The Salt Lake City Games are not yet over, but Athens is already publicizing the 2004 Summer Olympics.
As part of touting the 2004 Games' Cultural Olympiad, the Greek government is sponsoring an exhibit at 67 W. 100 South put on by the Hellenic Cultural Ministry.
The state-of-the-art exhibit, which is free to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. through the weekend, focuses on the cultural history of Greece and preparations for the 2004 Games, said volunteer Bettina Giannakouros.
With original footage from the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896 displayed alongside computer-generated venue plans for the upcoming 2004 event, Giannakouros said the exhibit comes full circle. "They're returning to the place where they were born. I can't think of anything else that could be better."
The display also features a number of copies of ancient pieces of Greek sculpture and painting, including some pottery depicting ancient Olympic sports. The copies are different from replicas because they are made, not by machine, but in the same medium and method as the originals, Giannakouros said.
Archaeologist Konstantinos Sarris, who has worked with many of the original pieces at state museums in Greece, said this is the first time the copies have been available to view outside of Greece. There are also 10,000 copies here available for purchase.
"(The exhibit) is so interesting because you can learn a lot about Olympic history," Giannakouros said.
OUT AND ABOUT: A group of teens emerging from a parking lot across the street from Bud World Friday were all laughs and energy, except for a thin waif sporting a black T-shirt and no coat. "It's, like, so cold," she said to her friends. "Is it always going to be cold every night?"
• Another young woman was overheard while passing the agonizingly long lines at the Roots Clothing Store in The Gateway, which carries the Team U.S.A. beret: "My mom said I couldn't get a blue beret. She told me it would make me look like Monica Lewinsky."
• Former President Bill Clinton was sighted at Sundance last week hobnobing with people who were wearing those stylish blue berets. (No word on whether Monica Lewinsky was one of them . . . but we doubt it.)
DON'T MISS:
• Bud Greenspan's Sports Film Series, excerpts from "Visions of Eight," "Olympia" and "16 Days of Glory" today at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $15 at the door.
• Savion Glover tonight, 8 p.m., in Abravanel Hall. Tickets are $25-$79 and are available at the door.
• Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Port O' Call, Feb. 22 and 23. Doors open at 7 p.m. The band is celebrating the release of a new CD, "Riviera."
E-mail: scott@desnews.com; lwhite@desnews.com
