RIP, Funerals, Soundtracks for Sad Moments, and Aussie Horror Shows

1. Dreamed that Jack is watching a movie with two older teens. The movie is about teens on a bus— or train—using drugs.  

I watch the movie too, but it's in the form of me chasing the train and peering in the window to watch. 

I see that the teens taking the drugs all die. I realize the movie is an anti-drug story. I am sort of amused that the kids ended up watching something like this. I then suggest to them that another teen thing they might like is Puberty Blues. Jack and the other teens tell me they've seen it. The way they say it makes me think they're talking about a movie. I try to correct them—explain that it's a TV show and not a movie.  

Actually, though, they would have been right. Before Puberty Blues was a TV show, it was a movie. And before that, it was a book. My waking self knows that. Apparently, my dream self does not.

2. Started to watch an episode of Neighbours.

3. Thought that Nate (Meyne Wyatt) was very rude to Aaron (Matt Wilson).

Aaron's brother Tyler (Travis Burns) is missing. Aaron is understandably stressed and cranky about this. At first, Nate tries to be sympathetic. I do appreciate his effort. Then he brings up Paige's (Olympia Valance) involvement. Aaron doesn't know what Nate is talking about.  Nate then says something like, I guess you don't know your brother as much as you thought you did.

If someone has a missing family member, that's really not the kind of thing you say to them.

4. Proud of Paige and Tyler for their fight against Dimato (David Serafin) and his team.

I especially like how Paige helped with the capture of Michelle (Ra Chapman).

5. Liked that Naomi (Morgana O'Reilly) decided to use a fictional gay couple rather than a fictional straight couple for her Lassiter's promotion thing.

Aaron, who is a gay model, was supposed to pretend to be straight, and hang out in a display hotel room with his fictional wife. The female model never shows up, so Naomi throws Nate in the room, and locks him in there.

The only problem is, Nate and Aaron are not romantically involved; and even worse, they're in the midst of a fight. So it might not be a good way to convince the public that Lassiters is a romantic destination.

6. Started to watch Packed to the Rafters.

I don't think this is going to be a cheerful episode.

7. Felt very bad for Ben (Hugh Sheridan).

I think Mel was the whole world to him—or at least most of the world.

When you lose something that's huge, it's very hard to have the motivation to live.

I also feel bad for Ben's family, because they feel so helpless. The thing is, though. They ARE helpless. There's nothing they can do to make Ben feel better.

8. Wondered if it would be better if the people suffering a severe loss, didn't attend the funeral.

I know that might sound weird.

But I think funerals are so fake and formal. I can't see how they'd help a deeply sad person.

I think people less close to the dead should attend the funeral. They love her, and they'll miss her; but it's not a tremendous loss for them.

I think it would be better for Ben to stay home and not have to be confronted with forced tradition and pleasantries.

9. Thought the exception would be if the funeral was very small and private.

I think it would be fine for Ben to have to farewell Mel with his grandparents, parents, best friends, and siblings. That might be helpful.

I don't think he should have to deal with in-laws, neighbors, co-workers, distant cousins, etc.

10. Wondered if other people have a vastly different opinion than me.

I also wonder if there are deeply grieving people who attended a funeral and found it comforting in some ways.

11. Wanted to specify that when I say deeply grieving; I mean people who are absolutely devastated by a loss. They can't find any ounce of happiness, because most of their happiness was dependent on the person they lost.

I was sad when my grandparents died, but I could still easily be happy and have fun without them in the world. I wasn't in severe grief mode.

12. Remembered that some people grieve deeply not because the deceased brought them great happiness in life, but because they had a turbulent relationship. When the person dies, the surviving person is left with feelings of guilt, regret, and other unresolved issues.

I wonder if a funeral is therapeutic for them.

13. Felt little sympathy for Mel's parents.

They were hardly there for her when she was alive. Now that she's dead, they want control of everything.

14. Loved that Dave (Eric Thomson) totally bitched out Mel's dad (Peter Kowitz) about him not being there for Mel.

Maybe that's kind of unbalanced, since I didn't like Nate insinuating that Aaron wasn't a good brother to the missing Tyler.

This is different, though. First of all, Nate was wrong about Aaron. And him not knowing about Paige had nothing to do with his relationship to Tyler.

Mel's dad, though, is an asshole. Mel had problems with him when she was alive. They had a very cold and shitty relationship; and I think very little of it was Mel's fault.

That's bad enough, but then Mel's dad is a total jerk about the funeral arrangements. He also accuses Ben of not doing enough to protect Mel. Yes, because it's Ben's fault that his wife drove through a stop sign.

Anyway, that's when Dave puts Mel's dad in his place.

15. Glad to see Mel's dad being apologetic and regretful.

He knows he's done wrong, and I think that's important.

16. Cried during the Mel and Ben montage during the funeral.

That was too much.

But it was lovely.

17.  Thought that the funeral episodes usually make me cry more than the death episodes.

The death episodes usually have me feeling shocked, scared, and anxious but not usually very tearful.

18. Thought the title of the episode is very clever. "Rest in Peace". It sounds like they're referring to Mel.  That's what we say about people when they die. RIP.   But I think the title refers more to Ben and the fact that he's so depressed, he can't sleep.  His mother (Rebecca Gibney) worries about him and wants him to get some rest.

19. Thought of the songs played for dead Australian TV characters.

Mel's songs were "Fix You" by Coldplay and "Go to Sleep" by Sia.

I don't remember if Love My Way had a song for the funeral or death episode. But they did have a song for the we're-struggling-to-get-through-this episode. That was "Won't Give In" by the Finn brothers.

Dance Academy had some good songs.  At the memorial tribute, they played "Easy to Love" by The Jezebels.  At some point, they played "More than Life" by Whitley. I think they had some kind of memorial service on the beach?

20. Found a video that has compiled the sad Dance Academy scenes. My memory was right.There was a scene on the beach.

21. Did not know the songs played on Offspring, but I saw them recently in one of my old posts.  I'll try to find it again.

22. Found the song—1000 Sundowns by Emma Louise.  It's played at the funeral.

23. Thought all the songs are very beautiful and well chosen.  They're making me cry.

24. Wondered about songs on House Husbands and The Secret Life of Us.

25. Found a video of a tragic House Husbands scene.  The song playing is "Skinny Love" by Birdy. I'm not 100% sure, though, if that's the original soundtrack of the scene or if the uploader added it.

26. Learned that the song was played in the promo for the episode. It might have also been in the scene.

27. Started to watch the last episode of season three of Packed to the Rafters.

28. Saw that it's three weeks since Mel died, and Ben is suddenly looking sort of happy. Or he seems hopeful that life will be okay again.

Is this a real up? Or is this a mental-breakdown kind of up?

I hope it's real.

It's not that I expect him to be over Mel's death. Of course not. But maybe he's found a reason to live again?

29. Thought that in the beginning stages of grief, it's all down. Down, down...straight to hell.

Then later, it becomes a mix of ups and downs.  Sometimes you feel okay. Sometimes you feel happy. Sometimes you feel absolutely horrible.

30. Felt that Ben did have a real up.

Now he's having a down. It happened when he opened the closet and saw all of Mel's clothes.

What's good is he was able to talk to Rachel (Jessica Marais) about how he feels and was also able to accept help from her. He's not bottling up everything.

31. Finished watching the episode.

I thought it was a very good season finale.

It reminded me a little bit of the finale of Offspring. They ended in a similar way.

32. Went to Random.org to pick my next show.

It's Water Rats.

33. Saw that Water Rats is about the water police in Sydney.

34. Saw that Water Rats is a pretty old show. The first episode aired in 1996.

I wonder if it's the oldest Australian show available on Hulu.

35. Looked at the cast of Water Rats.

There's Peter Bensley who I know from Home and Away. And he was on a few episodes of Packed to the Rafters.

I see Catherine McClements. I know her from various things. I think the last time I saw her was Wentworth.  On Water Rats, she'll be close to twenty years younger.

36. Saw Aaron Pedersen who I know from City Homicide.

37. Saw Steve Bisley's name. It sounds familar, but I'm not sure what I know him from.

38. Saw that I know Steve Bisley from Sea Patrol.  I don't think he was on the boat. I think he was an officer that worked...not on the ship.

39. Saw Aaron Jeffrey's name.  I know him from McLeod's Daughters; and he's on Wentworth with Catherine McClements.

40. Saw Brooke Satchwell! I know her from Wonderland.

She must be really young on Water Rats. Maybe a child? Or a teen.

41. Saw that Satchwell was born in 1980, so she wouldn't have been that young.  She would have been about sixteen.

42. Saw that Satchwell wasn't on the show until 2000. By then, she'd be around twenty.

I only watch one season at a time, so who knows if I'll ever get to the Satchwell episodes.

43. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to the 35th song, which is "You Always Know the DJ" by Allday.

Lord Wiki says Allday is another name for a rapper named Tom Gaynor.

44. Learned that Tom Gaynor also does stand up comedy sometimes.

45. Started watching the video for "You Always Know the DJ"

46.  Saw blood going down a drain.

I think a girl is cutting herself.  Why? Is it because she knows the DJ?

47. Wondered if the song is about someone having two sides—a depressed side, and a party girl side.

48. Watched the blood scene again.

It seems to be coming from her mouth.

Maybe she's not cutting herself.

Maybe she has bad oral hygiene?  Or maybe she lost a tooth?

Maybe she has tuberculosis or Cystic Fibrosis.

49. Saw candy dropping on the girl. I think they're either Smarties or Skittles.

50. Thought the girl in the video looks very familar. But I can't think of who she looks like.

51. Learned that the girl's name is Chloe Worthington. Her Instagram account is provided on the information below the video.

I don't think I've actually seen her before; but I feel I've seen somewhat who looks like her. It's on the tip of my brain.

I know people don't like to comment on my blog. And that's fine. But if you look at Chloe Worthington and know who she looks like; PLEASE don't stay quiet.

52. Wondered if she looks like someone from an American show.  Or Australian?

Or maybe it's a movie?

53. Decided Worthington doesn't look like whoever I think she looks like in most of the photos.

It's really just the top icon photo that gets my brain itching.

54. Wondered if I'm thinking about Thora Birch.

Yeah!

I think that's it.

55. Started to watch Tom Gaynor's comedy video.

56. Thought his first joke was so stupid.

But it made me laugh.

57. Laughed more.

58. Didn't understand the China joke.

59. Didn't understand the gay joke either.

Now I'm starting to feel dumb.

60. Started to watch a backstage Neighbours video. This one stars Morgana O'Reilly and Harley Bonner—Naomi and Josh.

They had a little fling, a little while back.

Well, Naomi and Josh had a fling. I can't say the same for O'Reilly and Bonner.

61. Finished watching the video. It's mostly about Naomi's feeling—analyzing it.

She's attracted to Josh but is weary of the situation, because he's so young.

I think that's a no-brainer. I imagine that's how most women would feel if a much younger man showed interest in them.

62. Wondered if there has ever been an Australian horror TV show—not a comedy but a serious and scary one.

I'm thinking of something along the lines of The Walking Dead, In the Flesh, Bates Motel, The Strain....

I don't think I know of any but maybe there has been something...sometime.

I know Australia has produced some well-received horror movies.

Is there any chance any of the movie directors would do something for television?

63. Learned from Lord Wiki that in the 1970's there was an Australia anthology horror show called The Evil Touch.

I'm not sure it was very Australian, though. The producer was an American; and the host was British.

64. Looked at the show on IMDb. It looks like they usually used American actors.

65. Remembered seeing a Freddy Krueger type thing on some Australian filmographies. Maybe a Nightmare on Elm Street show was filmed there?

66. Saw that it's NOT a Freddy Krueger thing. It's a Stephen King thing. Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King.  

It was a mini-series that aired in 2006.

It was filmed in Melbourne.

67. Looked at the cast list.  There are a lot of Americans, but I also see some Australians—Robert Mammone,  Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jacqueline McKenzie, Susie Porter,  Nicholas Bell, Christopher Kirby, Eva Lazzaro, Rebecca Gibney, Paul Gleeson, Kristian Schmid, Josh Lawson, Steve Mouzakis, Sigrid Thornton, and Damien Richardson.

I might have missed some people. And there were two on that list that I wasn't sure were Australian until I clicked on their name.

68. Saw that someone was trying to make an Australian horror show in 2010. It was called Deadside.

I say try, because they were asking people to join in on the project.

Did it ever get anywhere?

69. Saw that it did get somewhere! Or at least it's on IMDb.

Only one episode aired. That was on April 2, 2012.

70. Learned that there's going to be a Wolf Creek TV show.  That might be exciting.

I haven't seen the movies.

I haven't seen many Australian movies, period. But I do have a few on my to-watch list.

71. Learned from Lord Wiki that ABC is going to have a science fiction drama mini-series coming up called Cleverman.  Deborah Mailman is going to be one of the stars. Very cool!

72. Looked at it on IMDb. Ryan Corr is going to be on it!

I hope I can see this show sometime.

I like Deborah Mailman and Ryan Corr.

73. Saw Robyn Nevin in the cast list.

The name sounded familar, but I couldn't remember what I knew her from.

It's Upper Middle Bogan.

I like her a lot, as well.

74. Saw that there was a major Australian horror show this summer (winter). Glitch. I think I heard of it but assumed it was a comedy, because Patrick Brammall is the star.

It's a zombie type thing.

75. Felt happy knowing that Australia has some horror TV shows.

I hope I get to see them someday.