The King's Speech, Waleed Aly, Random Bursts of Love, and Regrets

1. Dreamed that an Aussie blogger (who rarely blogs anymore) gave me almond M and M's.  I was in Australia sharing them with people and thinking how there will be hardly any left for me.  But I wasn't too upset about that. The candy looked a bit old, and I was explaining that it went from Australia to America, and now they're back in Australia.

2. Had hypnagogic image thing where people were wearing Australia flag themed clothes. It was much more stylish than the typical patriotic/tourism stuff. The people wearing them seemed to be celebrities who were trying to escape the limelight/paparazzi.

3. Had hypnagogic thought/idea of Jack asking me about Toni Collette faking an appendicitis.   

4. Suddenly had this huge swell of love towards an Aussie blogger when I saw her post on Facebook.  I don't know why.  It's not someone I'm particularly close to. Weird.

5. Started watching a video that my friend insisted I watch. It's on a website called Slow TV.   A guy name Waleed Aly talks about conservatism and how those on the right side of politics don't really act conservative.  He says the Iraq War was supported by Americans who call themselves conservative, but it was really a radical war.  From what I remember reading, it seems that in the past, it was usually the left side of politics that was more supportive of wars.  

6. Looked at what Lord Wiki has to say about Waleed Aly. He says Aly is from Melbourne. He's a lawyer, academic, AND he plays in a rock band.   

7. Looked at Australia Day stuff on the Etsy website.  My friend sent me a link to it. She's very sweet. I've heard of that site but didn't know much about it. Tim explained it to me. It's a place for artistic people to sell their stuff.  He says his sister puts stuff on it.  She's very artistic.  Jen, did you know about it?  Have you tried selling anything?  Actually, the friend who sent me the link is VERY artistic as well. I bought jewelry from her in the past. 

8. Decided that I probably was not ultimately chosen as one of The King's Speech's biggest fans. I haven't heard back from them. The big event is tomorrow, so you'd think if I was one of the chosen ones, they'd give me enough notice.

9. Watched more of Waleed Aly, and decided he sort of reminds me of my brother-in-law....kind of the way his mouth looks when he talks? Well, it's hard to explain. Aly said something interesting.   I won't quote exactly, because I'm too lazy. But it was along the lines that change should be about evolution and not revolution.    

10. Heard from The King's Speech people.  They're being SO mysterious.  I have to admit, that in my delusional fantasies, the big Saturday event involves me spending the whole day with Helena Bonham Carter, and we become best friends.  I try to avoid fantasies about Geoffrey Rush, because they wouldn't be PG-rated.  I'd feel guilty since both of us are married people.  

11. Watched more of Waleed Aly.  He talks about the difference between being conservative and nostalgic.  He says being conservative shouldn't be about wanting to go back into the past. It's about liking the present and not wanting change that's too disruptive. People who long for the past are nostalgic.  I think he has some good points.  I was writing a friend today, and talking about how children have less freedom these days. There's a movement out there to change that.  They want kids to be free range.   I'd put them in the nostalgic group and not the conservative one.  The way we raise kids today, that really was more about evolution than revolution.  It was a gradual change. It wasn't like we woke up one day and said, Children can no longer play outside without an adult watching them!  Gradually things changed.  Now a group of people want to go back to the past ways, and I think they're movement could be seen as a revolution.  

12. Decided I need to come up with new names for these blog posts. It's going to get confusing and boring if they all have the same name.

13. Watched more of Waleed Aly.  This is fascinating stuff.  He talks about how these days conservatives are usually very pro-democracy.  But in the past, believing in democracy was very radical.  I think that's the way life usually happens. Something starts out as radical, later it becomes accepted, and then it's radical to NOT believe in it.  

14. Read that Queensland might be hit by two cyclones.  What the hell?  I think that's the thing about hitting rock bottom. You might think it's the bottom but who can guarantee that worse things aren't on the horizon?  Shit.  

15. Read that Australia got it's review from the UN.   The article says this happens to all the UN countries every four years.  You get to hear a critique of yourself from other countries.  Well, it's probably fair since it happens to Israel (and certain other countries) EVERY day.  But It reminds me of the mean games kids play at slumber parties.  Let's all go around and say what we REALLY think of each other.   Oh!  You know what it's like.   It's like what the teens did in the Bindy Mackenzie book.  It sounds good in theory.  Hearing criticism about ourselves will make us stronger and better people. But I think people usually just end up being pissed off, hurt, and resentful.  Plus, was this the best time to do this to Australia?  They're kind of going through a rough time. It's like putting the slumber party kid in the hot seat after her parents got divorced or her grandma just died.  

16. Watched more of Waleed Aly.  Now he's talking about something called neoliberalism.  I think my friend mentioned that in her email. And he's talking about how those on the right (Republicans, Liberals, so-called conservatives) are really big on the whole free market thing.  

17. Briefly glanced at what Lord Wiki has to say about neoliberalism.   I was pretty sure I knew what it was (from hearing Aly talk) but I wasn't positive.  Basically, it's the whole free-market approach.    Society will take care of itself if people are free to pursue what they want to pursue, sell what they want to sell, and buy what they want to buy.  Yeah.  I think this fits in with some of the Republicans I know.  And some of them seem to have the idea that any disruption of the free market by government is a step leading to communism. If you take too many steps, it very well could lead to Communism.  But we need not fear taking a few steps and having a more balanced approach. It's like someone skipping dessert and eating an orange instead.  We don't need to jump to the conclusion that they're soon going to become Anorexic.  If they start skipping MANY meals, then we need to worry.  Of course, all if this gets turned on your head if you ARE a Communist. Then you wouldn't be concerned if the government took big steps heading in that direction.

18. Watched more of Waleed Aly.  He talks about how climate change worries can be seen as a threat to free market philosophies.  Why?  Because there's the idea that the free market is partly to blame for climate change.  If we give people the complete freedom to do make what they want, sell what they want, and buy what they want....will we destroy the planet?  

I think I'm getting the main point of Aly's talk. It's that we call certain people conservatives, but they're really NOT conservative. They're neoliberals. 

Aly brought up the point that those on the right push for the free market, and family values.  If you want to succeed in the free market, will you have time for family?   Wouldn't those who put work first have the best outcome in terms of selling? Does it help the free market when a woman takes PAID time off work to be with her baby? 

So I'm getting that Aly is saying we CAN'T fully depend on the free market to run our society.  There has to be something more.   Otherwise it's really just about consumerism.   Work a lot, buy a lot, and never see your children...who shouldn't care, because they'll be too busy playing with all the expensive toys that you bought them.   

19. Struggled to decide if I wanted to watch part 2 of the Waleed Aly thing.  I'm not good at watching long things.

 Well, I'm watching at least some of it.  Aly talks about how Tony Abbott has two heroes, one is John Howard, and the other is some other guy.  The other guy is a critic of capitalism, and John Howard is very pro-capitalism.  I guess that's possible, because maybe he looks up to this person for reasons besides their beliefs on capitalism.  Yeah. I don't know about heroes, but I have friends with whom I strongly disagree with them on some areas. But I look up to them in other areas. It's kind of like my friend who sent me the Etsy link.  She's very spiritual and open-minded.  I definitely see her as a role model in those areas. She'll sometimes share spiritual quotes that she finds, and I find them very helpful.   But she's an Oprah fan, and she loves reality TV.  I'm definitely not eager to join those paths.  Although I did love The Sing Off.  I wonder if she watched that.    

Another one of my friends shares my views about reality TV. She doesn't like it either.  But we're very different when it comes to our views on homosexuality and the afterlife. 

20. Proud of myself for watching the entire Waleed Aly thing.  I bookmarked some of his writing, so I can return to it in the future.  I don't know if I'll agree with him on everything, but he seems very educated and articulate. I could probably learn a lot from him.  

21.  Received information about The King's Speech event.  Finally. Then I regretfully and politely turned it down.  Why?  It would involve me speaking on camera and being in a nationally seen commercial.    I told them that I express myself much better through writing and if I had to be on TV, I would need my own Lionel Logue around to coach me.  Plus, I probably wouldn't have anything appropriate to say.  Other participants will be talking about cinematic techniques, and I'd be wanting to shout out.   It's about Australia!   And it has Bellatrix in it!!!  And I might mention that I have a small crush on Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue; but that  I don't know if I'd love Geoffrey Rush if he was not being Lionel Logue, and I don't know if I'd love Logue if he wasn't being portrayed by Geoffrey Rush.  It's all so confusing.    

22. Feeling really guilty for not doing The King's Speech thing, because they're still looking for participants.   I feel I'm not doing my part to promote this fantastic movie.  MAYBE instead I'll promote it a lot on my blog.  Would that appease my guilt?  Probably not, but I'll do it anyway.  So....if you're looking for a movie to see, go see The King's Speech.  At least watch the trailer.   This will likely make you want to go and see the movie.  And I don't love it for just the Harry Potter actors and the Aussie aspects.  It's a VERY inspiring film.  I hope it wins many Academy Awards.

23. Played Sims 3 and guess who one of my Sims ran into at the park.   Lionel Logue!  I created him a week or two ago, but I don't think I've seen him since he was a child. Now he's an adult.  Then my Sims went to another park in town, and they saw Lionel Logue again.  It's like the way I met my friend Michelle. We started chatting at the playground in Darling Harbour.  Then a day or two later, I ran into her at the playground in Moore Park.   

24. Looked at more people trying to win the The King's Speech thing.   There seems to be another Harry Potter fan.  First of all, she calls herself Alexa Bellatrix-Lestrange Zack, and she says, Why do I love The King's Speech? Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, and Michael Gambon :)    


I like what Whitney Berry said, This movie made me think that just maybe we aren't as bad off as I thought we were. If more people want movies like this, maybe humanity isn't completely messed up

Lizanne Whitlow says I'm not from any of the above cities; HOWEVER, this film is an adult, grown-up, mature feel-good film that reaches beyond time.  She kind of makes it sound like porn. 

25. Looked at Statcounter and saw that Scientologists visited my blog. They're watching me. I'm watching them. It's like that question on all those psychology tests.   Is the enemy of your enemy your friend?  I don't like psychiatry, and Scientology doesn't like psychiatry.  Does that make them my friends?  No.  But maybe we can be acquaintances.

26. Decided I should put up a picture of The King's Speech, because it will help me in my pursuit of promoting the movie.

So here you go.

My favorite movie
 
 27. Decided to read my old post about Geoffrey Rush.   Well, I was thinking I want to learn more about him.  And then I thought I might as well read over the stuff I've ALREADY learned (and forgotten).  You know what's funny.  The biography post I did right before that one was Guy Pearce.  I'm pretty sure that was just a coincidence.  I'm wondering if I mentioned The King's Speech in either of the posts.   When someone mentioned the movie on Facebook, it didn't sound familiar.

28. Watched the trailer for Mystery Men.  Geoffrey Rush is in that.   

29. Enjoyed reading my post on Geoffrey Rush. Does that sound very vain?

30. Watched trailer for Bran Nue Dae.  Geoffrey Rush is in that too.  I really need to see that movie.  I'll ask Tim to add it to his Netflix thing.    

31. Played Harry Potter Clue with Tim and Jack.   I won for the first time!  Guess who the guilty one was?  Bellatrix!!  I feel I'm haunted by The King's Speech today....but in a  good way.    

32. Had some regrets about saying no to The King's Speech thing.  I think my reactions to all of this can be explained by the post I wrote on September 8 2010.   I have different sides of myself, and they don't agree with each other.  There's a part of me that would have loved to have been a part of the project, and a part of me that would have faith in my abilities to do what I was asked.  But that's not the part of me that read the email and immediately responded.    I mean I didn't even think about it.  I opened the email, read it, and thought immediately....NO WAY.  I don't do videos.   But I DO do videos.  I've done videos for this blog.  Duh. But I forgot that.  I forgot that side of myself. I was thinking back to the past....like when I was a teenager.   I was remembering my overly shy and awkward self.    


The other thing I regret is....I started thinking that maybe they would have allowed me to take Jack there. It would have been a really great homeschooling experience. Very stupid of me not to consider that.      


I guess this is a good regret, though, because it's all MY fault. That's better than regrets in which there's someone else to blame.  Then I have to be disappointed in missing something AND resentful towards the person who made me take the wrong turn.  


33. While exercising I thought of something that made me feel better.    Sometimes when I get nervous, I get an attack of uncontrollable giggles.  If I tried to be in a commercial, that might happen.  I'd giggle like crazy. That would be so embarrassing.  Plus, the producer people might lose patience with me, and they might not be very nice about it.  That would hurt my feelings.  I'd be sad.  But worse, I'd probably start developing negative associations.  Anytime I saw anything to do with The King's Speech, I'd probably feel bad about myself.   I wouldn't be able to read Harry Potter anymore because it would make me think of Helena Bonham Carter.  That would make me think of The King's Speech, and I would remember my humiliating giggle attack.   I'd also have to avoid Geoffrey Rush.  And what if I couldn't even think of Australia anymore, because it reminded me of Rush?   That would be REALLY awful.  Well, no.  That's too far-fetched. I've had horrible experiences with Australians, and that didn't make me lose my love for Australia.  So I doubt it would happen over giggles and Geoffrey Rush.   Crap.   Now I'm back to the regretting thing.    


34. While looking at the photos on The National Library of Australia website, I came across a photo of Alfred Deakin as a child.   Alfred Deakin was a spiritualist like Lionel Logue.  He wasn't a speech therapist though.  He was a Prime Minister.

35. Decided to revisit the interview about Alfred Deakin's spirituality.  I looked at it the night we came back from seeing The King's Speech.   But I was tired, and didn't really read it well enough.   I had learned there was a book, so I decided to just read that instead.   However, it turned out that Powells didn't have the book after all.   

36. Visited the website for the Victorian Spiritualists Union.   It was mentioned in the Deakin interview.