Helena Vlahos Making Change

I watched this video after reading Princess Farhana's blog article about Helena Vlahos. I've seen some coin tricks before but these are hands down the best. The tummy flutter made me giggle.

~N

Batman + Bellydance = Awesome Sauce

See bellydancing at the 0:59 minute mark

According to Shira.net:
Batman Episode Season 2. Hizzoner the Penguin
First Aired November 2, 1966
Dancer Little Egypt

~N

Now: Back to work
Mood: OMG food! My stomach literally growled just as I was writing this.

Happy Hedonistic Holidays

Here is the clip of Tanya Lemani dancing in the Star Trek episode Wolf in the Fold. I thought it would be fitting since her costume looks like Christmas tree tinsel. I also get a kick of bellydancing being associated with a "hedonistic society". They even imply all of the women there are prostitutes. Way to go 1960's stereotypes!

I hope you all are having a "Hedonistic" Holiday without getting into too much trouble.

http://www.tanyalemani.com/

~N

Now playing: The Guru
mood: spiced cider

Candi Raks!

I found this super awesome site from BDer Candi that breaks down dancers, singers, music, etc. from the past to the present, including pictures, links to clips, and music from the best known dancers and singers in the field. It's full of all kinds of awesome info especially for those BD scholars out there looking to educate themselves with a little BD history. If you are a BD teacher of any kind this info a great thing to refer your students to!

Check out the Egyptian Dancers here and browse the other awesome pages in the menu.
Rakscandi

~N

Now lusting after dark chocolate

The King Herself

"What motivated Hatshepsut to rule ancient Egypt as a man while her stepson stood in the shadows? Her mummy, and her true story, have come to light."

Read the article and see pics Here

now playing: Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
mood: chicken nuggets and a potty break

The Flying Greek

Manoli Savvenas and me, 2005 (if you enlarge this pic, I'm totally sticking my tongue out)

Here's a little local trivia for you.
Find "Mike Pappas" pics here

Published February 13, 2004

Wrestling's 'Flying Greek' trades in flying kicks for fine jewels

It was the late 1950s, the '60s, the early 70's. There were three channels, if you could tune them in.

On Sunday mornings, gospel music reigned. The Happy Goodman Family, the LeFevres.

But on Saturday nights, wrestling was king. I don't remember that there was anything else to watch. Other people I've asked remember the test pattern on one station and a black-and-white Indian that served as a test pattern on another station, but nothing else — other than wrestling.

My father ate it up. He also dragged me to the Shrine Mosque for Wednesday night wrestling matches when I was in elementary school, where people got so wackoed over what was going on that they flailed their fists in the air and even rushed the wrestling mat.

As I cowered in my seat while men fist-pumped above me, I was watching one of Springfield's jewelers-to-be, Manoli Savvenas. Who knew?

Savvenas was on the ticket sometimes with Andre the Giant, Cowboy Bill Watts, Tom Thumb, Bruiser Bob Sweetan, Dusty Rhodes, Danny Hodge and other big names from my past.

I don't remember "The Flying Greek" from my childhood, but looking at Savvenas' old posters I don't know why I don't. I was going to the wrestling matches here when Savvenas, as the hairy-chested "Mike Pappas," was flying at opponents in perfect horizontal "head scissor kicks," thrusting his body parallel to the ground, grabbing his opponent's head with his feet.

"Because I was small, I was doing stuff that people liked," Savvenas explains, "drop kicks, flying kicks, head scissors. I was very fast. When someone was giving me the flip" — a move that sent most wrestlers onto their backs — "I land on my feet. They throw me on the ropes, instead of landing on the ropes, I land on my feet."

So, the diminutive Greek, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1969, made a career. In 1973, bookworm Valerie Barnes moved across the hall from him in his apartment building in Paducah, Ky.

"My family all watched wrestling and they all loved him, but I'd never watched wrestling," says his wife of three decades. Instead of watching TV, Valerie would be in her room reading Nancy Drew mysteries and novels as she matured. "It wasn't the wrestling" that won her heart, she says. "He was just so nice.

After 11 years on the wrestling circuit, wearing out his cars and leaving his young family behind, Savvenas decided to return to the trade he learned in Greece, making jewelry. Having played the Shrine Mosque, he'd grown to love Springfield. He and Valerie came here in 1978, and he did custom work for other jewelers until they opened their own shop in 1985.

Savvenas is still athletic, able to do Russian jumps from the floor on Greek dance nights, but he doesn't miss wrestling. "To me, it was just a job."

Contact News-Leader columnist Sarah Overstreet at 836-1188.
Online post found here.

Great Pyramid Mystery to Be Solved by Hidden Room?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081114-pyramid-room.html

cool huh?

Know Your Roots - Bert Balladine

Lesson for today:
There is no limit to how much pumpkin bread you can eat over the course of a week.
There is a limit to how much chili you can eat over the course of a few days.

Weekend Update

The Light the Night Walk is only 2 weeks away here in Springfield, Saturday, Oct. 4th.

I will be preforming with the other BD ladies walking under the Recherche Team sometime after 6pm but before the walk begins at sunset. You are welcome come watch or walk with us. I have raised $25 already. Please donate in any amount to help fund research for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Visit My Light the Night Donation Page to donate.
www.lightthenight.org

I am leaving tonight for Hootin an Hollarin. I promise to film some of the dancing and post it here. I will also have some funnel cake and other tasty country fair goods!

Now playing: Dungeons and Dragons the animated series (Did You Know, "The level of violence was controversial for children's television at the time, and the script of one episode, "The Dragon's Graveyard", was almost shelved because the characters contemplated killing their nemesis, Venger.^[1] In 1985, the National Coalition on Television Violence claimed it was the most violent show on network television.") HAPPY 25TH ANN!

Now eating: baked apple with cinnamon, sugar, vanilla ice cream, and coffee...yes, fine

~N

Blood of the Merchant King

Now watching: Farscape...
mood: cold medicine

Thought you might be interested in seeing a video game bellydance. Here is a video from Assassin's Creed, an XBOX 360 game, that I've been playing. I thought of trying to video it myself but found a clip on youtube.

There is a scene, ("Blood of the Merchant King,") that I was highly impressed with. Usually, dancers in video/computer games look choppy and fake, but this game did a wonderful job of producing a believable dancer who does REAL BD moves. When I got to this part of the game I just sat there and watched them for a long time telling my husband how awesome it looked...considering.

There are 4 dancers in the scene. This video shows one dancer briefly around the 0:43 sec mark. The assassin walks right past her. The dance lasts a fairly long time before it loops and is a pretty interesting combo for that matter. Unfortunately, this shows just a glimpse.

Sci Fi Bellydance

Now watching: Farscape - season 4
mood: Fried Chicken

Here are some shots from dancer, Cristina "Chocolate" Ramon, in Farscape's, "Lava's a Many Splendored Thing," episode.

This alien bellydancer is an illusion created to distract some bad guys while the good guys sneak up behind them and knock them out.

Her costume starts out a little more elaborate than seen here with a coin bra and belt, and chiffon veil. By the end of the scene she is in only this bra and matching panty/bloomers.

Sci-Fi bellydancers have been around since the original Star Trek episodes aired.

For a LONG list of bellydancers on TV go here.

Ozel Turkbas

I've been wanting to do this for a very long time. This is one of the old proofs from Bryant Graphics that I've always wanted to make into a 70's style Bellydance album cover.

For more about the original, one and only Ozel Turkbas check out this How to Make Your Husband a Sultan
article.

Viva cheesecake images from the past!

~N

PS- enjoy the new "lefty" layout.

The Island of Dr. Moreau

One last thing for the night...
Remember that post I made talking about Fairuza Bulk bellydancing in The Island of Dr. Moreau? Well, I keep forgetting you can find ANYTHING on youtube.com and here it is! You will have to fast forward to about 4:15 in the video for the dance part. The video quality isn't perfect either, but hey, bellydance in the movies!

BD Full Circle

pic: Naima in a blur of battery powered Christmas lights

Here are two spifty posts I wrote last week while ramped up on cold meds but never posted. Have fun!

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Now playing: the Dresden Dolls – Yes, Virginia
Mood: fried eggs and bacon, toast with grape jelly, milk

Ways to improve your holiday dance season:

BD themed Christmas music by Brothers of Baladi, (good background music for those holiday parties).

Dig out your red and green costumes, and accessories.

Wear a Santa Hat, toss mini candy canes from Santa Hat, use Santa Hat to put tips in, put Santa Hat on others. (Santa Hat = handy and fun!) *see the BIG gooftastic pic of me on the sidebar ->

String battery powered LED Christmas light around yourself, (FYI – put the battery pack into an old knee-high sock and pin this to the inside of your belt. This helps keep the battery pack all in one piece from all the shimmies.)

Throw on some jingle bells, metallic tree garland, or mardi gras bead necklaces, anything that is metallic and shiny.

Dance with a tray of candles. (Fire = holiday cheer!)

Last week I managed to convert 16 BD albums over to MP3. While doing so, I had a flash back to the movie “Return to OZ,” where there is a scene that I thought one of the characters plays an instrument that sounded like a kanoon. So I Googled the movie for images. I found a pic of the character in the movie, Princess Mombi, but she is playing something more like a sitar. I went to www.imdb.com to see who the actress is which brought up a list of all characters. I saw Dorothy listed, who was played by Fairuza Bulk, and I clicked on her profile. Come to find out, “Fairuza” means turquoise in Farsi and that her mom was a bellydancer. It came full circle. Nifty, huh?

Which makes sense, ‘cause if you ever watch the remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau, they introduce Fairuza’s character by showing her dancing for like 2 seconds. And if you pay attention you will see she is bellydancing. Extra nifty, huh?

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Now playing: Stefy – The Orange Album
Mood: meatloaf and mashed potatoes

I’m feeling slightly accomplished in BDville today. Last night I had some unrelated sewing to do, but also fixed a gold BD dress and worked on the skirt and sleeves of my “never finished” yellow costume. I also did some work on my workshop handouts and choreography notes. Go me!

AND, since I’ve recently been converting my new BD albums to MP3, I figured it was time to get rid of the old ones. I gathered up around 35 CDs and 7 cassette tapes priced at $1 or $5 to sell at the May workshop. I may even dig out an old costume piece or two to part with. I have too much neglected stuff. It is time for it to find a new and loving home. I know I could post this stuff online but I prefer not to hassle with shipping and such. People are also more likely to part with their money when there isn’t an extra $5 for shipping tacked on. All the more reason you should come to the workshop!

?N

(haha, I went to type ~N, but typed ?N...gonna be one of those days)