Today I'm going to be learning about Scott McGregor. He plays Mark Brennan on Neighbours. Although I'm seeing from Google that he might be leaving Neighbours. Maybe he already left? I don't know. I also see that he's a model. Though I think many actors start out as models. It's not as unusual as...let's say an actor who used to be a marine biologist.
Mark Brennan is one of my favorite Neighbours characters. BECAUSE he's a Doctor Who fan. Though he hasn't mentioned the Doctor in quite awhile. Unfortunately.
In the episodes I'm watching, Mark has recently started dating Paige, the long lost daughter of Lauren and Brad. I saw an odd scene recently. Paige and Mark are supposed to go on their first date. We suddenly learn that Paige does her clothes shopping at op shops. Oh, and she reveals this by telling a friend that she refuses to spend money on clothes. Hello? Op shop purchases are low in cost, but they're not free. Or maybe things are different in Erinsborough.
So then Mark is waiting for her at the bar. She comes in wearing a lovely red dress. Mark freaks out and yells at her. Why? The red dress belonged to Kate his deceased girlfriend. Out of all the dresses, Paige found that one.
Now I can totally picture a coincidence happening like that in real life. The world is full of weird things. But in fiction, it seems way too far-fetched.
Why are coincidences more accepted in real life than in fiction? With fiction, people often see coincidences as being a symptom of bad writing.
Maybe it's the fact that the coincidence, in fiction, is used for dramatic effect. It's used to drive the action, and it all seems a bit cheap. At least...sometimes.
If the dress thing happened in real life, it wouldn't be revealed on a first date. Nor would it be first discovered by the man who is torn between the love of his past and the one of his present. It would be noticed by someone with less emotional involvement.
The other thing that puzzled me about the scene was Mark's ability to remember the dress. Do most people have such strong memories about clothes? Maybe if the dress has a unique memorable pattern; or if it was a dress Kate wore frequently; or if it's been revealed that not only is Mark a Doctor Who fan, but he's also really into fashion.
As far as I know, Mark isn't into fashion. I don't think I've seen him make any other comments about clothes before. The red dress didn't look incredibly unique. It also didn't look like something someone would wear on a frequent basis. It looked like something a person would wear on special occasions.
Now if my brother-in-law was in the situation, I'd totally believe he'd remember the dress. He DOES notice and remember clothing. The first thing he noticed about my sister upon meeting her was her shoes. A lot of my wardrobe consists of my sister's hand-med-owns, and he notices that—makes comments. I think, though, that he's above-average when it comes to clothes-memory abilities. I don't think it's the same story for Mark.
What would be realistic is for Paige to arrive for the date wearing dead Kate's dress, and Mark wouldn't even notice. They'd have a wonderful time. Someone like my brother-in-law would be there and he'd notice the dress. I don't think he'd interrupt the date and point it out to Mark and Paige. But maybe later, he'd compliment Paige and ask where she got the dress. Then he'd go home and tell his wife that he saw Paige wearing Kate's exact same dress, and that she got it at a thrift store. They'd wonder, could it be Kate's dress? If it is, what a coincidence! They'd wonder, Should they tell Paige? Mark? They'd decide to maybe tell them someday, but no, not now. It's too sensitive. Maybe in the future...when emotions are less intense, they'd reveal what they know about the dress.
Well, enough about the dress. I should start my learning about Scott McGregor. If he's a model, maybe he'd be the type to notice clothes. I'm guessing models pay attention to that type of thing, since it often plays a big part in their career.
Oh! You know what. I think Mark used to be a detective. I bet detectives are good at noticing details, so maybe it would make sense that he'd notice the dress.
According to Scott McGregor's IMDb bio page, he was born on April 9, 1981. When I see people born in the 1980's, I feel like they're so young. But they're really not. They're just young compared to me. Then again, youth is relative.
McGregor will be turning 34 in a few weeks.
I was 34 way back in 2006.
McGregor will be my age in 2023.
I'm really wasting time here.
What's wrong with me?
Now I'm going to look at the Scott McGregor filmography. Usual Disclaimer: I skip over one time appearances in TV shows I don't watch. And I skip over movies in which I can't find much information. But this rule is discarded for the first item on the filmography.
The first item on McGregor's filmography is Underbelly. In 2008, he appeared on the show. His character was called Young Man. I'm assuming it was a small role.
In 2010, McGregor started working on Neighbours, and he's still listed as being there in 2015. So maybe he hasn't left the show yet.
The last episode listed for him though is February 25. Maybe that was his last airdate? Or maybe he's on vacation? Or maybe IMDb hasn't yet updated their episodes.
McGregor is listed in the credits as Detective Mark Brennan until February 5, 2014. So I guess that's when he stopped being a detective. I wonder why this happened. Was he fired? Did he quit? Did it have something to do with Kate's death? And what does he do now? Does he have a job? I don't think I've noticed one.
In 2012, McGregor appeared on an episode of Offspring!
It was the first episode of the third season. McGregor played Theo. Who is Theo?
My favorite Australian television website has a description of the episode, but they don't say anything about Theo.
The name does sound familar to me. I mean in terms of Offspring. Of course, I've heard the name Theo before.
Lord Wiki just revealed to me that the episode is the one in which Nina finds out the shocking thing about her parentage. Did Theo play a part in that storyline? Another one? Maybe he was the husband of one of Nina's patients?
I was thinking of checking out the episode on Hulu, but that's a pain. I love Hulu for actually watching things, but jumping through to find something is a pain. You have to go through all those ads.
I think I'll just forget about it for now.
In 2014, McGregor was on some kind of Neighbours spin off. Or maybe it was a miniseries type thing. He played Mark Brennan in seven episodes of something called Brennan on the Run. I don't recognize any of the other actors or characters; so maybe it was about Mark traveling somewhere?
Now I see from YouTube that it was a webisode thing. I was about to say I don't want to watch it, because it will be spoilers for me since I'm watching episodes from 2013. But I'm getting Neighbours confused with Coronation Street. With Neighbours, I'm only a few months behind. With Coronation Street, I'm a couple of years behind.
Then again...maybe it would be spoilers. I'm watching episodes from September 2014. Did Mark go into witness protection before that or after?
Before! I see now that the video was uploaded February 2014. I think it's safe for me to watch it.
I watched it. At the end, viewers are asked to vote on what happens next. It seems to be a gimmicky type thing.
The webisode wasn't bad, but I didn't like it enough to want to watch more. All it did really was make me miss the TV show The Wrong Mans. That had a witness protection storyline. It's a fun show.
Well, I'm done with the filmography.
What should I do next?
Should I read about Mark Brennan? I kind of don't want to. It's always so overwhelming to read all the information.
But I feel I should.
Maybe I'll just skim.
I'm seeing on The Perfect Blend site that Mark Brennan was off the show in 2012. Maybe that's what I saw when Googling. Maybe the news I saw about him leaving was old news.
Mark Brennan arrived in Erinsborough to try to figure out who tried to kill Paul Robinson.
Sonya was one of the suspects! Wow. And now she and Paul are kind of working together. Well, they're not working together, but she did give him permission to hold his press conference at her nursery.
There's a lot of Kate and Mark stuff here. I can't say I'm overly interested. I'm skimming through it, though. At one point, Kate was dating Georgia's Kyle! Or maybe she just went on one or two dates. Mark was jealous about it, though.
At one point, Mark's flat became infested with insects. I wonder which kind. Anyway, he moved in with Toadie. It says here that Toadie lived with his adopted son Callum. That's Sonya's son! Is that how they met? Was it through Callum? Why wasn't Sonya living there with Callum and Toadie?
Mark was supposedly in witness protection for a couple of years. Kate and Toadie (and other people, probably) thought he was dead.
I'm guessing Mark left Erinsborough in 2012. Then the webisodes were made later. Maybe they decided it would be fun for people to see what Mark had been doing.
It's funny. When I watch Neighbours and they talk about Kate, I picture she and Mark having this idyllic relationship; then she tragically dies. But from what I'm seeing here, it looks like they were RARELY happy together. Trouble followed them everywhere. But that's typical of soap operas. Happy couples are often boring couples, and the actors playing them don't have much of a job anymore. Well, no. That's not always true. Sonya and Toadie are pretty happy right now, and they're being shown fairly frequently. They have problems, but they're still happy.
Another TV couple that comes to my mind right now is Alex and Evan on The Secret Life of Us. They're a couple that, so far in my viewing, have not really been together. At the end of the first season, they shared a kiss in a cab. They might have had sex, but I don't think so. I can't remember. Evan went traveling and left Alex behind. Alex was back in St. Kilda pining for him. All he sent her was a very unromantic travelogue video. Alex gave up on him and started dating Rex. Evan came back and wanted Alex back. Rex has now left the picture. Evan and Alex COULD get together, but no. Now Evan is interested in another woman. I have a feeling this is going to go on for quite awhile. When one is available the other is not. It's like Rachel and Ross on Friends.
There was actually a scene on The Secret Life of Us where Evan talked about the sexual tension stuff that occurs on TV shows. It was kind of funny, since he IS a character on a TV show.
Anyway, I'm just mentioning all that because it reminds me of the stuff I was reading about Kate and Mark. It seemed they were rarely together, and usually dating someone else and making the other one jealous.
Now I'm going to watch some Neighbours-related interviews with McGregor. It's on the Neighbours official YouTube channel, which is also where I found the webisodes.
It's funny. The channel's trailer has Susan and Karl talking about soap operas. It's kind of like Evan talking about TV shows on The Secret Life of Us.
They're talking about British soap operas, and they mentioned the one I'm watching (Coronation Street). Though Susan is watching Eastenders. I wanted to watch that, but Hulu doesn't have it.
The video is a happy birthday homage from Neighbours to Eastenders. It has Australian actors pretending to be British. Well, because Susan hits her head and wakes up thinking she's in Eastenders World.
Okay. My ears are good enough now to notice a slight difference between the Australian and English accent. But I definitely think there's more of a difference between American and English or American and Australian than English and Australian.
Eastenders was celebrating their 30th birthday. I think Neighbours is also celebrating their 30th birthday. Did Eastenders make a birthday video for them?
I can't find one....
I should get back to the Scott McGregor interview.
I'm easily sidetracked.
Here's the first video.
McGregor has a very strong Aussie accent. It's cute.
The video is Q and A. The first question is about Mark. Someone asks why isn't he dead? It makes me think that maybe the original storyline didn't have Mark going into witness protection. Maybe he was killed off the show, and then the witness protection thing was a way to bring him back alive. I'd probably know more specifics if I read The Perfect Blend site more carefully instead of just skimming.
So far, the questions are about Mark and not Scott McGregor. I kind of wish they were more about McGregor.
Well, finally. There's a question about McGregor. How does he feel about coming back? He's happy. He loves the cast. Blah, blah, blah.
It makes me think of an episode of The Secret Life of Us I watched recently. Richie does an interview with a co-star on Rove. They pretend to be best friends, but they really hate each other.
I'm not saying that all the cast on Neighbours hate each other. I'm sure most of them are friends. But there are probably people in the cast who do NOT get along with the others, and I'm sure this fact is usually not going to be revealed in an interview. It's certainly not going to be revealed on the official Neighbours YouTube channel.
McGregor does have a bit of a raw moment in the video. He says he shed tears when he left, and talks about how it was nice to be asked back. I wonder whose decision it was for him to leave the show in the first place.
Well, good. Someone has asked why McGregor left. It was his decision. He talks about feeling it was time to move on. He went to Los Angeles. So, I guess what he's saying is he wanted to try to get an American career. The interview was actually filmed in Los Angeles. So he was living there and working on Neighbours. I'm guessing he's not still commuting back and forth.
Here's part 2 of the video. The first question asks if he'd return as a regular. So I guess at first he was just kind of guest starring? Then it would make sense that he stay in Los Angeles and continue to pursue a career there.
I feel all futuristic, watching this video from the past and knowing the answers because I'm from the future.
The next question is about what McGregor has been working on since leaving Neighbours. It's kind of awkward, because from what I saw on the filmography, he wasn't doing much. It's that awful gap in the resume moment. But see...it's kind of nice. Because moments like that feel hopeless sometimes. But we can look at people like McGregor and realize that there are times things might not go as we had hoped. Then later they might get much better.
It's like if I met someone from my past and they were curious about my writing career. It would be awkward trying to make my failure not seem so pathetic. But who knows...maybe in 20 years, a miracle will happen and I'll somehow be making money with my writing. Or I'll have some kind of success story.
The next question is what did McGregor want to be when he grew up...besides the actor thing.
He says he never wanted to be an actor. The opportunities just kind of came to him. It's kind of funny, since a lot of people WANT to be actors, and the opportunities never come.
McGregor says, that in primary school, he wanted to be in the fire brigade. Well, maybe on balance, there are firefighters who never wanted to be firefighters and the opportunity just fell on their lap.
McGregor is asked if he prefers Pepsi or Coke. He says he usually drinks Coke, but doesn't have anything against Pepsi.
I think it's funny when I'm at a restaurant, order a Coke, and then they ask if Pepsi is okay. Sometimes I'll joke and say no. I don't know why I think it's funny, or why I joke about it. It makes sense that they ask. Some people might actually be picky about it. I guess it's because with most menu items, you order the type of food not the brand. Though I guess that's usually not the case with any drinks. If you order wine, you specify the type of wine. If you order beer, you specify the type of beer.
Someone asks McGregor if he is single. He says no, but also says, sorry to let you down. What if she was just asking out of curiosity? He shouldn't assume she wants him. Or should he? Are there other reasons for someone to ask if you're single?
Well, it's like the person asking if McGregor likes Coke or Pepsi. It's not like she was offering him a drink. Maybe she was just curious.
The next questioning-people are more direct about their feelings. They ask McGregor to marry them. He tries to turn them down gently.
I wonder about people who ask questions like that. Are they at all serious? I would hope not. I'm imagining it's kind of way to pay a celebrity a compliment. Would you marry me is probably a way of saying, I think you're hot. Keep up the good work. But then what about the rabid fans on Twitter and Instagram—the ones who plead for the celebrities to follow them. Do they really expect an actor to read the plea and take action? I kind of think they do. So maybe there are fans who expect an actor to take a marriage proposal seriously.
There's a question about whether McGregor likes Taylor Swift. He doesn't seem to have a lot of enthusiastic love for her. He doesn't adore he. He doesn't dislike her. He says her songs have catchy tunes.
My dad is a big fan of Taylor Swift. Tim likes her too. I'm not a huge fan, but I don't mind her. I like the "Shake it Off" song.
McGregor is asked if he had to be stuck on an deserted island with a Neighbours cast member, who would he pick? He says the actress who plays Kate, because they're really good friends. It's good he had someone in mind. It can be an unfair question, though. What if he was equally close to many of his cast members? Might it hurt or offend someone if he didn't pick them? And maybe he did hurt someone! What if there's a cast member on Neighbours who has a secret crush on McGregor. What if she (or he?) is hoping McGregor likes them back, and now he's saying he wants to be with the Kate-actress? That might be very disappointing for them.
Now McGregor is answering a question about what he hopes to do next. He was hoping for a film or TV show in the U.S. I hope he comes to realize that an actor doesn't need a career in America to be successful and happy. I was going to say the thing about America is it gives you international recognition. But that's not really true. I know there are a lot of Australian shows that are popular outside Australia. There are Australian actors who are loved around the world, but are not in American projects.
Now Americans are able to watch a lot of Australian television through Hulu, so maybe Australians will start becoming famous in America without having to be on American TV shows and American movies.
It seems like Australian actors often want to move to either the UK or the US. Are acting career opportunities better in these places? Or is it just about wanting to live in a foreign land? Maybe it's the same thing as me wanting to move to Australia. But in terms of acting, I don't think there are many cases of Americans or British actors moving to Australia to further their career. So maybe the UK and America ARE better for actors.
I know there are British actors who come to work in America. Do the same amount of American actors go over to work in the UK? I don't think so.
For English-speaking actors, is America the Mecca? Or is it that American TV and filmmakers are more open to using foreign actors? And if so, is this because British and Australian people are better at imitating American accents than vice-versa? If yes, than is this because British and Australian people are more talented with accent-imitating than American actors? OR is the American accent easier than the British and Australian one?
Also...for Australians who are good at imitating accents, what is easier for them? American or British?
I'm done with the video.
Since McGregor is now a regular cast member on Neighbours, I'm guessing he's no longer living in Los Angeles. Does he want to return someday? Does he still want to pursue a career here in America? Or is how now satisfied with an Australian career?
There are more video interviews with McGregor on the site, but it's recent and might have too many spoilers. I already saw a spoiler by just looking at comments. It's about Paige and Mark's relationship.
Here's a less recent article about McGregor. It's a day-on-the-set kind of thing.
He wakes up at 7:30.
Around 8:00, he goes for a run.
After his run and a shower, he checks his email and Facebook.
I wonder if most people have a morning Internet routine.
I totally have one. It's A) write down my dream on Livejournal and read one of my old dreams B) Read an old post from my blog, check for comments, and look at Statcounter C) look at one of my old albums on Flickr. D) check out Google news E) look at Twitter.
As you can see, I'm really into reaching out to my past. That's probably why the 11th doctor's regeneration speech majorly touched my heart. All that stuff about remembering who we used to be. That really struck a chord with me.
I'm totally going off on a tangent here. I should get back to McGregor's day. I wonder if this is a typical day for him, or just one particular day.
Anyway....
He heads to the Neighbours set at 10:00.
He goes to wardrobe and make-up.
He hangs out in a waiting area with Ariel Kaplan and Saskia Hampele. Who does Hampele play?
Georgia! Thanks, Google.
And you know. I should have known that. I wrote about her before, because I thought she looked like one of the actresses from Doctor Who.
McGregor starts filming his scenes at 11:45. At 12:15, he has a lunch break. He gets back to work at 12:45 and then it's done by 1:50.
I pictured a soap opera actor's life to be much more grueling than that. I pictured them working from 7:00 in the morning to 7:00 at night. I didn't picture internet time and morning runs. I certainly didn't picture them getting to work at 10:00.
He leaves work at 5:00 to play golf.
What?! Really.
This isn't typical. Is it? I mean not just for McGregor, but actors in general. I thought their work hours were much longer and much more intense.
Maybe it just depends on the day and how much someone is in a scene. If that's the case though, wouldn't McGregor want to pick a day in which he's very busy?
I mean if I wanted to write about my day...I guess it would be either as a mother or writer. I'd want to pick a day where I'm very busy. Like today. I'm spending most of the day writing this post, and other parts washing dishes and looking for a birthday gift for my niece. I wouldn't want to write about yesterday where I spent most of the day playing Sims 2 and binge watching Coronation Street. Though I did walk to the grocery store to buy cat food. That counts as work, right? And I took out the trash bins, which is the chore I hate most.
You know what, though. Cheers to McGregor for writing about a day in which he had time to relax. I've read stuff against the glorification of busyness, and I totally agree with it. It's nice when people can happily admit they had time to relax.
Really. I don't want to read about some guy who's been at the set from 6 in the morning to 10 at night and struggles to balance the weekends with taking care of his ten adopted children and working at the homeless shelter. Oh, and in his spare time he's writing a book series for children and makes homemade pottery.
I want to read about people like me. I want people who play Sims 2 or Golf. They have morning Internet routines and spend too much time looking at random Instagram accounts. Oh and they also waste time sitting on the couch staring into space, thinking, I should get up now. But they don't because they're too tired to move. I do that, and I also spend too much time Googling stuff on the Internet. It's not because I'm really interested, but I'm too lazy to get up. So I Google as an excuse to keep myself sitting. It's really bad. What could I accomplish if I stopped having these lazy moments?
Well, I'm often complaining to myself that there are too many books and TV shows and not enough time. Imagine how many more episodes and books I could fit into my life if I stopped having these trance-like moments on the couch and/or with the Internet.
Lord Wiki has an entry about McGregor.
He says McGregor was born in Albury, New South Wales. I think I've heard of that. It's between Melbourne and Sydney, I believe.
Google Maps says I'm right.
As I mentioned earlier, McGregor did modeling stuff before acting. He did photo stuff for magazines and some TV commercials.
Here's McGregor in a beer ad.
McGregor was on a game show called Temptation. I guess he worked as a model? I'm saying that because Lord Wiki says he dated a co-model from the show. It wasn't a show about modeling, but I guess they used models. Maybe it was like a Vanna White type job?
Here's McGregor's Twitter page. In his little bio, he says he's living in Los Angeles and Melbourne. So maybe he is still commuting. Maybe when he has time off from Neighbours, he goes back to LA.
His most recent Tweet was 18 hours ago. It's too Ariel Kaplan and it's three crying faces. It's in response to someone saying happy 30th. Why the sad faces? What does that mean? I don't get it. But I like that he talks with emoticons. I've been doing that a lot lately. What if in the future we don't write to each other anymore? What if we just use emoticons? What if that evolves into our language?
I'm not sure I would mind so much.
It would be interesting writing blog posts.
Nineteen hours ago, McGregor Tweeted about golf. From what I'm seeing, Golf is very important to him.
On February 18, McGregor Tweeted that he has to admit it. He loves Taylor Swift. So I guess he grew into a fan.
On February 16, he wrote a complaint Tweet. That's a good way to let off steam. McGregor's complaint is directed towards Victorian Roads and City Link Melbourne. He asks, Do you think it's fair that you charge consumers a premium to be stuck in traffic everyday?
Is it fair? Probably not. Though I don't know what he's referring to.
One of his Tweets had a link to Instagram. I'm going to look at that now.
His most recent post is a product placement type thing. It's for some kind of face wash and moisturizer. Is he getting paid to advertise on Instagram? Do actors and models do that sometimes?
Or maybe he's not getting paid and he did the post as a favor to a friend or relative. Or maybe it's a favor to the friend of a relative of a coworker.
I suppose it could also be that he actually likes the product and wants to give it pubic praise. That happens sometimes.
On March 2, McGregor posted a picture of himself in a police uniform. Is that for Neighbours? Something else?
On Valentines Day, McGregor posted a photo of himself with a woman. I'm going to assume it's his girlfriend.
Here's a golf photo.
Here's another photo of McGregor with the girlfriend. They're in Byron Bay, and McGregor says that's his favorite place in the world.
There's a dog photo. I think it's a real dog, but it kind of looks like a statue or stuffed animal.
Here's a photo of McGregor with his relatives for his mom's birthday party. I like looking at family photos. The kids, in this photo, are really cute. Most of them are spaced out and not looking at the camera.
Here's a photo of McGregor as a child. It's a school photo. He did it for some kind of viral trend— something to do with the Australian Childhood Foundation.
I'm personally not a bit fan of mixing charity with selfies. I mean it's not really a selfie. It's a school photo. Although...hey! What if in the future, school photos are all selfies and the professional school photographers are out of a job?
But yeah. I have this thing against people using a cause as an excuse to post a photo of themselves.
There's nothing wrong with posting a video or photo of oneself...as long as it's not done too often. But connecting it to a charitable cause doesn't make it any more noble.
I made a snide remark on Twitter a few weeks ago about the dress thing. People were complaining about it, as if it were so awful to talk about a trivial fun thing when bad things happen in the world. I said something about people accepting it if someone connected it to a charitable cause. Like... we're talking about the dress in order to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer. Then you have to talk about the dress, because if you don't talk about the dress it means you don't give a crap about pancreatic cancer.
There's a family walking from Disneyland to Disney World. Sadly, their daughter/sister died of cancer. I think it's neat that they're doing that, and I imagine it's a fun healthy way to bond as a family and deal with their grief. But I read somewhere that they're doing it to raise awareness of cancer. Why do they have to say that? Why do they have to do it to raise awareness of something. And cancer? Who the hell hasn't heard of cancer before?
We should care about problems and we should talk about them.
I think we should also have fun posting photos and talking about fun stuff. I don't think we need to connect the two things.
Here's a video post. It's of a cute little dog running on the beach.
Here's another dog photo. On this photo and the other dog photo, McGregor used the word WANT. I guess he's wanting a dog? Has he gotten one yet? Or is he still in the looking process? Or maybe he wants a dog in theory, but not in reality. It's like how I want a rabbit or bird...or Tasmanian Devil. But I'm not truly planning on having one.
I'm guessing, though, that he hasn't yet gotten the dog, because otherwise there'd probably be a ton of photos of the dog on his Instagram. Unless McGregor has a dog, but is trying to give it a lot of privacy.
Here's a photo of a woman's butt. It reminds me of the photos our friend takes. He's that type of photographer. AND speaking of this friend, he was taking selfies before they were popular. He introduced us to the concept, and we used to call them "Morris Photos" (in honor of his last name).
Here's another dog video. It's really cute. I'm not even a big dog fan, and I'm wanting a major cuddle from these dogs.
Here's a photo of McGregor with the Neighbours' dog Bossy.
I'm getting the idea that McGregor's life is all about golf and dogs.
Here's a photo with McGregor holding an Aussie flag in the midst of a bunch of American flags. I wonder where he is.
The answer is in the next photo. It's a memorial at Pepperdine University. They have an American flag for everyone who died. That's pretty amazing. What about people who weren't American? Is there still an American flag for them? Or are the American flags for Americans only?
Here's an article about the memorial. It says that for non-Americans, they're memorialized with a flag from their own country.
I have to admit that this is making me a little bit teary-eyed.
Here's a photo of McGregor on an airplane. He's holding a dog on his lap. It's a friend he made on the flight. That is so sweet. I could totally fall in love with McGregor. His love of dogs is very endearing to me. I love it almost as much as I love Mark Brennan's love of Doctor Who. I love it when people love what I love, but I also love when people love things I'm not personally into it. I have a thing for passionate, obsessive people...well, minus the ones who get dangerous and scary about it.
I just noticed, though, that McGregor's last dog photo was posted on November 14, 2014. What happened? Why hasn't there been any more dog photos? Did he lose his love and interest for dogs? Maybe he got a dog and something sad happened, and he doesn't want to post about it anymore.
Now that idea is making me sad. So....
I'll just imagine he's been busy with other stuff.
But you know what....
I love Australia, but I haven't posted any recent Australia-related photos on Instagram.
I'm looking at my account. My last Australia-related post was 17 weeks ago. And despite my love of Doctor Who, my last Doctor Who related post was 6 weeks ago.
Here's McGregor's first Instagram photo. It's of Bondi rock pools.
You know...I was thinking. What would Mark Brennan have on his Instagram account? Pictures of Doctor Who stuff? Maybe Paige? Maybe when he calmed down about the dress, he'd post a photo of it The caption would say, So weird! New girlfriend accidentally bought my deceased girlfriend's dress at an op shop!
Anyway, it would be cool if Neighbours made fictional accounts for some of their characters. Maybe they could even tell a story through the photos.
Maybe that can be the next step in webisodes.
I'm guessing there's already official fictional accounts out there. I know there's definitely unofficial fiction accounts on Twitter. I've seen those.
I would look for fictional Instagram accounts, but I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that. If you know of any and wouldn't mind commenting, please tell me about them.
Anyway, I think I'm going to end this here.
See ya later. (well, not really. I probably won't literally see you). But I'm always struggling to find a way to conclude these posts.
Maybe I should just end abruptly...like a show with a cliffhanger that's then canceled. You know like that show where the
Mark Brennan is one of my favorite Neighbours characters. BECAUSE he's a Doctor Who fan. Though he hasn't mentioned the Doctor in quite awhile. Unfortunately.
In the episodes I'm watching, Mark has recently started dating Paige, the long lost daughter of Lauren and Brad. I saw an odd scene recently. Paige and Mark are supposed to go on their first date. We suddenly learn that Paige does her clothes shopping at op shops. Oh, and she reveals this by telling a friend that she refuses to spend money on clothes. Hello? Op shop purchases are low in cost, but they're not free. Or maybe things are different in Erinsborough.
So then Mark is waiting for her at the bar. She comes in wearing a lovely red dress. Mark freaks out and yells at her. Why? The red dress belonged to Kate his deceased girlfriend. Out of all the dresses, Paige found that one.
Now I can totally picture a coincidence happening like that in real life. The world is full of weird things. But in fiction, it seems way too far-fetched.
Why are coincidences more accepted in real life than in fiction? With fiction, people often see coincidences as being a symptom of bad writing.
Maybe it's the fact that the coincidence, in fiction, is used for dramatic effect. It's used to drive the action, and it all seems a bit cheap. At least...sometimes.
If the dress thing happened in real life, it wouldn't be revealed on a first date. Nor would it be first discovered by the man who is torn between the love of his past and the one of his present. It would be noticed by someone with less emotional involvement.
The other thing that puzzled me about the scene was Mark's ability to remember the dress. Do most people have such strong memories about clothes? Maybe if the dress has a unique memorable pattern; or if it was a dress Kate wore frequently; or if it's been revealed that not only is Mark a Doctor Who fan, but he's also really into fashion.
As far as I know, Mark isn't into fashion. I don't think I've seen him make any other comments about clothes before. The red dress didn't look incredibly unique. It also didn't look like something someone would wear on a frequent basis. It looked like something a person would wear on special occasions.
Now if my brother-in-law was in the situation, I'd totally believe he'd remember the dress. He DOES notice and remember clothing. The first thing he noticed about my sister upon meeting her was her shoes. A lot of my wardrobe consists of my sister's hand-med-owns, and he notices that—makes comments. I think, though, that he's above-average when it comes to clothes-memory abilities. I don't think it's the same story for Mark.
What would be realistic is for Paige to arrive for the date wearing dead Kate's dress, and Mark wouldn't even notice. They'd have a wonderful time. Someone like my brother-in-law would be there and he'd notice the dress. I don't think he'd interrupt the date and point it out to Mark and Paige. But maybe later, he'd compliment Paige and ask where she got the dress. Then he'd go home and tell his wife that he saw Paige wearing Kate's exact same dress, and that she got it at a thrift store. They'd wonder, could it be Kate's dress? If it is, what a coincidence! They'd wonder, Should they tell Paige? Mark? They'd decide to maybe tell them someday, but no, not now. It's too sensitive. Maybe in the future...when emotions are less intense, they'd reveal what they know about the dress.
Well, enough about the dress. I should start my learning about Scott McGregor. If he's a model, maybe he'd be the type to notice clothes. I'm guessing models pay attention to that type of thing, since it often plays a big part in their career.
Oh! You know what. I think Mark used to be a detective. I bet detectives are good at noticing details, so maybe it would make sense that he'd notice the dress.
According to Scott McGregor's IMDb bio page, he was born on April 9, 1981. When I see people born in the 1980's, I feel like they're so young. But they're really not. They're just young compared to me. Then again, youth is relative.
McGregor will be turning 34 in a few weeks.
I was 34 way back in 2006.
McGregor will be my age in 2023.
I'm really wasting time here.
What's wrong with me?
Now I'm going to look at the Scott McGregor filmography. Usual Disclaimer: I skip over one time appearances in TV shows I don't watch. And I skip over movies in which I can't find much information. But this rule is discarded for the first item on the filmography.
The first item on McGregor's filmography is Underbelly. In 2008, he appeared on the show. His character was called Young Man. I'm assuming it was a small role.
In 2010, McGregor started working on Neighbours, and he's still listed as being there in 2015. So maybe he hasn't left the show yet.
The last episode listed for him though is February 25. Maybe that was his last airdate? Or maybe he's on vacation? Or maybe IMDb hasn't yet updated their episodes.
McGregor is listed in the credits as Detective Mark Brennan until February 5, 2014. So I guess that's when he stopped being a detective. I wonder why this happened. Was he fired? Did he quit? Did it have something to do with Kate's death? And what does he do now? Does he have a job? I don't think I've noticed one.
In 2012, McGregor appeared on an episode of Offspring!
It was the first episode of the third season. McGregor played Theo. Who is Theo?
My favorite Australian television website has a description of the episode, but they don't say anything about Theo.
The name does sound familar to me. I mean in terms of Offspring. Of course, I've heard the name Theo before.
Lord Wiki just revealed to me that the episode is the one in which Nina finds out the shocking thing about her parentage. Did Theo play a part in that storyline? Another one? Maybe he was the husband of one of Nina's patients?
I was thinking of checking out the episode on Hulu, but that's a pain. I love Hulu for actually watching things, but jumping through to find something is a pain. You have to go through all those ads.
I think I'll just forget about it for now.
In 2014, McGregor was on some kind of Neighbours spin off. Or maybe it was a miniseries type thing. He played Mark Brennan in seven episodes of something called Brennan on the Run. I don't recognize any of the other actors or characters; so maybe it was about Mark traveling somewhere?
Now I see from YouTube that it was a webisode thing. I was about to say I don't want to watch it, because it will be spoilers for me since I'm watching episodes from 2013. But I'm getting Neighbours confused with Coronation Street. With Neighbours, I'm only a few months behind. With Coronation Street, I'm a couple of years behind.
Then again...maybe it would be spoilers. I'm watching episodes from September 2014. Did Mark go into witness protection before that or after?
Before! I see now that the video was uploaded February 2014. I think it's safe for me to watch it.
I watched it. At the end, viewers are asked to vote on what happens next. It seems to be a gimmicky type thing.
The webisode wasn't bad, but I didn't like it enough to want to watch more. All it did really was make me miss the TV show The Wrong Mans. That had a witness protection storyline. It's a fun show.
Well, I'm done with the filmography.
What should I do next?
Should I read about Mark Brennan? I kind of don't want to. It's always so overwhelming to read all the information.
But I feel I should.
Maybe I'll just skim.
I'm seeing on The Perfect Blend site that Mark Brennan was off the show in 2012. Maybe that's what I saw when Googling. Maybe the news I saw about him leaving was old news.
Mark Brennan arrived in Erinsborough to try to figure out who tried to kill Paul Robinson.
Sonya was one of the suspects! Wow. And now she and Paul are kind of working together. Well, they're not working together, but she did give him permission to hold his press conference at her nursery.
There's a lot of Kate and Mark stuff here. I can't say I'm overly interested. I'm skimming through it, though. At one point, Kate was dating Georgia's Kyle! Or maybe she just went on one or two dates. Mark was jealous about it, though.
At one point, Mark's flat became infested with insects. I wonder which kind. Anyway, he moved in with Toadie. It says here that Toadie lived with his adopted son Callum. That's Sonya's son! Is that how they met? Was it through Callum? Why wasn't Sonya living there with Callum and Toadie?
Mark was supposedly in witness protection for a couple of years. Kate and Toadie (and other people, probably) thought he was dead.
I'm guessing Mark left Erinsborough in 2012. Then the webisodes were made later. Maybe they decided it would be fun for people to see what Mark had been doing.
It's funny. When I watch Neighbours and they talk about Kate, I picture she and Mark having this idyllic relationship; then she tragically dies. But from what I'm seeing here, it looks like they were RARELY happy together. Trouble followed them everywhere. But that's typical of soap operas. Happy couples are often boring couples, and the actors playing them don't have much of a job anymore. Well, no. That's not always true. Sonya and Toadie are pretty happy right now, and they're being shown fairly frequently. They have problems, but they're still happy.
Another TV couple that comes to my mind right now is Alex and Evan on The Secret Life of Us. They're a couple that, so far in my viewing, have not really been together. At the end of the first season, they shared a kiss in a cab. They might have had sex, but I don't think so. I can't remember. Evan went traveling and left Alex behind. Alex was back in St. Kilda pining for him. All he sent her was a very unromantic travelogue video. Alex gave up on him and started dating Rex. Evan came back and wanted Alex back. Rex has now left the picture. Evan and Alex COULD get together, but no. Now Evan is interested in another woman. I have a feeling this is going to go on for quite awhile. When one is available the other is not. It's like Rachel and Ross on Friends.
There was actually a scene on The Secret Life of Us where Evan talked about the sexual tension stuff that occurs on TV shows. It was kind of funny, since he IS a character on a TV show.
Anyway, I'm just mentioning all that because it reminds me of the stuff I was reading about Kate and Mark. It seemed they were rarely together, and usually dating someone else and making the other one jealous.
Now I'm going to watch some Neighbours-related interviews with McGregor. It's on the Neighbours official YouTube channel, which is also where I found the webisodes.
It's funny. The channel's trailer has Susan and Karl talking about soap operas. It's kind of like Evan talking about TV shows on The Secret Life of Us.
They're talking about British soap operas, and they mentioned the one I'm watching (Coronation Street). Though Susan is watching Eastenders. I wanted to watch that, but Hulu doesn't have it.
The video is a happy birthday homage from Neighbours to Eastenders. It has Australian actors pretending to be British. Well, because Susan hits her head and wakes up thinking she's in Eastenders World.
Okay. My ears are good enough now to notice a slight difference between the Australian and English accent. But I definitely think there's more of a difference between American and English or American and Australian than English and Australian.
Eastenders was celebrating their 30th birthday. I think Neighbours is also celebrating their 30th birthday. Did Eastenders make a birthday video for them?
I can't find one....
I should get back to the Scott McGregor interview.
I'm easily sidetracked.
Here's the first video.
McGregor has a very strong Aussie accent. It's cute.
The video is Q and A. The first question is about Mark. Someone asks why isn't he dead? It makes me think that maybe the original storyline didn't have Mark going into witness protection. Maybe he was killed off the show, and then the witness protection thing was a way to bring him back alive. I'd probably know more specifics if I read The Perfect Blend site more carefully instead of just skimming.
So far, the questions are about Mark and not Scott McGregor. I kind of wish they were more about McGregor.
Well, finally. There's a question about McGregor. How does he feel about coming back? He's happy. He loves the cast. Blah, blah, blah.
It makes me think of an episode of The Secret Life of Us I watched recently. Richie does an interview with a co-star on Rove. They pretend to be best friends, but they really hate each other.
I'm not saying that all the cast on Neighbours hate each other. I'm sure most of them are friends. But there are probably people in the cast who do NOT get along with the others, and I'm sure this fact is usually not going to be revealed in an interview. It's certainly not going to be revealed on the official Neighbours YouTube channel.
McGregor does have a bit of a raw moment in the video. He says he shed tears when he left, and talks about how it was nice to be asked back. I wonder whose decision it was for him to leave the show in the first place.
Well, good. Someone has asked why McGregor left. It was his decision. He talks about feeling it was time to move on. He went to Los Angeles. So, I guess what he's saying is he wanted to try to get an American career. The interview was actually filmed in Los Angeles. So he was living there and working on Neighbours. I'm guessing he's not still commuting back and forth.
Here's part 2 of the video. The first question asks if he'd return as a regular. So I guess at first he was just kind of guest starring? Then it would make sense that he stay in Los Angeles and continue to pursue a career there.
I feel all futuristic, watching this video from the past and knowing the answers because I'm from the future.
The next question is about what McGregor has been working on since leaving Neighbours. It's kind of awkward, because from what I saw on the filmography, he wasn't doing much. It's that awful gap in the resume moment. But see...it's kind of nice. Because moments like that feel hopeless sometimes. But we can look at people like McGregor and realize that there are times things might not go as we had hoped. Then later they might get much better.
It's like if I met someone from my past and they were curious about my writing career. It would be awkward trying to make my failure not seem so pathetic. But who knows...maybe in 20 years, a miracle will happen and I'll somehow be making money with my writing. Or I'll have some kind of success story.
The next question is what did McGregor want to be when he grew up...besides the actor thing.
He says he never wanted to be an actor. The opportunities just kind of came to him. It's kind of funny, since a lot of people WANT to be actors, and the opportunities never come.
McGregor says, that in primary school, he wanted to be in the fire brigade. Well, maybe on balance, there are firefighters who never wanted to be firefighters and the opportunity just fell on their lap.
McGregor is asked if he prefers Pepsi or Coke. He says he usually drinks Coke, but doesn't have anything against Pepsi.
I think it's funny when I'm at a restaurant, order a Coke, and then they ask if Pepsi is okay. Sometimes I'll joke and say no. I don't know why I think it's funny, or why I joke about it. It makes sense that they ask. Some people might actually be picky about it. I guess it's because with most menu items, you order the type of food not the brand. Though I guess that's usually not the case with any drinks. If you order wine, you specify the type of wine. If you order beer, you specify the type of beer.
Someone asks McGregor if he is single. He says no, but also says, sorry to let you down. What if she was just asking out of curiosity? He shouldn't assume she wants him. Or should he? Are there other reasons for someone to ask if you're single?
Well, it's like the person asking if McGregor likes Coke or Pepsi. It's not like she was offering him a drink. Maybe she was just curious.
The next questioning-people are more direct about their feelings. They ask McGregor to marry them. He tries to turn them down gently.
I wonder about people who ask questions like that. Are they at all serious? I would hope not. I'm imagining it's kind of way to pay a celebrity a compliment. Would you marry me is probably a way of saying, I think you're hot. Keep up the good work. But then what about the rabid fans on Twitter and Instagram—the ones who plead for the celebrities to follow them. Do they really expect an actor to read the plea and take action? I kind of think they do. So maybe there are fans who expect an actor to take a marriage proposal seriously.
There's a question about whether McGregor likes Taylor Swift. He doesn't seem to have a lot of enthusiastic love for her. He doesn't adore he. He doesn't dislike her. He says her songs have catchy tunes.
My dad is a big fan of Taylor Swift. Tim likes her too. I'm not a huge fan, but I don't mind her. I like the "Shake it Off" song.
McGregor is asked if he had to be stuck on an deserted island with a Neighbours cast member, who would he pick? He says the actress who plays Kate, because they're really good friends. It's good he had someone in mind. It can be an unfair question, though. What if he was equally close to many of his cast members? Might it hurt or offend someone if he didn't pick them? And maybe he did hurt someone! What if there's a cast member on Neighbours who has a secret crush on McGregor. What if she (or he?) is hoping McGregor likes them back, and now he's saying he wants to be with the Kate-actress? That might be very disappointing for them.
Now McGregor is answering a question about what he hopes to do next. He was hoping for a film or TV show in the U.S. I hope he comes to realize that an actor doesn't need a career in America to be successful and happy. I was going to say the thing about America is it gives you international recognition. But that's not really true. I know there are a lot of Australian shows that are popular outside Australia. There are Australian actors who are loved around the world, but are not in American projects.
Now Americans are able to watch a lot of Australian television through Hulu, so maybe Australians will start becoming famous in America without having to be on American TV shows and American movies.
It seems like Australian actors often want to move to either the UK or the US. Are acting career opportunities better in these places? Or is it just about wanting to live in a foreign land? Maybe it's the same thing as me wanting to move to Australia. But in terms of acting, I don't think there are many cases of Americans or British actors moving to Australia to further their career. So maybe the UK and America ARE better for actors.
I know there are British actors who come to work in America. Do the same amount of American actors go over to work in the UK? I don't think so.
For English-speaking actors, is America the Mecca? Or is it that American TV and filmmakers are more open to using foreign actors? And if so, is this because British and Australian people are better at imitating American accents than vice-versa? If yes, than is this because British and Australian people are more talented with accent-imitating than American actors? OR is the American accent easier than the British and Australian one?
Also...for Australians who are good at imitating accents, what is easier for them? American or British?
I'm done with the video.
Since McGregor is now a regular cast member on Neighbours, I'm guessing he's no longer living in Los Angeles. Does he want to return someday? Does he still want to pursue a career here in America? Or is how now satisfied with an Australian career?
There are more video interviews with McGregor on the site, but it's recent and might have too many spoilers. I already saw a spoiler by just looking at comments. It's about Paige and Mark's relationship.
Here's a less recent article about McGregor. It's a day-on-the-set kind of thing.
He wakes up at 7:30.
Around 8:00, he goes for a run.
After his run and a shower, he checks his email and Facebook.
I wonder if most people have a morning Internet routine.
I totally have one. It's A) write down my dream on Livejournal and read one of my old dreams B) Read an old post from my blog, check for comments, and look at Statcounter C) look at one of my old albums on Flickr. D) check out Google news E) look at Twitter.
As you can see, I'm really into reaching out to my past. That's probably why the 11th doctor's regeneration speech majorly touched my heart. All that stuff about remembering who we used to be. That really struck a chord with me.
I'm totally going off on a tangent here. I should get back to McGregor's day. I wonder if this is a typical day for him, or just one particular day.
Anyway....
He heads to the Neighbours set at 10:00.
He goes to wardrobe and make-up.
He hangs out in a waiting area with Ariel Kaplan and Saskia Hampele. Who does Hampele play?
Georgia! Thanks, Google.
And you know. I should have known that. I wrote about her before, because I thought she looked like one of the actresses from Doctor Who.
McGregor starts filming his scenes at 11:45. At 12:15, he has a lunch break. He gets back to work at 12:45 and then it's done by 1:50.
I pictured a soap opera actor's life to be much more grueling than that. I pictured them working from 7:00 in the morning to 7:00 at night. I didn't picture internet time and morning runs. I certainly didn't picture them getting to work at 10:00.
He leaves work at 5:00 to play golf.
What?! Really.
This isn't typical. Is it? I mean not just for McGregor, but actors in general. I thought their work hours were much longer and much more intense.
Maybe it just depends on the day and how much someone is in a scene. If that's the case though, wouldn't McGregor want to pick a day in which he's very busy?
I mean if I wanted to write about my day...I guess it would be either as a mother or writer. I'd want to pick a day where I'm very busy. Like today. I'm spending most of the day writing this post, and other parts washing dishes and looking for a birthday gift for my niece. I wouldn't want to write about yesterday where I spent most of the day playing Sims 2 and binge watching Coronation Street. Though I did walk to the grocery store to buy cat food. That counts as work, right? And I took out the trash bins, which is the chore I hate most.
You know what, though. Cheers to McGregor for writing about a day in which he had time to relax. I've read stuff against the glorification of busyness, and I totally agree with it. It's nice when people can happily admit they had time to relax.
Really. I don't want to read about some guy who's been at the set from 6 in the morning to 10 at night and struggles to balance the weekends with taking care of his ten adopted children and working at the homeless shelter. Oh, and in his spare time he's writing a book series for children and makes homemade pottery.
I want to read about people like me. I want people who play Sims 2 or Golf. They have morning Internet routines and spend too much time looking at random Instagram accounts. Oh and they also waste time sitting on the couch staring into space, thinking, I should get up now. But they don't because they're too tired to move. I do that, and I also spend too much time Googling stuff on the Internet. It's not because I'm really interested, but I'm too lazy to get up. So I Google as an excuse to keep myself sitting. It's really bad. What could I accomplish if I stopped having these lazy moments?
Well, I'm often complaining to myself that there are too many books and TV shows and not enough time. Imagine how many more episodes and books I could fit into my life if I stopped having these trance-like moments on the couch and/or with the Internet.
Lord Wiki has an entry about McGregor.
He says McGregor was born in Albury, New South Wales. I think I've heard of that. It's between Melbourne and Sydney, I believe.
Google Maps says I'm right.
As I mentioned earlier, McGregor did modeling stuff before acting. He did photo stuff for magazines and some TV commercials.
Here's McGregor in a beer ad.
McGregor was on a game show called Temptation. I guess he worked as a model? I'm saying that because Lord Wiki says he dated a co-model from the show. It wasn't a show about modeling, but I guess they used models. Maybe it was like a Vanna White type job?
Here's McGregor's Twitter page. In his little bio, he says he's living in Los Angeles and Melbourne. So maybe he is still commuting. Maybe when he has time off from Neighbours, he goes back to LA.
His most recent Tweet was 18 hours ago. It's too Ariel Kaplan and it's three crying faces. It's in response to someone saying happy 30th. Why the sad faces? What does that mean? I don't get it. But I like that he talks with emoticons. I've been doing that a lot lately. What if in the future we don't write to each other anymore? What if we just use emoticons? What if that evolves into our language?
I'm not sure I would mind so much.
It would be interesting writing blog posts.
Nineteen hours ago, McGregor Tweeted about golf. From what I'm seeing, Golf is very important to him.
On February 18, McGregor Tweeted that he has to admit it. He loves Taylor Swift. So I guess he grew into a fan.
On February 16, he wrote a complaint Tweet. That's a good way to let off steam. McGregor's complaint is directed towards Victorian Roads and City Link Melbourne. He asks, Do you think it's fair that you charge consumers a premium to be stuck in traffic everyday?
Is it fair? Probably not. Though I don't know what he's referring to.
One of his Tweets had a link to Instagram. I'm going to look at that now.
His most recent post is a product placement type thing. It's for some kind of face wash and moisturizer. Is he getting paid to advertise on Instagram? Do actors and models do that sometimes?
Or maybe he's not getting paid and he did the post as a favor to a friend or relative. Or maybe it's a favor to the friend of a relative of a coworker.
I suppose it could also be that he actually likes the product and wants to give it pubic praise. That happens sometimes.
On March 2, McGregor posted a picture of himself in a police uniform. Is that for Neighbours? Something else?
On Valentines Day, McGregor posted a photo of himself with a woman. I'm going to assume it's his girlfriend.
Here's a golf photo.
Here's another photo of McGregor with the girlfriend. They're in Byron Bay, and McGregor says that's his favorite place in the world.
There's a dog photo. I think it's a real dog, but it kind of looks like a statue or stuffed animal.
Here's a photo of McGregor with his relatives for his mom's birthday party. I like looking at family photos. The kids, in this photo, are really cute. Most of them are spaced out and not looking at the camera.
Here's a photo of McGregor as a child. It's a school photo. He did it for some kind of viral trend— something to do with the Australian Childhood Foundation.
I'm personally not a bit fan of mixing charity with selfies. I mean it's not really a selfie. It's a school photo. Although...hey! What if in the future, school photos are all selfies and the professional school photographers are out of a job?
But yeah. I have this thing against people using a cause as an excuse to post a photo of themselves.
There's nothing wrong with posting a video or photo of oneself...as long as it's not done too often. But connecting it to a charitable cause doesn't make it any more noble.
I made a snide remark on Twitter a few weeks ago about the dress thing. People were complaining about it, as if it were so awful to talk about a trivial fun thing when bad things happen in the world. I said something about people accepting it if someone connected it to a charitable cause. Like... we're talking about the dress in order to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer. Then you have to talk about the dress, because if you don't talk about the dress it means you don't give a crap about pancreatic cancer.
There's a family walking from Disneyland to Disney World. Sadly, their daughter/sister died of cancer. I think it's neat that they're doing that, and I imagine it's a fun healthy way to bond as a family and deal with their grief. But I read somewhere that they're doing it to raise awareness of cancer. Why do they have to say that? Why do they have to do it to raise awareness of something. And cancer? Who the hell hasn't heard of cancer before?
We should care about problems and we should talk about them.
I think we should also have fun posting photos and talking about fun stuff. I don't think we need to connect the two things.
Here's a video post. It's of a cute little dog running on the beach.
Here's another dog photo. On this photo and the other dog photo, McGregor used the word WANT. I guess he's wanting a dog? Has he gotten one yet? Or is he still in the looking process? Or maybe he wants a dog in theory, but not in reality. It's like how I want a rabbit or bird...or Tasmanian Devil. But I'm not truly planning on having one.
I'm guessing, though, that he hasn't yet gotten the dog, because otherwise there'd probably be a ton of photos of the dog on his Instagram. Unless McGregor has a dog, but is trying to give it a lot of privacy.
Here's a photo of a woman's butt. It reminds me of the photos our friend takes. He's that type of photographer. AND speaking of this friend, he was taking selfies before they were popular. He introduced us to the concept, and we used to call them "Morris Photos" (in honor of his last name).
Here's another dog video. It's really cute. I'm not even a big dog fan, and I'm wanting a major cuddle from these dogs.
Here's a photo of McGregor with the Neighbours' dog Bossy.
I'm getting the idea that McGregor's life is all about golf and dogs.
Here's a photo with McGregor holding an Aussie flag in the midst of a bunch of American flags. I wonder where he is.
The answer is in the next photo. It's a memorial at Pepperdine University. They have an American flag for everyone who died. That's pretty amazing. What about people who weren't American? Is there still an American flag for them? Or are the American flags for Americans only?
Here's an article about the memorial. It says that for non-Americans, they're memorialized with a flag from their own country.
I have to admit that this is making me a little bit teary-eyed.
Here's a photo of McGregor on an airplane. He's holding a dog on his lap. It's a friend he made on the flight. That is so sweet. I could totally fall in love with McGregor. His love of dogs is very endearing to me. I love it almost as much as I love Mark Brennan's love of Doctor Who. I love it when people love what I love, but I also love when people love things I'm not personally into it. I have a thing for passionate, obsessive people...well, minus the ones who get dangerous and scary about it.
I just noticed, though, that McGregor's last dog photo was posted on November 14, 2014. What happened? Why hasn't there been any more dog photos? Did he lose his love and interest for dogs? Maybe he got a dog and something sad happened, and he doesn't want to post about it anymore.
Now that idea is making me sad. So....
I'll just imagine he's been busy with other stuff.
But you know what....
I love Australia, but I haven't posted any recent Australia-related photos on Instagram.
I'm looking at my account. My last Australia-related post was 17 weeks ago. And despite my love of Doctor Who, my last Doctor Who related post was 6 weeks ago.
Here's McGregor's first Instagram photo. It's of Bondi rock pools.
You know...I was thinking. What would Mark Brennan have on his Instagram account? Pictures of Doctor Who stuff? Maybe Paige? Maybe when he calmed down about the dress, he'd post a photo of it The caption would say, So weird! New girlfriend accidentally bought my deceased girlfriend's dress at an op shop!
Anyway, it would be cool if Neighbours made fictional accounts for some of their characters. Maybe they could even tell a story through the photos.
Maybe that can be the next step in webisodes.
I'm guessing there's already official fictional accounts out there. I know there's definitely unofficial fiction accounts on Twitter. I've seen those.
I would look for fictional Instagram accounts, but I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that. If you know of any and wouldn't mind commenting, please tell me about them.
Anyway, I think I'm going to end this here.
See ya later. (well, not really. I probably won't literally see you). But I'm always struggling to find a way to conclude these posts.
Maybe I should just end abruptly...like a show with a cliffhanger that's then canceled. You know like that show where the