CATCH "DECEMBER RIOTS" AT THE 53RD THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL BEFORE HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF WITH MORE RIOTS, CHAOS< AND MAYHEM...

"Dimitri Vorris's DECEMBER RIOTS arrives like a storm that signals the times are a-changing again and that as a world we're on the cusp between despair and hope." Amos Poe, Filmmaker, Leading figure of the No Wave Cinema Movement, "UNMADE BEDS", "THE FOREIGNER", "SUBWAY RIDERS", "EMPIRE II", "THE GUITARS", "ROCKET GIBRALTAR"

"December Riots is important, timely, and hits it's mark. Acclaimed Greek-born filmmaker Dimitri Vorris has beautifully interwoven fact and fiction, to create a dramatic tale, that is both horrifying and thought-provoking".Christopher Martini, Director-Producer "The Stone Child", "Trooper"

...Police violence. Interpersonal relationships’ violence. A looted country in despair. Seven characters trapped in an arthouse movie theater. A countdown to extinction...Three years before the movement of the “indignados” and OCCUPY WALL STREET there were December Riots.

«DECEMBER RIOTS», is a feature length film written, produced and directed by Dimitri Vorris, was in post-production, while a new wave of riots swept Greece on June 29th, 2011. The film's epicenter is the cold-blooded execution of 15 year-old student Alexander Gregoropoulos by two policemen in a downtown Athens café on December 6, 2008. "December Riots," a film about the Gregoropoulos killing, an incident that sparked riots in over seventy cities and twenty-two countries aound the world including the US, is produced, and directed by Greek-born Dimitri Vorris. The filmmaker acquired exclusive access to many never-before-seen court documents and evidence from the trial that followed Gregoropoulos’s killing.

Based on a real incident-the director himself was trapped on December 8, 2008 in a downtown arthouse movie theater during the 2008 riots-the independently financed, claustrophobic thriller, that was filmed entirely on location in Athens, Greece, focuses on a group of seven characters, Europeans and Americans, trapped in an art-house movie theater during the 2008 riots. 23 year-old newcomer British actress Lucy Lemos, Duncan Skinner, Fanis Katechos (“El Greco”), prolific actor Avraam Papadopoulos, popular comedian-director Nikos Giannikas anchor a youthful and talented supporting cast that includes Vivian Ioannou, Aris Athan, Nasos Pappas, Michael Angels, Louise Rheas, Aris Pappas, Maria Floratou, , Kostas Antalopoulos, Christina Mani (narrator).

KROQ'S BEAN, IN AN AMAZING ACT OF KINDNESS, TO DONATE HIS KIDNEY TO A LONGTIME STATION EMPLOYEE

KROQ's Bean (via @clydetombaugh/Twitter)

If you've ever listened to KROQ's "Kevin & Bean" show you know that the duo indulge regularly in good-natured ribbing and humorous morning-shift banter, but today one half of the longtime radio twosome revealed something serious: he's about to surrender one half of an internal organ that comes in a pair. Bean is donating a kidney to longtime station employee Scott Mason.

Bean (real name: Gene Baxter) posted to the KROQ site this morning about the upcoming surgery. He describes how dire the situation is for Mason, who has held several posts at the station over several years, including DJ, programmer, and, recently, head of engineering:

Scott has had medical issues for much of his adult life, including his kidneys failing, and that led him to have a transplant from a cadaver back in 1999. Well, now that one has failed too and Scott is back on dialysis for many hours a week. The kidney processes waste out of the blood and without one your body is being poisoned all the time. The dialysis helps but is a temporary solution. You only get off the machine if you get a new kidney or you die.

The morning show host got a sense of how ill Mason was when he saw him in the spring; Bean lives in the Seattle area and does the show from a home studio, and Mason makes an annual trip to do equipment maintenance and upgrades.

"[Mason] explained his situation and that he was about six years out on the waiting list for a new kidney," writes Bean, adding: "That was inconceivable to me, to imagine that all over America there are people like Scott, who are very sick and might die, waiting for organs at the same time that literally of thousands of them are being buried every year."

So later this month, Bean will be checking in to Cedars-Sinai to be a live kidney donor. He says the choice for him was "a no-brainer," and explains that he expects a bit of discomfort but minimal disruption to his life.

Bean discusses how things will work for him--and Mason--with their newly distributed kidneys:

One of the things I’ve learned is that we have two kidneys and when one is removed the other one steps up and works harder so that instead of the expected 50% remaining function I should have about 80%. Scott will go from nearly 0% to that same 80% and that will improve his quality of life dramatically.

He also hopes what he's doing in the public sphere will inspire others to give--from blood to bone marrow to organs.

http://laist.com/2012/11/01/kroqs_bean_to_donate_a_kidney_to_lo.php

SANDY, AMIDST HALLOWEEN HOLIDAY, BROUGHT DEATH AND DESPAIR IN NEW YORK. HERE SOME WAYS TO HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS...

NYCService urges would-be volunteers to email nycservice@cityhall.nyc.gov with their name, email address and borough.  New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergdescribed @NYCService in a tweet as the “best way” to help.  He also said financial contributions could be made to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.

NYC Service and the Mayor’s Fund are among several programs retooled for the storm, or created to help harness an outpouring of concern, energy and money for victims. New York City public advocate Bill de Blasio has his own volunteer program, hosted on his website. His staff is collecting information on volunteers through aGoogle form. By Tuesday, 700 volunteers had already stepped. “The need is considerable and is going to grow,” said Mr. de Blasio’s press secretary, Wiley Norvell. In the early days of the storm, the program sent emails to would-be volunteers asking for help with door-to-door wellness checks in specific buildings.

Volunteers in New Jersey are being coordinated through an emergency response hotline, 1-800-JERSEY-7 (1-800-537-7397). Alternate numbers, for when the hotline isn’t staffed, include 609-775-5236 and 908-303-0471 or emails can be sent to Rowena.Madden@sos.state.nj.us.

For those who want to send other kinds of help, the American Red Cross collects funds and coordinates blood donations. The organization sheltered more than 3,000 people across nine states during the worst of the storm.  You can donate $10 by phone by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999.

The United Way has created a regional fund for communities hit by Sandy. They’re asking for donations at uwsandyrecovery.org.  Donors can also give $10 by texting RECOVERY to 52000.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) takes donations to rescue and shelter animals affected by the storm. Immediately after the storm nearly 240 animals were staying with their owners in pet-friendly Red Cross shelters in New York City, according to spokesperson Emily Schneider. That number was closer to 400 at its peak. The group delivered supplies to a Lower East Side senior center without power, where a lot of residents have pets and stopped at an evacuation center in Jamaica, Queens to provide free wellness checks for animals sheltered with their owners.  A water rescue effort is planned for Friday afternoon for animals abandoned in Ocean City, NJ and the group is shifting focus to hard-hit Staten Island.

Neighborhood-by-neighborhood “how to help” efforts are being compiled by WNYC, the public radio station in New York City.

The Huffington Post is also collecting volunteer resources in real time.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/11/01/occupy-wall-street-bikes-power-nycs-lower-east-side/

NYNatives.com talked to residents ofC- Squat on the Lower East Side Thursday and learned they’ve been biking their way to a dry environment using none other than the OccupyWall Street bicycle generators. Water, water everywhere. New York City’s Lower East Side is bailing itself out after flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy engulfed the neighborhood earlier this week. Here’s an excerpt from the full story:

“The residents of C-Squat have set up 2 grills, are receiving food donations and are essentially feeding the neighborhood. After pumping out there own basement and rescuing the Occupy Wall Street bikes, the residents pumped out the water from the bar next door and the deli on the corner. As one C-Squat resident exclaimed: “”It’s like a block party!”"

According to The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS), these same bikes were used to give power to the protestors in Occupy Wall Street last year.

New York City After Hurricane SandyMonte BurkeForbes Staff

“In a press release as of November 1, MoRUS shared “The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) is using one of its exhibits to provide the community with free cell phone charging. Working with environmental group Times Up, MoRUS has set up Occupy Wall Street bike generators on Avenue C between 9th and 10th Street. For the past two days, volunteer riders have been pedaling as crowds of people gather to charge up their cell phones. For many people, this has been the first time they’ve been able to contact loved ones after Hurricane Sandy hit earlier this week. Meanwhile, C-Squat, the squat which houses MoRUS, has set up a street-side barbecue. They have been accepting donations and providing the community with free food.”