sunset behind the volcanic island Nea Kameni.

All the shiny houses become pink and I go to bed with my head full of memories.

My last afternoon in the island is meant to visit Thira. The narrow paths, the churches and its quiet center where I met less than ten people, will remind my favorite area. On my way to the port by the endless stairs, I experience the winter side of Santorini. The donkeys usually used to bring visitors in the upper city are now carrying bags of sand. On another hand, the workers are replacing the tourists to make the place ready for summer.

After a few hours of walking in the countryside I finally take a break, sitting on the rooftop of an empty house and say goodbye to the island.

Breathtaking view.

In two days, I made my dream come true & discovered that Santorini is so much more than touristic and cliché. It’s the perfect spot to relish the late sun of January, to feel free and peaceful. Everything is pure, not only the white buildings, but also the landscapes and the people. So my advice: take your bag, your camera and wander out!

Author & photos Maéva Bauval

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TRAVEL Hello there, In the last edition of BalkanBeats I mentioned two beautiful places: Edessa and Pozar in Greece. Yet, in this edition I would like to tell you my Belgium trip.

Let’s discover it! In Belgium I had the chance to visit Brussels, Ghent and Brugges. Those three cities were really really nice. I enjoyed every seconds in there!

B E LG I UM

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Before I went to Belgium, actually my expectations were really low. Because I read some travel articles about all cities where I wanted to go. However, many travelers didn’t say good things about Brussels. They say that the city is really boring, there are not so many things to do etc.

Maybe that’s why I enjoyed Brussels.

It took my expectation from the bottom to the top!

Firstly, I would like to tell you some information concerning Brussels: Brussels is the capital of Belgium and it has more than 1 million population.

At the same time it’s called “The Capital of Europe” Because of European Commission, Cabinet of EU and EU Parliament and almost all EU institutions are in Brussels. Most of the population speak only French.

Dutch is second popular language.

Both languages are official and equal in law! By the way Brussels has got a really huge Turkish population. For this reason you can see many kebab restaurants on the streets. When i went to Brussels, it was in March! It was really cold if i compare it with Thessaloniki in Greece! I think the best season to go to Belgium is end of spring or summer. You can enjoy more!

Now we can start our tour in Brussels! Firstly we will start from Grand Palace! Grand Palace in the city centre has many things to show as architecture. Hotel de Ville, Maison du Rui, Victor Hugo and Karl Marx’s houses, a really nice beer museum are just some of them. But i

would like to focus on Hotel de Ville!

It has used gothic architecture on that building and the gorgeous part is the 96 mt tower! If you also look carefully there is one strange thing about this building. The right part indeed is longer than left one! Yes, that is true! When they were building Hotel de Ville, the arthitect who is in charge couldn’t realise this mistake.

He realised when it was finished.

He was so ashame because of what he did and for this reason he threw himself from top of the tower!

Now we will pass to one of the biggest statue in Europe(!) “Manneken Pis”.

It is only 61 cm but this man is really famous all around Europe! There are many legend about him. And many people come to visit him. In special days they dress him up from his wardrobe. Yes, he actually has a wardrobe and possess more than 800 clothes!

One note for you: the street from Grand Palace to Manneken Pis called Waffle Shops Street and you can eat the cheapest waffle in Brussels. You’re welcome! ;) Then, the next stop is Delirium Cafe!

TRAVEL It has nothing historical to see but If you like beers you should go that that place when you come to Brussels. As our guide said it has more than 3000 different beers at the moment. If you are thinking to take a break, rest, chill and at the same time drink something delicious, Delirium Cafe is the right place!

Exept that, Royal Palace is another destination for tourists who are curious to see how the royal family live! But I’m sorry,you better visit Laeken Palace. Because the royal family is not living in Royal Palace.

Only the king is coming to work in this palace. Imagine guys, this palace is the King’s Office! That’s really cool! Of course it has some museums inside of the palace and you can visit them for free!

And our last destination Atomium, is a building in Brussels originally constructed for Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and the architects André and Jean Polak, it stands 102 m tall. It measures nine 18 m diameter, the stainless steel clad spheresare connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an ironcrystal magnified 165 billion times. The name is a combination of atom and aluminium. It is a museum. It really worth it to see it!

Of course Brussels has more than all those things that I counted. Bu you should definitely go to all the places I’ve mentionned!

Now after Brussels, next stop will be Ghent: GHENT is a small city between Brussels and Brugge but interesting to visit! And I’m sure that you

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will like it. Just even half day will be enough to see so many things. But when you enter the city, the first thing you see is Belfry Tower! The 91 mt. tall Belfry of Ghent is one of three medieval towers that overlook the old city centre of Ghent, Belgium, the other two belonging to Saint Bavo Cathedral and Saint Nicholas’ Church. Its height makes it the tallest belfry in Belgium. The belfry of Ghent, together with its attached buildings, belongs to the set of belfries of Belgium and France inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. It has used as a bell tower to warn people when enemies close to city or any fire in the city!

Saint Bavo Cathedral and Saint Nicholas Church are another pieces of puzzle for Ghent! Saint Bavo in 942, Saint Nicholas have complated in 13th century! Both churches made with gothic architecture.

Now we are going to one place where you can relax and enjoy the view!

This place called “Graslei” Take your drink, just sit for a while and watch the houses, people on boats, chill out a bit! And of course don’t forget to take many pictures from that view!

As you know usually castles are out or up of center! This one is a bit different than the others. Because when Lord Philip decided to build this castle for himself, (as a legend) he wanted to show off his power, his richness! And because of that he built the castle in the middle of the city, next to Graslei River! After the royal family, the castle has been used as a prison and courthouse! Now it’s just a museum for the royal family’s stuff.

A couple of years ago, the castle was been occupied by students! Yes it’s true! Students occupied the castle for a couple of weeks and after the police

took it back again!

Graffitistraaje (Werregarenstraat) is the place where you can take hundreds pictures for your social media accounts! ;) It’s approximately 300 mt but it has plenty of different kind of graffities! I’m sure that you will like it!

Ghent is really nice city, worth too visit and it has a special atmosphere that make you will feel the history!

After Ghent, we are going to another beautiful city of Belgium that I read many travel articles about, and many good feedbacks!

BRUGGE is a very historical city where is 30mins from Ghent, one hour from Brussels by train. Some people called Brugge Venice of North!

I don’t agree with that. Because both cities have different atmosphere and different expectations. During the World War II, almost all european cities were damaged. Especially when the German soldiers had to leave the city, they destroyed the critical points ( bridges, important buildings etc.) in order to slow down the enemies.

But luckyly, Brugge is not one of those cities. Brugge indeed, didn’t get damaged from the war! For this reason all city center is in Unesco World Heritage List!

According to me, the best way to visit Brugge is without any plan! If you like any street, go inside and discover it!

But of course, it has somethings that you shouldn’t come back without seeing.

Firstly you can start to visit from The Markt. This place is the heart of city!

It has many coffee shops, bars and restourants and the smybol of city “Belfort Tower” ! Belfort Tower is tall 83mt and it has 366 stairs that you can go up and see the wiev!They finished

to build it in 1240. Burg Square, The Curch of Our Lady, St. Salvator Cathedral, Basilica of the Holy Blood just some places that i suggest you to visit. But as i told you, Brugges is the city where you should get lost while you are visiting.

Before I end up my article, I also would like to say something about food and drinks concerning Belgium: Belgium is the Center of Beer, Waffle, French (Belgian) Fries and Chocolate!

But first of all beer: try to taste it as much as you can!

To conclude,I was really satisfied when I left Belgium! I highly recommend you to go to Belgium! It worth it to go, visit, taste. I’m sure that you will like it and enjoy your time there!

P.S.: This article is my last article for BalkanBeats. Because I almost finished my EVS in Thessaloniki, Greece! I will suggest you guys that if you have any opportunity to do EVS, do it! You will have perfect times. For sure you won’t regret!

Thank you!

Author and Photo Credit : Mert Girengir

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Music industry and dominant artists in 2016 Considered as one of the most profitable entertainment in the economical market, the music industry is constantly in evolution and each year as its own particularity. Changes have been occurring and something quite new is being born. Music is first of all, a reflection of people’s trends, enthusiasm and state of mind as it is a daily-life tool that will endure forever. It can easily explain the society and how we are living.

Responding to the strong interests from the audience, artists and their labels are giving their best to fulfil every taste. Make everything to be distinguished from the others due to the constant competition.

They also need to be adapted to the digital era that matters more than ever.

To make a forecast of what the musical industry will look like in 2016, a brief glimpse into this past year is needed. Based on charts position and the top selling, two renowned ceremonies in February 2016 rewarded the best performers who lead the musical landscape in 2015. At the 58th Grammy awards, the talented Kendrick Lamar made a clean sweep, winning a total of 5 awards. But Taylor Swift won the most prestigious price of the ceremony with her “1989” album. At the brit awards, Adele

was the queen of the night with 4 awards including “Global artist”.

During those ceremonies, a new generation have been rewarded, the British singers Ed sheeran and James Bay, or the Canadian The Weeknd. This great privilege marks a big step in a career and recompenses every effort that the artists are willing to do.

Many upcoming projects have been announced for this actual year. A supposed comeback of Britney Spears, Gorillaz and the Black Eyes Peas, new albums for the Australian Flume, Frank Ocean, Empire of the Sun or the pop singer Lady Gaga. But if we focus on the last album released for this year debut. Some of them have been highly acclaimed, mostly because they were long awaited or controversial and this simply arouses the audience’s interest. Therefore, they might be the leading artists of 2016 as they perfectly know how to sell themselves in a brilliant way.

Kanye West has made a strong marketing plan before releasing his album “The Life of Pablo”.

Using his Twitter account in order to spark controversies and have a larger visibility of his upcoming album, the expectations were high and he succeeded to promote himself in an odd way.

The result is a complex, conflicted

and ambitious masterpiece in phase with his author’s state of mind but he convinced the audience by the authenticity of his work: emotional, explosive and unpredictable.

Dropping unpredictable new projects is definitely the trend for artists to get themselves talked about. Kendrick Lamar just released a surprise new compilation of 8 tracks called “Untitled mastered” in March. Sia used a list of twelve-track concept record that were initially written for famous artists such as Adele, Shakira and Beyonce for “This is acting”. But in terms of surprises, Beyonce is a master in the game and she dropped to the world, her most powerful work. Early this month, she teased something called Lemonade on her Instagram account, then delivered a short trailer on HBO for the visual filled.

No one knew what the “World Premiere Event” would include, but everyone knew it was coming.

When Lemonade finally arrived on TV, it turned out to be another visual album, a powerful artistic statement. Lemonade will take times to dissect properly because the music is so rich and the visual album contains an endless array of arresting images.

After 4 years of long break, the biggest in her career, Rihanna’s

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long awaited project has been promoted in the most unusual way but very efficient. Declaring to the press that her album should come out “very soon” but without giving more information, Rihanna tweeted the link to ANTIdiaRy.com, a site powered by Samsung, in November 2015. The singer had inked a 25$ Million contract with the multinational company to not only promote Samsung Galaxy line of products, but to also sponsor the release of Anti and it’s supporting tour. They both released a 16sec cryptic video for Anti and then proceeded to launch eight “rooms’” over the following 9 weeks. Each of the rooms corresponding to her previous albums, detailing her personal life and including clues of her upcoming album. The album has been finally dropped through Tidal on January 27, 2016 and was made available for free download for one week. Anti became platinum with one million downloads and was streamed 13 million times after 14 hours of its released. Seven weeks after the release, the album has been steamed over 275 million times on Spotify and sold over 279,000 copies in the United States which is impressive.

The industry meant to be shaped by the new technologies and music has become a digital enterprise. There are start-ups, new platforms and plenty of young entrepreneurial artists who are looking to take some power back and make profits of it. We are living at a time now where media consumption is more than common, within the use of smartphones and tablets; we increasingly consume and search for new music on platforms.

There are multiple platforms such as Youtube or Vevo, available for musicians to perform and share live music, a great way to engage with fans and add value to their audiences. With the growth of live streaming technologies which has been around almost a decade, like Spotify, artists can now reach a larger audience and be discovered more easily. Moreover, social media have nowadays a massive impact on the way artists and labels act throughout the industry. Indeed with Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, it has indeed allowed artists to gather more data in order to understand more their audiences, to promote themselves and gain a great popularity. It is also a way for them to know where they should invest more in touring. The industry has turned into one of the most exciting due to its natural desire for creativity and success.

Between those who already have a long career in this industry and the new talents who are trying to make their own path, the competition tends to be ruthless. Producing or singing isn’t sufficient enough and the top leading artists would be the ones who know how to communicate to their fans in several ways. Indeed, a great marketing plan and innovation could be the key of success.

Music industry and dominant artists in 2016 Considered as one of the most profitable entertainment in the economical market, the music industry is constantly in evolution and each year as its own particularity. Changes have been occurring and something quite new is being born. Music is first of all, a reflection of people’s trends, enthusiasm and state of mind as it is a daily-life tool that will endure forever. It can easily explain the society and how we are living.

Responding to the strong interests from the audience, artists and their labels are giving their best to fulfil every taste. Make everything to be distinguished from the others due to the constant competition. They also need to be adapted to the digital era that matters more than ever.

To make a forecast of what the musical industry will look like in 2016, a brief glimpse into this past year is needed. Based on charts position and the top selling, two renowned ceremonies in February 2016 rewarded the best performers who lead the musical landscape in 2015. At the 58th Grammy awards, the talented Kendrick Lamar made a clean sweep, winning a total of 5 awards. But Taylor Swift won the most prestigious price of the ceremony with her “1989” album. At the brit awards, Adele was the queen of the night with 4 awards including “Global artist”. During those ceremonies, a new generation have been rewarded, the British singers Ed sheeran and James Bay, or the Canadian The Weeknd. This great privilege marks a big step in a career and recompenses every effort that the artists are willing to do.

Many upcoming projects have been announced for this actual year. A supposed comeback of Britney Spears, Gorillaz and the Black Eyes Peas, new albums for the Australian Flume, Frank Ocean, Empire of the Sun or the pop singer Lady Gaga. But if we focus on the last album released for this year debut. Some of them have been highly acclaimed, mostly because they were long awaited or controversial and this simply arouses the

CULTURE

audience’s interest. Therefore, they might be the leading artists of 2016 as they perfectly know how to sell themselves in a brilliant way.

Kanye West has made a strong marketing plan before releasing his album “The Life of Pablo”. Using his Twitter account in order to spark controversies and have a larger visibility of his upcoming album, the expectations were high and he succeeded to promote himself in an odd way. The result is a complex, conflicted and ambitious masterpiece in phase with his author’s state of mind but he convinced the audience by the authenticity of his work: emotional, explosive and unpredictable.

Dropping unpredictable new projects is definitely the trend for artists to get themselves talked about.

Kendrick Lamar just released a surprise new compilation of 8 tracks called “Untitled mastered” in March.

Sia used a list of twelve-track concept record that were initially written for famous artists such as Adele, Shakira and Beyonce for “This is acting”. But in terms of surprises, Beyonce is a master in the game and she dropped to the world, her most powerful work. Early this month, she teased something called Lemonade on her Instagram account, then delivered a short trailer on HBO for the visual filled. No one knew what the “World Premiere Event” would include, but everyone knew it was coming. When Lemonade finally arrived on TV, it turned out to be another visual album, a powerful artistic statement. Lemonade will take times to dissect properly because the music is so rich and the visual album contains an endless array of arresting images.

After 4 years of long break, the biggest in her career, Rihanna’s long awaited project has been promoted in the most unusual way but very efficient. Declaring to the press that her album should come out “very soon” but without giving more information, Rihanna tweeted the link to ANTIdiaRy.com, a site powered by Samsung, in November 2015. The singer had inked a 25$ Million contract with the multinational company to not only promote Samsung Galaxy line of products, but to also sponsor the release of Anti and it’s supporting tour. They both released a 16sec cryptic video for Anti and then proceeded to launch eight “rooms’” over the following 9 weeks. Each of the rooms corresponding to her previous albums, detailing her personal life and including clues of her upcoming album. The album has been finally dropped through Tidal on January 27, 2016 and was made available for free download for one week. Anti became platinum with one million downloads and was streamed 13 million times after 14 hours of its released. Seven weeks after the release, the album has been steamed over 275 million times on Spotify and sold over 279,000 copies in the United States which is impressive.

The industry meant to be shaped by the new technologies and music has become a digital enterprise. There are start-ups, new platforms and plenty of young entrepreneurial artists who are looking to take some power back and make profits of it. We are living at a time now where media consumption is more than common, within the use of smartphones and tablets; we increasingly consume and search for new music on platforms.

There are multiple platforms such as Youtube or Vevo, available for musicians to perform and share live music, a great way to engage with fans and add value to their audiences. With the growth of live streaming technologies which has been around almost a decade, like Spotify, artists can now reach a larger audience and be discovered more easily. Moreover, social media have nowadays a massive impact on the way artists and labels act throughout the industry. Indeed with Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, it has indeed allowed artists to gather more data in order to understand more their audiences, to promote themselves and gain a great popularity. It is also a way for them to know where they should invest more in touring. The industry has turned into one of the most exciting due to its natural desire for creativity and success.

Between those who already have a long career in this industry and the new talents who are trying to make their own path, the competition tends to be ruthless. Producing or singing isn’t sufficient enough and the top leading artists would be the ones who know how to communicate to their fans in several ways. Indeed, a great marketing plan and innovation could be the key of success.

Author Antoine Bergamo

CULTURE

THE LEGEND OF JOHN LENNON John Lennon was a poet, drawer, multi-instrumentalist, actor and activist. His creative genius, the innovative spirit that animated him, the desire of thinking outside the box helped him to let his childhood dream become true, achieving resounding success with his band, The Beatles and later with his solo career.

But he was also a rebel soul with a difficult childhood. He had a charismatic, but multifaceted and controversial personality, with also a turbulent and criticized love story with the artist Yoko Ono. Even his death had wide appeal: at 40 years old he was killed with

a shoot by an insane fan.

All those aspects contribute to turn John Lennon’s figure into a myth for everyone.

John Winston Lennon was born on 9th October 1940 in Liverpool, during a bombing of Second World War.

In 1942 his parents broke up, so that in 1946 he went to live with his aunt Mimi.

When John started to attend the Liverpool College of Art, he became interested in music, playing guitar, as well. Well known is what his aunt Mimi told him while he was practicing his instrument: “The guitar’s all very well, John, but you’ll never make a living out of it”. Probably, this brought good luck to him!

In 1957 John Lennon founded his first band, the “Quarry Men”, and, during a concert, Paul McCartney was very impressed

by John’s cleverness with guitar and his insight applied on musical notes.

It’s the beginning of a significant artistic cooperation with more than 200 lyrics written, but, at the same time, this collaboration was quite affected by a rivalry for the leadership.

Later, Paul’s friend, the fifteenyear-old George Harrison, joined them, giving birth to the core of the Beatles.

At John’s aunt’s house they start to compose their first songs, and in June 1962 the band was

enriched with a new member, the drummer Ringo Starr.

The first album, “Please Please Me”, with the song “Love Me Do”, led them to success.

The English band with their poprock ballads revolutionized the music of that period so much so

that a new vogue spread: it was called “Beatles mania”.

In 1965 they got also the title of “Baronets” from Queen Elizabeth II (despite later John will refuse the title because of Great Britain took part in the Vietnam War).

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After a further musical breakthrough in 1967, with the concept album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, the Beatles went to India for a spiritual and intellectual research.

After this experience, various songs were characterized by exotic charm and the sound of Sitar, including “Norwegian Wood” and “Across the Universe”.

In 1968, their “White Album” is released to the public. Many fans consider it the Beatles’ finest compilation, a sublime mix of pop, melodic, psychedelic rock and avant-garde music.

soloist, influenced by Yoko Ono. In 1971, when he is triumphing with his single “Imagine”, an anthem to peace and universal love, Lennon said: “The sixties have been the scenario of revolution among youngster, which has involved the whole way of thinking. The Beatles were part of this revolution, which it’s still in progress. We were all on this ship in the sixties, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World. And The Beatles were in the crow’s nest of that ship.”

Beside the music, John Lennon got involved so much with Despite the great success, tension political activism that Yoko Ono started to affect the band, because and He were both watched over of John and Paul’s quarrel for

by FBI. the leadership and George and Ringo’s will in getting more In 1975 the couple had a child, visibility.

Sean, and John took a break from music in order to stay with Moreover, in this period, John his family, but joy is short, and dated the artist Yoko Ono, who on December 8th 1980, John will be accused by the group to Lennon was killed by a deranged be the reason of John’s removal fan. from the band.

His death represents the end of Yoko Ono and John Lennon got an era. His journalist and friend married in 1969 and they spend Jonathan Cott doesn’t have any their honey moon holding a doubts about Lennon’s success: non violent “bed-in” protesting “In Lennon’s songs everyone was against the war in Vietnam. included in his world. Together In the same year, the Beatles hold was his keyword”. their last performance on Apple Records’ roofs, and the album Today, almost 76 years after his “Abbey Road” is released to the birth and 36 after his death, the public. legend of John Lennon is still alive and keeps on fascinating In 1970, after their last album entire generations: not only “Let It Be”, we had the official nostalgic people of the great split of the band. Despite this, sixties, but also lot of youngsters John continued his career as who still celebrate him as a

timeless icon of beat music and universal brotherhood.

Author Emanuele Scapaticci

Quotations to add under “IMAGE 1”: Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people sharing all the world You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will live as one.

-Imagine-

Quotations to add among the layout of the article: “We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun” -Instant Karma“All we are saying is give peace a chance ” -Give Peace A Chance“You say you want a Revolution; you better get it on right away” -Power To The People-

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Discovering day after day Thessaloniki, I realized that this city is 100% permeated by the Balkans culture, which is something we are not necessarily aware about in North Europe.

Since I am French, I was curious regarding the Balkan culture and its history.

Therefore, I attended to Balkan Festival, without any other expectations than my curiosity.

The smell of the traditional souvlaki and the first rumbles of Bouzouki overwhelmed me as I was approaching the entrance. Hence, the Balkan atmosphere revealed me unexpectedly its unique perfume of happiness and freshness, mixing art and tradition with an painting exhibition and a concert. Even though I did not know either the lyrics or the traditional dance, I actually let the rhythm of the music delight me and I just appreciated this warm moment.

The people were smiling and dancing, drinking beer or taking a break shopping in the bazar. All generations gathered together, unity and lightness making this moment so special.

In this way, the party started.

Welcome to 6th edition of Thessaloniki Balkan Festival!

«Balkan Fest is the first inter-balkan festival, which hosts art, culture and cuisine from the participating balkan countries. This festival is organised to promote the culture of Balkan countries, to fight discrimination and to promote population diversity. Through arts, culture and cuisine people feast together on everyday similarities and realize that Balkan folk has more in common than in contrast.

We urge the communication between artists as well as the open dialogue and experience swapping between all attendants. We are bringing cultural representatives, embassies and consulates, educational organizations and agents from Balkan countries on the same site in an effort to bridge the distances and provide opportunities. “Kids in Action” One week after the 6th edition of this folkloric event, we decided to go back to WE, where the Balkan festival took place. Let’s flash back to this special event, trying to learn more about it.

Our reporter Yesim Bayrak got a private interview with Giorgos Georgiadis, member of Kids in Actions, organizer of Balkan Festival.

Yesim Bayrak: Can you briefly introduce Kids in Action?

Giorgos Georgiadis: Kids in Action is a non profit organization established in 2003 in Thessaloniki, We are 15 members working actively in Thessaloniki, working with young people.

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After 6 Balkan festivals, we have indeed kind of experience in how to organize it.

We usually try to involve embassies. We host artists, musicians and photographers, we give them space and time to introduce their work to the audience in Thessaloniki.

YB: How and when did you make the decision of establish the Balkan Festival?

GG: We have been travelling with Kids in Action around Balkan countries for many years and discovered that in many countries we have share a lot of things. The habitants of Thessaloniki indeed have many common characteristics with Balkans and we are proud of it!

Thus, 5 years ago we thought to organize a festival based on Balkan culture, in order to introduce our culture through a festival. We also cooperate with Balkans beyond borders festival and get support from them.

YB: Thessaloniki Balkan festival 2016 took place on 11st March, but when did you start working on it?

GG: Since the beginning of the year. We contacted the banks in January and set up the programme composed of 6 or 7 band sound equipments. It actually needs a lot of details to contact the bands, organize their interview, then promote their work in social media.

YB: How did you decide which band will play and join the festival?

GG: We first work with the embassies, we meet them and introduce who we are and what is our project about.

Then, they propose us some bands and we discuss if they fit our idea of Balkan festival. From now on, we have got a network of Greek bands who play Balkan music.

YB: Does this festival have as a goal to promote the Balkan culture?

GG: The main goal of Balkan Festival is to gather all the nations and avoid stereotypes. Discover indeed that so many things can unite us.

YB: Before Balkan festival 2016, what were your expectations and have you fulfilled them yet? Any feedback?

GG: We have fulfilled our expectations and we really liked the atmosphere. We received 700 guests!

And the people enjoyed it. This year we hosted a band from Skopje in FYROM. We unfortunately have received some negative comments from the Greek society because of the issue of Macedonia and FYROM: «Why did not their country find a solution about the name?».

The answer is: «that is why we’re doing Balkan Fest: to understand that there are no differences between the nations.

YB: What are your advice to make this kind of event successful?

GG: Hard work and always believe it! Sometimes because of all the negative aspects, such as the negative feedback concerning the election of Skopje for instance, we thought it will not be successful. However, the people believed in this festival: they came and enjoyed it.

YB: Is there any charity donation profit concerning the refugees help through Balkan Fest?

GG: We have a group who organized a second hand bazar shop. Many Greeks give many clothes for the refugees crisis. So they have a stock of clothes in good conditions. Then the money earn from the bazar is spent for food and general needs for refugees. Moreover, people can buy the items from the price that they valuate, how they believe fair it is.

YB: Thank you very much Giorgos for sharing all this precious information with us! Would you like to add something else?

GG: I would say that at the beginning it was hard to convince the embassies to support us but at the end it worth it.

The people who have been following us until now like the festival. This year we have tried to improve ourselves and we reached it.

After these precious words and information, I keep being convinced that Balkan Fest is something you cannot miss as a foreigner living in Thessaloniki!

It is definitely a good way to integrate and understand the Balkan culture.

See you again in Thessaloniki Balkan Fest 2017!

Article and interview from: Yesim Bayrak and Esther Mastrodicasa Photos from: Kostis Argiriadis, photographer

Petrinja – travel destination!?

When you say Petrinja, Croatia many people will ask you where is it and what it is exactly. The easiest way to explain is to say South from Zagreb approximately half an hour by car. It is a small city in continental Croatia which populates around 20,000 people.

First meeting someone they always ask me where are you from I reply Croatia and the immediate response is OH you’re from Zagreb? No people, I am not from Zagreb. Even though I live near to it I do not like this stereotype that everyone in Croatia is either from Zagreb or lives on the seaside. This is because my city is not even popular in the county I’m from let along abroad.

If you say Petrinja you certainly do not picture a travel destination, actually you don’t have much to picture.

Of course it depends on who you ask, if you ask the locals they will tell you the same as me but if you ask the tourist agencies of Petrinja they’ll tell you a different story. This city is a relatively new and is going through some major repairs which is giving it a new look that I can say I am proud of. Petrinja has not one but two rivers, although one is quite small and runs only through some villages and the city itself which the river got it’s name – Petrinjčica, the other one is much more popular and flows all through the continental part of Croatia. The bank of this second and bigger river called Kupa is preserved nicely and it provides us many lovely beaches, especially the one in Petrinja. It is very well equipped with benches, barbecues all for public use, a bar which also has a ice-cream stand, with homemade ice-cream, plenty of trees to provide you with shadow when it gets too hot and of course few handsome rescue guards for all the non swimmers, beginners and just clumsy people such as myself. This is one of the most attractive beaches in this area and also a very popular place for all young and not so young people to enjoy during summer days. There are many festivals such as “Petrinjska Kobasijada” which is basically grilling a lot of sausages and giving them to the people who came for this event. This event is every year during summer and this year it is on the 23th of April. As I already said there many events during summer and all throughout the year, every year we host motorcyclists from all over Croatia and some even from abroad and make a big party in their honour. Also there is the day of our city to be correct it is the name day of the protector of our city, his name is St. Lovro and on this day people come to the concert drink beer meet with their friends and enjoy the biggest celebration of the year.

This event occurs every year on the 10th of July and it usually means one whole week of concerts, different events and celebration. Petrinja is an active city throughout the year, so we have many Christmas fairs and folk dancing in the city centre.

But aside all of these happenings which are very dear to my heart my favourite part of the city are its hanging out spots and the people. Young people of this city will accept anyone no matter their religion, nationality or skin colour. This is because we don’t care if you are Christian, orthodox or whatever as long as you are a good person you will get accepted. One of my favourite places to go out with my friends is the city market.

Yes you have read it correctly. During the day people trade food, clothes, shoes and many other things and during the night youngsters gather and bond. Over the weekend we gather in big numbers bring guitars, our good spirits, drinks and have fun. This place has been the biggest gathering place for many years. When my sisters were teenagers they went to this place and many other generations as well. It has become a tradition of the city if you ever visit it you just have to live one Saturday night at the market. There are many bars and coffee places which are also full during the weekend because everyone has his preferences and enjoys

different things. In case you are more of a club or bar kind or person, you can visit one of many in the city centre area. Sadly there is no variety of music or people who go to these places, turbo folk is very popular and it will not go without a fight for at least a couple more decades it will be the most popular kind of music.

If you want variety you’ll have to organize your own party in some places that you can rent for no more that 10€. For this price you get just a room with a table, the music you have to bring on your own and all the equipment but this is not a problem if you have friends in the city. For a much bigger price you can rent a whole cafe bar and use any of the perks that go with it.

Another very popular hanging site is the bank of the river Petrinjčica. Don’t go crazy before I explain what is going on here. The bank of the river is extremely nice. It has many benches and trees along the river flow.

If you don’t mind mosquitoes and lots of them, you’ll enjoy drinking here and being with your friends. This spot is not only for night time, it is great for talking a walk and letting the wind blow through your hair while the sun is pampering your skin in the shadows of the trees. This has been my favourite spot when I was somewhat younger because I wasn’t drinking just met my friends and rode my bike.

If you like parks we have one not so big right next to the bus station, you get off the bus and walk through the park relaxing your brain. In the middle of the park there is one fountain which is nice and when you really focus on the water you really get into a kind of relaxed trans, thinking about nothing and waiting for the bus or for your friends. As I mentioned before I like riding my bike through the city and if you like it too you’re in for a surprise. There is a yearly bike fest where everyone takes their bikes and rides it all over the city. On the edges of the city there are many natural water springs and every direction you go, also on the edges, there are big forests with a lot of natural life.

The city itself has a lot to offer if you like a peaceful small place to relax and meet your friends. Its not very popular for monuments so if you’re into that I suggest to visit Dubrovnik. Even though it’s small it has a big heart and young people are full of life and provide good company. I can say that I know every place there is to know about this city and it makes me proud to be a part of it. I am one of the 20,000 chosen ones, just kidding. If you are ever in this area around summer go to Kupa you will not regret it :) Author Valentina Petrak

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ReBORN: “# Hush_Tag- SCANDALOUS POPSTAR DAVID ALMAS HOW CAME UP AND WHO WERE LADY GAGA AND JEFFERY STAR IN FRONT OF HIM?!

David Almas was born in 1996. His father was a famous musician but he broke up with the music in the 2006. This was the worst moment in David’s life; he has tried 3 times the suicides without success.

In 2010 he participated in the reality television singing competition “THE VOICE Greece”, where he was noticed by the producers of “Virginia/Universal”.

They proposed to him a long contract but, after a short discussion with his family, it was rejected.

Her family decided to let him produce himself, because he had his own idea of how it had to be his image that was completely different from the proposal of Virginia, so he decided to started to make covers of the songs of the famous and scandalous pop star Jeffery Star.

To the audience liked him so much - because he was totally different, innovative and out of the standard towards the other pop singers- that he became famous so fast that he started to make his own production.

He followed the image of Lady Gaga, collaborating with the music style of Jeffery Star. This really innovative pop was really easy to sell also because it was a commercial music.

5 years later he decided to surprise his fans with the new album “# Hush_Tag” that it was launched in the market during the middle of the summer.

In the album there were some special surprises for his fans like bonus songs, where he collaborated with his Bulgarian colleagues -DJ Zouny Meral & DJ Nadin from “NEW SOUND PROJECT”. Furthermore, the cover of the album “#Hush_Tag” contained scandal photos from his photo shooting.

David Almos doesn’t want to speak about his private life because he wants to save his own privacy, but and also his work-team is far away from the lights of the medias. He wants to show just his art because only this is important for the fans.

He is also keen on make-up art and journalism and he knows perfectly how to produce himself. He is

dreaming to make his own international music tour in USA in the summer 2017, because the music is his reason to live.

He knows that the hit song has got simple melody and easy danceable for the fans. The good song has to promote a good message.

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The BULGARIAN JOURNALISM : CORUPT OR NOT?!

Her name is Maria Moskova, one of the most popular names in the world. She likes her name, but she always felt that there is karma in it. She thinks that journalism is also karma. Fate, happiness and punishment. She was graduated in psychology, but She could not work in her field of study. But psychology is present every day in her work and helps her to work for radio and newspaper, but briefly.

17 years of her life have been dedicated to the TV screen. She is Programme director and anchor of the Morning News Block of RN-TV “Channel 0”, Burgas, Bulgaria.

Is there such type of animal, called “Balkan journalism”?

There are many good journalists in the Balkans, they are becoming increasingly bold in their desire to change things. But I think there is still a huge difference between the journalism of the Balkan countries and the other countries in Europe. In Bulgaria also we have different conditions, unfortunately, organized crime is part of politics and the media. This creates an invisible press of fear and self-censorship on journalists.

What type of language have the Balkan medias?

I have no direct experience of other Balkan countries.

In Bulgaria, the language of various media is determined mainly on who owns them and what goals pursued. Very rarely are free journalists who stand out and are intelligent and not bought, custom or just cowardly. There is hardly another country where there are televisions that serve only one particular politician or most newspapers are owned by a politician and his mother. From such “media” can be expected drop objectivity.

How they must to improve their news policies?

In this country the media are not independent . They are political instrument. I do not think that the media may influence politicians. You will never be aware of anything , nothing is detected despite the great efforts of the investigative journalists. Nothing change! No consequences, no convictions, no resignations.

The people can only protest and put pressure on politicians, but this is not happening. People are increasingly depressed and apathetic.

Are the medias be able to provoke tolerance speech and intercultural dialog?

Of course we can. We are the main intermediary between people. Journalists are those who reflect events, news and conflict. We choose specific words

and phrases. Thus, they propagate the respect, attitudes, emotions. Here is the full responsibility of the journalist because the language is our weapon, we must to be very careful about that.

What is the most important for you as journalist?

Most importantly ... the most difficult issue. I’m not one of those straight people who are convinced that the truth is the most important thing because I know that the truth is never one and always depends on which side you stand. So I try to be objective and fair.

Not to judge but to learn. Do not suggest, but to reveal to the people the various positions.

What is the most important for you as a person?

As human being, I am no different from what I do at work. No one. Everything as the character, temperament, such as education and experience… you can vividly see in the TV, radio, online or on the

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paper.

You cannot hide your weaknesses and pretend to be someone else. If it will happen, it will be very brief .. So in life I expect from all the people, tolerance, objectivity and empathy. If they do not then they will be out of my loop.

How do you see the situation in the nowadays in the Balkans?

The situation in the Balkans has always been complex, today and in history.

The Balkans were directed from diverse interests often oppose us. We are hot and temperamental people with many qualities and talents, but also quite lazy and unruly.

We are far from the norm and context in which it wants to put the EU. So we need to stick together and to support us each other, to keep the old and authentic culture that makes us unique.

What must to be changed in the policies to improve the Balkans as a better place to live on?

First of all, we need to change people’s attitudes, then will be natural to change.. also the politicians. The voters need to read more, to be interested in the real business of any politician, and not to believe to the silly promises during elections. I believe that ,in Bulgaria, still operate the Communists and their successors.

All power structures, the judiciary, all political parties are even derivatives of the old communist structures. This is our big trouble in comparison with other Balkan countries.

If there was a possibility for you to give us a journalistic advice, which will be the most important that you want to share with us from your journalism experience?

I already shared my important principles at work. Other. Read a lot, watch a lot and listen to others. There is nothing more ridiculous than a journalist who has not noticed that his companion had already answered the next question on the list.

For the End-Wish something to our readers  I wish you creative longevity!

Author Plamen Slavov

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“THE SHADOW SELF”-20 YEARS TARJA TURUNEN ON THE FOCUS OF LIGHTS 20 years after the beginning of Tarja’s career, she is dreaming a cover version of her song made by Peter Gabriel. Tarja Turunen has began her public career under the lights of Fashion TV as a presenter. She is so keen on fashion and because of that she decided to create one her own fashion line.

For her 20th Years Celebration on stage, the editors of her first fashion show have made a retrospection of her clothing and hairstyles from the beginning of her stage career to nowadays. This special gift has taught her that you can see more of the world if you are travelling and we don’t know anything for the world that we live in. The most beautiful knowledge, according to Tarja Turunen is the Life Long Learning.

Tarja hopes that she can be as good mother as she is as singer and she believes that the salvation of all problems is in the working on yourself, on psychological and physical level.

She is so happy when she hear from her fans that she saved their life with her image of powerful and strong woman, who is fitting for the causes that she believes in.

She is really protective when she is speaking about her private life, especially with her daughter. Tarja Turunen has tried to protect her from the lights of the medias and to put her away of Tarja’s music world as famous singer, because she doesn’t want to make her a daughter famous.

The music is Tarja’s reason to live and she will continue her music career as travel singer, even when her daughter is starting the primary school. Tarja Turunen loves to sing for her fans, who want to see and to hear her on the stage, and because of that reason she gives her best to reject singing on private parties, where nobody is interested in the music. She never give up her motivation and she believes that you must to catch the right moment, to work with the right people and the radio stations to like and rotate your music.

Tarja Turunen knows that the hit one song is that one with the good melody, which is easy for sing from all the people in the world. The good song has got a good message sent to the audience and make them to associate with the song.

Her new album “THE SHADOW SELF” will be released on the 5th of August 2016,just 11 years after she has been fired as front woman of the band “Nightwish”, because of business reasons, without any bad feelings, how it was announced in to the band’s open letter, published in their website. There will be many surprises along the way of released of “The shadow self ”. They will follow so soon.

Tarja Turunen also revealed that this will be the heaviest one album in her music career.

It is so important what the people are interested in right now, because the people and the world are easy changeable and the music must to be changed with them.

Author Plamen Slavov

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New month, new things to check, rate, see and show!

New month, new things to check, rate, see and show! So, lets start and let us guide you through past two months. This month in our list: Laptop of 2016!

Best Laptop Overall It was a hard choice, lots and lots of categories and performances behind us, we came up with best of the best..

Dell XPS 13 Thanks to a razor-thin bezel, the Dell XPS 13 crams a vibrant and sharp 13-inch display into an 11-inch chassis, making it one of the most compact ultra portables ever. This 2.7-pound laptop also delivers fast performance, thanks to its Intel 6th Generation Core processor and SSD. The non-touch-screen version of this machine lasted nearly 12 hours on a charge, giving you plenty of endurance. Dell also sells a version with a sharper, quad-HD touch display. Overall, the new XPS 13 is the best lightweight laptop for the money.

Specs CPU: 2.3-GHz Intel Core i5-6200U Operating System: Windows 10 Home RAM: 8 GB Hard Drive Size: 128 GB Honourable Mentions If you like gaming and prefer laptops to do your job, than first place definitely takes Alienware 17 R3. This 17-inch gaming laptop for 2016 with an Intel 6th Generation Core i7 CPU and the latest Nvidia GTX 970M or 980M graphics. Also Asus did a great job with ZenBook ProUX501VW makig the best video/ photo editing laptop.

All in all, no mater what laptop you have or you decide to have it, you should treat him well. In order to do that and to do it right we are going to help you in next edition of our magazine with helpful tips and tricks to help your lovely laptop or PC live longer and better.

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Top 10 Most Popular Sports in The World What do you know about world’s biggest sports?

Here you have a list of the world’s most watched sport in the world, trying to measure the amount of fans around the globe for each type of sport and the online sports news websites on a daily basis across some of the world’s biggest countries.

10. American Football Regional popularity: Europe, Africa, Asia, America, Australia In other words this game is commonly referred as the national obsession of millions of Americans. Most probably these millions have propelled the sport into the list of most popular sports in the world. Its impact is negligible outside of North America.

Analyzing many estimations from various sources, the final conclusion is around 400 million of fans around all the globe for this particular sport. But the surprise is, nearly half of the total are counted from the United States and Canada.

9. Basketball Regional popularity: America Basketball developed in America in the late 19th century. Mostly Americans dominated the first century of the sport. Unfortunately the game has slowly spread throughout the world. But still, other countries like Argentina, Lithuania and Australia have developed great talent. They all have become competitive nowadays.

Urbanization of the whole globe has strongly affected its growth everywhere. Probably basketball is one of very few sports that can be played in minimal space. And urban environment is always lacking a little more space.

With more than 400 million spectators around the globe Basketball is now at 9th in the list of top 10 most popular sports in the world 2016.

8. Golf Regional popularity: Europe, Asia, America, Canada It is believed that golf started at the age of 13th century.

But it wasn’t solidified as sport then. In Scotland, the sport was promptly banned by King James 2nd before the early 1400’s. People often say, this sport is possibly the only one where its home of origin is still used as a playing ground, the Old Course at St. Andrews has been used for the last 500 years for golfing.

With more than 450 million fans from Europe, Asia,

America and Canada, Golf isnumber 8 most popular sport in the world.

7. Baseball Regional popularity: America, Japan Baseball was basically developed from the game of rounder’s in England.

This particular sport has one of the longest-standing codes of play. But you can also notice that the major rules have not changed since 1901.

In the year of 1876, the National League (the first formal league) was founded. At that time it was consisted of American teams only.

The game has become the leading spectator sport in Japan. Some of the Central and South American countries celebrate this popular sport as their national sport.

There are around 500 million fans in US, Cuba, Japan and Dominican Republic. Baseball is now at 7th in the list of top 10 most popular sports in the world.

6. Table Tennis Regional popularity: Europe, Africa, Asia, America Table Tennis is that sport which is hugely popular in China. And gradually it is gaining acceptance in Europe.

The sport is around not more than a century. But it was quickly adopted in mainland Asia.

Now a time, Table Tennis have almost 850 million fans all-round the globe. Mostly from Asia, specifically China. These huge 850 million fans reassures its minimum 6th position in the most famous sports list ( most popular sports in the world ).

5. Volleyball Regional popularity: Europe, Australia, Asia, America Volleyball is one of the simplest sport, which is played almost all over the world.

All you need to play the game is a ball and a net. You can play it anywhere, grass, cement or sand. The surface is very much negotiable. So, it is well predictable that the simplicity of this sport is mostly responsible for its global

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popularity. Especially you can feel lucky when you don’t need to worry about the surface selection.

Accumulating all the fans around the world, especially from Asia, Europe, Australia and America we can estimate 900 million for the sport. From our present consideration we remark the sport as 5th in the list of top 10 most popular sports in the world.

4. Tennis Regional popularity: Europe, Asia, America Tennis is considered as one of the top ranked sport nowadays.

The game features solo competition. Historians claim that the sport was originated before the 14th century.

King Louis X of France built an indoor Tennis court for himself. Probably it was at the age of early 1400’s.

With around one billion fans Tennis is now at no. 4 at the top list of most popular sports in the world. And because of the spectators from Asia, Europe and America, Tennis is considered one of the most watched sport in the world.

3. Field Hockey Regional popularity: Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia The sport was developed both in Europe and Asia at the age of 3rd century B.C. in the 19th century England, modern rules were introduced into the game. The rules quickly spread out inside the English colonies.

In the mid-20th century, India and Pakistan dominated the sport. But the later part of the decade, Netherlands and Australia were seen to take over as the major force.

Field Hockey is often seen as a female dominating sport in North America. Across the other portion of the globe it’s still considered as male-dominated.

Currently Field Hockey is the 3rd most popular sport on earth. According to 2015 statistics, around 2.2 billion fans from Europe, Asia and Africa prove the fabulous popularity of this sport.

2. Cricket Regional popularity: Asia, Australia, UK, Africa Thanks to the British Empire, cricket has spread across the globe. References from various sources indicate that it may have been played as far back as the 16th century.

But it took a one more century to be fully completed and being codified. It was near around 1700’s.

Cricket is actually popular across through the ex-British colonies. We can name them particularly: India and neighboring countries, Southern Africa, West Indies, the British Isles and the countries of Australasia.

The 2.5 billion Cricket fans are spread throughout the globe, mostly in Asia, UK, Australia and Africa. So, undoubtedly Cricket is at the 2nd position in the list of top 10 most popular sports in the world.

1. Soccer Regional popularity: Europe, Africa, Asia, America Finally we have tracked down the most popular sport in the world and no surprise it is Soccer. The simplicity combined with the ease of play makes this the most popular game. Another thing to reconsider that this is undoubtedly the most watched sport in the world.

The popularity of the game has created an incredibly rabid fan base. Almost every towns are growing their own clubs to call their own pledge allegiance.

So, Soccer is at the top of most popular sports in the world with almost 3.5 billion spectators or fans. These huge amount of fans are spread out in almost all the countries of Africa, Asia, America and of course Europe.

There is an association of Soccer which is commonly known as FIFA. Authors Paula Lagunas and Tommaso Vezzaro

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Olympic Game

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Mathitiada: More than just sport

Mathitiada is a sport event based on Olympic games for children that takes place every year in the little village of Proti Serron, at the north of Greece. During the five days that lasts the competitions, many Greek schools from all over the world live together in a sportive and friendly atmosphere.

This year, the 12 edition of Mathitiada took place from 15th to 19th of April, days in which more than 600 of children from more than 10 different schools were playing and competing in many different sports, from volleyball or tennis to swimming or archery.

During these days, we could also find many activities and workshops for children and adults around the sports fields where competitions were held, such as Zumba lessons, capoeira’s shows or different crafts workshops.

The main aim of this event and these five days is not just sport, but being able to understand what sportsmanship and friendship mean off the field and regardless of the country or the origin of each one.

Understanding that we must live in a pacific and friendly environment apart from the result of the match is one of the most important things that these children can learn from this meeting. It will also be a very useful knowledge for any kind of challenge that they could find in their future.

Besides a big number of participants, this event couldn’t have been possible to arrange without the participation of more than 200 volunteers that were working and helping in a very intense way during all these days. At the same time, they could also learn that joining efforts and working together with a common aim can get the best result ever.

Author Maria Aguilar Lòpez

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Thessaloniki 11st Alexander The Great Marathon 2016 What is a marathon?

A bit of history: «Born in Marathon of Greece in 490 B.C. by the heroic effort of the soldier Phedippides who ran this distance to announce to the Athenians the victory of the Greeks, falling dead due to the overexertion.

Today in every corner of the world thousands of marathons are being conducted, making thus this sport the one with the most participants in the world and the word “marathon”, the only common one among all spoken dialects worldwide.»

What about The International Marathon Alexander The Great?

Great Marathon. A last coffee for the energy, and here we are!

«The International Marathon “ALEXANDER THE GREAT”, refers to the route Pella-Thessaloniki. Pella is the ancient capital of Macedonia and the birthplace of the Great Commander, whereas Thessaloniki is the modern capital of Macedonia. This International Marathon which symbolizes one of the most recognizable personalities of humanity, Alexander the Great, is not just a major and International sporting event. It is a path in history, a path in ancient Greek culture, a Path full of Greece.

As you probably understoord, I’m not used to run often, I’m even better in drinking wine walking around Valaouritou in the weekend, but let’s get united and have fun! Plus, I love challenges and new experiences. Yet, It is obviously useless to pretend I ran 10km but only 5km marathon, which was already a good start, wasn’t it?

Well, I was a bit septic at the beginning concerning this marathon and said to myself: «why the hell did I decide to involve in this? I’m the less sportive person in the world, let’s fully accept I’m lazy right?».

The first International Marathon “ALEXANDER THE GREAT” was held on the 16th of April in 2006, and was the result of a vision of many people who represent athletic and cultural institutions all over Greece. MEAS TRITON of Thessaloniki, licensed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and under the auspices of SEGAS, HOC, the Hellenic National Commission for UNESCO, and with the cooperation of 52 bodies, institutional supporters, organizes the top sports event of Northern Greece. This event is of social, cultural, environmental, tourist and above all historical significance and it is the perfect representative of our city, of our Macedonia and our country, worldwide.

The International Marathon is member of the International Marathons Association (AIMS) and it is included in the official annual calendar. As a consequence, no other marathon in the world is allowed to use the name of Alexander the Great.« Testimony of a random non-experienced runner: Sunday 3rd April 2016: Waking-up is always hard before 12pm on Sunday morning when you’re a young wild party animal living in Thessaloniki.

However, I tried to hurry up and got ready as soon as possible, then caught the bus and reached the city hall of Thessaloniki, where start the Internation Alexander The

Yet, I rapidly changed my mind with the warm, welcoming and enthusiastic rumor of the crowd!

I actually love thas kind of atmosphere, when you can feel the solidarity positive energy around.

12h30: Let’s goooo runners!!!

Around 19 000 runners, plus loads of supporters, loud music and musicians made me feel the adrenaline to do my best.

Feeling powerful and invincible, I made it!

After each kilometer indeed, we were warmly welcomed with banners and encouraging shouts!

I felt above all the hapiness and solidarity which

LEGION

unity the Greek people, and it gave me goose bumps, because it’s actually what it is missing in my country, in France. And I found it here, in Thessaloniki.

Actually, running was just an excuse to be together and share a good moment...

So after the effort, the award!

The 5th kilometer passed, we were highly greeted by the crowd’s hand and a revitalizing healthy snack which was: a bottle of water, a fruit juice, a banana and a cereals bar.

A large smile on my face, I promised to myself to keep being healthy and excercise more often. Because I felt so great and energetic!

Then, I smelt a souvlaki aroma… And I lost myself again…You could indeed find me later with a beer and cigarette in hand… But I made it!

International Alexander The Great Marathon, see you next year for an annual short-term healthy happy moment!

Written by: Esther Mastrodicasa Photos: Maéva Bauval and Community organization of Alexander The Great Marathon facebook page.

The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European ERASMUS+ Programme, European Voluntary Service. This project has been funded with support from the European Commision. This publication [communication] reflects the views of only of the author, and the Commision can not be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

General Director: Aristodimos Paraschou Editors: Esther Mastrodicasa, Francesca Millauro, Valentina Petrak www.usbngo.gr