Quote of the Day/Week- Yanni

There was a letter in today's "Roanoke Times," a daily newspaper in Roanoke, Va., complaining that the media outlet had not properly covered the new age instrumentalist Yanni who gave a concert in Roanoke (my hometown) on June 4th.

I must profess that today's quote was initially to be from the great Greek composer Mikis Theodakris, who turns 87 in July, and is known for the scores to "Z" and "Zorba the Greek."

But, we couldn't find quotes from Theodakris, who was born on the island of Chios, just across the Aegean Sea from the resort town Cesme, Turkey. Cesme is a sister city to Wise,Va., a small Appalachian town in far southwestern Virginia, which also known for being the birthplace of the late actor George C. Scott.

This month, we are quoting famous people associated with the 16 countries in the Euro 2012 Cup, which is being played in Poland and Ukraine. The Greek soccer team must defeat Poland on the country's home grass in order to advance in the tournament. Greece lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic on Tuesday. Russia is the other team in Group A.

As for Yanni, he came to international prominence following his 1992 concert at the Acropolis in Athens. Yanni was born in Kalmata, a city in the southern Greek mainland.

Here is his quote, which country singer Dolly Parton can probably identify with:

"I don't think we're put on this planet to experience it from nine to five."

SIDEBAR: We want to congratulate the race horse Union Rags on the horse's Belmont Stakes victory. The horse edged out Paynter in the final leg of the race in New York state. John Velasquez was the jockey for Union Rags, who was born on March 3, 2009.

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.yanni.com

http://www.famous-greeks.com

http://www.belmontstakes.com