Hugo Weaving

I get Hugo Weaving confused with Guy Pearce.

Weaving is the guy originally from Africa. Maybe? He played the villain in The Matrix. I think both he and Pearce were in that transvestites-in-the-outback movie.

I might have this all wrong.

I guess I'll start my research.

Lord Wiki says baby Hugo was born on 4 April 1960. Would that make him a Taurus? No, wait. He'd be an Aries.

The birthday website says his numerology number is 6. That's the family-oriented one.

He has the same birthday as Heath Ledger, Anthony Perkins, Robert Downey, Jr. and Craig. T Nelson as well.

I think all those men are very good actors. Maybe it's a good day for actors to be born.

I was right. Weaving was born in Africa. Nigeria.

I just asked Jack where Nigeria is. He said it's south of the top. East. I have to go and check to see if he's right.

He was right. I didn't find it at first and told him he was wrong. He got up, pointed to Nigeria, and told me he was right. Then he gave me his interpretation of Africa; dividing it into a top, middle, and south. Nigeria is in the bottom of the top.

Ah! But it's in the west...not the east. Jack just told me he gets confused between his west and east. That's okay. So do I.

I'm still impressed, though. It's probably good enough that he knows Nigeria is in Africa...period.

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 

Mommy and Daddy Weaving were British. Daddy Weaving was a Seismologist. That's pretty awesome. Mommy Weaving was a tour guide. That's awesome too.

When Weaving was a teen, the family moved to England...Bristol. I had a college friend from there.

When Weaving was about sixteen, his family moved to Australia. There he went to Knox Grammar School in Sydney. This is the school that Hugh Jackman went to. Jackman is eight years younger than Weaving, so I guess they didn't attend the school at the same time.

In 1981, Weaving graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts. That link is highlighted on my computer, so someone I wrote about recently went there. I'm pretty sure it was Blanchett and not Jackman.

Again. I'm going to skip all the career stuff. I'll get that via IMDb.

Lord Wiki has a little more personal stuff.

Weaving has Epilepsy. That's interesting. I don't think I know of any other celebrities that have it. I have to look that up.

Lord Wiki says that Abbott from Abbott and Costello had it. Danny Glover has it. There's Neil Young. Adam Horovitz (from Beastie Boys)....

There's a bunch of other names I don't recognize. Lord Wiki also has a list of people in history who are (or were) suspected of having epilepsy.

Weaving is married. He has two kids. He also has a niece that is an actress. Samara Weaving. Samara. That's the name of the scary Ring girl!!!!

Weaving is an ambassador for an animal rights organization called Voiceless.

They fight against factory farming. GOOD!

They say this about factory farms. These industries engage in legalised cruelty in the name of higher profit and cheaper meat and eggs.

It's so sad that such cruelty is actually legal. When will that change? Soon, I hope.

Voiceless is also against animals used for entertainment: zoo, circuses, TV stars, etc. I'm not sure I'm totally against that. I think there are definite negatives. But I think more energy needs to go towards the factory farm stuff.

I do like their website in the fact that they emphasis REDUCING the consumption of meat, dairy, and eggs. They do suggest a vegetarian or vegan diet but talk about how any amount of reduction is a positive step.

I'm actually not seeing Weaving on the website. It would be funny if, after writing all of the above, he's not even involved.

All right. I'm done with Lord Wiki.

It's time to go to IMDb.

His filmography is frighteningly long. I might be here all day and night. I'll have to skip some stuff like usual.

His first role seems to have come in 1981. He was in an Aussie movie called ...Maybe This Time. I'm guessing the role wasn't too big. His character's name was Student 2. Who played Student 1?

Tim Burns. Mr. Burns has disappeared from the world of film and television. IMDb doesn't have anything listed for him since 1992.

In 1983, Weaving starred in a movie. This was called The City's Edge. It's about a man in a Sydney boardinghouse.

In 1986, he was in a historical romance called For Love Alone. Naomi Watts was in it too. Did I mention this movie when I wrote about her? The movie is about a young woman who falls in love with a teacher that preaches socialism. Sam Neill was in the movie too. I wonder if it was he or Weaving that played the teacher.

The trivia page for the movie says it was Watt's first movie. So I'm guessing I would have mentioned it.

In 1987, Weaving was in a miniseries called Melba. I'm guessing this was about the opera singer.

I'm skipping a few things.... Sorry.

In 1988, Weaving was in one of those very scary caught-with-drugs-in-Asia movies. This time the drug was Heroin. The country was Malaysia.

Wow. Then a year later, he was in ANOTHER one of these movies. This is that movie with Nicole Kidman. Bangkok Hilton. Weaving played her lawyer.

In 1990, Weaving starred with Rosanna Arquette in Wendy Cracked a Walnut. It's a romantic comedy about a woman with an imaginary boyfriend. Weaving is the imaginary boyfriend.

The trivia page says this is the first feature film made by the ABC. Interesting.

I wonder if Arquette played an American or Australian. For a moment, I thought she had done a Thaao Penghlis on me. But no. Lord Wiki confirmed that she is indeed American.

Here is the trailer for the movie. Arquette doesn't quite speak in it, so I don't know which accent she's using.

In 1991, Weaving starred with Russell Crowe in Proof. That's funny. Last night, Tim was watching another Russell Crowe movie....PROOF of Life.

The trivia page says that since Crowe and Weaving play best mates, they tried to be best mates in real life. They tried to find things they have in common. The only thing they had was that they're both fans of Doctor Who. That's silly. They have much more than that in common. They both have a penis. They both have snot in their nose. They both have toes as well.

Weaving won an AFI award for this film. Go Hugo Weaving!

Here's a scene from the movie. I think the joke is that Weaving's character is blind. Crowe takes him out driving. They crash. Then they pretend the accident made him blind. This way they get sympathy rather than a scolding.

I'm skipping more stuff....

In 1993 we have a Ned Kelly story called Reckless Kelly. It starred Yahoo Serious. I guess it's Ned Kelly in modern Australia. I don't know.

Here's the trailer. It looks very silly. The announcer of the preview is American. I guess it was the trailer they showed in America. I wonder how many Americans know who Ned Kelly is. I had never heard of him until fairly recently.

I'm skipping stuff again.

In 1994, we have the movie I heard of. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I've seen parts of it. I liked what I saw.

My memory served me right. Guy Pearce is in it too.

Weaving was nominated for an AFI award. The movie itself won a GLADD award. They give awards to media that have fair and accurate portrayals of homosexuals. They recently gave an award to Prop 8: the Musical. Good! I loved that. Shrimp eating homophobics should be VERY ashamed of themselves.

Here's a scene from Priscilla. It's a great cultural encounter type scene. Here's the trailer.

I love that Pet Shop Boys song.

Weaving did a voice in Babe. He played Rex. Who was Rex? Trying to figure that out caused my Firefox to just crash. Yeah, excuse me for trying!

Well, I tried again, and this time I succeeded. Rex is the sheepdog.

Here's a trailer for the movie. Maybe they'll show Rex. What's that music from? Maybe Edward Scissorhands? The dog they show seems to have a woman's voice. The cat sounds familiar...a little bit like that one actress. Crap. I forgot her name. Ah! Jennifer Tilly.

I'm wrong, though. It looks like Russi Taylor does the voice. And she now does the voice of Martin Prince on The Simpsons. She also is the current voice for Minnie Mouse. That's some exciting trivia I can share with Jack and Tim.

IMDb is causing me some grief right now. I think they're the ones that are freezing my Firefox.

Okay. I'm skipping stuff again.

I'm landing in 1997. Weaving was in a movie with Naveen Andrews...that sexy Indian guy from Lost. Here's a scene from True Love and Chaos. Noah Taylor is in the movie too. I should probably write about him someday.

Noah Taylor reminds me a little bit of Spike Jonz when he was in Galaxy Quest. Wait! I just checked. It's NOT Spike Jonz. Why the hell did I think it was Spike Jonze? He was in Three Kings. It did come out the same year as Galaxy Quest. I'm not sure how I'd get those two movies confused.

I find Hugo Weaving to be VERY sexy. I didn't just notice that right now. I've been thinking it for an hour or so.

In 1998, Weaving won another AFI award. This was for The Interview. It's a crime thriller; the type of movie my parents love. Aaron Jeffery from McLeod's Daughters was in it too.

The Matrix came out in 1999. That's the year I got married. It's also the same year that Galaxy Quest and Three Kings came out. It's also the year Stephen King had his injuries, and we worried about the Y2K bug.

Weaving was the bad guy in The Matrix.

The trivia page says the Wachowski brothers approached Weaving because they liked his work in Proof.

The movie won the Saturn Award for that year. Weaving was nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment award for best villain. Who won? I don't know. I can't easily find that information.

Here is a scene from the movie. That's some good fighting.

The movie was filmed mostly in Sydney. IMDb lists the various locations.

Also in 1999, Weaving did a romantic comedy. He worked again with Naomi Watts and Aaron Jeffery. The movie was called Strange Planet. It starts and ends on New Years. Cute.

In 2000, Weaving starred in The Magic Pudding. He played Bill Barnacle. I've already forgotten who that is. Is it the koala? I pretty much remember only the damn pudding.

I'm gonna have to get my copy of the book out.

The koala is Bunyip Bluegum. In the movie, he was played by Geoffrey Rush.

Bill is the little old man.

John Cleese is the pudding. How cute.

Here's a little interview about the pudding.

I find myself quite attracted to this Weaving guy. I love watching him and Sam Neill sing together.

I wouldn't mind seeing that movie one day.

In 2001, Weaving was in Lord of the Rings. Was everyone in that movie?

Weaving played Elrond. Lord Wiki says this is a half-elf.

The trivia page for the movie says that David Bowie wanted that part. I wonder why Weaving got it instead.

Lord Wiki has a photo of Weaving as Elrond. He looks a bit like Bowie in Labyrinth.

Here is a scene from Lord of the Rings. It might feature Elrond. Yeah. He's there. According to the comments on YouTube, this is a very emotional and romantic scene.

In 2002 and 2003, Weaving was busy doing sequels to both The Matrix and Lord of the Rings. I was busy too....not making movies but mothering a toddler.

In 2004, Weaving reunited with one of his Lord of the Rings co-stars (Cate Blanchett), and his co-star in The Magic Pudding (Sam Neill). This movie was Little Fish--the drug story. Weaving won an AFI award for best actor. He's won quite a few of these. He's not just sexy. He's talented.

In 2005, we have V for Vendetta. I kind of remember that. I didn't see it, but I bet Tim did. Oh. No. He just told me he didn't.

The movie was written by the same guys who wrote The Matrix.

Here is the trailer.

I think Weaving is the guy in the mask. Here he is doing a speech.

It looks like a good movie.

The man with the cigarette at 1:56 reminds me of Brad Pitt.

Does Weaving ever take off his mask in the movie?

In 2006, Weaving was in Happy Feet with Hugh Jackman.

In 2007, he did one of the voices in Transformers. Tim DID see that movie. I didn't.

Weaving will soon be in The Wolfman. I didn't realize they made a wolfman movie. Anthony Hopkins is going to be in it too. Cool!

They're making more Lord of the Ring movies....The Hobbit. Weaving is rumored to be in that. I think we can probably believe those rumors.

Now I'm going to read the IMDb trivia page.

He is the middle child. I am too. We have something in common.

IMDb says his dad was in the computer industry. That differs from what Lord Wiki said. Maybe he did seismology work with computers? Maybe he measured the effects of earthquakes on computers. OR he might have used computers to measure earthquakes. I know! I bet Daddy Weaving used computers to measure the effect of earthquakes on other computers.

Weaving does a lot of theater work.

He is not married....just partnered. He's against marriage. I'm not a big fan of it myself. I personally feel we should all get divorced in protest of gay discrimination. Tim didn't like the idea, though. I guess there'd be some type of legal and tax complications.

Weaving's kids are pretty old now. One is about twenty, and the other is about sixteen.

He once had a seizure at the Sydney Opera House. It's believed the strobe lights did that.

He fractured his hip doing The Matrix. I wonder if it hurts him when it rains.

Because of his Epilepsy, Weaving doesn't drive. He's afraid.

I don't have Epilepsy, and I'm scared to drive. I hate it. And no one can tell me that I have an irrational fear. People die in car accidents; QUITE often, thank you very much.

He's a pesco-vegetarian. That means he eats fish but no other meat. I actually considered becoming that. Here's what happened: In 2005, I read a nutrition book by William Sears. He's the attachment parenting guru that I took a lot of advice from. He's very pro-healthy eating. His book pushed a vegetarian diet, but also pushed eating fish. I've never liked fish, but I decided to give it a try.

My dad was receiving this award. I went to the ceremony. They served salmon and steak. I bravely tried a piece of Salmon. I did NOT like it. I decided for this instance, I'd be ignoring the advice of the almighty Dr. Sears. I also took some bites of the steak. It was way too rare for me. And it was at that moment, I took the big plunge. That steak was the last time I ever ate meat. Well, there was the time recently that I MIGHT have accidentally eaten a piece of chicken..... But besides that, I've been meat-free for almost four years.

All right. I'm done with IMDb. I shall look at other websites now. Oddly, it seems he never did an interview with Andrew Denton. That surprises me.

Here's a video interview done at the AFI awards. It's regarding Little Fish.

It's not that interesting....so far. I find the interviewers to be a little bit annoying.

Here's another interview. This one is about V for Vendetta. I like this interviewer a little better--probably because he asks the question that was on my mind. Since Weaving's character wore a mask, why did Weaving have to be in it all the time. Or was he not in it all the time?

Weaving looks a bit strange with a beard. He looks like that actor in Little House on the Prairie. I forgot his name, but he also does the commercials for FTD flowers.


I prefer Weaving when he's not looking like a Little House on the Prairie character.
From what they're saying in this interview, Weaving never showed his face in the movie. It does make me wonder why they'd use a big actor. Why not use another actor, and then dub Weaving's voice?

The movie has a domino scene. It took four days to set them up. Wow.

Weaving is asked what the most powerful moment of his life was. He said it was seeing his children being born. I kind of expected him to say that.

Here's a transcript of another interview. This one was done on a comic book site.

I don't find much stuff interesting here...except he says he has never filmed a movie in Los Angeles. I guess that's not so strange. Many films are not made in Los Angeles these days.

Oh, and he's not a huge comic book fan. I mean he doesn't hate them. He just hasn't ever really been that into it.

Here's an interview about one of the Matrix sequels.

Weaving does not want to see himself cloned. He doesn't want millions of himself. Would anyone want that? That would be freaky.

Here's an interview about The Wolfman. It's on Fangoria's website. I read that magazine sometimes when I was a teenager.

Weaving has been doing a play in Melbourne called God of Carnage. The play is about children who get in a fight, and how both their parents get involved. I can strongly relate to that type of storyline right now.

In Fangoria, Weaving defends the horror genre.

He says, But sadly I think genre pictures tend to be looked down upon or overlooked as serious pieces of art. The western, the musical, action films, horror films, fantasy films; I mean they are the founding and starting point of great American cinema yet even though commercially successful and a lot times critically well received, they are never given the proper respect they deserve just because they entertain.

He also says, There’s a weird resentment toward escapism in intellectual circles which not only happens in film but theatre, too.

I agree with that. There's those certain snobs who only like movies, books, and TV shows if they're difficult and/or intellectually stimulating. With books, I'll read both serious and entertaining stuff. With movies these days, I want to see only the entertaining ones. I don't want to see depressing thought-provoking political movies. I want to see stuff like Spiderman and Harry Potter. I don't mind doing a little thinking and a little crying, but for the most part....I want to have FUN.

Weavings favorite werewolf movie is American Werewolf in London. That's probably mine too. Well, are there many other werewolf movies? Oh yeah! Teen Wolf with Michael J. Fox. I forgot about that one. That was a good movie as well.

There's also Wolfen and The Howling. I don't think I saw any of those. Wait. Wasn't there a wolf man movie with Jack Nicholson?

Okay. Yeah. It was called Wolf. I think I saw that.

Weaving says horror fans are the most hardcore, fanatical, and lovely. I think he means that as a compliment. Maybe.

Here. I finally found Weaving on the Voiceless charity website. They link to an article about his animal stuff.

He wears leather shoes and owns a cat. That's like me. Well, I have two cats.

His kids became vegetarian. That's what inspired Weaving to give up most types of meat.

Well, I think that's about it for now. See you guys later.

Prioritizing My Desires

As I was resting, I thought about how nice it would be to live near a beach. It seems like such a gift to live in a coastal city. I pity all of us who live far from the ocean.

But then I had to wonder....Did it have to be an Australian beach, or could it be anywhere? Would I be happy living in an American coastal city?

I asked myself a simple question. Coastal city in America or inland city in Australia?

My heart had a definite answer. Australia all the way.

Shit. I really DO love Australia.

I put my wishes in order.

First choice: Coastal city in Australia.
Second choice-Inland city in Australia
Third Choice-Coastal city outside of Australia
Last Choice-Inland city outside of Australia

Tim and I talked at dinner. I told him I probably did not want to stay in Fort Worth forever. He wholeheartedly agreed. Someday.....

But I'm not frantic and desperate like I was a couple of years ago. I wish for stuff, but at the same time, I'm very satisfied with the life I already have.




P.S-This is a short post! Are you guys proud of me??!!!

In the Footsteps of Thomas Austin

Another dream post. I put the word dream in bold, so people don't mistake this for my real life. Did I ever tell you the story of my brother-in-law? Well, if I did...here's a rerun. We were at the lake house. Judd mentioned that I'm not always honest in my posts. I got defensive. No, I AM honest. I don't make things up. I don't exaggerate. If I'm not sure of something, I'll say something like I think this is what happened...or I vaguely remember.

Judd looked at me unconvinced. He mentioned my recent meeting with agents. I was totally confused. Agents? When the hell did I meet with agents? Then I realized he was talking about my DREAM post. He read it and thought it was real....or I guess he thought I was making stuff up.

So anyway, here are my dreams. These events did NOT happen in the real world.


1. We're in NYC. It's morning. Tim and I are at a restaurant with some people. I had told him not to order a lot of food, because I want to go out for a nice lunch. I want something special, but I'm not sure what it is that I want. I look over at Tim and see he has a bunch of food. It's like pub food—a bunch of fried stuff. I scold him. He assures me that we can still go to lunch. I tell him I don't want him to sit there at the restaurant watching me eat.

Then later I think I'm alone. I realize what I what. I want to go to Nolita. That's where Little Australia is supposed to be. I want to go to an Australian restaurant. I want to see the Australian stores. It's our last day in NYC, and I get this idea that, no matter what, I'm going to go there. Even if I have to walk there alone, I'm going to do it.

I feel like I've been having dreams lately where we have one day left in our holiday, and there's stuff I want to do. The other night I dreamed stuff like that involving my friend Tracey and I both being in Sydney together.

It kind of happened in real life. When we were in Australia, Tim and I were both exhausted at the end. I couldn't believe it, but I actually kind of wanted to go home. I wanted to REST. But then our last evening there, I suddenly had this feeling that we didn't do enough. I felt there was too much stuff we had missed.

2. I'm on the Manly Ferry. I sit next to a child and her guardian. There's this thing that's now done. You have to report to the ferry officials where you've gone while in Manly. They then publish the information, and hand a list booklet out to everyone who rides the ferry. I look at the booklet and see my seat companions have gone to a pediatrician. I think I mention this to them, making friendly conversation.

I think about how it would be hard to call a pediatrician in Australia. I'm so bad on the phone, and they probably wouldn't understand my American accent. I'd be embarrassed. I start to think maybe I DON'T ever want to be an expat.

I dreamed this because I had planned to call and make an appointment for Jack's yearly check-up. For some reason, I HATE making appointments. I hate making any phone call, but appointments are the worse. I dread it. I totally procrastinate. Anyway, when I woke up, I got it done. I feel relieved now.

3. I am in a house....in America. I hear birds from the window. The sound is exotic, yet familiar. I get excited. I go to the window and see parrots. There are cockatiels and rainbow lorikeets. It's wonderful to see them wild and free. I love the idea that there are parrots in America. But I know it's not right. I know it shouldn't be like this. I know they're free, because someone made a mistake. Still.... I can't help loving it. I start to rationalize my happiness. Yeah...introducing foreign animals to an environment can cause massive ecological damage. Maybe this one will work out, though.

It's bad enough that I enjoy this potential ecological disaster. But I also decide to I want to feed the birds. One approaches me, and I give it a raisin. I'm not sure if that's good food for a bird, so I get some bread instead.

Then I'm in a pet store like environment. There's a big container of bird seed. I talk to a man about the parrot situation. He talks about how it's very bad. I listen and hide the fact that I'm excited about the parrots flying free and wild. I sheepishly put away my piece of bread, though.

4. This is a bit confusing. In the next dream.... I am a character. I'm a woman. But it's like the whole thing is a story. And although I'm this woman, I'm also an outside observer. This outside observer knows things that the woman is oblivious to. It's like the story is both in first person and third person omniscient.

In the dream....my family is there...plus other people. We're supposed to be at a camp, but it doesn't look like a camp. It reminds me of the Manly ferry terminal. That's what it looked like, and that's what it felt like.

There's a good guy...a hero He might be played by Keanu Reeves. (Or at least I get a Keanu Reeves type aura) Then there's a bad guy. My character doesn't suspect that he's the killer, but the third person omniscient part of me knows that he is.

The guy kills psychics. He pretends he wants a reading. Then he murders them.

He plans to murder my character. (I don't think it's because she's psychic. I think she did something to annoy or offend him) He's friendly towards her but in this mean way. It's like he's making fun of her, but she doesn't realize it. He draws an offensive picture of her, but she doesn't seem to know it's supposed to be mean.

At one point, the hero man mentions that Friday the 13th was filmed here. It's like a warning, though--as if it wasn't a movie filmed here, but something that truly happened. I'm nervous for Jack's safety.

Then it's like the story skips ahead without me. I miss a huge chunk. When it comes back, it's no longer something that's happening. Instead, I'm watching it. Maybe on TV? My character is in a hotel room with the bad guy. There's idea that the good guys are close to rescuing her. But then the bad guy shoots or stabs the woman. Her shirt is covered in blood. She then lies on the bed, dying. She looks totally surprised. I'm surprised too. I didn't expect the main character to be killed off like that.

Then the woman's sister appears. She's played by Alyssa Milano. It ends up the main character WASN'T injured. She's fine. Alyssa Milano just had a bloody nose. The blood got on her sister's chest.

All is well.

I can't give my own imagination credit for that plot twist. I think I read something recently like that....or saw it on TV. Someone thinks they are injured, but it ends up being someone else's blood.

What would our world be like if we

knew for sure there 

was life after death, and 

we could easily talk to our 

dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts 

Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman.

That's a bit overwhelming.

He's very famous.

I personally don't find him that sexy.

I do think he's handsome, of course. But to me, he's that guy you're JUST friends with. He's the one you fear might one day decide he's attracted to you. You don't want that, because you know you'll never be attracted to him. I had a friend in college like that. I didn't have one ounce of attraction to him...not even a half an ounce.

There was another guy that made me feel that same way...at least for a few weeks. Then I suddenly started to become attracted to him. I waited and hoped for the feelings to be mutual. He spent so much time with me...followed me around like a puppy dog. I figured it was only time before he confessed to being madly in love with me. Instead he confessed that he was gay.

I have seen a few movies with Jackman. I saw two of the X-Men movies. I saw this movie with him that I didn't like. It was about time travel. I think it had something to do with an elevator. Maybe Meg Ryan was in it?

I've probably seen other movies that he's been in, but they don't come to mind right now. I'm sure I'll think of it later.

My favorite thing about Jackman is the story of him peeing in his pants (or tights) during a production of Beauty and the Beast. I think he told the story on Enough Rope, or maybe Rove. He was on stage and had to pee. There was no way he could hit the high note he needed to hit and still hold on to his bladder. I love that story. It's inspiring. I think we should share it with children who pee in their pants at school or wet their bed at a slumber party. If you pee in your pants, it is NOT the end of the world. Jackman did it, and he's a huge famous celebrity. He even hosted the Academy Awards.

All right. I guess I shall start my research.

Baby Hugh was born on 12 October 1968. I think that would make him a Libra like my sister.

The Birthday Website says I'm right.

He's a 1 in numerology. So, we're back to the 1 people. It seems I had a few days break from them.

The birthday website says his lucky day is Friday.

What's my lucky day?

Thursday.

Well, that's cool. I like Thursday. That's the day that Friends and Seinfeld were on.

Baby Hugh was born in Sydney. He was the youngest of five kids. The three eldest siblings were born in England. His family emigrated to Australia before he and the second youngest sibling were born.

When Jackman was eight, his mother left the family. That's fascinating, and very sad. I wonder what happened there. Jackman stayed with his father and siblings. I guess his father eventually remarried. Jackman ended up with a younger half-sister.

Jackman went to Knox Grammar School. It's a Presbyterian boy's school. Hugo Weaving went there as well.

Jackman participated in theater there. He starred in My Fair Lady. We did that play in my high school too! I wasn't in it though. I was one of the backstage people.

After high school, Jackman did a gap year in England. I love the gap year thing. I was about to say I hope Jack does a gap year. But the kid is homeschooled. His whole life is a gap year.

For his gap year, Jackman worked at a school in England called the Uppinham School. I wonder what he did there.

Lord Wiki actually answered my question in his entry about the school. Jackman was a teaching assistant. I wonder if he planned to go into the education field.

Maybe not. Lord Wiki says he then went to school at the University of Technology in Sydney. His major was in communications. There is the chance that he had planned to go into teaching, but his experiences at the school made him change his mind.

After he graduated from the University, Jackman did a one year course at the Actors Centre. Lord Wiki says he did the journey program. There's either a mistake here, or the class has changed. The website of the school says the program is 2.5 years rather than one year. I don't know what the deal with that is.

Jackman made a different decision than Amanda Harrison made. He too went to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Like Harrison, he was offered a job; a role on Neighbours. Well, he was offered it before he even started going to the school. Harrison quit school to take a job. Jackman declined the job offer and went to the school. Wow. I'm guessing that school is very prestigious. I can't imagine turning down an actual acting job like that to attend a school.

Well, I guess things worked out for Jackman. So for him, maybe that was the right path.

Maybe Jackman was against soap operas. That could have been a factor. Hopefully I'll learn more about this later.

Jackman did theater work in Melbourne. He played Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. I bet this is where he peed in his tights.

He was also in Sunset Boulevard. YouTube has a clip of him singing one of the songs.

I'm going do what I did with Cate Blanchett; skip Lord Wiki's film and TV stuff. I'll read that on IMDb.

For now, I'm going to read the other extra stuff Lord Wiki says.

Jackman and his wife have their own production company.  Seed Productions. Their main location is Los Angeles, but they also have a Sydney office. It was this company that produced X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

As for charity work, Jackman supports the microcredit thing. This is where people give loans to people in undeveloped countries. We participate in one of those. What's the name again? It's the popular one. It starts with a K....

Kiva. That's it.

Lord Wiki seems to be saying that's different from microcredit. I'm not going to read into it right now. I'm figure for the most part, they're very similar.

Jackman is involved with the Global Poverty Project. Their website seems a bit messed up.

Here's a commercial Jackman made for the organization.

Jackman is on Twitter. He told his followers that he would give a hundred thousand dollars to one person's favorite charity. I think I remember that. People had to post why they thought their charity was the best. Jackman ended up splitting the money between Charity:water and Operation Hope.

They both look like interesting charities. The first one seems quite important. Apparently, one out of six people in the world doesn't have clean water. That's really sad. They have to walk far distances to get the water. What the water charity does is help build wells in communities. That's awesome.

Operation Hope sounds great as well. They do the type of charity that goes beyond hand-outs. It's about empowering people. Their motto is from civil rights to silver rights.

Jackman plays the piano.

He likes sports.

He does Yoga.

He is the member of an organization called The School of Practical Philosophy. This I have to look into. It sounds interesting. I wonder if I'd like it.

It sounds a bit like self-help type stuff. It's taking philosophy, and applying it to our daily lives. That's pretty cool. Philosophy is pretty easy to read, write, and talk about. It's much harder to actually live it.

Jackman and his wife have two adopted children. The family lives in NYC.

That's it for Lord Wiki stuff.

I shall go now to IMDb.

Let's start at the bottom of his career list.

His first appearance on the screen was in 1994. It was a TV show called Law of the Land. It was filmed in Victoria. Jackman did one episode. He would have been about twenty-six years old.

Later, he had a more substantial part in a TV show. Actually, it looks like he was the main star. This was Correlli. It was a prison drama. His wife (Deborra-Lee Furness) starred in the show as well. I guess this is where they met.

Here's a fan video made about the show. What is that song? I know I've heard of it before....

Well, the info was sitting there right in front of me. "Written in the Stars" from Aida.

I think it's very romantic when people fall in love with their co-stars. I was delighted to recently learn that Anna Paquin is dating her vampire in real life.

It is a little troublesome when the person is already married, though. Then it's still romantic but shitty for the spouse left out in the cold.

In 1996, Hugh Jackman was in a TV show based on The Man From Snowy River. Guy Pearce was one of the stars of this. It went on for sixty-five episodes. Jackman was in five. I'd guess he'd be a recurring guest star. Here's a scene with him in it. Does one of those women have an American accent, or am I imagining things?

In 1999, Jackman was in a romantic-comedy about a romance novelist. This was called Paperback Hero. Here's the trailer from the movie. That was one of those I-saw-the-trailer-so-I-don't-need-to-see-the-movie. Most trailers these days are like that, though. They seem to give too much away.

Another 1999 movie with Jackman was Erskineville Kings. It seems to be a family drama type thing. Here's a clip/tribute thing. Jackman does some pretty good acting here. Well, he says fuck a lot. That word can often improve a scene.

The movie is basically about adult kids dealing with the death of their abusive father. I'm sure that's very hard to deal with.

Jackman starred in a British TV production of Oklahoma. Here's a scene. It's fun to see British and Australian people doing southern accents. I've actually never seen Oklahoma. That's kind of sad. I should watch it one day. It looks fun.

X-Men came out in 2000. I'm guessing this is when Jackman became known to most of us Americans. He starred in that movie with my new favorite celebrity...Anna Paquin. I am TOTALLY loving her lately.

I'm going to look at the movie's trivia page.

Hugh Jackman took cold showers to help give himself that look of rage. I went through a stage of doing cold showers. I have a bad habit of staying in a hot shower too long. So I started taking freezing cold showers. It definitely shortened my shower time. But after awhile, I couldn't do it anymore. Now what I do is shower every other day. Yeah, it sounds a little gross. But it's not that bad actually. At least I don't think so.

Jackman got his testicles caught in the harness when filming a scene near the Statue of Liberty. Ouch.

Many other actors were considered for Wolverine....Mel Gibson, Russel Crowe, Viggo Mortenson, Edward Norton, and Keanu Reeves. I wonder why they decided on Jackman. Was it written in the stars?

Jackman won a Saturn Award for best actor. I'm guessing that's a science fiction thing. Here they are. They do science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Speaking of horror.....

Last night I dreamed about Freddy Krueger. He came out of the dream and was calmly chatting with his potential victims. They stood there talking, like people mingling at a party. Since he was not in a dream, he couldn't harm them. The catch was that as soon as they fell asleep, he could kill them.

The actor to get the Saturn award recently was Robert Downey, Jr for Ironman. I'm sure he deserves it. That guy is an amazing actor. He's probably one of my favorites. Heath Ledger won some awards too...also quite deserved.

Here is Jackman and Paquin promoting the movie. Paquin has such an interesting accent. Is it Kiwi, or Kiwi-Canadian?

I guess by the time X-Men finished in the theater, Jackman was a big star. Was he big in Australia before that, or did he become well-known to Australians at the same time he became well-known in America?

In 2001, he was in another American movie. It was a romantic-comedy called Someone Like You. I don't remember it. It was directed by Tony Goldwyn, the villain from Ghost.

I'm having trouble following the plot description on IMDb. I'll just watch the trailer.

I don't think it's something I'd like. I don't feel any pull to watch it.

Also in 2001 was Swordfish. I've never heard of this movie either. It's a hacker crime movie.  Not my thing.

Kate and Leopold. That's the Meg Ryan film I didn't like.

I feel like I'm being negative here. Sorry. I don't mean to be. I guess I just don't like Jackman's 2001 movies. I don't have anything against Jackman. I promise. I liked X-Men.

In 2003, Jackman was in the sequel to X-Men. I saw that. I can't remember if we saw it at the theater or on DVD. We did have a toddler at the time. I think it was rare for us to go to the theater. Still. We might have managed. Yeah. I actually do think we saw it. I remember sitting in the theater, and thinking I didn't like it as much as the first. There was that feeling of we wasted a babysitter on this?

I'm skipping a few things here.... Sorry.

In 2004, Jackman was in Van Hensling. Is that the Dracula character? I thought Anthony Hopkins played him. Maybe I'm thinking something else. No, wait Hopkins played Van Hensling in the Dracula with Gary Oldman. I'm getting myself all confused.

Van Hensling is a vampire fighter...like Buffy, I guess. It's funny. Wolverine went on to fight Vampires, while his friend Rogue ended up dating one.

I'm reading the trivia for the movie. Jackman accidentally broke an extra's hand. Oops. I'm sure that extra had fun stories to tell at her next family reunion. It would be a great Facebook update...Twitter too!

Here's a trailer of the movie. It looks somewhat fun....better than Someone Like You.

In 2006, there was another sequel to X-Men. I don't think I saw it.

Skipping more stuff....

I've seen parts of The Fountain. I forgot Jackman was in it. I think it's about reincarnation.  Maybe? Or it hints toward it. I saw the storyline with the guy who has a dying wife. I guess that would be the present day story. It might go along with the Jane Robert's type ideas.  Parallel lives. This belief kind of combines time travel with reincarnation. The idea here is that time isn't linear. We lives multiple lives; not separately, but at the same time.

Part of the movie was filmed in Australia. Queensland and Sydney.

The trivia page says that originally the stars were supposed to be Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

Here's a trailer. Rachel Weisz is very pretty. What's she from? The Mummy. I remember that movie.

Another 2006 movie was The Prestige. Remember when those two magician movies came out and it was hard to remember which was which. I STILL don't remember. One has Christian Bale. One has Edward Norton. Or did those two star in the same one?

Okay. The Prestige is the one with Bale. I'm pretty sure it's the one where they hint that a magician might be using REAL magic...occult stuff. I think it has supernatural elements, or maybe they lead you to THINK there's supernatural elements, but in the end it's all a trick. I don't know. I saw some of the movie, but not the end. I think Tim tried to explain it to me, and I got all confused.

Here's the trailer. The trailer looks Harry Potterish.

I'm going to play a game with Jack. He wants to do some kind of geography thing. I'll do that, and then I'll come back and continue with Jackman.

I'm back. We had fun.

I'm starting to think Jackman isn't just that guy back in school I wouldn't date. He'd also be the one I'd keep neglecting. It seems for most of his movies, I either have never heard of them, or I've heard of them (maybe even SEEN part of it), but I forget that Jackman was in it.

Jackman is the guy I often fail to notice.

Maybe after writing this post, that will change.

I think I'm totally bonding with him now.

Jackman was in Flushed Away. Again, I heard of that movie. I didn't know he was in it. Jackman played a rat that is flushed down the toilet. How cute. No, seriously. I like that premise.

Here is the opening of the movie. I personally don't like the look of the rat. He doesn't look realistic enough to me. He's like half-human/half-rat. It's kind of creepy. He's as much rat as Goofy is dog. Actually, he looks like he could be the same type of animal as Goofy.

Jackman also lent his voice to Happy Feet. Hugo Weaving and Nicole Kidman are in it too. Is it an Australian movie?

Well, IMDb says it's American and Australian. I guess it's like a mutt.

Well, it was filmed in Australia. I'd say it was more Australian than American.

The film is dedicated to Steve Irwin. Oh. He's also in the film. I didn't realize that.

Here's the trailer.

I bet my friend Suzanne would love this movie. She's a fan of penguins. I'm sure she's already seen it. I'll have to ask her someday.

The movie won an Oscar for best animated film.

I get that movie confused with the other famous penguin one...the one with Morgan Freeman.

What was that?

I can't find it. Was it not Morgan Freeman?

Wait. I found it. IMDb was being difficult. It's March of the Penguins, and it DID have Morgan Freeman. Oh, I get it. Never mind. IMDb wasn't being difficult. I just didn't read the info right. As-self-performances are listed separately from acting performances.

I'm skipping some stuff that looks boring to me. Sorry.

In 2008, we have Australia.

You know what bothers me most about that movie(which I've actually never seen) The title. They make it sound like it's THE story of Australia. But it's not. It's about the bombing of Darwin. And yeah, that's important to Australia history. It's not the defining point of Australia history, though. At least I don't feel it is.

I would have had more respect for the movie if they had chosen a different title. We didn't call the Pearl Harbour movie, America!

If I was going to do a movie called Australia, I think I'd base it on the Bruce Woodley's song. OR I'd do a movie about Bennelong and Jorn Utzon. Although, I'd probably call it Sydney rather than Australia.

The trivia page says that Russell Crowe was originally supposed to be in the movie. The movie people needed to lower his salary and he wasn't happy with that. I don't know if Crowe was greedy, or just looking for an excuse to escape.

Both Jackman and Kidman agreed to do the movie without seeing a script. They did it became Lurhmann was directing. They should have looked at a script.

I'm being so negative, and I've never seen the movie. That's wrong of me. Sorry. It just LOOKS bad to me. And I've heard people say it's bad.

Who knows though. One day I might accidentally watch it. It could end up being my favorite movie. I'll have to eat Crow....but not Russell Crowe.

The movie did fail to win any big awards. It was hardly even nominated for anything. It was one of those movies that LOOKED like it could win awards. Beautiful on the surface but crap underneath.

I do love this trailer for the movie. It's very clever. The best part begins at 1:08.

Recently, we had the Wolverine movie. It came out in May. I didn't see it. I wonder if Tim saw it...probably not. I would notice if he went to the movie theater, probably. I don't think it's on DVD yet. If he rents it, maybe I'll watch it with him. Did it get good reviews?

I'd probably want to watch it more if Anna Paquin was in it.

Oh! You know who's in it? Dominic Monaghan. I love him. Although seeing him will make me cry. I'll think of Charlie.

I'm going to watch the trailer. I actually don't think I've seen it before. When we watch TV, we usually fast forward the commercials. So unless I specifically seek out a trailer, I don't often end up seeing them.

Jackman reminds me of Mel Gibson at the end of the trailer.

Jackman has fourteen upcoming projects. Holy shit. One of these includes another Wolverine movie

This September, he'll be heard in another animation project filled with Australians. We have Ryan Kwantan (True Blood), Emile De Ravin (Lost), Hugo Weaving, Geoffry Rush, etc.

Then there's a bunch of movies that I can't learn about because I don't have IMDbPro.

I'm going to look at the IMDb trivia page now. Hugh Jackman is tall. 6 2" (1.89 meters). I always thought he looked short. That's funny. I see him as a little guy.

He was added to the X-Men cast at the last minute. A Scottish guy was supposed to get the role, but was busy finishing Mission Impossible II. There sure was a lot of people considered for that one Wolverine role.

He has been in four movies with Halle Berry. I hope they get along okay.

His favorite curse word is bullshit. I like that word. I'm not sure if it's my favorite, though. I like bitch. I like all the main curse words actually. There was a recent article in Time Magazine about how these words alleviate pain. BUT, they suggest it won't work as well if you use them too much. You have to be selective about it. Otherwise, the words may lose their punch.

Jackman is near-sighted.

He likes Sushi. I like Sushi too; but just the vegetarian type. I wonder which roll Jackman likes best.

Okay. This is FUNNY. And this along with the pee-in-the-pants thing makes me love Jackman. He is a fan of the Friday the 13th movies. The reason he wanted to become an actor is he wanted to play Jason in the movie. That is too awesome. I wonder if it's really true.

He's a fan of Superman.

He's left-handed. My mom is left handed. My friend Tracey is too. They're also both Virgos. I mean my mom and Tracey....not Jackman.

In 2008, People Magazine totally disagreed with me. They voted Jackman the sexist man alive.

One of his dreams (besides playing Jason in Friday the 13th) is playing the Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I love that musical!

I think I like Jackman's personality. See, I'm not going to have any erotic fantasies, but I could have some delusional we-should-be-best-friends fantasies.

It seems Jackman and Twitter have somewhat parted ways. He hasn't posted anything since May 25. What happened there? Did he get bored with it like me? Maybe he's just been busy lately. He does have fourteen movies coming up.

No. Wait. It looks like he never really got into it. He only has 81 tweets. That's not many.

I'm looking at Google News now.

Jackman is going to be in a musical about P.T. Barnum. That will probably be interesting. The article mentions The Boy From Oz. I totally forgot about that. I have him singing "I Still Call Australia Home" on my iTunes.

Here's the Andrew Denton Interview. I'll read that. It was done in 2004.

Jackman says what Lord Wiki said. The Journey program at the actor centre is a year-long course. They must have lengthened it; probably wanted to charge more money.

Jackman says the other guys in acting school were more of the smoking brooding types. And he was the happy musical guy. That's cute.

There's the pee story.

He had a headache issue. His wife is into natural medicine and all that. It was decided that the headaches came from dehydration. She had Jackman drink a lot. So, that's why he had to pee.

He peed fifteen minutes before the show began but then soon had to go again. I can totally relate to that. I have these times where I have to pee about every twenty minutes.

That is a funny story. I wonder if the audience could tell what happened. I suppose those up front would be able to.

Jackman says, So I would have to say that is the most humiliating moment. But, funnily enough, I don't mind retelling it. What does that tell you?


Denton says it means he's an honest man. I agree with him.

I like people who can share embarrassing moments like that.

Well, that was the funny part of the interview.

Now we get to the tear-jerker part. I haven't even read the whole story yet and I already have a lump in my throat. Denton says that Jackman cried when he saw Peter Allen performing. Oh no wait. His dad started crying.

They heard Allen sing "I Still Call Australia Home". Jackman was there with his dad and brothers. His dad put his hand on his head. Jackman looked up at him and saw his dad's tears.

Now I have tears. It's like communicable tears...spread by Peter Allen.

His wife saw part of the script of X-Men and immediately told him not to do the movie. She kind of gives bad advice sometimes. Her advice led him into peeing on stage. And then she didn't want him to do the movie that made him famous.

Jackman had never heard of X-Men before the movie. I don't think I did either. Tim did. Tim and his sister pretty much know EVERYTHING about comic book hero people.

He says he has a healthy relationship with his mom. It's so hard for me to imagine. I can't imagine how a child survives that abandonment.

Jackman says she did visit him. That's good. He's private about why she left. I respect that because he's trying to be respectful towards his mother. She might have had some good reasons for doing what she did.

Oh. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this story. It's about him and his wife. They were working together on a series and they went to a party. Jackman was a little drunk and confessed to her that he was in love with her. He said he had a crush on her but not to worry about it. Then she said it was okay because she had a crush on him too.

I love that.

It's so nice when there's a mutual attraction.

It's so awful when there's not. The one-sided stuff can be QUITE painful. But yeah. It builds character. Right?

Anyway, I think I'm going to quit here. Jack wants to play. It's almost 4 pm. I'm getting tired.

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett.

I definitely know who she is.

I actually don't think I've ever seen a whole movie with her in it.

That's probably shameful. But my excuse is I rarely watch whole movies. I watch fractions of movies usually.

I think she was on some YouTube clips I watched for this blog. Was she in Oscar and Lucinda?

And then I watched a bit of one of her movies on television. I forgot what it was about exactly. Maybe she was psychic? Or she visited a psychic. I think she had a southern accent maybe. There may have been a murder.

Cate Blanchett is the one who attended the 2020 summit so soon after giving birth. At least I think she is.

Well, that's about all I know.

I guess I shall learn more.

I've decided to organize myself better when working with TV/Movie folks. I'm going to ignore most of the career stuff on Lord Wiki....just read the personal stuff. Then I'll get the career stuff from IMDb.com. I think that will work out much better. It will save me some time.

Lord Wiki says baby Cate was born on 14 May 1969. She's a little older than me, and a little younger than Tim. I'm thinking she might be a Gemini, but I'm not sure.

I'm wrong. The birthday website says she's a Taurus. Her numerology number is 8. That's the number that's related to success. I almost just wrote sex instead of success. You know there really should be a sex numerology number.

Blanchett shares a birthday with two big movie directors. George Lucas and Robert Zemeckis.

Baby Cate was born in a suburb in Melbourne called Ivanhoe.

You know what website I haven't visited in too long of a time? Cityhobo! I totally forgot about that place. Let's go there.

Here's what they have to say about Ivanhoe. If you are a head banger into heavy metal music, don't move to Ivanhoe. Ivanhoe is 'pretty suburbia' with plenty of greenery and a bit of olde worlde charm. It's the sort of place that appeals to reasonably wealthy, but not entirely adventurous, people.

I'm not sure if it sounds like my type of place, although I don't like heavy metal music. But I'm also not really into the wealthy suburbia scene.

Cityhobo actually mentions that Cate Blanchett grew up there. I think she may be their claim to fame....that and their Christmas light display.

What would our world be like if we

knew for sure there 

was life after death, and 

we could easily talk to our 

dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts 

Blanchett is part American. Her dad was a Texan. He met his Australian wife when his American Navy ship was in Melbourne. Sadly Daddy Blanchett died when Cate was ten.

Blanchett is a middle child. She has an older brother and a younger sister.

For her early schooling, Blanchett went to Ivanhoe East Primary School. Later she went to Methodist Ladies College. This is the school that Nicola Roxon went to as well.

At the University of Melbourne, Blanchett studied Economic and Fine Art.

When she was eighteen, she visited Egypt. There she was asked to be an extra in a film called Kaboria.

YouTube has the scene. How funny. The person who posted the video highlights Blanchett at the end, but that doesn't look like her to me. I'm probably wrong though.

Later, Blanchett moved to Sydney and attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art. This is that same school that Toni Colette and Judy Davis went to....along with a lot of other people.

Okay, I'm going to skip the big chunk of career info. We'll get to that later.

I'm going to read the rest of Lord Wiki's personal stuff.

Blanchett is married to a screenwriter....Andrew Upton. They didn't like each other at first. She thought he was arrogant. He thought she was aloof. Eventually, they realized they were wrong about each other and got married.

The lovely couple has three sons.

The family lived in England for awhile. Then they returned to Australia. They live in a Sydney Suburb called Hunters Hill. It's north-west of the CBD.

A few years ago they did major renovations on the house to make it more eco-friendly. That's pretty awesome. It seems she's into climate change stuff. She's an ambassador for the Australian Conservation Foundation.

All right. I'm done with Lord Wiki. I'm going to play a game with Jack, and then move onto IMDb.

I'm back....

Blanchett's first television appearance was in 1993. She'd be about twenty-four then. She was on an episode of a crime drama called Police Rescue.

About a year later she was in that series with Ernie Dingo...Heartland. I remember writing about that. I didn't realize it came so early in Blanchett's career. The series lasted for thirteen episodes.

That same year, Blanchett got a role in the movie version of Police Rescue. It seems she played a different character though. In the TV show, she was Mrs. Haines. In the movie, she was Vivian. Although maybe Mrs. Haines first name is Vivian.

I'm going to have to skip some stuff. I don't have the time or energy to go through everything....but I'll try to NOT ignore as much as possible.

In 1995, Blanchett was in a miniseries called Bordertown. It was about a World War II refugee camp in Australia.

YouTube has a clip. It seems Blanchett playes a person who is an albino.

In 1997, Blanchett was in a movie called Thank God He Met Lizzie. It's a romantic-comedy. It's about a guy who is getting married (to Blanchett), but he keeps thinking about his old girlfriend. That storyline doesn't appeal to me too much.

Also that year was Oscar and Lucinda. I'm guessing this was her big break. She was nominated for an Australian Film Institute (AFI) award for best actress. She lost to an actress named Pamela Rabe. But I think Blanchett can rest assured that, for now, she's the true winner. Her Lord Wiki entry is pretty long. Rabe's Lord Wiki entry is very short. That probably says a lot.

Yeah. He who is the winner today, might not be the winner tomorrow.

I've already watched scenes from Oscar and Lucinda, so I think I'll not watch any more....at least not now.

In 1998, Blanchett did Elizabeth. This was a pretty famous movie, right?

Blanchett was nominated for an Academy Award. The movie itself was nominated as well. She lost to Gwyneth Paltrow who won for Shakespeare in Love. I've seen neither of those movies.

Blanchett did actually win some awards. She won a BAFTA award. What's that? Ah! It's The British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The movie was actually British, so that makes sense.

I was going to name all the awards she won, but I'm too lazy. Let's just say she did a good job in the movie. People liked her.

Here's the trailer of the film. It looks like a VERY beautiful movie...amazing sets and costumes. I wonder if it's one of those movies that is great to look at, but boring. Is it one of those movies you pretend to like so you can appear to be cultured and interested in history? Or is it one of those movies where you plan to pretend to like it, but then you actually end up truly liking it?

In 1999, Blanchett did a movie that her husband wrote and directed. It was a short film called Bangers. I think it's sweet that she did that for him. Although if she didn't do it for him, I'd probably think she was a bitch.

Also that year, Blanchett was in An Ideal Husband. It sounds familiar to me, but I don't think I saw it. It's a romantic comedy involving political people. The movie is based on a play by Oscar Wilde.

Here's a scene from the movie. It looks 1970's to me. Blanchett doesn't appear until about 1:56.

Julianne Moore reminds me a lot of Rose McGowan.

This movie is very beautiful too...great editing.

I like the clothes.  The dresses.

Oh. It turns out 1999 was a big year for Blanchett. She was in three movies (four if you count the short one her husband made). 1999 was a bit year for me too. I got married.

One of the movies Blanchett was in was Pushing Tin. This also starred John Cuzak, Angelina Jolie, and Billy Bob Thorton. Is this the movie where Jolie and Thorton met? They dated for awhile, right?

Well, I'm going to take Jack out for some birthday ice-cream. I shall be back and learn more about the movie. I don't think I've seen it, but it does sound a bit familiar....

Okay. I'm back. We shared a chocolate peanut butter milk shake. It was good, but Jack and I both agreed we don't want to see peanut butter again for awhile.

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 

Here's the trailer for Pushing Tin. I think Blanchett here looks like Kim Cattrall in Mannequin.

I actually DID see a whole Blanchett movie. The Talented Mr. Ripley. I remember liking it. I remember Jude Law, Matt Damon, and Gwyneth Paltrow in it. I don't quite remember Blanchett. I mean I remember her vaguely. But I can't remember what character she played. Was she in love with Damon's character?

I'm going to ask Lord Wiki about the plot. I need to be reminded. Well, I don't think he says who Blanchett played.

Maybe YouTube will help to refresh my memory. Here's the trailer. Blanchett says something like I know who you are. Maybe she's the one who first figures it out? Maybe she blackmails him?

I just found this song from the movie. I remember I used to like it.

The psychic movie I saw with Blanchett was called The Gift. Blanchett plays the psychic. She is asked to help find a missing person.

The trivia page for the movie says to prepare for the role, Blanchett visited five fortune tellers in one day. One told her she needed a body guard. Yeah, I think that line would fit for any celebrity.

Here's something funny. The cards that Blanchett uses in her fortune telling are called Zener cards. They're used to test ESP, and not usually used for readings. This website lets you do a zener card test. I'll try it and see how I do.

Oh, I suck.

I got 4 out of 25. The website says I have no psychic abilities. I do actually...a little. But only when I dream.

Here's the trailer of the film.

It's like Medium with southern accents.

Blanchett has something going on with Billy Bob Thorton. He's in The Gift with her. No, wait. He wasn't one of the stars. He helped write the screenplay. It was based on his mother's own psychic abilities. Okay, but they were in Pushing Tin Together. Then they also starred together in Bandits. It's a crime comedy-drama. I don't usually like those movies.

Blanchett won a Florida Film Critics Circle Award for best supporting actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, but lost to Nicole Kidman.

Here's a scene from the movie. I like that song. She sure has a nice kitchen. Oh, the movie is dubbed. Well, it's not dubbed. Someone is speaking the lines over the actors. Still, I love that kitchen. I'd love a water view from my kitchen window. But actually I'd love it only if it were the ocean. Rivers and lakes kind of give me the creeps.

Blanchett was in The Lord of the Rings. I didn't know that. I've never seen the movie, nor could I get through the book. But I did actually read the memoirs of Sean Astin. They were surprisingly good. Yeah. I know. Most of you have now probably labeled me as a literary loser.

Blanchett played Galadriel. Lord Wiki, who is she?

He says....

She's a royal elf. She's telepathic. Blanchett got to be psychic again.

Here's a video someone made to honor Blanchett as Galadriel. Blanchett is good at playing eerie pale people.

She seems a bit like the little empress in The Neverending Story.

In 2001, Blanchett did a Gillian Armstrong movie called Charlotte Gray. Did I talk about that when I researched Armstrong? I can't remember.

Also that year, we had The Shipping News. It's a romantic drama. From what I'm seeing here, Blanchett plays a mentally unwell mother. Lord Wiki says she's abusive. She sells her daughter to the black market. Ouch. The best thing about these stories is they make me feel like a good mother. I've never tried to sell Jack.

Here's a scene from the movie.

Kevin Spacey is sexy in a Ben Linus way.

Crap. The scene is in German.

I'll watch the trailer instead. It has pretty scenery.

I'm skipping more stuff....my apologies.

This movie sounds a bit interesting to me. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It's appealing to me because it involves sharks. I like sharks. Any movie with sharks, cults, or cannibalism will catch my attention.

The plot of a the movie is an oceanographer trying to get revenge against a shark who has killed his partner. It's a comedy...fortunately.

The Central Ohio Film Critics Association gave Blanchett a best actress award. They must really like her. They also gave her an award for Coffee and Cigarettes and The Aviator.

In The Aviator, Blanchett played Katherine Hepburn. Oh! Jude Law plays Errol Flynn in the movie. He's Australian....not Law, but Flynn. I think he's Tasmanian.

The trivia page says that Blanchett had freckles painted on her for the movie. That's cool.

Blanchett won an Oscar for the movie. Go Blanchett!

Here's a scene from the movie.

It looks like a fun film. It won best picture, right? Oh no. I guess not. Which movie won?

That Hepburn/Blanchett accent is hard for me to love. She kind of reminds me of the demon in The Exorcist.

The movie that won that year was Million Dollar Baby.

Anyway, I need to stop watching Blanchett as Hepburn. I pick up accents, and I don't want to pick up that particular one.

In 2005, Blanchett was in Little Fish. It's about drugs. I think I wrote about it before. I don't know why. I think maybe someone did a song for the movie. Maybe Sarah Blasko. Yep. Here's the song.

In 2006, Blanchett starred with Brad Pitt in Babel. I heard of the movie, but never saw it. It's four interlocking stories. That makes me think of that depressing movie that sinks my heart. What was it called? It has the people who didn't pick up the birthday cake because their son had died.

I can't find it. I don't want to think about it anyway.

Here's the trailer for Babel.

I guess the movie is about a gun.

It definitely doesn't look boring. It looks very intense.

In 2006, we have The Good German. I don't remember hearing about that movie. Is it the one that involved insulin? Tim watched a Nazi movie that involved hurting someone with insulin. I wonder if this was it.

I remember Notes on a Scandal. I didn't see it, but I thought it looked interesting. This is the one where Blanchett is a teacher having an affair. Blanchett received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination. She lost to Jennifer Hudson.


The trivia page has a funny. All three actresses in the movie once played Elizabeth I.

She was in the Bob Dylan movie that Heath Ledger was in. I'm Not There. Here's a scene. It's interesting. I haven't actually seen it, but I like the idea of it. She was nominated for an Oscar. She lost to Tilda Swinton. I have no idea who that is.

In 2007, Blanchett was in another Elizabeth I movie. I'm guessing this was the sequel to the first. Yeah. It has the same director.

Blanchett received yet another nomination. Marion Cotillard won. I have no idea who that is either. I'm out of touch with the film industry.

She was in the new Indiana Jones movie. I didn't know that. Well, I might have known. But I forgot.

She was in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Really? I thought Gwyneth Paltrow was the one in that. Maybe they were both in it? Nope.

I get Paltrow and Blanchett confused. Maybe because they were both in The Talented Mr. Ripley. I don't know.

Here's the trailer for the film. I'd like to see the movie one day.

I really need to see it. The premise fascinates me.

As for the future....

Blanchett is going to be in a Ridley Scott version of Robin Hood with Russell Crowe. And there's some other stuff. But it's just rumored, so I won't talk about it yet.

I'm going to read Blanchett's trivia page on IMDb. Maybe there will be something exciting there.

Oh. She played a villain in Indiana Jones. I didn't expect that. I thought she'd play someone's love interest.

She kept and bronzed her elf ears from Lord of the Rings. That's so sweet. She once confessed that she always wanted to be in a movie where she got to wear pointed ears. I'm glad her wish came true.

She likes to make lists, and then cross off the items. I know a lot of people are into that. I'm really not.

She was the Tim-Tam girl in commercials. Really? When she was young?

She was in nine movies with Hugo Weaving. Wow. I think I'm researching him soon. I guess I'll be running into Blanchett again.

She was supposed to star in The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but Meryl Street got the role instead. I have to admit it. I like Meryl Street better. Sorry. I really like her! Blanchett has not yet captured my heart. But maybe by the end of this post, she will have done so. I don't dislike her. I just don't quite like her yet.

I'm going to read some interviews. That might help.

Here's one from Interview Magazine.

Blanchett calls the guy doing the interview Dad and he calls her mom. I don't quite get that.

This interview is weird. It's messing up my brain. I'm going to skip it, and read something else.

Here's a Vanity Fair one.

Her husband has threatened to divorce her if she gets cosmetic surgery. I like that kind of guy. I mean it's not that nice to threaten to divorce someone.   But it's nice to know he's against cosmetic surgery. I'm sure he'd make an exception if she were horribly disfigured in some kind of accident.

The magazine says it was Elizabeth that launched her career.

David Fincher who directed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button also made Fight Club and Seven. He must like working with Brad Pitt. He first noticed Blanchett when he saw her in Elizabeth.

The article says that Pitt played a child in the movie. Really? I assumed they got another actor for that. How did they manage to make him look like a child?

Blanchett talks about how the movie deals with death. She says, We’ve enshrined the purity, sanctity, value, and importance of bringing children into the world, yet we don’t discuss death. There used to be an enshrined period where mourning was a necessary part of going through the process of grieving; death wasn’t considered morbid or antisocial. But that’s totally gone. Now we’re all terrified of aging, terrified of death.

My guess is that some of that comes from the rise of atheism....the lack in belief of an afterlife. I think people feared death less before because they had faith it wasn't the end. Now we're more likely to cling to life. And one of our ways of clinging is to avoid the discussion of death.

Blanchett says, If you age with somebody, you go through so many roles—you’re lovers, friends, enemies, colleagues, strangers; you’re brother and sister. That’s what intimacy is, if you’re with your soulmate.

I think that's true. It reminds me a lot of my parents. I guess it's like Tim and I as well. Unfortunately though, the enemy bit has dominated things a lot. But that's faded now. We didn't give up, and we were able to work through a lot of shit.

Blanchett herself doesn't believe in an afterlife. She can accept death without that notion of comfort. See, I can too....as long as it's the death of an elderly person. I'm not one of those people who gets upset when someone old dies. I mean I'm sad. I know I'll miss them. But I don't think of it as being unfortunate or tragic.

I just hate the death of young people. For them, I want an afterlife.

She and her husband got together when making Thank God He Met Lizzie. He's not the writer of the film, so I'm not sure how that happened.

Here's a quote I can relate to. She says, I think I just want to garden—or kill some plants, in my case. 

That sounds like something I should say.

She has a great quote about plastic surgery:

I look at someone’s face and I see the work before I see the person. I personally don’t think people look better when they do it; they just look different. You’re certainly not staving off the inevitable. And if you’re doing it out of fear, that fear’s still going to be seen through your eyes. The windows to your soul, they say.

I'll admit it. I look down at people now who've had surgery to make themselves younger. I also look down at people who are coy about their age; lie about it or make jokes about being a younger age. I look down at women, in their twenties, who fret about being thirty, and women in their thirties who fret about being forty.

I just had some major synchronosity. I took a break and watched a Mario Bros. cartoon with Jack. The segment he chose for us to watch was about a fountain of youth that turned adults into babies. This corresponds quite well with Benjamin Button. Then also today, someone on Facebook mentioned that an adult in their life is acting like a toddler.

I think this is a spiritual case of synchronosity. I don't think it relates to adults literally subtracting their years. I think it's more symbolic...more like the Facebook update. Sometimes adults act like children.

My feeling though is there really is no huge difference between children and adults; at least in terms of maturity. The adults I know are equally mature to the children I know. I mean, of course, it depends on the individual. Jack is more mature than most adults I know. But if I compared some other children to certain adults, sometimes the adults might win in terms of maturity.

I think the difference between adults and children is adults are bigger. They sometimes have more knowledge as well, but even that I doubt sometimes.

I guess it goes along well with reincarnation. For those of us who believe in it, are children really children? Well, yeah they are. But in some ways, they're also adults.

Maybe it's less about the age of the child, and more about the age of the soul.

It's funny though.

Parents say to children, don't hit. Yet they spank them so they learn their lesson.

Parents tell children they MUST share, yet they say no when the kids ask to play with their expensive jewelry.

Parents insist that their children use their manners. Yet when they order at a restaurant in front of their kids, they fail to say please and thank you.

We criticize children for their loud scenes...their tantrums. Yet we still have ones of our own.

We ask ourselves how can we help our children to grow up to be mature, kind, and responsible adults. It would probably be better if we forget that question, and instead ask how WE ourselves can become more mature, kind, and responsible.

Okay, off my soapbox. Back to another Blanchett interview. I think I'll end after this.

I hate to say this, but I detect a false modesty in Blanchett. Maybe that's why I don't like her that much.

In this interview she's asked if there's similarities between being a 16th century queen and a movie star of today.

Blanchett replies, No. Anyone who says that is insane.

I don't think it's insane at all. I think there's definite similarities. I don't know. I feel Blanchett tries to hard to downplay the celebrity thing. It's definitely better than people who are obsessed with it and see themselves as God. Still. I think there needs to be a balance.

I like her quote here though. She says ...somewhere along the way, in the last century, there became this notion that we all need to be happy. And so nobody fully grieves any more because we can't be seen to be unhappy.

I think that's very true. Unhappiness has turned into such a dirty word. There's this move to be happy and grateful. I think both those things are great. Gratitude is lovely. It's nice to have blog entries where we list what we're thankful for. But I don't think there's anything wrong with saying. Fuck this. My life is shitty right now. I don't feel like being grateful.

Let us wallow in self-pity now and then. After a few days, it gets annoying and you pull yourself out of it. You might need drugs to do that. You might need an inspirational self-help book. You might need a therapist. You might need need a box of chocolates. Whatever.

Life is a roller coaster. If we try to pretend we're on the high part when we're on the low part, I think we're going to mess up our brains.