Greek Night this Saturday - Aug 2nd

It has been confirmed, this Saturday, Aug. 2nd, is Greek Night at

Galloway Station
4211 S Lone Pine Ave
Springfield, MO 65804
(417) 881-9730

Greek music and dancing starting around 7pm-1:30am.
Bellydance performances around 9:30pm and again at 11:30pm.

(the previous date mix up was a typo)

Hope to see you there!

~N

Sculpting a Bellydancer

Now playing: Death Note 2
mood: TACOS!

Light the Night Walk Oct. 4th

October 4th, 2008 will mark 4 years that our local bellydance community has raised money and walked in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk. We walk in memory of Jasara, bellydance teacher and friend, who passed away from Lymphoma in Feb. 2004.

Some things to know about blood cancers:

• Every five minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies.
• Leukemia causes more deaths among children than any other cancer.
• Nearly 20,000 Americans died from lymphoma in 2007.
• The survival rate for myeloma is just 34 percent.

Please visit My Light the Night Donation Page and help me reach my fundraising goal.



If you are in our area join our Springfield bellydance team! Visit the Recherche Dance Team Page to sign up. Our local walk is organized behind the Bass Pro Shop on Campbell and Sunshine. There is a 1 mile or 3 mile course through the local neighborhood that starts at dusk.



We always have a lot of fun!

www.lightthenight.org

Dinosaur

Extinct, my ASS! from The Original Joe Fisher on Vimeo.

I found this link hopping.
Even though it's a dude in a suit, this kinda freaks my sh*t out!

Get Your Greek On part II

I love this!

So there is a chance that Greek Night is not Aug 2nd, but Aug 9th (the next Sat). The first date was set back in May and there is a good chance it has changed. I am waiting to hear from Sa'dia. I will let you know as soon as I do.

~N

Weird Dream #2

Now playing: Kama Sutra A Tale of Love
mood: peach and banana smoothie

So, I don't know if there is something in the stars or it's the over abundance of corn I've been eating, but I had another weird dream. This time it wasn't during the foggy haze of being half awake half asleep because Beebin was laying on my head trying to wake me up to feed him.

Anyway, here it goes.

I am somewhere I've never been before (in the real world), not even sure if it is a real place. The dream flows very chronologically and doesn't have weird dream stuff in it (like Grizzly Bears knocking on doors).

I have on blue jeans and a white t-shirt. I am by myself in a radio booth looking out over something like a campus with a big yard and tall squaty buildings around it. I am operating the radio sending out messages on where the last few shelters are before "it" happens. I'm not sure what "it" is but I know it is something along the lines of bombs or apocalypse or something very VERY not good.

So, I continue to do this as it gets closer and closer to the time that "it" is going to happen. I look out across the campus at the buildings far away where the last two shelters are. I remember one of them was called something something P-4. I broadcast up to the last ten minutes or so then take off running across the yard to something something P-4. The sky is grey, no one is around, and it is very quite like before a tornado hits. I remember seeing the grass under my feet as I ran thinking how surreal it was that this was what I was focusing on at possibly the end of all things. I felt my body start to slow and wondered if I had waited too long to make such a long run to the shelter.

I finally make it to something something P-4 and walk through a big door into a warehouse. It is dark and cavernous. I begin to panic realizing I don't know where to find the shelter space and hoping it isn't closed off. I can't see a clock. I don't know how much time I have. I hear a generator noise coming from a large hatch in the ground. I run to it and climb down a black metal ladder into a huge basement area with lots of pipes and foundation walls to hold up such a big building. There are 3 people, each in a wheelchair, at the base of the ladder. I ask them where the shelter is and they point to a distance in the corner. (Ok, I guess the 3 wheelchair people are odd, but they still aren't Grizzly Bears).

I run there and I am met in a hallway by a woman. I can hear and see people in the rooms behind her. She greets me and says that it is supposed to rain tomorrow. I say that if I make it through the night, rain would be a welcome thing and the least of my worries. So looks at me funny as if that wasn't the right kind of answer for chit chat about the weather. She leads me into a dark grungy room with low ceilings. There are white plastic tables and chairs set up like you see in a church's mess hall. There are people sitting and standing. Some of them eating. They all seem fairly calm. I think to myself there are so few people for so many empty chairs.

The woman grabs a paper plate and sets it down at the last empty seat at a table (and here's how I tie it into BD) with a bunch of my dance friends (I don't remember now who they all where). Sa'dia is there and points across the table at Gita and says, "She called (name of someone famous I can't remember) and told him he's 'Mother F*cking awesome!'" Gita looks at me and says, "He didn't even laugh at me."

As I go to sit down at the table I think I guess he would be flattered to be told that before the end. To be appreciated.

And then I woke up.

the Bear

I had a dream early this morning that there was a knock on the door of the house I lived in as a child and when I opened it there was a big Grizzly Bear standing on it's hind legs wanting to come in. I was slightly afraid of it, but it was not aggressive. I woke up before I could decide to open or shut the door.

~N

Now playing: Soldier (with Kurt Russell)
mood: tuna salad

I Heart Eva Cernik

I think I fell in love a little bit at the 2:38 mark. The ease and softness of Eva's performance is something to strive for. Naima is dancing in her chair. Bellydance arms and all.

mood: never ending gob stopper that tastes like cheesecake

Get Your Greek On

Now playing: Excalibur (the movie)
mood: Greek-tastic. And maybe a some french fries...oh how I want me some french fries



Here are some great Greek videos to get you in the mood for the next Greek Night at Galloway Station.



(Here is the info from Youtube for the above video)
A greek song that became a mega hit in Greece as the main score for a popular TV series that had the same name - "Psithiri Kardias" (Whispers of the heart). It was directed by Manousos Manousakis, was aired in the late 90's and was about the love between a Greek guy and Greek gippsy woman. The series acquired impressive numbers of 'fans' and the song itself was played EVERYWHERE in Greece.
This time, Dimitris Basis performs his song on the popular Greek entertainment TV show 'Stin Igia Mas', hosted by Spiros Papadopoulos.

Like a previous upload of my mine ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx14hV... ), the main reason including this one as well, is to show another example of how 'gifted' greek girls can be in dancing and how nicely the greek adaption of belly dancing fits in our 'hours of fun'. It can be as much formal as informal, performed wherever in mood and wherever it simply feels right - One fine example of how sensual and luscious Greek women can be, and how fun and lively Greeks are in general!

-------------------------------------

[ Lyrics / Stixoi ]

- English Translation by ratGT

The moon like a boat it streamed on the body,
he secretly spoke to us about lawless oceans.
With eyes in flames, with untamed words,
i canceled for you stops and borders.

[ Chorus ]
I didn't think for moment what I must do & what I mustn't
I lethally fell in love with you.
All the steps are leading to you,
even if I have to cross forty waves.
[- Chorus ]

The moon like a boat inside our bed,
our caresses redeem even our love.
On maps and cities with whispers of heart,
all that wasn't meant for us will burn, my light.

. . . [- Chorus ]

-------------------------------------

Karavi to feggari sto soma kilise,
gia anoma pelayi krifa mas milise.
Me matia anammena, me loyia animera
kataryisa yia sena stathmous ke sinora.

[ Chorus ]
Ti prepi, ti den prepi, stigmi den skeftika,
ego mehri thanatou se eroteftika.
Se senane me pane ola ta vimata,
ki as ine na peraso sarada kimata.
[- Chorus ]

Karavi to feggari mes sto krevati mas,
ta hadia mas litroni ke tin agapi mas.
Se hartes ke se polis me psithirous kardias
tha kegonde osa, fos mou, den itane gia mas.

. . . [- Chorus ]

-------------------------------------

Καράβι το φεγγάρι στο σώμα κύλησε,
για άνομα πελάγη κρυφά μας μίλησε.
Με μάτια αναμμένα, με λόγια ανήμερα
κατάργησα για σένα σταθμούς και σύνορα.

[ Ρεφρέν ]
Τι πρέπει, τι δεν πρέπει, στιγμή δεν σκέφτηκα,
εγώ μέχρι θανάτου σε ερωτεύτηκα.
Σε σένανε με πάνε όλα τα βήματα,
κι ας είναι να περάσω σαράντα κύματα.
[- Ρεφρέν ]

Καράβι το φεγγάρι μες στο κρεβάτι μας,
τα χάδια μας λυτρώνει και την αγάπη μας.
Σε χάρτες και σε πόλεις με ψίθυρους καρδιάς
θα καίγονται όσα, φως μου, δεν ήτανε για μας.

. . . [- Ρεφρέν ]

New Layout Again

Now playing: Belly Dance w/Jim Boz
mood: sun tea

I got tired of looking at my blog layout and just don't have time to learn/make one myself. So, I broke down and found a template I liked. I don't normally like to use a template because now a billion other people have the same layout as I do now, but it sure is purty.

I am still tweaking it.

~N

Naima on Shimmy Cast Part 2

Shimmy Cast Episode #59 - Naima Interview Part 2 is online. I haven't had a chance to listen yet. Go and enjoy my high pitched annoying voice!

BDay Week

Naima lip syncs "Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog

Now playing: Dyksick Live @ GX
mood: okanomiyaki

Sorry I disappeared. Been a busy 2 weeks. The lip sync Bday party was probably the best birthday EVER! There were great classics like "I Think We're Alone Now," "YMCA," and "Baby Got Back." We all had so much fun that we plan to do it again.

Somewhere in there was the 4th of July with Knife*Death @ Ground Xero celebrating "Freedom's Birthday."

Lambert's Chicken Fried Steak

Saturday I had more sushi then I could shake a stick at. Literally. Sunday was stuff-face day at Lambert's. Thanks Kev and Mel.

I did meet with a couple of BD friends and drilled shimmies and such. As I said, trying to get muscles back under control. Greek Night is coming up August 2nd. Seems like we just had one. I need to do some costume repair first.

That's all for now. Just wanted to give you an update. All of you holding your breath for like two weeks, right? HAHA

~N

OH!

Almost forgot! I went to the Dr. Friday due to constant pain in right wrist and forearm. I am on a 2 week diet of anti-inflammatories, icing my wrist after work, and splinting it at night. If that doesn't bring it under control then I may have to have nerve testing to see if I have carpal tunnel syndrome. =( This also means no crochet for a while either. =( =(

Welcome to Switzerland

Now playing: 30 seconds to mars
mood: A dee dee

I found this pic after Sa'dia sent me some motivational posters in an email. Something about this picture with these particular words crack me up. I'm not sure if it is the dude in the background, or the dog's crooked eyes, or the fact that the picture as a whole is pretty ridiculous.

So there has been a private running joke that I have become a politically neutral bellydance entity of my own called "Switzerland." And in my country of Switzerland there are no studios, or classes, or troupes, just the dance and the freedom to do as I choose. I can dance or not. I can enjoy the styles and classes of others if and when I choose. There is no pressure. There is no commitment. Just the joy of bellydance.

Sounds very Utopian, I know.

But really, I know what my dance goals are and they do not involve all that comes with the political, social, and business end of BD. I am a free floating neutral entity that supports all groups and styles. And I like it here.

The other night at GDC's 1yr Ann. a dance friend, who recently left a group to pursue her own dance goals looked at me and said, "Why do we have to be here?" She said this tongue-in-cheek because she is still fielding questions from other dance acquaintances who don't know she is no longer performing with that group.

I said, "Because sometimes we occasionally have to go to United Nations meeting and continue to declare our independence."

We both laughed.

It is hard to be independent without the support of others, which is kind of contradictory to the word independent. And I don't by any means want to be the leader(<- tie into flying dog picture) of Switzerland but I do want others to know that you can have a perfectly happy functioning BD life outside of all of the crap that can, has, and will happen along the way. You don't have to be a part of a group if you don't want to be. You can have different goals if you want. You can actually dance for the joy of it because everyone is welcome in "Switzerland." We don't have a census here.

Anyway, I think I will have t-shirts made.

"Welcome to Switzerland"

~N

Just a Reminder

(Click for full size)

Lip Sync contest this Saturday at Ground Xero.



I requested Diamonds and Rust from my sister a few months ago. She posted it for my B-day even though she has a cold. Yea!
I used to yell at her for singing along to the radio in the car when she was little. Good thing she didn't listen.