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My favourite 'holiday', (summer holidays, easter, christmas) in England has always been Christmas. Probably because you don't offer much competition, when it comes to the summer. I mean, come on. Seriously. I do just love the festive spirit, consumerist and watered down spirit included in that. But if I think about when I used to live in Greece, Easter was such a magical time! As a Greek Orthodox Christian, I can safely say that Easter is the most important religious festival in Greece. It's virtually always on a different weekend to english easter, (aside from this year, waheyy), and as a rule it is -bear with me- always based on the Julian Calendar, as opposed to the Gregorian Calendar. It's ALWAYS on the first Sunday, after the first full moon, AFTER the first day of spring (March 21st, also ma meres birthday).
In Greece, Godparents are taken really seriously and Easter's their main time to shower their godchildren with lovingsss and giftingsss. As well as any presents, traditionally, you receive lambathes (big fat ornate gorgeous candle.. basically)
Tonight, Holy Saturday, everyone would go to Church/stand outside the Church and at one minute to midnight, after the procession, in complete and utter darkness (which is meant to symbolise Jesus's tomb, i believe) the priest lights his candle and passes it around while praying (how cultified does this sound, man). When all the candles of the street are lit, fireworks and music and singing and all that happens whilst everyone walks through the streets of their city!
It was always so beautiful to be a part of, or even watch from the balcony. A gazillion lit candles in utter silence - aside from the bell ringing midnight.

Oh, and every egg in the history of Greece is dyed red, coins are hidden in brioche-type breads, shit loads of chocolate, cakes and a whole lot of lamb... the usual.

I definitely miss those traditions, but heyyy. new traditions!
Erm. Tomorrow Im going to this.. monkey forest thing and holding monkeys.
Theres a religious easter tradition, if i ever did hear one!


Christos Anestis!!

(which is where you'd reply, 'Alithos Anestis', if you were a jebus believer :)


x

Over the Rainbow

Since the age of about 2 I've been a performer of some sort. I was always slightly less enthusiastic about dancing, but I was still pretty good at it. Especially ballet and street. I got to dance in Disneyland Paris at the parade and on stage because of it, it was awesome. I danced with Goofy, who incidentally turned out to be a 40 year old drunk; the younger children were distraught upon hearing this,(and seeing it, as he took his goofy head off in his trailer and exposed his unshaven old face.)

I've never really done that much acting in pure dramas, its always been in musicals. And I don't just mean glittery jazz hands musicals. One of my most challenging roles was as Chava in Fiddler on the roof. She's one of Tevyes youngest daughters, and she falls in love with a Christian boy. When her dad finds out he fully screams at her and disowns her and breaks her down on stage. I was only about 15, so that was so difficult to do onstage. No music, no dialogue, a spotlight and me crying for what felt like 6 hours ahhaaa. I really enjoyed doing that show at the Birmingham rep. With the same theatre company I was Jasmine in Aladdin. That was the one and only panto I've ever done. SO MUCH FUN! I love all the improv, and how lax it's allowed to be. What else have I been in? I was Bet in Oliver Twist when I was 14, and I was Marty in Grease(thats the pink lady that slags about with lots of boys in the army then writes to them). I was well gutted I didnt get Rizzo, but the Grease stage production, unlike the film, has a really good song for Marty that I ended up falling in love with.
My favourite role ever, in both the theatre company, stage school and school/college performances hassssss to be Dorothy in Wizard of Oz. It was my first (proper) lead role, and I've always been so in love with the film I knew I'd love doing it. To be honest, being the leading lady is boring as fuck. Yeah, there's actually a lot more pressure on the lead than any other character, but Dorothy really has no edge. She's riiiight innocent. But it was still an amazing experience. If, for a second, you forget the fact that I'm writing things with my best friend J to record this year, I really want to focus on musical theatre. Consider it a new years resolution? I've really neglected it the past two years.
You know the BBC's annual competition to find Andrew Lloyd Webbers leading lady? Welllll this year that leading lady is dorothy. I've known about it for a few months and I've checked for audition dates so often but...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorothy << yeah.


I'm too late! ahahhaa. I cried. I MOURNED. I'm not saying I would've even got past the first stage. But now that I don't know for sure, i'm going to kick myself. Forever. I'm considering just showing up but that will be no use, no doubt. I'm even exhausting my bbc contacts to try and get me an audition but its too soon to tell. When people ask me 'oh, hows your music stuff going?' i wanna say I've tried.
So, 2010: more auditions and more effort.
And more recording own music with J.

PLEASE SHOW ME THIS WHEN I APPEAR TO GET LAZY.
thanks. :)

'change is hard'

Fairly irrelevant She & Him reference as the song is about a boy, but the words are true maayn, the words are all true.
Just finished packing (with help from my mom and auntie) so I thought I'd write down a few words before i put my life above you again. HARHAR.
I am quite obviously excited. I've always been quite studious and I do partly think thats because of my original upbringing and education in Thessaloniki. We had so many subjects, Greek History, Mythology, Philosophy, Geography, French and then all the bog standard school subjects. I also used to go to English school three nights a week. Yeah.. that sounds a lot for me NOW so nevermind the fact that i was FUCKING FIVE, SIX AND SEVEN. And then moved to Junior school in Birmingham and started learning about the Egyptians. (Awww, remember the Egyptians?! As in, the subject@school. THE TUDORS! VICTORIANS! oh my god, I need to go and fish out my old books)

Anyway, I think I was always looking forward to uni, it was never not an option for me. My mom never pressured me into or out of anything and I really respect her for that, I was really lucky. I always adapt well in new enviroments, I'm never shy or uncomfortable (except at SitC, hiding behind Dave virtually all weekend) and s'all good.
But this is going to be a wee bit weird for me.
My brother is independent and strong. I'd always say I am both of those things, but he moved back to Greece when he was 15. Not so much to go back to dad (or take sides) but he just missed his friends. I was 7. I missed my friends but I needed my mom. So from 16 until now, he's lived on his own. Dad never helped him or supported him, it was the other way round most of the time because dads a musician who spends ANY MONEY on new basses, equipment, computers. So he would be one welllll flashy homeless man.

For that fact, not the homeless statement, when Jason left last week to go London for uni it wasn't hugely emotional for mom. She was happy that he was settled, and felt a little strange because after he travelled the world he stayed here with us for a year and we got used to having him around and I got used to getting beaten up on a regular basis.
But we always learnt to deal with missing Jason. But as sad as this may seem, I do balance myself out between the neighbourhood of friends and all the brum social circles, and my family.
Big fat greek family, man, it scares me a little bit, nevermind the poor unsuspecting new boyfriend back for sunday dinner (we didn't last, obviously).
Me and mum and Eleni, my auntie/bestfriend/sister/but actually auntie are so close. I've seen them slowly heal since my uncle passed away and they've taught me eeeeverything I need to know. Maybe not everything, my grandparents are pretty mentally clever.
Not one day goes by when I don't see my grandparents and aunt and mom, if none of us are away. So this is strange.
Exciting, a littttttle nerve racking, but primarily just strange.

strangey strange. fuck, it's late. I've got to get up so early for us to head down to Southampton.
EEeeeeeek Bonjour new chapter in life!

Love you all, give me a text tomorrow?!

xx

P.s Good luck and have fun to those of you who have moved to uni this weekend.

Skins :)

Hi, so yeah! (Excellent start, Emily. Pat on the back)

Waking up in london at 5am, getting ready and packing outfits - my idea of fun.
I then got a couple of tubes to hammersmith apollo where I got onto the coach to Bristol. Coinkidink as it may be, a friend from school was going too, so I sat with him and everrrrryone made friends so fast.
We went to this really old school, virtually deserted bowling alley to sign contracts and release forms then walked over to the studio to get changed and go through wardrobe, hair and makeup checks. It was a long 13 hour shift with a lot of waiting in the back but even more waiting on set in the club. It was wellll draining and welllllll exhausting.
I've done a lot of theatre and musical theatre but it was so cool to see all the techie haps of tv. Cameras EVERYWHERE. For someone who subconsciously cups her breasts sometimes, the swarming cameras were fairly unsettling.
Inbetween takes, there'd be the make up ladies coming up to you and reapplying foundation AND THEN SPRAYING WATER OVER IT TO MAKE YOU LOOK SWEATY. wot iz da point, man. i was swetty anywai, yh.

for 13 or so hours, we had to dance 'as if coked off our faces' to Bonkers. Not once did we hear the song all the way through. It's weird how long it took to film a 3 minute scene, i guess, but there was a club full of people with specific instructions every second of the way - so maybe its not so mental that it took so long.

Me and a girl really clicked so we had sex. No. A girl and I clicked and we were together for the whole day really. Turned out she worked for Channel four. This meant I pretty much got access all areas and I fucking loved it. I'm not good at the whole fan girl CAN I HAZ PHOTO WITH YOU thing, so it was good to be sitting with the cast upstairs, and just talking, laughing, messing around. gotzz me a few contacts along the way, so it was awesome. I loved just.. being a friend as opposed to a fan. Having a cigarette with Luke (Freddie) on some random roof and playing 'would you rather', pelvic thrusting with Ollie (JJ), getting ripped to shreds on my brum accent and LOST voice by Jack (cook) and elbowing Lisa (pandora) in the head. That last bit was a mistake because we got overexcited.

This bit, for skins fans: seriously, Freddie is so much hotter in real life but COOK. On tv, he's just a raging chav. In real life, he's a sexy flirty raging chav. Really though, he's barely different to his character, which is a bit frightening. JJ is DEFINITELY the nicest, most fun one to be around and Pandora is mental. The twins are hilarious but they were shattered. Lily Loveless, who plays Naomi, was sulking the whole way through. She had to do her lesbo kiss about eighty times cos of some camera angle mistakes. Da boiz luvd it. I will tell you that there is a new Skins character. Soph. She is virtually identical to Season 1 and 2's, Cassie but a brunette. A lot of the series revolves around her and her shocking.. event? ;)

I loved series 1 and 2 of skins, but as FUCKING HOT as the new cast may be, series 3 was, in all honesty, shocking. Episode one of series 4 suggests that its improving - despite it only lasting for 8 episodes. If you're a psycho fan I'll tell you if you want, but it's more fun left unsaid.

Before I go to bed(at about 5.45 in the afternoon), I would like to say something else. I don't generally do that whole 'oohhh I'm moaning about you in a blog because I don't have the balls to say it to your face' shit. But it did bother me.
I can not WAIT for you to get something you're really excited about in your life that you REALLY want to show off because you're well happy for yourself. Because I'll piss all over it like you did for me.
'I hate skins' - fine. that IS fine. When there isn't an active discussion about Skins happening on twitter, but instead, me saying how stupidly happy I am about where I am, what you're saying isn't necessary. Just shut the fuck up, a little bit? sometimes? I always ignore it when people say twatty/moany/condescending things because internet drama is far too 12 yr old for me. This blog is reee-heeally not supporting that statement, but thats because it is a bit upsetting that you can't let some things go? Obviously just 2 or 3 people fucked me off, the rest of you were lovely.
Skins is a good ol' (but not old) cult classic for teenagers, the teenagers that live up to the 'fun time current music club sexytime' stereotype as opposed to the 'lazy internet' stereotype or the 'i killed 5 men in the ethnic foods aisle of morrisons with a bottle of lambrini' stereotype.
I have decided to stick with it, despite the shocking thing that was series 3. I had sosoososos much fun :)
Can't wait for season five in like, what, 2 years?

emilia x

HEY THURR

Hello, I'm meant to be getting ready for work, but I am instead watching last nights Big Brother and eating cous cous. Hmm.
I have been SO nervous about the results day ahead. Because of a mega cock up (a la my music teacher) I HIGHLY doubt I'm getting my AAB for university.
University has always been a definite for me, I've always always wanted to go. I love being in education cos I'm a complete geek. This summer without college has felt so long, I can almost hear my braincells fizzle out.

I'm not sure how I'll cope if I don't go to university this year (which will probably be the case) but I guess we'll see in 6 days.
Obviously, not everyone needs/wants university. And I can still go next year, I suppose. But I've been emotionally preparing for September for about 2 years, and I'm going to be a MESS when this all falls down.
But I've always wanted a gap year,I just didn't know whether to put it before uni or after.
I could just work my arse off for half a year and go all around for the other half.

Hmm..
Writing it down has just made it better for me. Okay. Thanks brick wall.
x

a lack of colour

hopefully this won't actually be too blue, though it's going to be filled with beautiful death-related stories.
As those of you who are remotely important (I joke) will already know, my famzz been in mourning for almost two years now over my Uncle Georgieeee who passed away December 07. I think it's really interesting, in an admittedly morbid way, how people cope with death. Everyone from Milton keynes, cambridge, northampton, cyprus and greece would come and sit in the living room with us. Virtually in silence. Just being with us, occasionally trying to feed us something or remind us to take a shower. And I like the way family and friends just do that, take a couple of weeks off work and stay in birmingham just so they could be there if we needed someone to stare into space with. Even my dad phoned my mom to talk to her: THIS IS SAYING SOMETHING. When Jason (who was in greece at the time) told dad that Georgie passed away, he was gutted because they used to be close in the hey day that was the successful marriage of my parents. So he phoned mom and ignored the fact that she didn't like him and just spoke about George.
In the room, I'd be the one looking at everyone else grieving. It was so weird, I was so exhausted and everything was so surreal that trying to think back to it is a little difficult. I BLOODY HATE when people say 'outer body experience' but its the only way to really describe it. I didn't feel like I was living for about 3 months. My boyfriend at the time was too busy noticing I was cancelling on him too much, to actually care. He loved me a lot, but he didn't care very well. He's insignificant in life, lets forget that bit of the story :D
I sang at the funeral, whilst he was being buried, with an acoustic guitar, and it made me feel good to express my pain without crying infront of people. Unless its my mom, auntie, nan, best friend or boyfriend, I can't cry infront of people. MAKES ME WEAK, AND I AM A WARRIOR SO THAT'S NOT VERY GOOD IS IT?
It's a bit frightening to think, but I reckon its still not sunk in, for me. I try to go to the cemetery as little as possible because seeing his name written down all officially is a bit strange.
http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/murphy/3112609 This is all about the boy in my year that I keep going on about. It's sad. His memorial was today, the whole neighbourhood was swarming with boys and girls and men and women in black walking to the shop, the pub, someones house, getting ready for the memorial or wake. Swarming. Endless amounts of cars driving to the cemetery. Huge flower presentations and flags and villa coloured 'Brother' written across the side of the coffin, which reminds me, they took the coffin past the Villa grounds too.
This is me cutting the story short and leaving it as a healthy get-it-out-before-you-blow-up-with-grief blog:
DEATH SUCKS
X

Patrick Wolf

I was originally going to post a blog about the binge, but you can hear about that off everyone else. It WAS magical and extra fun and I love everybody.

I was walking around Glasgow Central, slightly bitter about the fact that everybody else was still in bed and preparing for a fun sunny BBQ at Sineads whilst I was going to be travelling home. I sat down in the little.. bit people sit down at infront of the screens with the platform info, waiting for my train to arrive at a platform.
Directly opposite, a guy sits down and another guy stands by him, sorting luggage out. He had this strangely familiar tattoo on his calf which I creepily recognised. Only after about 30 seconds of pondering over his calf did I consider it a good idea to look at the rest of him.
He sat down next to the guy he was with.
'Fuck me, he looks like Patrick wolf SO much'
I was definite it WASN'T him though. Why, I hear you ask?
Here is a list of celebrities I've been adamant I've met:
David Tennant
Dawn French
Christina Aguilera
Chris Evans
Chad Michael Murray
Mike Skinner
and Kate Nash.

I've not met any of them. But I'm one of those twats who thinks someone is someone else.I generally need a grounded person to tell me to shut the fuck up.

After a while, I decided it was definitely him and walked up to him.
'Are you fucking joking me?' were my first words. So after a few moments of laughter we sat down, spoke a bit, took some photos and took the piss out of a lady who thought I had left a bag in my original seat because there was a bomb inside.
Once the train arrived, me, Patrick and William went straight toward it and hugged goodbye cos we'd be in different seats.

I sat down in my seat in Coach B.
Patrick and his friend came and sat next to me because they were their booked seats.
What the fuck.
They had to get off at Lancaster so after a couple of hours I had to say bye.
But he promised he'd see me soon. Which was weird/magical.
Story told. Now lets review.

the ONE TIME I go to Glasgow.
the SAME train as eachother.
the SAME ROUTE as eachother.
The same COACH as eachother and the same fucking SEATS AS EACHOTHER.
He was only in Birmingham this time last week!

If someone asked me who I wanted to speak to the most, Patrick Wolf would probably hit second underneath Ben Gibbard.
(Who, funnily enough, was in the queue infront of me in Borders in the Bullring when he was playing at the academy. I didn't believe myself because I always do this but after confirmation from my friend, I pissed myself. Didn't speak to him though. Twat)

He's so lovely. And so in love with his boyfriend it was mental.
Best day ever.

(Considering I was on a KARAOKE BUS the night before, that is saying something)


http://dailybooth.com/emiliatsontilis/412987

:) I'm flyingggggg

xxx