Going overseas, Suicide Prevention, Sound Issues, and The Way We Weren't

1. Started to watch an episode of Neighbours.

Sheila (Collette Mann) is reminding me of my dad. She doesn't want her grandson (Chris Milligan) leaving the country to be with his wife Georgia (Saskia Hampele) in Germany. And this is only supposed to be for a few months. It's not like they plan to go there permanently.

My dad was upset when we talked about maybe moving to Australia. Not only that but prior to my Australia obsession, Tim and I talked about how we'd like to live in a foreign country for a short period of time. My dad got very agitated. Like Sheila, he wants his children and grandchildren close by.

2. Saw Sheila change her tune a bit. She expresses concern and sadness about potentially losing Kyle, but she then tells Georgia that they SHOULD go together to Germany.

3. Saw Georgia convince Kyle to stay behind, because he recently got his dream job in Erinsborough. She doesn't want him to sacrifice that.

4. Wondered how I feel about a newly married couple having an international separation.

On one hand, I feel if people are madly in love, they'll do anything to try to stay close together.

On the other hand, I feel if two people both need/want to do something in two different countries, it makes sense to separate for a temporary period of time.

5. Felt I was probably uneasy about Georgia and Kyle's separation, because from what I heard, Saskia Hampele left Neighbours. She didn't just take a hiatus.

So I'm going to assume their relationship is going to end...UNLESS they get a new actress to take over the role of Georgia.

Yeah. It's not so bad imagining a few months of separation for a newlywed couple. It's another thing to suspect that the few months of separation is going to turn into a permanent thing.

6.  Wondered why Sheila is so concerned about a video of herself going viral. The video is of her bitching out the man who was cruel to Nate (Meyne Wyatt).  She spoke out against ignorance and disrespect towards military personnel.  She did resort to personal insults, and I don't condone that. But for the most part, I think she did a good thing. At first, Sheila does too. She's pleased to know she's gone viral. But then Kyle tells her it's a bad thing. Sheila starts to worry. She calls Terese to warn her about what happened. She says she doesn't think it will have an effect on The Waterhole, the bar where Sheila works.

If the manager of a business spoke out against prejudice, cruelty, and disrespecting the military, I think most people would be happy with the business and not angry with it.

7.  Saw that the paternity results for Amber's (Jenna Rosenow) baby are ready.

My guess is it's going to be Josh's (Harley Bonner) baby, because then they can drag the storyline out longer.

Although I have to remember this isn't an American soap opera. Australian soap operas seem to do much less dragging.

8.  Saw that I'm right. The baby is Josh's.


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 



9. Started watching the third episode of season two of Farscape.

10. Glad to see Crichton (Ben Browder) expressing regret over the way he treated Chiana (Gigi Edgley).  Chiana was very upset about something and asked Crichton if she could talk to him. He rudely brushed her off—said he was busy.  Now she's gone, and the Moya crew have figured out that someone close to Chiana has died.

11. Felt that if we're very busy and our friend doesn't seem to have an extremely urgent problem, and/or they're not in severe distress; it's okay to ask them to wait for a more convenient time. But if someone seems very upset, I think we should try to drop what we're doing.

Chiana seemed very distressed.

12. Thought that this episode of Farscape had a similar theme to a season two episode of The Walking Dead.

On Farscape, Chiana plans to do a ritual jump that is likely to result in her death. It's pretty close to suicide. Crichton wants to physically take her away and prevent her from jumping. Aeryn (Claudia Black) argues that if Chiana wants to kill herself, she'll find a way to do it. She needs to work things out on her own.

On The Walking Dead, it was Beth who wanted to commit suicide. One or more of the characters wanted to do everything in their power to stop her. Andrea felt Beth needed to make her own decision about whether to live or not.

13. Tried to figure out whose side I'd be on.

I think it would depend on the situation.

I think with Farscape, I'm with Crichton.  He rejected Chiana when she was in need. I don't think that one incident drove her to self-destructive behavior. But I think it's a symptom of a pattern. My guess is she's often made to feel like a nuisance on Moya. The Moya crew might love her, but they take her for granted.  Because Crichton is partly to blame for Chiana's state of mind, I think it's fitting that he try to prevent her suicide. Maybe all she needs is some hugs and reassurance.

With The Walking Dead, I think it's a totally different story.  If someone decides they don't want to live in a world where most of their family is dead, there's no electricity, no Internet, food is running low, and every day you are in danger of being eaten by hungry zombies; I'd let them kill themselves. Why not? They're likely to die soon anyway.

I'm not convinced there are many perks to living in a zombie apocalypse.

14. Confused by theme of the episode.

It seemed to be about suicidal/destructive behaviors. But then it changed, and it was more about having the courage and talent to do something very dangerous.

I'm lost.

15. Started watching another episode of Farscape.

16. Thought that Farscape on Netflix is a bit quiet. I have the volume on my computer up to it's highest level, and also the Netflix volume at it's full capacity.

I wonder if it's a Netflix issue, a Farscape Netflix issue, or a Farscape issue.

I can't remember having trouble hearing Farscape when I watched it on Hulu.

I also have never had problems watching other shows on Netflix.

So...I really don't know what to think.

But I'm glad Netflix has subtitles. That helps me.

17. Found a message board conversation about Farscape season two volume issues.

Reocyx said,  I have looked everywhere for this but have heard nothing. Watching Farscape on Netflix. Since the start of Season 2, I can't hear the dialogue unless the volume is waaaay up which makes the effects too loud for comfort. It's maddening because I love this show.

JDN87 replied that  the problem is on the DVD's as well.

Invalid Target says,  It's just the way the sound mixer mixed the show, every format that the shows comes on has wild volume issues. I have all the blu-rays, and I have the same issue, can't hear them talking, but the second they starburst my windows get blown out.

I personally haven't had problems with the special effects being too loud. It might happen, though, if I was watching it on a television with Tim's fancy, impressive speakers.

18. Saw that the sound mixer person for Farscape is a guy named Blair Slater.  Though he didn't do the sound for season one.

Slater's job title is Foley recordist and mixer.  I'm not sure if that means he's in control of the volume of the show.

19. Learned from Lord Wiki that a foley recordist is in charge of post-production sound effects.

He says the mixer is responsible for the sound in general. So I think that means that Blair would be responsible for volume issues.

20. Looked at Slater's filmography. He's worked on a lot of big Australia projects, including Mad Max: Fury Road, Wentworth, Redfern Now, Cloudstreet, Bran Nue Dae, Little Fish, etc.

21. Saw that this episode of Farscape is about the Moya crew experiencing induced paranoia. They distrust each other and are at each other's throats.

I'm trying to think of other movies and shows where an outside force causes people to not get along.

I know I've seen it before. The only thing I can think of now, though, is Pirate Islands: The Lost Treasure of Fiji. But  I'm sure there have been other things.

22. Thought about The Shining. That had someone becoming mentally deranged due to some kind of external force/influence.

I actually thought of The Shining, though, because Farscape makes reference to it. There's a part where John Crichton enters and area and says, Here's Johnny!

The difference between the two, though, is that, in The Shining, there's only one character who becomes possessed with madness.  In Farscape, it's everyone.

23. Consulted Lord Wiki about the episode of Farscape I just finished watching ("Crackers Don't Matter"). He says, Ian Watson, the director of the episode, labeled it as The Shining retold.

24. Started to watch a Neighbours backstage video. This is a short one. It involves Alan Fletcher doing pantomime in the UK.

25. Wondered if I'd be entertained by pantomime.

Probably not.

I don't think it would be my kind of thing. Yes, I know it's mostly for children.  I don't think I would have liked it as a child either. Though I could be wrong.

26. Saw Alan Fletcher doing his own make-up. Is that a usual pantomime thing? Actors doing their own make-up?

27. Thought Fletcher looked handsome in his pantomime costume.


Yeah. And like usual, I fail to illustrate my feelings with the screenshot.  I was hoping to capture an image of Fletcher looking handsome and dangerous. Instead, it just looks like he's yawning.

28. Found that the Perfect Blend website has a list of Neighbours actors in UK pantomime performances.

In 1989, Guy Pearce was in Cinderella.

Stefan Dennis did Jack and the Beanstalk.

29. Saw that Stefan Dennis has participated in a lot of Pantomime.

30. Saw Melissa Bell on the list. For some reason, I thought she was new to Neighbours.  I knew Lucy Robinson, her character, wasn't. But I thought Bell was brought on in 2014 as the newest Lucy regeneration.  But they have her listed as doing pantomime in 1995.  I thought perhaps they list past performances of new Neighbour's actors, but then I consulted Lord Wiki. He says Bell started playing Lucy in 1991.

Wow. I had no idea.

31. Saw that Anne Charleston, who plays Madge, is another Neighbour's performer who has done a lot of pantomime.

32. Started watching another episode of Farscape.

This episode seems to be about Aeryn's dark past as a Peacekeeper.

33. Thought that this episode reminds me a little bit of the Cole storyline on Charmed.  Both involve a good person who used to be bad, and the person is having to remember the crimes of their past.

I think there was a specific Charmed episode that dealt with facing the past.

34. Found the name of the episode. "Black as Cole"  Although I think "Hell Hath No Fury" had some face-your-evil-past stuff as well.

35. Had a sudden realization that Claudia Black's voice reminds me of Mercedes McCambridge's voice in The Exorcist.

Maybe it's not all the time. Maybe it's just in this particular scene I'm watching.

36.  Listened to Mercedes McCambridge talking, NOT as a demon. I can hear some similarities between her voice and Claudia Black's. It's hard, though, because the accents are quite different.

37. Amused. I Googled to see if anyone out there agreed with me about Mercedes McCambridge and Claudia Black. Guess what? I found my own blog!

In April 2010, I did a post on Black. I linked to a fan video and said, Black's voice reminds me a little bit of Mercedes McCambridge in the Exorcist. 

It's funny. Here I was thinking that, today, I was having a temporary moment of insanity or insightfulness. But it turns out I was thinking the same thing in 2010.

38. Amused again. I went to the fan video I linked to in 2010. The first clip is the exact scene I watched today in which I thought Claudia Black sounded like Mercedes McCambridge.

Maybe Black doesn't usually sound like McCambridge. Maybe it's just this particular scene.  It's probably true, because in the last few days I've watched hours of Black talking and until a few moments ago, did not think of McCambridge.

39. Thought that this episode is very intense. I think it's my favorite so far.

It's quite sad. It turns out Pilot (Lani John Tupu) has been in constant pain for the last few years.

40. Finished the episode.

I thought it was beautiful.

41. Looked at a list of must-watch Farscape episodes. The one I just watched ("The Way We Weren't") is number two on the list. Though I don't know if number one is the most must-watch or the last much-watch. Or maybe the list isn't in any particular order.

42. Looked at another list. This one puts "The Way We Weren't" as number one.  But again, I'm not sure if it's in any order.

43. Saw that there might be a new Farscape movie.

That might be interesting.