S04, Episode 02

Beauty Of The Beast

Just when I thought 'I'm only going to watch this movie because of Emma Watson', here I was sitting two hours later in a massive movie theatre, among a bunch of 8 year olds, feeling, possibly more moved than any one of them. 

What a movie! I have been a fan of Emma's for 15 years, hashtag girl crush. I always liked Beauty and The Beast, it has been one of my favourites Disney cartoons of my childhood, along with Hercules and The Lion King. I had been apprehensive about re-creating the cartoons into live action films for years now, which is why I refused to go see the live action remake of Cinderella. But this one, I had to, it all added up, Emma, one of my faves..

It was a beautiful adaptation of the original, and the reason I call it an adaptation is because the only thing different was a couple of details were added to the story-which I won't spoil for you if you haven't seen it. Other than this, the film pretty much was an exact copy of the cartoon, and WHY NOT, there's a reason we fell in love with the 1991 release anyway. 

Re-watching it as an adult made me shake my head, nod along with many historical references, since it is taking place in provincial France of the 1700, which I now am educated about contrary to the 4 year old me who watched this film back in the 90s. I found it super interesting that the writers took a good opportunity to emphasise some of the messages in this film by adding lines or extra small scenes in order to convey them to the young girls, such as 'it's okay to be different', 'girls have the right to chose their destiny', 'they have the right to education', 'you should stay true to who you are'. And I didn't even find it cheesy. My favourite moment, regarding messages, was when Gaston claimed that 'it's the girls who play hard to get and stay classy that are the ones worth chasing'. I could hear the writer screaming in his mind 'you hear this ladies???' when he was typing this line. 

Emma's performance had a lot to do with making sure the movie stayed witty and timeless. Her modern-yet faithful to the script performance was the cherry on top of that magnificent production of a pie. I don't really need to praise the ultra-talented famous cast that was in the film, the names speak for themselves. Sir Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Kline and boy did I have no idea that Audra McDonald could sing like that. Okay, before you interrupt your reading of the post to go google who she is quickly, she is Naomi in Private Practice. So, yeap, hats off to the Casting Director.

And now a mention to what everyone is talking about, the incorporation of gay characters, references and a 'gay moment' in the film. Um, get over it? (I quote Sir Ian McKellen). Maybe we were too naive to realise that Le Fou was gay in the cartoon, I don't know, I cannot remember, and I don't have time to go back and watch it again, I have to get back to my research on family happiness in the 1800s according to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina because I have an assignment, yawn for you, but very interesting to this nerd here. But yes, there is a massive innuendo that Le Fou is either bisexual or homosexual and that this is great! There is a fraction of a second at the end of the film-SKIP a few lines, this is a SPOILER-where everyone is happy, dancing at the palace, and he is dancing with another bloke who had previously in the film, seemingly enjoyed it when he is forced to wear a dress while being attacked by Madame Garderobe. A possible crossdressing reference here as well, but once again, this is the writer's and the director's way of saying, hey it's OALL good. Hashat, be you. 

Beautiful costumes, design, special effects and montage. Emma's fresh performance would not be complete without Dan Stevens' adorable performance as the Beast. 

Who wouldn't have fallen in love with an educated, kind-hearted (in the end), blue eyed, tall, dark, and cute monster? Lads who shave chests and backs because they feel like 'they have to' but they don't really want to, hey be a cute beast. 

#HeForShe

PS: THIS MOMENT. I now want a mustard frock again.

Season 03, Ep. 07

Barney

Tonight's episode is about Barney Miller. An Australian man whose spirit will always and forever be my inspiration. Here goes.
The other day I drove home for a quick lunch when I found Fras watching a documentary on Garage. Garage is the ONLY channel on, when I'm not home. And being a channel that only shows surfing, snowboarding, skating etc, I don't always pay attention at what is on when I come home. This time however, I walked in and soon enough my ears started really listening to the documentary that was on. It was about Barney Miller. A young man who was left paralysed at 20 years old after a life changing car accident. Barney was a super active young bloke always keen to ride a wave or a snowy hill. And yet here he is stuck on a wheelchair. The reason why Barney's story has come to light, since he is not the first one and unfortunately not the last one to have had to deal with the devastating consequences of a car accident, is because Barney is a dear friend of Mick Fanning's. The two met one day at the beach at one of Mick's surf competitions. They have been inseparable ever since. 
For those of you who are not into surfing, and don't really know who Mick Fanning is, well, you are sitting at a computer right now, or holding your smartphone, so there, the internet is right in your fingers. Mick is a World Champion at surfing with an incredible story to tell. And in his darkest year to date, enters Barney. 
When Barney met the love of his life he decides to defy science, medicine and pretty much gravity if he can, when he decides to learn how to walk again. Barney was a quadriplegic and was told he could no longer use his arms and legs again. Barney makes it his mission to learn how to use all four limbs. The entire documentary is about his journey, which is still going on, and about how Barney learnt how to stand, kneel, so he can propose to his girlfriend and dance at his wedding. An incredibly inspiring, heart throbbing but also painful documentary to watch. And Mick is with him every step (literally) of the way. Holding him up, encouraging him to work through the pain. He takes him surfing with him-yes even if he's paralysed, he is still out there surfing the waves lying on that surfboard, and we're winging over bumps and bruises sometimes.
When Mick publicly went through a horrible year what with his divorce, his brother's passing and an almost brutal shark attack at the surf finals in South Africa a year ago, a moment I personally watched live on TV as it was happening, there was Barney to inspire him to never, ever, give up. And here is Barney to inspire us to never, ever give up. I wish you take a moment to check out Barney's story and ponder over the fact that if a guy like him who is about to defy science, medicine and doctors, can do it, and not take no for an answer, why can't we? What's stopping us from achieving the impossible? What is impossible anyway? How do we know it's impossible? Have we tried it to know? Ah. Tick the box first. Try it. Then label it 'impossible'. Or will you?
I showed Barney's story to my English class the other day to pass the message to my kids that whatever we may go through, whichever battle we have to fight, all we need is one person to support us the whole way. And it doesn't have to be the family we were born into. Sometimes it's the family we create for ourselves. 

Get inspired: 
Barney's story http://www.youandmethemovie.com/

Long time, no read folks!

Toodles,
Katerina

Season 03, Ep. 04

Me Before This Book

...and the movie.

So the first time I came across this was when I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie. I instantly thought that would be an interesting love story but I was not ready for what came after. I started talking about how I was keen to see it, besides, even though I am not a Game of Thrones fan (please don't hate me), I am an Emilia Clarke fan. There's something about her that's very captivating on screen. 

And then someone said 'you HAVE to read the book, I could not put it down and I finished a box of tissues'. I needed something to get me back into reading since the last time I touched a fiction book must have been the Harry Potter series in my teens. Shame, I know. I just didn't feel reading was for me, I get worried that unless it is totally gripping, I lose my interest and focus. And I've always been a more audio-visual person, I can digest documentaries, shows and movies like that. But still, reading. What do you do when technology fails...

I was just coming back from Hanmer Springs and I'm at the airport thinking, it's now or never, so I ended up purchasing my copy of 'Me Before You'. I finished it within 12 days and that's only because I had so much work in the day. I am not the biggest fan of Hollywood-happy ending-chick flicks, but this is so not it, so not your typical happy ending. It's all relative here, and some of you may disagree it's a happy ending at all, but that's the beauty of a book, it opens so many doors of different feelings and interpretations. I reckon it was a happy ending within a sad ending. If you don't know what the story is about I shall not spoil it for you and how this chapter ends. I am ready for my sequel now.

As far as the box of tissues goes, I don't cry easily anymore, in films, shows or in books for this matter, but I felt that lump in my throat the entire time since she realises her feelings for him. But I held it in perfectly right. ...Until those last two chapters. Until that first tear dropped and here it went. A proper cleansing. Oh my lawd, Jojo, you got me there. 

Jojo Moyes' writing is perfect for the average reader and for a huge age range. Easy, personal, detailed and exciting. Thank you Jojo. 

Sunday I had the chance to watch the film version. It is always a given that movies never do the books they are based on any justice and fair enough, how can you fit 500 pages of details in a two hour movie. So for what it was it was perfect. Emilia Clarke lived up to my ridiculous expectations and beyond. She is Louisa Clark. Sam Claflin was indeed Will Traynor minus the spinal cord injury. You know me, I always judge a movie based on the acting and this was a top of the tops. They portrayed the story and their characters with such care, delicacy and wit. If I were Jojo Moyes I would be so chuffed with the casting. And again, final two scenes in the movie, hashtag cleanse. Only because I went back to that moment I was first reading it in the book. 

Let's just say that this book has successfully put me back in the reading game. My next purchases will be "After You", the sequel to this one and I came across an interesting one, 'The French Wedding' by a New Zealand author. Ha, look at me, a bookie. 

Season 2, Ep. 08

Wrapping Up

Previously on The Moo Point...

So we are at Christchurch at the moment, after a day of travelling down to the city with one stop-over in Kaikoura, and a quick visit in few towns on the way including Waipara Hills,and then Lincoln University and Akaroa once we got there. 

Today...

Christchurch is a struggling beauty. The ruins from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes are more than visible, YET, the first flash buildings have already emerged and boy do they look cool. I give it 4-5 more years and I reckon the city will look cooler than ever, futuristic, modern, fresh out the box. But for now, all you hear is the sound of drilling and scaffolding all around which takes away pretty much all of the fun walking around the city, but hey, what can you do.

The problem is, there's still some buildings of sentimental and historical value that have gotten completely ruined during the earthquake but it's still undecided whether they should tear them down completely and start from scratch or try to keep them up and 'fix' what's left of them. Pretty dangerous though I reckon, evcen if they do this, they can only be for show. Noone will be able to walk in them let alone live in them. Sounds like a joke to me that they are even considering fixing the ruins but I get it, there's buildings like the Christchurch Cathedral at Cathedral Square, right at the heart of the city,which is a true landmark but is still barely hanging, but also, how do you completely demolish such a landmark. And this is coming from a super non-religious person, but it ain't about that. 

Anyhoo, my day exploring the city was super hot and sunny so I loved every little bit of it. Prior to our walk-about in the city though, we made a little trip to Sumner Village, 20 minutes out. It's an area right by the ocean, obviously super busy at this time of the year with surfies, kids swimming, boogie-boarding etc. Then you come across a big playground and a line of cafes and restaurants around. The road leads to a massive hill which is full of flash-ish houses but boy what a view they must have up there, right above the ocean. 

Overall, I noticed that apart from the old ruins getting rebuilt etc, there's a massive line of new homes getting built further from the centre of the city. I'm not sure if people have now decided to migrate towards the suburbs after what happened, or if the population is growing, but there were new blocks of houses EVERYWHERE.

On our way back to Picton to catch our ferry back to the North Island, we made another stop at Cheviot, remember from the previous episode? Cheviot, lattes, try it. Our ferry back was smooth as, we spent all 3 hours at the 'Quiet' room, reading, napping, and we booked our final accommodation literally 3 hours before arriving in Martinborough. This time we stayed at a camp ground but in a cabin. Beautiful little batch, and the camp had new facilities, such as showers, kitchen etc,so it felt pretty flash. Check it out, TOP 10 Holiday Park. Now, I LOVED Martinborogh, stayed for like a day before we finally made it back to the Naki, and for a small town,it is so nicely maintained, CUTEST little pubs and bars. I appreciated that, it don't matter how small the town is to me, it was so nicely taken care of and remodelled. We visited a winery as this is what Martinborough is famous for BUT our main day trip was to Castle Point a famous surf beach. Beautiful indeed. Endless hot, smooth sand, beautiful waters. The partner had to go for a surf. Of course. 

The next day meant the road trip wrapped as we drove back to Taranaki. A much worth mentioning town on the way up is Greytown, we only drove past but it was enough to mention how preeeetty it is. Masterton, mmm not so much. 

Sad to see the end of our trip but was definitely stoked to see my little teapot puppy again who probably had a better holiday than us with the pup mate she stayed with. Hashtag it's a dog's life.

Alright, now back to reality. See you next week when things turn artistic. So yeah, get ready to get in touch with your artistic side.Hashtag  Christchurch Art Gallery. Woop.

Christchurch

Castle Point

Martinborough

Season 2, Ep. 04

Italia Conti, Continued.

 I'm gonna use a more festive colour to type this episode due to the holidays. Ha. 

 Hi! How you doin'? Counting down till Friday? I am! I'm actually cheating and decided to open first presents on Christmas Eve. Hashtag, sorry not sorry.

 Anyhoo, where were we. Oh, apologies for derailing the subject last week, but, you know, Ed Sheeran. 

So my time at the Drama College was definitely a big chapter. There were a lot of firsts. No, not those firsts. One of them was my first big panic attack. You know, like the panic attacks you get where you can't breathe and you squeal like a fox trying to gasp for air and at the same time you can't shut up, you just have to try to form sentences? Yeah that.

 I was always into my Ballet, it was after all my first form of art that I got into. I started as soon as I could walk and I just kept progressing until deep into my teens when I became so passionate I was taking extra summer courses abroad at Ballet Schools. So when I got into Italia Conti, and one of our classes was a Ballet class, almost every morning, I was bound to be one of the good ones. Good so far? Okay. Now, the teacher that handled the advanced ballet class was a typical British woman-'nough said- with her posh accent and her tough love approach. Think J. K. Simmons on Whiplash. Classic right? The tough teacher who pushes the talent and makes their life a living hell so they are ready to face whatever is out there once they graduate etc etc...classic right? Yeah, kinda like that. No bleeding fingers, maybe toes. Hashtag pointe shoes.

 So, I was getting told off and corrected over the smallest arm move mistake, leg, hip, knee, pointy toe mistake...breathing mistake. I had actually been "trained" to deal with this "type" of teachers early on, as my ballet teacher during my teens wasn't exactly a softie either, but did his job amazingly. But I wasn't ready for this woman, oh no. You see, apparently my focusing and listening face  came across as defensive and uninterested at the time. And that was the problem. You know not to take it personally being attacked and corrected for your technique because you know the  teacher sees something in you and that's why they're pushing you, but when suddenly you're told these exact words: "you are so uninterested, and look like you do not care Katerina", oh I remember this like yesterday, it totally hits the crap out of you. 

And you do such a good job reacting professionally and mature and walking out at the end of the class with your head high after of course you have said back 'no way, I am very interested'. You walk out and you feel so mature for not breaking down or even tearing up. And then your fellow class mates go "unbelievable what happened in there, I don't know how you did it, I probably would have had a meltdown right there if that happened to me". And here. We. Go. It's exactly the same when you are not okay, do an awesome job holding it in until someone asks if you're okay and the waterfalls start. 

 The more I sat there weeping and boiling, the worse it became, you know how women work, they sit there overthinking everything and end up frying their brains out. And that was it, the whole thing had taken its toll by then for me and so I storm back in the room while she was still there packing up and threw THE LOUDEST and funniest, tantrum ever. Have never done this to a man, but yeah sure, I did it to my Ballet instructor. I sat her down and started mouthing with much little sense words like "how do you dare telling me that I am not interested, I work hard!!" and things like that, until the panic attack from all the pressure that everyone goes through at those Drama Colleges hit me hard. No need to describe it again, just re-read paragraph 3 if you need. And that's when she held me tight, helped me breathe normally again, calm down, get over myself, and told me the same thing. She pushed me because she saw something and the face thing. Well she had better warned me about it as soon as she noticed before it would be too late apparently. Imagine being in at a job, at an audition and looking at the director with an "uninterested and defensive" expression. Fair enough. 

 Needless to say that this woman became my mentor and tutor till the end of the year, whenever we had or needed one to one time with our mentor for advice she was the one I would run to. To this day she is the person I respect the most out of that school, won't forget and are still friends on Facebook with-lol. As a mentor and a teacher myself, even if clearly everyone has their own approach and chemistry with their students, her honesty is what I've taken away from her. Thank you.

Take this time to enjoy your Christmas. Take this time to be with the ones you love, take this time to appreciate what you have. You can start complaining again next week. Ta. Merry Christmas!~

Katerina

Season 2, Ep. 03

"X"

Ed Sheeran live you say? I say hooray. A simple but genius idea for a mother's day gift that spiralled into one of the finest weekends 'away'. Clearly by mother's day you understand we booked in May. And the concert was 3 days ago. Hashtag girl's gotta be prepared.

Ed. Boy do I love Ed's music. From day 1. I remember when I was under the impression that Rupert Grint, aka Ronald Weasly from Harry Potter had released a single when 'Lego House' came out. Lol. And then I became a fan. So when we heard that this little ginger genius is coming to New Zealand we couldn't resist. 

It was an all girls trip to one of the busiest and most visited cities of New Zealand. And my first time in Auckland. Auckland looks like a combination of 3 known big cities in my humble opinion. Athens, New York and Sydney. Have not visited Sydney yet but I will take up on my girlfriends' opinion about that. The main street, the harbour, the houses, the cafes and the super well dressed Aucklanders, it all left me with an excellent first impression. The weather very much helped, nice and warm, a sweet taste of pure summer. 

And now to the concert. First of all, a big thank you to the city for being so organised about this. Almost 100 free coach rides were available to take us to the venue and back once it was all finished. I mean, wow. Definitely saved us crowded, cramped queues to trains and standing still for an hour until we finally caught one. No. It was a smooth operation. 

When we arrived and sorted ourselves out regarding seats, drinks, quick toilet visit etc, we walked in half way through Passenger's performance as one of the two opening supporting acts. He was beautiful,just what you need when you first arrive at a concert, a calm solo acoustic musician to set the mood and sets us all in the right mind frame for the big Ed moment. Unfortunately as good as he was, I only know 'Let Her Go', which I bashed out singing along when he sang it with everyone else. Soon after he was done, Rudimental took on the stage and boy did they bring it all up a notch. Suddenly we're all in party mood, with their cheerful and catchy tunes, and here I am admitting that I had no idea I know so many songs of theirs. Yeah, I suck like that, I know songs but I never bother figuring out who they are by or titles etc. Anyway, Rudimental featured 4 main vocalists and they were all fab. Funny downside: half way through their set, the stadium had a massive power cut and everything went to silence! We waited until everything restarted and rebooted as fast as they could, but despite the blatant technical difficulty, no-one's mood was ruined or annoyed or whatever. Hashtag not the end of the world, hashtag don't want our money back.

Ed. As cheesy as he is, he is so the right kind of cheesy. First we got to see a footage of his steps in music, and how much he literally struggled to get to this point of singing live in front of 200k people audiences. And then he walked on stage. The first thing we all noticed is his All Blacks jersey. Cute and respectful. He starts singing, OH and by the way, his entire set was JUST him and his collection of guitars. He supported the entire show on his own, no other form of instrument support, no band, just a couple of backing singers, invisible to the naked eye-lol. But the graphics behind him made such a massive impact on the whole thing. Props to the graphic designers. Anyway, I'm losing my trail of thought, as soon as he finished his first song, he turned around to switch guitars and that's when everyone's hearts in the crowd melted. Not only was he wearing an All Blacks jersey but he was wearing no 11, aka Jonah Lomu's jersey. Hashtag footnote: for my non-Kiwi mates, Lomu was a rugby veteran, who changed the course of rugby as we know it as the youngest All Black in history and with a record of scores and tries. Sadly he passed away about a month ago at age 40 from kidney disease. Sadly. So yeah, Ed paid his massive respect and boy did every Kiwi appreciate this. He was on the news and everything. Bless.

This was Ed's final performance after 2.5 years of touring and boy did he follow up his promise to sing his heart out even if he ended up losing his voice the next morning. The entire stadium was lit up to everyone's phone torches and it looked magical. Funny how back in the day people used lighters ae. Torches are prettier. Favourite moment. 'Thinking Out Loud'. Of course. I was waiting for the chick from the video to pop on stage and do their little contemporary dance but I settled to just watching the video being played in the background. Pf, okay.

All in all, a fab experience, with fab people, fab weather and a fab concert. Thank you Ed. Thank you for being successful. Hashtag thinking out loud.

"I see fire"

Season 2, Ep. 2

Italia Conti.

 No, I still speak English. Italia Conti is a name. A pretty well known name for the wider London crowd and for a specific artistic crowd of Britain. Aka, my drama school. Full name, Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Founded by Ms Conti in 1910, with a line of successful, household names for alumni such as Judy Garland, Noel Coward, Peter Duncan, Naomi Campbell, Kelly Brook, Russel Brand, Martine McCutcheon, Sadie Frost, Pixie Lott, Leslie Phillips and of course moi. Har har har. Oh yeah it's a pretty good school. And I attended it in 2010. 100 years after it was found. Hashtag coincidence?

 Now, you must be wondering if Drama Schools are anything like in the movies. Pretty much. Same amount of drama, all of the loudness, all of the strenuous, hard work, same competitive spirit, same amount of bitchiness, love stories, heartbreaks, panic attacks, stories where you fall flat on your face and then rise to the occasion. And if you're wondering which of the above had happened to me, make that all of the above, minus maybe the love story. Sorry, nothing saucy here.

 BUT, when it comes to the competitive spirit, tick. Let's start with that. Number one. There's two types of competitive people. What I call, the good and the bad. The good, they learn to be competitive with themselves. They understand that at the end of the day we are all different, despite similarities, and we all have something different to bring to the table. So they make sure they beat their own version of themselves every day, and make the best out of who they are. Wise and noble ae. But I learnt first hand that this is and will always be and should be my type of competitive spirit. Of course we all have our bad competitive side, where we want to beat others by badmouthing, using strategies and schemes but what I've learnt, is that this competitive spirit, is short-term.

 What happens a lot at Drama Schools is favouritism. Or at least it happened in mine. Every minor showcase we were working on, suddenly more or less the same people would get the solos or the front line, or the best parts. Without auditioning. Nope. Teacher walked in, picked out 7-10 names, and say ''you get a solo, you get centre stage, you get this part", and that would be it. True story. And maybe, maybe, apologies for my slight bitchiness side here, but maybe, they weren't all that amazing or right for those parts, solos etc. Maybe, but hey, one woman's opinion. What did I do? Kept my head down, kept working on my skills and how to make them better. Lesson number two. Badmouthing, showing envy or getting bitchy is a vast waste of energy which leads to having no energy left for yourself and how you can become better. Trust me on this one.

 The end of the year, marked the major end of year show at London's Wimbledon theatre where we could invite not only family and friends but also agents and people from the industry. My year was assigned to a young teacher who used to give us singing lessons throughout the year, in order to create our performance. She was gonna be our director and vocal coach. The day we had our first meeting about our performance, she walked in and basically said "I don't care about favouritism, I don't believe in crap like that, either you are worth it or not and either you are right for the parts or not, you are all auditioning, you are all getting an equal chance to show me what you have". Finally some justice? Long story short, our performance was from the musical 'In The Heights', a Broadway show that had won a Tony Award that year for Best New Musical. Such a funky, fresh show with lots of energy and strong vocals. We all auditioned, I got the part. Ha. Hashtag, eyebrow flare. But that's not why I am telling this story. Besides, story is not over.

That was just the beginning. We had a couple of long months of rehearsals but over those two months, suddenly without realising I was starting to get some hate from some fellow chicks. Out of nowhere someone would put words in my mouth and rumours would start and I was getting attacked for saying something mean about someone when I really hadn't. Being bullied at Primary School, I kinda made sure I was never gonna end up being bitchy about anyone so believe me I was an innocent little shit getting attacked. Lol. And it never dawned on me then, that it was just because of the main part. I had the main part. Mmmm. Energy, wasted.
Anyway, no idea where these chicks are today and what they are up to, I learnt that those relationships were pretty fleeting for me. Hashtag sorry not sorry.

Be the big person. Grow every day, grow your best version of YOU every day. Haters gon'hate no matter what, where and when.

Next week, more drama, awesome teachers and my first panic attack.

Tootles.

Watch performance here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odEVoeiJHac

Season 1, Ep. 12

Season Finale

Pretty much every TV season finale there's been, there's a major dramatic climax in the middle of the episode, only to get resolved towards the end and then leave us again with a massive gasp right at the finish so we HAVE to watch the new season, right? Well, this season finale is gonna be just another standard rant, like all the previous episodes, since this is what this blog is all about. But believe me you want to come back for next season. Hashtag watch this space etc, etc.
ROH. Most Brits and artists might know what this ugly word stands for. It is basically the initials of the Royal Opera House. But yeah, the cool kids call it ROH. Anyhoo, tonight and for the final episode of this first season that I have thoroughly enjoyed writing about, it will be about my time at the Royal Opera House in London.
Coming from a dance, Musical Theatre and acting background I never thought I would ever get the chance to enter the doors of such a place, and never in my life did I think that I could get to work in this form of art. Didn't we use to mock Opera singing as kids? 
I was fresh out of Drama School for about a year and I was working full time at Abercrombie and Fitch to support myself while chasing 'that' dream. Oh yeah, I used to work there too. For a looooong time. But more on that later. Hashtag next season on the moo point, hashtag season finale gasp. At the time I was busy recruiting new models for the store's campaign and the sales-floor. What a job that was. Every single day, here I was, on the busy streets of Central London looking for the good looking. With me I had a buddy and co-worker who also happened to audition to be in the entertainment industry and he had actually done a couple of cool gigs on TV by then. He had some more connections. 
One fine, sunny day, here we are wandering around, when he mentioned that he would have to cheekily disappear for a few hours in order to run to an audition. Before I even had the time to ask about the audition he was already suggesting I should go with him. His exact words were, "I'll sneak you in, it's a dance gig at the Royal Opera House, they want background artists, you have to do this". I couldn't form any words, my gut always tells me, do it, what do I have to lose anyway, it is an opportunity. But of course, I wasn't sure if it was an open audition, aka anyone can go, just like the masses that show up at the X Factor auditions, or was it a close one. 
Long story short-ish, we showed up, we filled out some forms and my friend suggested I write down his agent instead of mine so we avoid any further questioning. His agent only dealt with dancers, aerialists and acrobats so they were so many people auditioning that day from his office. Perfect. No questions asked. I get called in, I spend 3 hours in dance classes, assessments, theatre exercises and group work until I finally find out at the end that I was selected to be a dancer for their upcoming Opera. Say what? Hashtag right place at the right time. And here's your irony, my friend did not get the gig. 
For the next few months, here I am, stoked about my achievement, rehearsing every day until the shows and finding out all about the magical world of Opera singers. And boy is it different from the rest of the industry. I never realised first of all, that Opera singers cannot keep singing as frequently as other regular singers. They strain their voices so much during one show that they can only perform 2-3 times a week and do some voice rest during the rest of the week. Thus they get heaps of understudies, and we were only able to put on a show every other day. Funny huh? But they have without a doubt, the most amazing talent. 
I also got to work with some old ass performers who had been knighted by the Queen as Sirs and Dames, damn. Other than that I felt so fancy in our fancy changing room, in our fancy period costumes, fancy wages lol. 
We got to perform during the Christmas season at the end of 2011 and right into the new year. My New Year's Day was spent at the theatre performing. 
I will never forget how happy I had felt that my first day of the new year had started in the Royal Opera House. I still have my Pass card. I will never forget the people I met and worked with over those few months. No way. And I will never forget the night Prince Charles came to watch us. Never. Never forget to grab a chance. What do you have to lose?

 "All the world's a stage and people it's mere players"

On the next season of The Moo Point. Abercrombie and Fitch. The Italia Conti chapter. The New York chapter. And the one with the ski. Toodles. 

Season 1, Ep. 11

Mattie Mattie Mattie 

(Ref: Abba's 'Money Money Money')

Mattie. There has to be an entire week's post dedicated to this particular dog. You'll understand.
Cat lovers Vs Dog lovers. It's a never ending debate. Cat lovers will say that dogs are too needy and constantly seeking attention and exercise etc, dog lovers will argue by saying that cats are boring, only good for catching mice and too into themselves. Sure, both opinions are pretty factual, each to their own, we all have an opinion about everything in life (almost) anyway. If everybody on this planet agreed on everything in life we wouldn't have ended up with situations like, I don't know, um, WWI, WWII, Civil wars, all other kinds of wars, terrorism, 9/11 and the list goes on and on and on. Hashtag, I lost the point. Hashtag that escalated quickly. 
ANYWAY, Mattie. As an apparent dog lover, I say, what is wrong with dogs being needy? What is more wonderful than someone being in such need of you and only you. You are the only person that this dog is counting on to feel happy. I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure that half of you here are looking for something like the above in a person, well, a dog could be a good start to make you realise how great it is to feel needed. Love yourselves before you love someone else. Hashtag reminder. 
So I'm working as a dog carer and dealing with heaps and heaps of different dogs, clients, breeds, sizes, colours, personalities, ages, puppies, way too old ones...and then there was Mattie. A toy poodle, apricot colour as she was described at our client's file, with short curly hair and the cutest little nose. She was pretty much everyone's general favourite. She was just an example of a great dog. She listened, she always followed you around, so she was awesome off leash, she was always, ALWAYS in a good mood and if she grew fond of you, boy was she protective. By luck she ended up on my walks quite so often so we did grow fond of each other quickly but it was definitely the car rides home, as I would favour her a bit and have her on my lap, that strengthened the bond. No, I wasn't the driver, that would be risky now wouldn't it. Passenger seat, dogs at the back, Mattie on my lap. Simple.
One day I am given a new puppy with my pack and I am double checking that she behaves well off leash and that it would be safe to let her free in the park. Yes? Yes. Okay, so I did and next thing I know she is sprinting back, towards the exit of the park. Yes, SHMESH. Someone was probably giving me the wrong info about the wrong puppy. I try to entice the puppy back to me with treats, cute calls etc, as sprinting behind it will make it run even faster, unless you are Usain Bolt. Nothing. She kept running and running and as I am ready to let myself panic a bit, Mattie SOMEHOW, sensed what was going on and did the biggest sprint of her life, overtook the puppy and did a massive tackle so the puppy stopped. Puppy freaked out and decided to run back to me who was waiting with arms wide and LOADS of treats. To this day I don't know if it was just a game for her and it was pure luck, or she indeed sensed the tension and what was going on and indeed decided to help out. I like to think the latter. In my experience and I believe in everyone else's who loves and deals with dogs, we can agree on how intuitive they are. 
That was it. Since that day Mattie was my hero and even though she was the legend, I was a hero to her eyes too. On those notorious car rides where we dropped the dogs off home, if I had to be dropped off earlier to do other jobs, before she was dropped off home, I was told that she would cry non stop for 10 minutes about it. One day I received a snapchat of Mattie winging because I had to go. NOW ISN'T THAT ADORABLE?
So that's it. My top dog, whom I have left behind in good hands since I quit that job, and it was without a doubt the suckiest part about quitting, but as we said last week, it was long overdue.
The best part about Mattie. She twirled. Whenever she was happy about seeing me, she would get on her back legs and twirl. Twirly whirly Mattie Marques. 
You can witness this yourself here http://iconosquare.com/viewer.php#/detail/851606307067727547_178144162 (or on my Instagram page www.instagram.com/katerinageorgiou). Ta.

Season 1, Ep. 03

   Keep Calm, Greek Summer Not In Crisis

   I am SO not used to spending August in the middle the friggin' winter and I am certainly not ready to spend Christmas in the heat. Dear Californians and everyone on the south hemisphere, how do you do it. Christmas is supposed to be white, I can't even wear my fat granddad jersey this year. But then again remembering the last 9 'summers' in London that I spent, minus the previous two which somehow turned to be the biggest heatwaves-careful what you wish for-, I certainly recall holding on tight to an umbrella in the middle of July and cracking on that leather jacket. Uh, first world problems. So how are you today?
   Hey, HEY, I am turning 27 in almost a week. No turning back now, one way ticket till the 30s. Yay. 27 years ago today, mom was heavily pregnant during a standard hot summer in Greece. I'll take this opportunity to talk about my time in Greece for all you travellers out there who are keen on visiting. So I was born in Thessaloniki. The co-capital. Funny how Greece is the only country in the world with a co-capital. You don't hear New Yorkers complaining about not being the capital of the  USA. Thessaloniki is awesome. Honestly awesome. Minus the recession effect, where heaps of stores have shut down, and minus the dicks out there who pay no respect and vandalise anything with spray paint. No, not graffiti, not the good, talented graffiti artists, I'm talking about the idiots who will buy a black can and spray their last girlfriend's name, who dumped them because they are idiots, on brand new buildings. Other than that, awesome. No really, the theatres, the cafes, the brand new seaside walkway, the White Tower, the OTE Tower, the Old Castle, the Panorama Hill, the statue of Alexander The Great. But most importantly everything is by the sea. Follow your nose around the city and you'll find the seaside. Mmmm. I grew up in a flat by the seaside. Pas mal. Obviously my 17 year stay in Thessaloniki was my school years so basically all I did was school-homework-ballet-drama club and repeat. And a few teenager flings. Just a few. Our usual Saturday night for us teenagers would turn out to be the cheapest nights ever because somehow all we did was meeting outside this massive church 'Metropolis', which is right at the heart of the city and socialise. That's it. From 8pm to 10.30pm. Curfew. Pretty sure, teenagers are rolling a little different these days.
    But summers for us from Thessaloniki, were just meant to be in Halkidiki. This magical place, that heaps of Europeans know of, especially my fellow Brits. We have to thank our Brits for their love for Greece. Halkidiki is famous for its beaches, that green-blue sea water and the sexy resorts all around. But you probably know more than I do, or for more details just ask an English person. LOL. My summers start at a beautiful place called Siviri and end up at the super beautiful Sani Resort area. Google Map them, I'm not gonna spoonfeed you everything. My early summers involved innocent bicycle rides, swimming lessons, paddle boarding and A LOT of playing Hide and Seek at night with the local kids. Like a lot.Honestly, I'm an expert. Later summers, closer to my teenage years switched from those bicycle rides and Hide and seek games, to laying at the beach bar aaaaaall day, and going to the local disco at nights, dancing to The Pussycat Dolls and mingling with the British tourists. What can I say, Sani was flooded by Brits back then. Probably still is. So yeah, at summers I had more of a life.
    Then, there's Athens. I lived in Greece for 17 years and I visited Athens 17 times as part of my family lives there. Athens being the capital, means Athens is where the stress is. Athens is where the craze with the stress is. Thessaloniki is known for being the city where the craze without the stress is. Maybe not anymore, but that was our notorious nature for years. But I love Athens. I could visit again and again. Amazing streets, artistic cafes and restaurants, the most amazing area of Plaka where they have thankfully kept everything the way it looked 65 years ago, and the sight of the Acropolis and Lycabetus never fail to give you the chills. Now trust me on that. And if you need to look at the sea again, just take a drive down to Glyfada, which has become such a hot area for the same reasons.
     Last but not least, the islands. Can't chose one, can't chose two, every single island is different and equally awesome. AWESOME. From the fancy, Kardashian visiting ones, like Santorini and Myconos to the more alternative and natural beauties like Folegandros, Thasos, and Koufonisia they are all amazing. They all have that hot golden sand and the green-blue water surrounding them. And right now they are buzzing. And for you my loves, yes you Aussies and Kiwis, visiting Lemnos island will give you a chance to see where the brave ANZAC used to rest during their Gallipoli battles. So whether you want a party holiday or a quiet one they have it all. Just stay away from Kavos in Corfu, it's the Magaluf of Corfu. Unless that's what you're after. No judgement. And remember, whatever happens in Kavos, stays in Kavos. Ta.

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