Fakers, Rhinos, Thunderdome, and Justine Clarke

1. Dreamed that, I meet my favorite Disney blogger. We hang out together, and there seems to be a plan for him to join me on my blogging activities. He's going to watch my shows with me. I'm a little nervous about that. I'm not sure how I'm going to blog if we're watching the shows on my computer. I decide I'll just watch with him, and blog later.  I'm also stressed, because we plan to watch too many things, and I feel time is limited. I decide to cut Packed to the Rafters from the lineup.  

Last night I read the blogs I have bookmarked. It's been a few weeks since I've done that. So, that's probably why I dreamed about the Disney blogger. The Packed to the Rafters thing was more random. I don't think I've thought of that show in the past few weeks.

It's funny how some things in dreams seem to come directly from what's recently happened to us or what's been on our mind lately. Then other stuff seems to come from left field...or even beyond that.  

2. Started watching an episode of Home and Away. 

3. Saw Billie (Tessa de Josselin) being a manipulative brat again.

People in town are rightfully angry at her for faking a sexual assault and trying to ruin a man's career. 
She reacts to it with self-pity. She acts like SHE'S the victim of it all.

I've seen similar things when reading about people who faked cancer. They don't seem very regretful of their actions. They seem to see more fault in the people who are angry at them. They seem to think they deserve love and sympathy rather than disgust and anger.

4. Wondered about the rhinos that are coming to Australia. 

I've read a few articles about it, but they didn't answer my question.

What I'm wondering is, if the goal is to have rhinos roaming free in Australia.  

I know, at first they're going to be put on reserves. But how about the future?   

5. Started to look at the Australian Rhino project website

On their vision and mission page, they say they plan to eventually return the rhinos and their progeny back to South Africa. That's nice. But why not keep a few?  

They say, We believe passionately that rhinos must be available to the world in the wild, not only in captivity.

So why not have the rhinos be wild in Africa AND Australia?

6. Wondered if rhinos could effect the ecology of Australia in a negative way.

I think they're vegetarian, so they probably won't gobble up any kangaroos or koalas. They might compete for vegetation, though. They might mess with farmer's crops. Maybe?

7. Googled and saw that rhinos eat grass and other vegetation. I think that's pretty much what kangaroos eat, so there could be some competition.

8. Saw that the Rhino project has a lot of scientific advisors.  I think, between them, they can figure out what's best for the rhinos, and what's best for Australia.

9. Saw that eighty rhinos are headed to Australia.

I wonder how they're getting there.

10. Realized that's probably a stupid question.

I can't really imagine a bunch of rhinos on a Qantas flight. I'm going to assume they're coming by ship.

11. Started to read a news release on the website.

Eighty rhinos are coming in the next four years. Each rhino-relocation costs $70,000.

12. Learned that rhinos are going to start off at the animal park in Dubbo; then move to one in Adelaide. After that, things are not very clear.  Ray Dearlove, the founder of the project says,  Considerable space is required in order to keep the animals relatively ‘wild’ and, while discussions are under way, it is not yet finalised where the remainder will be homed. “We have a number of opportunities in WA, in the Northern Territory and New South Wales and potentially one in Queensland.

It sounds like they're going to be at least sort of free.


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 

 

13. Started to watch the rest of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

14. Saw Adam Willits in the movie.  Maybe. I'm not completely sure it's him.



I think he might be the kid on the right.

15. Decided to get another screenshot of Justine Clarke.



16. Watched a dramatic quicksand scene.

It reminded me of McLeod's Daughters.

I didn't see quicksand on the show, but there was a tense scene where Tess (Bridie Carter) got herself in a dangerous predicament involving some kind of farming substance in a silo.I think it was a grain of some sort.

I don't remember why she went in there.

17. Checked YouTube. Someone has uploaded the scene.

And actually, Nick (Myles Pollard) says to Tess that it's like quicksand.

18. Confused a bit by Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

I'm not really understanding what's happening.

But I guess it's still sort of interesting to me.

19.  Thought the movie might be one of those in which the costumes, action, scenery, and music are more important than plot and theme.

Though the other day, I felt I was understanding things more. That part of the film made more sense to me.

20.  Tried to understand the movie and had a moment of insight.

Well, maybe it's insight. Or it could be a mistake.

From what I'm understanding, Aunty (Tina Turner) is the villain. I'm thinking maybe she's sort of like the Governor on The Walking Dead.  Both characters have control of a community during the apocalypse. One's a nuclear apocalypse and the other is a zombie one.

The other difference is, I think the Governor had more charm. He was manipulative. Aunty seems to be more overt in her aggression.

21. Confused about something in the movie.

In the part I watched the other day, Max (Mel Gibson) fights with The Blaster (Paul Larrson). The Blaster wears head gear. Towards the end of the fight, Max makes The Blaster lose his head gear.  He then loses interest in continuing the fight.  I wasn't sure if that was because The Blaster looked mentally handicapped, and Max felt bad about fighting him. Or was The Blaster the person Max had been looking for in the beginning?

Now I can't remember if The Blaster was killed or not. I don't think Max killed him, but maybe someone else did.

Then in the parts that I watch today, the children and Max return to Aunty's community. I didn't understand why.  But maybe they were trying to rescue The Blaster?

I'm really lost.

22. Decided to consult Lord Wiki after I finish watching the movie. Maybe he'll be able to explain things to me.

23. Thought of Doctor Who, because Aunty calls Max "Raggedy Man".

24. Thought the end of the movie was kind of touching.

They show the ruins of Sydney and then this girl does this monologue about working to remember the past.

25. Consulted Lord Wiki.

26. Learned that Max has a last name—Rockantansky.

I guess that's Polish?

27. Saw that IMDb provides the last name as well. I didn't notice before.

28. Learned that the reason Max didn't want to kill The Blaster is he found out he was mentally disabled. So it wasn't a matter of him knowing The Blaster.

29. Looked at Mad Max: Fury Road on IMDb.  I was curious if it was more of a far-in-the-future sequel, or a reboot.

It seems to be more of a reboot. The character Max is still there, but now he's played by Tom Hardy.

30. Started to watch the Tina Turner "We Don't Need Another Hero" video.

Though I don't think I saw the movie when I was young, I do think I saw the video many times. Or at least I heard the song a lot.

31. Thought about how, despite being in the title, the thunderdome wasn't in the movie very much.

There was just one scene.

I'm surprised they didn't have a later scene with it.

32. Wondered about the children singing at the end of the video.

Are they Australian?

Are they the same ones from the movie?

33. Started to read an interesting interview with Justine Clarke about her Mad Max experience.

She talks about how, when she was a child, she saw the experience as being normal. It wasn't until she was older that she realized it was quite unique/special. Most kids don't get to be in a huge movie.

She also says that for the audition, the kids were asked to tell a story. Clarke says they didn't know they were auditioning for Mad Max.

I'm not sure if they didn't know they were auditioning for any film or if they knew they were auditioning for a film but didn't know which film.

34. Read that Mel Gibson didn't talk to the children a lot. He kept to himself...maybe for the purpose of method acting. Well....Clarke says he stayed in character.

35. Learned that Clarke was excited to meet Tina Turner, and that Tina Turner was nice to her.

36. Thought I should mention that Rhys Muldoon is the one asking Clarke the questions.

I like him a lot. I think he's on my list of favorite Australians. Maybe Clarke is too.

Well, there's not an official list anywhere. I just add people in my head for the most part.

37. Thought the end of the article was kind of bittersweet. Muldoon asks Clarke if she'd do it again...meaning a Mad Max movie.  Clark says, I would have been an extra if they'd asked me!

In the beginning of the interview, Muldoon asks Clarke if she's seen the new Mad Max movie, and she says no.  I was kind of imagining that she was over the whole thing, not interested, thought it was beneath her, etc. But maybe it's more that she's sad that she wasn't included in the whole thing.

Now I'm not imagining she officially boycotted the movie or anything like that. But maybe she was reluctant to rush out and see it.

OR I'm reading too much into things. Maybe she's just super busy and had a huge list of other movies she wants to see.

38. Hoped that if there's a sequel to the Max Max reboot, that Justine Clarke is given a part.

39. Went to Random.org to pick my next thing to watch.

It's Water Rats.

I'm on season two of that.

I'm kind of excited.  I think it's been awhile since I've watched a regular series...I mean an Australian one.  I've watched a couple of Australian miniseries but not a regular multiple-season series.

I think the last one I watched was season three of Tangle. But maybe I'm forgetting something.

40. Remembered Home and Away is a regular series.

Oops....forgot about that one.

Well, besides Home and Away, I haven't watched a regular Australian series in awhile.

41. Looked at my to-watch list to see if it would jar my memory. Was there a series I watched after Tangle?

Nothing stood out to me.  Maybe I watched Wicked Science after Tangle. But I'm feeling it was the other way around—Wicked Science and then Tangle.

42. Looked at my blog archives to see if any of my post titles give a hint.

I was reminded that I watched Agony Uncles. I guess that counts as a regular series.