Tagging along... 5 things you should know about me

1. I have never met my father. He died when I was three years old, on the day Man landed on the Moon. He was 39 years old.

2. My idol when I was a little girl was Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian Olympics Champion in Gymnastics. At the 1976 Olympics Nadia made history, becoming the first gymnast to ever score a perfect 10. At those games she received 7 perfect 10s, 3 gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Because of her I started gymnastics, but I had to stop because of back problems.

3. My Bachelor was in Journalism and Theatre, in an American College in Athens. My MA in Television, at the University of Leeds.
4. Pet peeves: I am scared of snakes and mice, hate coakroaches and other huge insects. Plain white milk makes me sick, I only add it in coffee or cereal.


5. I signed the contracts and got the keys to my flat on September the 11th, 2001. My friend was waiting in her car and when I went to meet her she told me "I just heard on the news that there was an air crash in New York!" No idea of what really happened until we got home and switched the TV on....!

DEBUG(GER!)

HELP!!!!!

Every two bloody seconds that thing pops up. I tried to ignore it by pressing No and it kept coming back.
I pressed Yes and Microsoft Script Editor started but I had no idea what to do.
So I keep on pressing No and it keeps coming back.
On every page I visit, for the past two days.

Has anyone got any idea how to solve this problem? It has started quite recently, but it used to pop up only on a couple of times, sometimes reading “Syntax Error”. But this today has driven me nuts… It even pops up as I type this... Aaaaaargh!

Can any of you help? I’d really appreciate it!

Thanks :o)

Kitchen photos and Wolfy

I fell asleep on the couch last night, I was so tired. No time to blog, to chat, to do anything, I just collapsed on the couch and sweet Morpheus took me in his arms before I knew it... I promise on Sunday I'll come and say hi to all my blogging friends. Tomorrow is the last day of the Sale, FINALLY! Life will be back to normal!!

So here are a couple of pics of my pride and joy. The colour is silver-grey and most of my cutlery and kitchen accesories have a silver-matt look.
Yes, I'm into silver!

I took this first picture in two parts, top and bottom. Then a fantastic Software program called Panorama Maker stitched the photos together!
I love clever programs like that!


Here is the left side of the kitchen. The leak was underneath the sink & dishwasher. And you can see on my windowseal my UK street signs and a little bit of greek colour too! It's not a big kitchen, but for me it's like a little jewel and I adore cooking in there!

My "hilly floor"...

You can't really see how hilly it is, but you can see the gaps between the pieces, caused by the flood...

Enough with the flood! I'm ecstatic as I'm watching Mozart 250 on BBC 4 as I write this. This year is the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth and there are huge events around the world, but the epicentre of all is Austria and esp. Salzburg.
'24 hours Mozart' is a satellite link up of live broadcasts from Europe, Japan and China, concert recordings, documentaries, music features, short programmes, clips and more from Vienna. It's 24 hours of Mozart's music in celebration of the 250th anniversay of Mozart's birth.
BBC FOUR will be broadcasting highlights from the 24 hours
Tonight I am recording a live six hour program full of concerts and celebrations for Mozart! I'll watch it on Sunday non-stop and couldn't be more happy. Mozart is my favourite classic composer and my favourite movie of all time is Amadeus
so I'm thrilled. My sister and I are planning something for August, maybe go to Musical Salzburg, that would be awesome.
Today (27th) is Wolfy's actual birthday!

Thank God!

Well, the plumber did an excellent job!
The problem came from the dishwasher's pipes and he fixed everything. Hopefully the problem is solved!!!
My kitchen was like a construction site after he left and I spent all afternoon cleaning and putting the place back into order. And of course, put the dishwasher on! What a relief...
Now, all I have to do is fix my...hilly floor, but I'll do that in a months time, during my holiday.

You solve one problem and another one is created. Ugh!
My connection was screwed up again... But this time I called AOL nearly shouting at them, but thankfully a very helpful man managed to reconnect me.

Is there anything else going to happen? LOL!

I am tired but happy :o) I'll post pictures of my kitchen and visit your blogs tomorrow...
Good night.

Before the plumber comes, let's listen to some music

The Best Sixties Summer...Ever!

Well, what's the use of crying over spilt...water? Let's have some fun, some nostalgia with the next album: A sixties compilation!

I love the sixties! The music was so original, innovative, cheerful, naive... This compilation has a little bit of everything - the innovation and harmonies of the Beach Boys, the cheekiness of The Monkees, mod sounds by The Small Faces, psychedelic sounds by Jethro Tull and the magical Something In The Air, which Pete has produced. 53 eternal songs. I call it HAPPY MUSIC

From this compilation I've transferred the following songs:

Pretty Flamingo - Manfred Mann
Hi Ho Silver Lining - Jeff Beck
Doo Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann
Bus Stop - Hollies
San Francisco - Scott McKenzie
I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher
Summer In The City - Lovin' Spoonful
Itchycoo Park - Small Faces
Waterloo Sunset - Kinks
I Get The Sweetest Feeling - Jackie Wilson
Something In The Air - Thunderclap Newman
I'm Into Something Good - Herman's Hermits
Sweets For My Sweet - Drifters
Hello Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do - Neil Sedaka
I'm Alive - Hollies
Daydream Believer - Monkees
Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
Sunny Afternoon - Kinks
Love Is All Around - Troggs
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - Animals
Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
Lazy Sunday - Small Faces
Do You Want To Know A Secret -Billy J.Kramer & The Dakotas
Wipeout - Surfaris
Under The Boardwalk - Drifters
Up Up And Away - Johnny Mann Singers
Living In The Past - Jethro Tull

LISTEN TO IT: I can listen to 60s music any time of the day. I work better when I listen to these songs. They make me happy so I would recommend you to listen to it whenever you feel like it. If you feel sad it will make you feel much better, if you feel happy, it will make you feel like a little kid. Singalong is mandatory!

Bloody floody

So on Thursday, after I finish work I receive a text message by my flatmate: "Call me ASAP!"
I immediately knew there was something wrong.
I call her and she tells me the following: my downstairs neighbour has come to see me because his ceiling is all dump and this morning it was dripping. Apparently my dishwasher is leaking and has flooded my floor and his ceiling.

When I got home I saw that my wooden floor in the kitchen has a bump in the middle, which means that I have to go uphill while I walk in there. And it also makes a squelchy noise when you step on it, which means there is water underneath it. Marvellous!

I took a couple of plinths out and saw the mess you see above.
But the mess is not coming from the dishwasher. It comes from the right, where all the pipes are. That means two things: either a) my washing machine is leaking which is OK, or b) some pipe underneath the floor has burst.
There goes my kitchen.

I have to explain that my kitchen is the pride and joy of my flat. I designed it myself and it took me quite a lot of research to find the exact units and appliances. I love my kitchen very much and this situation now just pisses me off!!!
The plumber has been called and he's coming on Wednesday. I hope we can repair the leak with the minimum damage.

I decided that if the kitchen has to be ripped, I will take pictures and maybe shoot a home video to make it like a continuing story. I'll call it "The Flood Saga"...

Quelle catastrophe!

Memoirs of A Desperate Non-Smoker

What a beautiful movie. I went to see it on Sunday after work and it was the best thing.
Some of you might know my love for Japan and the geishas. For that reason I have read a few books about them and Memoirs of A Geisha had taken my breath away... The descriptions are very vivid and the story is just a pure page-turner.

The movie justifies the book in a beautiful way. It focuses mainly on the drama and less at the rituals and traditions. After reading the book eight years ago, I couldn't wait for the movie.
I was waiting to see the beautifully described ceremonies, rituals and the lavish kimono fittings.
The preparation of Chio to become the Geisha Sayuri is pictured in a quick and powerful juxtaposition, with dynamic music and strong colours, but for me it was too quick. Because it takes a large part of the book I was expecting more. More ceremonies, more wigs, more kimonos, more tea rituals.

That doesn't mean that the movie is poor of lovely pictures. As you can see from the photos I selected, the photography is just magical. Like out of a Japanese painting. On the left is a photo from Sayuri's inaugural performance. The actual scene in the movie is very powerful and Ziyi Zhang is gorgeous and moves like she is made out of elastic.
The scene with Sayuri and the Chairman above was the most romantic of the movie.
But the most important thing of the movie is the casting. Ziyi Zhang is Sayuri-full stop. "Baddie" Geisha Hatsumomo is played by the incredible Gong Li. Mameha is gloriously portrayed by the ex-Bond girl Michelle Yeoh. The Chairman is played by a handsome and very attractive Ken Watanabe. But most of all the performances, the one that takes your breath away is the one by the 12 year old Suzuka Ohdo. She makes a difficult and dark half of the film to flow quickly and easily.

All in all a beautiful film, but not as good as the book. I would suggest you go watch it though, for the reasons I mentioned above. If you haven't read the book, you'll love it. I would definitely recommend the book.
I am going to read it again and wait for the DVD with hopefully lots of extra features!!!

As I'm writing this I'm also watching the first episode of Desperate Housewives-Series 2. I am so happy it started again.

I love the fact it combines mystery, comedy and hunks!

Yes, I know we're quite behind here in the UK, but think of it: in Greece they don't even know about it!
The new episode is already awesome, so many things happening... W-O-W!

Also, I have finally updated the Quiiiiit blog. Every time I do, I will have the following icon pasted on this blog, so you'll know when to visit. So, come on, what are you waiting for? Hit it!

Better mood and...Links!

Thank you for your comments on my "Save The Animals" manifesto.
Let us bloggers change the world...!

I am in a better mood and as you can see if you scroll down on the right sidebar I put icons on my links for the websites. It took me three days, but it was fun doing it and thanks to Copy, Paste and a bit of Paint, voilá! Now you can see what you click on!
Tell me if you like it or if you think it's a bit cramped.
All images were uploaded with the help of ImageShack. It's a fantastic and very easy to use service. Take full advantage!

Working almost 12 hours a day, I see little stars as I type this. From next week it will be much better, plus they owe me five days of holidays!

Lots of smiles!!!!

How can we be so cruel?

I can't stop crying since last night. I was having my casual evening, blogging, chatting, watching TV, when I bumped into Channel 4's documentary Animals. I just saw one scene, ONE SCENE and since last night I'm crying like a baby. I can't stop!

They were showing a hidden camera report: in a lab a man and a woman were torturing a little monkey. They were pulling its tail, grabbing its head and shouting at it. The woman was holding a needle and was shouting at the little defenseless monkey "You tried to fucking bite me! I will remember that!" Finally they immobilized the poor creature and injected the fucking whatever into it. Sorry, I don't usually swear, but this made me absolutely hysterical with fury.
I wanted to be magically transported over there and blow up this company into dust, after I had freed the animals of course. If your heart can take it you can watch similar reports on PETA TV.

It's nice to have a quiet life, go to work, have a home, blog about The Who, go to my Rachel concerts, be happy and oblivient. Hell, it's the best thing in the world!
But after watching this I want to get more conscious and active, stop buying products that come from companies which test on animals and donate as much as I can afford to organisations like PETA and Greenpeace. Please, if you feel like I do let's all support these organisations and their cause. Click on the links and LET'S SEE ACTION!

I have listened to different arguments here and there:

• "Animal testing helps medicine to save human lives" - My answer: These pharmaceutical conglomerates can spend some money to find other ways to test their products.
• "People are dying around the world and you care about animals?" (said the fat lady in the fur coat) - My answer: I'm sorry to say that, it may sound horrible, but I think sometimes I care more for the animals than for humans. Animals are defenseless and not as intelligent as humans (although I may start doubting that). Since we humans destroy their natural environments they are OUR responsibility to treat them with respect.

The whales are nearly extinct, they hunt them for leather. People in China eat dogs. Cosmetic companies drop mascara into little rabbits' eyes. Hunters kill beautiful birds to get a kick out of it. Dogfood companies test their foods into dogs who get ill and die. Chicken and turkeys are cramped in confined spaces and massively slaughtered for consuming.

I eat meat.

HOW CAN WE BE SO CRUEL?

Yo!

My flatmate was researching for something on the net and she stumbled on that little article from the online magazine Slate.
I am publishing it as it appears on the website, with the links active. The webpage can be found here.
Tell me what you think about it.
I will leave a comment in my comments section...

Hmmm!

Rappers and Bloggers Separated at birth!
By Josh Levin

P. Diddy gargles Cristal as his yacht sails from San Tropez to Ibiza. Atrios stares at his computer screen and ponders the effect of "increased central bank diversification out of dollar holdings." Nelly takes in the NBA All-Star Game from the first row while gabbing on a cell phone made out of a giant shoe. InstaPundit digests the latest developments in the Dartmouth board of trustees race and takes note of an update to C-SPAN's early morning schedule. What, do I need to draw you a Venn diagram? Rappers and bloggers—they're the same!
Those of you obsessed with external appearances may think I'm kidding. What, you ask, could those champagne-swilling, "bitch"-shouting rappers have in common with those Jolt-pounding, "read the whole thing"-writing bloggers?

For starters, both groups share a love of loose-fitting, pajama-style apparel. Still not satisfied? Bloggers and rappers are equally obsessed with social networking. Every rapper rolls with his entourage; every blogger rolls with his blog roll. Women can't win an audience in either profession without raunching it up like Lil' Kim or Wonkette.

And don't forget those silly, silly names. Even if he didn't flaunt his devotion to pimping and pit bulls, you'd probably guess Snoop Dogg is a rapper. And Fedlawyerguy—yeah, probably a blogger. But the "blogger or rapper?" parlor game can stump even the nerdiest gangsta. Does uggabugga hate on wack emcees or wack Charles Krauthammer? What about Mad Kane? Big Noyd, Justus League, Uppity Negro, Little Brother, Cold Fury, and South Knox Bubba? (Answers: blogger, blogger, rapper, rap group, blogger, rap group, blogger, blogger.)

Essentially, blogging is sampling plus a new riff. Political bloggers take a story in the news, rip out a few chunks, and type out a few comments. Rap songs use the same recipe: Dig through a crate of records, slice out a high hat and a bass line, and lay a new vocal track on top. Of course, the molecular structure of dead-tree journalism and classic rock is filthy with other people's research and other people's chord progressions.
But in newspaper writing and rock music, the end goal is the appearance of originality—to make the product look seamless by hiding your many small thefts. For rappers and bloggers, each theft is worth celebrating, another loose item to slap onto the collage.
Rap music and blogging are populist, low-cost-of-entry communication forms that reward self-obsessed types who love writing in first person.
Maybe that's why both won so many converts so quickly. If you want to become MC I'm Good at Rapping, all you have to do is rustle up a microphone and a sampler. If you want to blog as AngryVeganCatholicGOPMom, bring a computer, an Internet connection, a working knowledge
of Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, and a whole lot of spare time.

Although bloggers and rappers are free to write about whatever they damn well please, they mostly talk to each other and about each other. That's partly because it's so easy to communicate with your fellow working professionals. If Nas disses you for not having a moustache, it's easy enough to come right back and tell him you slept with the mother of his child. When Markos from Daily Kos offhandedly admits that he doesn't read many books, Little Green Footballs steps up to hammer the softball.
But rappers' and bloggers' self-importance also has something to do with the supremely annoying righteousness that rides along with those who believe they're overturned the archaic forms of expression favored by The Man—that is, whitey and/or the mainstream media. Ninety percent of rap lyrics are self-congratulatory rhymes about how great the rapper is at rapping, the towering difficulties of succeeding in the rap game, or the lameness of wanksta rivals. Blogging is a circle jerk that never stops circling: links to posts by other bloggers, following links to newspaper stories about bloggers, following wonderment at the corruptions and complacency of old-fashioned, credentialed journalism.
Sure, there are a few differences between the blogosphere and the blingosphere. Although bloggers have a certain buzz about them these days, they'll never be cool the way rappers are cool. The blogger lifestyle is dangerous—staying up all night and eating Cheetos will eventually kill you—but not sexy dangerous. Rappers can afford to be more conspicuous with their triumphalism because selling millions of records is more financially rewarding than getting millions of hits. But if that blog ad gravy train ever comes in, I guarantee you that Josh Marshall will pick up his mail in a gold-plated tank and Nick Denton will put a hit on any linkmonger who looks at him cross-eyed.
But don't get caught up in those piddling distinctions. Public Enemy's Chuck D once said that rap music was the black CNN. After busting a cap in Eason Jordan's ass, what are bloggers now if not the white CNN? If only the two schools recognized they could inflict more damage with a little teamwork. Today, Mickey Kaus sits alone in Los Angeles, valiantly spewing bile at hidebound East Coast elites. Just think how much more pungent that bile would be with a hot backing track by Dr. Dre. Hey, maybe that podcasting thing won't be totally useless after all.

Related in Slate
If you missed the link, don't forget to check out Slate's own blog, Kausfiles. In 2002, Kurt Andersen and Andrew Sullivan debated whether blogs were changing our culture. Last month, Jack Shafer warned that blogs can't possibly live up to their prodigious hype. David Plotz wrote assessments of Sean Combs, Master P, and Eminem. Josh Levin analyzed the behavior of the hip-hop entourage.
Blogger Reihan Salam is leading the forces of blog-rap unification. Check out his rhymes at Evil Forces.
Josh Levin is a Slate assistant editor. You can e-mail him at sportsnut@slate.com.

Comeback!

YES! I AM BACK!

I get knocked down
But I get up again, LOL!

It took me a couple of days, but I went to Dixon's and they suggested I buy a new modem, because it looked like the old one had "shed its feathers" as we say in Greece, LOL.
So £17.95 and two hours of re-installing later, voilá. Last night I was back online!

I created a MySpace account, it's fun! I will add all the...usual suspects from here, and you can add me too. But I will continue blogging here, this is MyFavouriteSpace :o).

I have a lot to do today, but when I return tonight I will post something very very interesting my flatmate found on the net.
Thanks for all your comments on my previous blog, you are fabulous...!!!!

I hate AOL!

Hello,

Quick post from work here, I wrote it sneakily as a word document, copied it, pasted it and hit Publish, I’m not allowed to surf as you know, so I hope I won’t get the sack.

I have problems with AOL. Last night I was at Molly’s chatroom and having a great time, when at about midnight. I got disconnected and couldn’t connect anymore. I stayed up until 2:30 am to solve the problem and the problem wasn’t solved.
It won’t recognise my modem, although Saturday I re-installed the drivers and AOL software, because I had exactly the same problem at the same time...???? B&*%£$%rds!

I have to call them tonight when I go back home from work and solve this problem, although I have a feeling they will tell me the same bull I see on their Help section: “re-install software, re-install modem, check the connections, contact your computer manufacturer, jump around the room three times and say KILIMANJARO- KILIMANJARO- KILIMANJARO”

So, erm…I don’t know if you’ll see me again, LOL!

Changes

I was getting bored of my blog's colours, never too crazy about green anyway, so I decided to change it. Plus, I spent some time last night playing with this picture for my profile, so that it coordinates with the whole new style of the blog. I love those pastel colours. Tell me what you think....

I didn't blog for almost a week, I 've been working a lot, it was
c-r-a-z-y and I was feeling very tired. But I've been visiting other people's blogs, leaving comments here and there, whenever I wasn't too tired to type, LOL!
Rachel's blog is a must for me, it always cheers me up and it's fantastic what she shares with us. All those free downloads, she and Pete are always too generous. I can't stop listening to Jigsaw, I absolutely love it! In The Mix makes me want to drop everything and start dancing and How About No War is just magic. Without Your Love speaks to my heart so much, I wish I could send it to someone, but I 'm a good girl I am. I love what Tausha's done with Rachel's MySpace, such a good job (kisses baby!)
Also, I've been obsessing with Simon's Flying, if you haven't heard that song you don't know what you're missing. Complete lift-off! And...have you been to his blog lately? Vgdrshkl blrsshekkj ksjfklsj kdsjfoias...!

I watched Celebrity Big Brother the other day. It's Lips-o-rama in there with Pete Burns, Jodie Marsh and another chick from Baywatch, whose name I don't care to remember. Their lips are one straight line from all the surgery, there is no curve at the top. I think they look disgusting. And if I were Pete Burns I would kill my plastic surgeon and never come out of the house. Hideous!

I will chat with most of you on Sunday. I will be working until 6pm, but then I'll come home flying. I'll have to, there is going to be a tube strike and all the buses will be packed, so I'll probably have to grow wings...

Speaking of growing wings, here's something I knew for a few days, but now I feel I can share it with you. My cat in Greece died on New Year's Eve. I only heard about it on Wednesday, my mother didn't want to upset me. This is very sad for me, I was missing her a lot here in London, but now when I go to Greece in the summer I will feel very empty. This picture was taken in Spetses last summer.
My mother couldn't go home for a few days, she was staying with my sister, because the house was so empty and quite.
She was nearly 16 years old, died of old age. She had a full and happy life, and that takes the pain away a little.
Please pray for my cat's little soul and for my mother who's feeling very lonely now.

Goodnight, my sweet Koukou.

A New Year for the New Me!

Working on New Year's Day, and bloody hard too, is not very festive. But thankfully, I was home at about 7pm, watched the tape with the Vienna Concert (it was great!) and had a quick dinner. Tomorrow early call again...
Aiuto!

Nevertheless, it is the time to set new rules for the New Year and for the New Me

1. Well, the first one has usually to do with our health and appearance, so I'll start by saying: since I have already quit smoking I have to keep up the good work and spirit and also keep an eye on my diet and exercise. I love Pilates and swimming so that's what I'll do, until the bathing suit comes out of the drawer and into my suitcase. Now, if only I had a personal trainer and an indoor swimming pool...
2. Remortgage the house, something I should have done a year ago and I keep postponing it. I have to schedule the following weeks around that goal and then, I'll be much better pocket-wise!
3. Buy a car! I miss my car and I miss driving. I think this will be the year I buy myself a little something on four wheels. A Ferrari is out of the question at the moment, so I'll settle for a Scoda, LOL. No, not really, my favourite car is the old Mini, but the new one is not bad either. Or a Polo. Or a Clio. Or a Beatle. Oh, what the heck, anything with a good stereo to listen to The Who on the road is fine by me!
4. Go to as many Who and Rachel gigs as possible. Life is too short and we should do whatever makes us happy. And there is nothing else in the world that makes me happier than music!
5. Challenge myself a bit and go to the job market to see what's on offer. I love my job but I don't like the retail hours. I'm sure that there's something out there for my experience, knowledge, qualifications, talent, wit, amazing qualities and modesty!
6. Spend more time with my goddaughter, who is growing up becoming sweet and beautiful and we love each other very much. Unfortunately with me working those long hours five days a week it's not easy, which brings us back to number 5.
7. Save save save money to make that trip to Japan, which I've been dreaming since I was four years old. And take my lovely mother with me and treat her with the best.
8. Expand my knowledge in classical music and literature. I know a few things but I'm thirsty to learn more. Buy my favourite operas on CD or DVD and listen carefully...! And read more!
9. Send Christmas cards and gifts on time this year, pref. at the beginning of November and not in the middle of January as I'm going to do now!
10. Last but not least: have fun, never cry over spilt milk, stop obsessing over a certain someone and be and feel fabulous!!!

I wish all of you to achieve whatever goal you set yourself on, this year.

Love, happiness and inner and outter peace!!!!!