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| RIP Mikis - 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021 |
http://thesignificanceofr.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-mandela-effect-theres-guy-works.html
http://thesignificanceofr.blogspot.com/2018/01/phil-collins-rides-mandela-wave.html
I'll give a brief universally agreed upon and accepted explanation here:
"Dubbed The Mandela effect, it is a phenomenon in which a person or a group of people have false or distorted memories. Some believe that the effect is proof of alternate realities, while others blame it on the fallibility of human memory.
In 2010, this shared false memory phenomenon was dubbed "the Mandela effect" by self-described "paranormal consultant" Fiona Broome, in reference to her false memory of the death of South African anti-Apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in prison in the 1980s (he actually died age 95 in 2013, after having served as President of South Africa following his release from prison).
Today we hear of the sad passing of Mikis Theodorakis (96) ...
"Greek songwriter, composer, author and politician born in Chios on July 29, 1925, and died in Athens on September 2, 2021. He wrote over 1,000 songs including the music for the Michael Cacoyiannis film 'Zorba the Greek' (1964). The instrumental 'Zorba's Dance' (also known as 'Zorba the Greek') became renowned around the world. He also scored the films 'Z' (1969, BAFTA Film Award in 1970) and 'Serpico' (1973). He composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy" also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", which has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust".
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| 'Z' (1969) |
Being from Greek heritage, I can tell you that 'Theodorakis' and his music, not to mention his political involvements, have always been a topic of conversation, commemoration, or contention in our house, depending on the season, or which film or TV program happened to be on. So much so that, after today's sad news, family have been struck dumbfounded, trying to make sense of his death. Attempting to process through a sort of collective brain fog that this has caused. Everyone swearing blind that poor Mikis died back in 2010! THIS is the Mandela Effect in all its glory.
Searching the web for some kind of validation that Theodorakis died years ago, and this is all a bit of a psychological attack by some weird entertainment/anti-Christ force of darkness. I soon discover that he has been alive all these years. According to the 'Greek City Times', he survived a heart attack back in August 2018. Could that have been the year when I thought he died? I'm sure he passed earlier than that. Later I discover a news report from June, 2017...
"Rare moments with one of the few Great Greeks still alive. An exceptional concert. One thousand voices for Mikis Theodorakis. Choirs from thirty cities and thousands of people gathered in Panathenaic Stadium in Athens to pay tribute to the great composer." Reported the entertainment website, 'Keep Talking Greece' . So he WAS still alive?
In March 2017 I discover that the Rialto Theatre in Cyprus held a concert about 'Theodorakis and his music' ... he wasn't there... Okay, now wait a minute... He wasn't there? Ah ha... then I located a tribute concert held in June, 2016... again, he wasn't there! Hold your horses... then comes a report from May, 2015 which unfortunately sealed the deal...
"Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (13.05.15) citing information writes that the famous Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis wants to come to Cyprus and hold a meeting with the new Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci."
It is so odd that we are thinking he died years ago. Perhaps all those 'tribute concerts' have stamped into our collective unconscious the idea that he was dead.. because you're always doing tributes to old dead composers, right?
Sorry Mikis!
Now there is another strange side-angle to this whole 'Mandela Effect', more synchronicity than broken memories. A weird connection between Greek music and Afghanistan, I kid you not!
It's the anniversary of 9/11 this coming week, and like others I recall where I was and what took place around me at that time. Vividly I remember (while still living in the Middle East at the time) that the aftermath was surreal... as TV news showed the Afghans celebrating in the streets of Kabul with the supposed 'Fall of the Taliban' by playing their favourite music - It was blaring out from pick-up truck radios. The images of those poor people singing in Greek to another famous Greek musician's songs, Stylianos Kazantzidis. Soon after, 'Stelios' as he was known, died suddenly... on September 14th 2001.
"Born in Nea Ionia, Athens on 29th August, 1931, Stelios's parents originated from Pontos, Asia Minor. He is considered to be one of the most popular and influential Greek 'laiko' singers, and well known for capturing poor people's feelings in the difficult post-war period in Greece.
His father was killed for supporting the resistance (during the civil war). Στελιος was 14 at the time, and spent many years being chased/harassed for his leftist beliefs.
After finding fame, he became disillusioned and began to live a humble life away from the TV and the press. He was a plain man, and decided to stop performing live because he said people couldn’t afford the high prices that the night clubs were asking since the 60s. Such was the respect for him as an artist in Greece, the state approved the broadcast of his funeral live on Greek national television."
Like Theodorakis, Stelios was a national hero, a political, if not veteran war hero. Much beloved by the diaspora of Greeks around the world today, but not really a cross-over musical artist. He is often quoted and played as a 'soundtrack' to troubled times of Hellenes everywhere.
On the other hand, along with composing a myriad of acclaimed Hollywood movie soundtracks, Mikis Theodorakis is/was a much higher-profile political activist on the World stage. Even running for office at one time. There's a lot about the man, some of which can be found here: https://www.greeknewsagenda.gr/topics/culture-society/7033-theodorakis ... from his torture by the Nazis, to his organizing a solidarity movement in the late 60s/early70s, fronted by personalities such as Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Miller, his own arrest, and the Greek Junta (coup d'etat) and uprisings against the fascist dictatorship.
To cut to the chase... there is a synchronicity to current events, where Greek musical heroes, men who wrote music or sang songs beloved by Greeks and Afghans, about war and struggles, seem to have framed the post-9/11 Afghanistan war/crisis and ending of the conflict most precisely.
2001 - 9/14 - Stelios Kazantzidis dies
2001 - 9/18 - US begin attack on Afghanistan
2021 - 8/30 - US leave Afghanistan
2021 - 9/02 - Mikis Theodorakis dies
It's an odd statistic, it's symmetric, and it's synchromystic, and just adds further strangeness to this new occurrence of the Mandela Effect. That's not all...
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| World War Z (2013) |
'Z' is the title of the Mikis Theodorakis soundtrack album to the 1969 political thriller film 'Z', about the events surrounding the assassination of the democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963, and the Greek Junta.
The movie poster above, of World War Z (a Zombie apocalypse horror) starring Brad Pitt, has been compared to the current Afghanistan withdrawal crisis by the media... now that's really strange!
