Dreams, Joel Edgerton, Television Ratings, and Wars

1. Had a rare moment of being smarter than Tim.  He called out to me with good news.  The American dollar was higher than the Australian one.  I was all excited, but then started reading into it and it didn't seem right to me.  We figured out he was wrong and had it backwards.   I can't say I was smart enough to realize this in an instant. It took a lot of reading, thinking, and confusion to say Uh, Tim are you sure you're right about that?  

Okay, and it's not that Tim is really completely smarter than me.  But he is smarter when it comes to certain subjects: math, politics, current events, etc.  I usually know more about Australia and medical issues.

2. Had shark dream.   Julian McMahon might think he had it rough with sharks in the grocery store; but this experience might beat that.  We're in a house, and there's a mild shark threat happening.   Jack and I are on a bed and all of a sudden a shark fin breaks through the mattress. I'm more in awe than scared.  But then the shark grabs Jack and I frantically try to save him.  

 I somehow get Jack away from the shark and we rush away.  The house is underwater, but we're not wet.  It's like water has surrounded the house, but is not inside it yet. Well, at least it's not inside all the rooms. It all seems a bit hopeless and scary, but somehow we escape.  We get outside.  There's the idea that the water and sharks will get us if we don't move away fast.  In the near distance we see a survival camp.  A bunch of people we sort of know (but not in real life) are standing in a circle.   I want to get over to them, but Jack is reluctant to be with a group of people.  It seems he'd rather face sharks than humans.  I encourage him to hurry his ass, and we make it over to the survival camp.  

3. Had dream about being in Australia.  We stop at an outdoor bar to get a snack. We've been to this bar on previous Australia trips, and I recognise the bartender.  I'm embarrassed about being back there for some reason, and worried that the bartender will remember us.  

Near the menu, there's a sign advertising booster seat rentals.  Tim talks to the bartender about this.   He wants to know if the booster seat will work in Japan.  The bartender says it won't, and explains why.  He says something about Ireland.   I realize we have forgotten our booster seat, and am thinking this sucks a bit, because we planned to do a lot of driving.   Now we're going to have to buy a new one.  I ask Tim if we forgot ours.  He confirms that.   Then I come to a realisation.   I tell Tim not to worry.  This is just a dream.  When we take our real Australia holiday, we'll remember the booster seat.  

4. Chopped off a lot of my hair with help from Tim.

5. Saw creepy photo called Sydney After the Drought.  It shows what Sydney would look like if the ocean disappeared.    Well...it actually looks slightly cool, like the Grand Canyon. But I like Sydney better with the harbour.  

6. Learned from the Australians in Film Facebook Page that an Aussie actor named Joel Edgerton is going to be in a movie called Kill Bin Laden. Really?   Okay.  

7. Looked at Joel Edgerton's IMDb profile.  

He's from Blacktown, Sydney. 

He was in Star Wars II and III.  He played a character named Owen Lars.   Jack and Tim are watching part II right at this moment.  I wonder if Owen Lars is an important character or not.  

Oh!  He is!  I just learned from Lord Wiki's cousin that Owen Lars is the guy who ends up raising Luke Skywalker.   

8. Saw that Joel Edgerton was also a star of The Secret Life of Us. And he was in that movie Animal Kingdom.  

9. Watched interview with Joel Edgerton regarding Animal Kingdom and film festivals.  He talks about how people are overeager to get their free gifts, even if they can already afford it.   Yeah.  There is something exciting about free gifts...sometimes.  Tim seems to really like the free gift thing.   I like it if it's something I want.  Usually, it's junk that I don't want.  Ah!  This could be because I'm not famous. Edgerton says if you're famous, you get better gifts. 

10. Consulted Lord Wiki about Australian television ratings for 2011.   The first episode of Oprah's Australia show was the most popular program from January 16-22.   Wow. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  It did get a lot of publicity. 

Packed to the Rafters was the most popular show in almost every week of February and March. 

Last week the most popular program was the royal wedding.  

The most popular show in 1997 was Blue Heelers. Right below that was Friends. 

The most popular show in 1998 was the Commonwealth Games. The most popular fictional show was Friends.  I think it was popular here too, around that time.

The most popular show in 1999 was Friends again.   Then there was something called Jesse.  Is that American or Australian?   It sounds kind of familiar.

Oh...okay it was with Christine Applegate.  I kind of remember it.  Maybe?  I don't think we really watched it that much. 

Friends was the most popular show in 2000.    Then there was an Aussie show that was popular; Backyard Blitz.  It was a lifestyle/DIY type of show. Lord Wiki says it was popular with the older crowd, and not often liked by younger people.  

11. Saw that in 2001, Friends was not the most popular show in Australia.  ER was.  I wonder what's up with that.  Maybe 9/11 made people more in the mood for medical drama.  

You know what, I watched a lot of ER in 2001.   I think it's pretty much the only time I really got into it.   Although I think I watched reruns for the most part.  It was one of my breastfeeding shows.  I watched that, Roseanne, and Days of our Lives

12. Bored of looking at TV ratings, so I'm going to stop!

13. Looked at old war recruitment posters on the National Library of Australia page.  They really guilt people into joining the war. 

There's this one of a father with his kids looking....guilty?  Conflicted?   The kids ask, Daddy what did you do in the great war?  

This poster contrasts a soldier with a man relaxing on a chair.  The caption says, Which picture would your father like to show his friends? 

I would hate for Jack to fight in a war.  It would terrify me.   I kind of imagine most parents would feel the same.   I wonder if I could be wrong about that though.   Are parents usually scared and unhappy about their kids going off to fight a war?   Are they proud of them?  Are they proud and scared?  Would they be ashamed of their children for not going off to fight in a war? 

I feel like times have changed in terms of these attitudes.  My guess is we've become more cynical about war...for the most part.   I think in the past parents would be scared and sad, but also very proud.   They'd probably feel there was no other choice.  And if the world needed to be saved, it might as well be by their kids who did the job. These days, I think we (or people like me) feel a lot of wars are more about politics and less about saving the world.  

14. Received a very nice email back from iTunes about my quest for Aussie television.    I think it was sort of a form letter, but they did well at personalising and addressing my wishes.  They gave me a link to a place where you can request content.   They say they're open to suggestions.  That's good. 

15. Played Wii Party with Jack.   There's a game where you are given a subject and pass the Wii remote back and forth.   You have to keep thinking of words that fit into the category.   We got birds.   I did pretty well, mostly because I know several Aussie birds.  Although I lost at the end.  I couldn't think of any more birds. I ended up saying "Un-Southern Cassowary" which doesn't really count.