Kevin Rudd, Qantas, SBS, and Zazzle

1. Listened to The Heart That's Pounding.  I really love that song. 

2. Listened to Six at Best.  What can I say?   I'm having an Offspring lovefest here.

3. Dreamed about Kevin Rudd.   It was kind of like a two-part thing, but I don't remember the first part.  I mean the second part alluded to the first part.  I'm not sure if I actually dreamed the first part (and just forgot about it); or if it was an invented memory/history.  Anyway, in the first part I met Kevin Rudd while with a friend.  She talked about having a sister who could see ghosts.   Here's the second part: I run into Kevin Rudd and someone else.  I'm pleased and surprised that he remembers me from our last encounter.  Then he starts referring to me as the haunted sister.  I don't get it at first, but then I realize he thinks I'm the girl who can see dead people. I try to explain that there's been a misunderstanding.   

4. Received an email about a music group called The Paper Scissors.  They have a new album coming out; In Loving Memory.  And they're going on tour in June and July, around Australia.

Here's one of their videos; Lung Sum.   

I like it. It has a David Bowie type sound. 

The guy singing reminds me of a bald version of my cousin's husband (NOT the sort-of Australian one)

He also kind of reminds me of my cousin's father, which makes me think my cousin is one of those who married someone who looks like her dad.  

Tim doesn't look a lot like my dad because he's Asian and my dad's Caucasian.  They do both have big heads though (figuratively and literally).

5. Decided to watch interview about Qantas.  

It's with Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas.

Apparently, there's a battle between Joyce and the pilots regarding international flights.     

The pilots are voting on whether they want to take industrial action. I guess this would be a strike?

Maybe the vote has already happened?  I'm confused.

The pilot association people say that Qantas hires out pilots from different countries and pays them a lower salary. So when you go on an international flight and you're thinking your pilot is an Aussie Qantas pilot; you might be wrong.

How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-departed to talk to us via the Internet?   


The Dead are Online  a novel by Dina Roberts 


6. Read article that says Vegemite and Marmite have not been approved in Denmark. Why?  In Denmark, food with added vitamins and minerals need special approval.  I'm trying to understand this....

Well,  I think what the article is saying is that it's possible they will be approved, but they have to apply for approval. 

I'm trying to understand Denmark's viewpoint. Maybe they want to make sure foods don't have an excess amount of certain vitamins.—ones that could be dangerous if you eat too much of it?  

I'm sure if they examined Vegemite, they'd decide it was worth their approval.   

7. Read article that further illustrates the greed and evilness of the big tobacco companies.  They're really taking the bully route here. They so often try to pretend that they care about people's health, and they only want to serve people who already smoke.  So really. Let me ask this.  Is generic packaging really going to stop people from smoking if they already smoke?  Probably not.  My guess is the tobacco companies want new smokers and they're worried the plain packaging won't be enough to attract people.

They're wrong though. The plain packaging totally attracts me, and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life.  I'm not going to buy a package, though, even though it would be a great souvenir.   I don't want to give any of our money to the tobacco companies.

Oh!  I know.  I'll just take a photo of the cigarette packages when we go to Australia. That's a good enough souvenir. 

8. Went to the SBS site.  I want to see if they allow Americans to watch their stuff. I have some hope because I was able to watch The First Australians.   

9. Started taking world history trivia quiz on the SBS ADbc page.    

It's a long quiz!

I wonder if the questions are randomised or whether each quiz is the same.

10. Wondered if this quiz will ever end!

11. Glad I got a question about Fort Denison correct.  I've gotten almost all the other Aussie questions wrong.  Strangely, most of them were about William Hughes.  

12. Wondered if I want to quit this quiz.  It just keeps going and going.

13. Quit the quiz.

14. Consulted Lord Wiki about ADbc.  He says it's a comedy quiz show. 

15. Tried to watch a video on SBS.  So far I've seen an ad and a trailer.   It looks promising.  Will they let me watch the actual program?   We shall see......

16. Wanted to watch East West 101 because Don Hany is in it.   I watched two Aussie commercials and a trailer; then Mythbusters appeared.   It's an American show!  I could watch it here if I wanted to do that.  

17. Found out that Mythbusters is part American, but also part Australian. I didn't know that.   According to Lord Wiki, it's created and produced by an Aussie company; but it's filmed in California.

It looks like most of the cast is American.

18. Watched a Holden commercial. Again.

19. Watched a trailer for Go Back To Where You Came From.  The show is making six Australians live the life of refugees.  It looks like typical reality TV, but this one is supposed to have a valuable message.

Maybe it will open people's minds, but to me it looks a bit too sensationalised.  I mean I'm sure it has some value.  I'm just not a fan of reality TV.

20. Worked on making another Zazzle Aussie T-shirt.  I think I'm going to do a collage of both our trips.   I'm going to have Jack photos, but none of me or Tim.   I feel weird wearing a t-shirt with myself on it. But if there's pictures of Tim on it, then it looks like Jack and Tim went on a holiday without me.  Of course, there's not a problem with them going on a holiday without me.  However, there's a huge problem with them going to Australia without me. 

21. Ended up putting a few photos of Tim on the shirt. 

22. Decided to redo the shirt because I think it might be weird to have my family members on my boobs.   I'll put non-people photos in front, and people photos in the back.  That might be better.  

23. Remade the shirt.  I have one photo of me on it.  I feel a little weird about that. But it's nice to be included.

24. Ordered the shirt.

25. Decided not to watch any off Offspring today.  Last night I downloaded the third episode.  No, I didn't skip the second episode. It turns out the second episode was connected with the first.

Anyway, I realized that I don't have enough money on my gift certificate to get many more episodes.   Tim's going to get me another certificate for my birthday in November.   So I need to space out the episodes I can afford.   Tim's very nice and offered to get me another certificate for our anniversary.   But that makes me feel greedy.  Or maybe gluttonous.   Can you be gluttonous for a TV show; or does it only apply to food?

26.  Looked up the definition of gluttony.  This online dictionary says it's  Indulging in something, such as an activity, to excess; voracious.    Yeah.   So it can apply to television.   But I think I've been good at avoiding gluttony so far.  It's not like I downloaded all the episodes and had an Offspring marathon. I've been doing good at spacing them out.