1. Liked that Taylor Swift granted permission to Sydney theater group to use her "Shake it Off" song.
I like when people are generous with their art and let other people use it to create their own art.
The play that's using the song sounds interesting. It involves people in their seventies portraying high school students.
2. Looked at the website of the Belvoir Street Theatre—the one using the Taylor Swift song.
The regular price for a ticket to the play in question (Seventeen) is $72.
When they say they got permission to use the Swift song, does that mean permission to use it for free or permission to pay for it and then use it?
I know on YouTube, I can usually get permission to use the songs I want to use, but I can't monetize my videos if I use someone else's song. I think that's fair. Though it would be fun if I could make money using other people's songs. I can't say it would make that much of a difference to me, since my videos don't get a lot of hits.
3. Thought that since Taylor Swift is quite famous and wealthy, it would seem a bit stingy for her to insist that the theater group pay royalties for the song.
Then again, if she was always so generous and gave stuff away for free, she might not have become wealthy.
I think, though, that with struggling musicians, it would be wrong to use someone's song for free and then make a profit from it.
A part of me is saying, Well, there's the exposure thing! People will hear the music. Isn't that enough? It will help them sell their work.
Sometimes exposure might launch someone's career, but I don't think that's often the case.
4. Decided it's not a black and white issue. There are so many factors.
A. How wealthy and successful is the person who created the original piece of work?
B. How wealthy and successful are the people using the original piece of work?
C. Will the new project make a lot of money?
There's a difference between a small theater group using a song and a blockbuster TV show using it.
4. Wondered about Barry Otto. He's one of the actors in the play. I think he's a film actor. Right?
Maybe he was in Muriel's Wedding?
5. Looked at Barry Otto's filmography. He was on Dance Academy. I didn't realize that.
He was in a lot of stuff actually, including an episode of Farscape. But he wasn't in Muriel's Wedding.
6. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.
I wonder if Daniel (Tim Phillips) and Amber's (Jenna Rosenow) relationship will survive Josh (Harley Bonner) being the father of Amber's baby.
7. Thought about how Josh seems to think sharing a baby will bring him closer to Amber.
I don't think I know of any couple whose relationship got stronger once they had a baby together. What I usually see is lovely-dovey couples turning into bitching-at-each-other couples.
Maybe it's different, though, when the parents are not a couple. Then they're not sleeping together in bed, waiting for the other one to deal with the crying baby.
8. Decided it would likely not be the sperm donor who wins Amber's heart but the man who is willing to share in a lot of the childcare and the man who most often agrees with Amber's parenting plans and philosophies.
9. Loved Imogen's (Ariel Kaplan) line.
Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou) tells Brad (Kip Gamblin) that having a baby is a bit commitment; it's not like having a puppy.
In a cranky tone, Brad tells her he knows that.
Then Imogen says, Puppies are a pretty big commitment too.
That's very true, actually.
Maybe, in that situation, it would be better to say something like, It's not like buying a Cabbage Patch Doll. That's a bit outdated. So insert whatever toy is popular these days.
10. Proud of Daniel. He's behaving quite well.
He has a meeting with Josh and Amber. He tells Josh that since Josh is the baby's natural father, he should have a say in everything that happens; BUT he also adds that Amber gets to make the ultimate decisions.
Should that be the case after the baby is born? Probably not. But with pregnancy, the mother usually gets to be in the driver's seat.
11. Wanted to say that Josh's behavior is commendable as well. He tells Daniel and Amber he wants to be involved but doesn't want to step on any toes. I hope he sticks to that. And I hope he realizes that trying to break up Daniel and Amber's relationship would definitely be stepping on toes.
12. Felt it's best that Josh give up trying to get back with Amber and instead put all his heart and energy into the baby.
13. Started watching episode six of season two of Farscape.
14. Wondered if this episode is Gigi Edgley's last.
Chiana has died but I'm not sure if the death was real or just an illusion.
15. Realized that I kept writing Chiana as Chiani yesterday. I got confused about her name. Oops. I had to go back and change that.
16. Related to something that Eric said in his Japan blog.
It was an extremely hot day today and the humidity was very high! That muggy kind of heat that just completely saps all your energy. We have days like that in Brisbane too, though generally we don't go outside when it's like that...
Yeah. Texas is very hot in the summer. This week it's supposed to get up to 106. But we just don't go outside very much. If we go outside, we go to the pool. Or we walk from our car to the store. Sometimes I go out to fill the birdfeeders. At the lake house, we may spend some time outside in the morning before it gets hot.
It's different when we're tourists somewhere. Tourism usually involves a lot of walking, and it's not very pleasant when it's hot outside.
We went to Washington D.C a few summers ago. It wasn't that enjoyable. I think we would have had a much better time if we had gone in the spring or autumn.
17. Thought about our trip to NYC last summer. I actually don't remember suffering that much. Maybe it wasn't too hot when we went. Or have I blocked it from my memory?
18. Got the idea that the death on Farscape is not really a death. It looks like the Moya crew are being transferred somewhere.
I feel like I've seen a similar storyline somewhere else, but I can't think of where.
19. Started watching another episode of Farscape.
20. Wondered something.
The aliens on Moya all speak a different language; but there's something that automatically translates for them. We're hearing English, like John Crichton is. But then why are some words not translated? Why do we hear the swear word "Frell". What about "micronots" and "cycles". Why don't we instead hear the word "years" and "minutes"?
I guess cycle IS an English word.
21. Decided it could be a lost in translation kind of thing.
I think things like Google translate sometimes translates things in odd ways.
22. Remembered the YouTube video where someone sang "Let it Go" using lyrics from Google Translate.
23. Found the video.
The YouTuber translated "Let it Go" into various languages; then brought it back to English.
24. Took the first bit from this post; translated it to Icelandic; then translated it back to English.
That was pretty fun.
25. Started to watch some Neighbours backstage videos. There's a two-parter starring Morgan Baker, who played Callum.
Callum was on the show when I first started watching the episodes on Hulu. But he was soon off to the US for some kind of San Francisco program. I think maybe he was designing video games?
26. Wondered who films all these backstage videos.
27. Saw Morgan Baker doing a science test in the school room.
I'm guessing most of the youth actors are studio-schooled. Maybe some are homeschooled?
I wonder if any of them go to regular school.
28. Started watching part two of the video.
29. Thought about the education of actors.
I have an idea. I'm wondering if, in the past, there was more pressure for actors to attend school. Because then they'd be fitting into society's standards of what is a normal childhood. But these days, homeschool has become more socially acceptable. Maybe now there's less pressure for actors to go to school. If homeschoolers can skip school, why not actors as well?
30. Could not tell if Morgan Baker was joking or not about being a classically trained singer.
31. Heard Saskia Hampele give Baker a hard time for being on Neighbours for six years and not knowing the lyrics to the Neighbours theme song.
I don't think it's that strange.
I think it's like me living in my house and not knowing our phone number.
Is that a bad analogy?
Probably.
But just because you're on a show, it doesn't mean you watch it. Then even if you watch it, it doesn't mean you've watched it enough to memorize the theme song.
I've watched Neighbours many times in the last month or so. I've heard the theme song each time. I haven't memorized the lyrics.
32. Heard Morgan Baker singing. He didn't sound classically trained; but I'm not 100% convinced he was joking.
He might be singing bad, because he's nervous and giggly.
33. Thought that the Neighbours set looked like such a fun place to work.
But I'm skeptical. Many people who work there, and the ones dominating these videos, are actors. So it could all be an act. Actors are good at faking things and being believable at it. Right?
Most of the actors could be a bunch of uptight boring snobs.
34. Decided to try to believe what I'm seeing, because I like what I'm seeing.
Besides if I'm going to be overly skeptical about these videos, I'm going to need to be overly skeptical about all videos and pictures.
We all put on an act at times.
We have this family photo we took at the lake house once. I'm smiling. I look like a happy and nice person. But the morning we took the picture, I was very pissed off at both my sisters.
35. Figured the Neighbours crew are, for the most part, fun people. But they probably become a little bit more fun when the backstage camera is pointed at them.
OR in other cases, they might become less fun. You know...if they're shy.
36. Looked at Morgan Baker's filmography. According to IMDb, he was on 1,045 episodes of Neighbours. That's a lot.
I wonder if he plans to come back.
I hope he does.
I have a hard time understanding why soap opera actors leave their shows. Is it really hard work? Do they dream of bigger things?
If I was an actor, I think I'd want to be one of those actors who spends decades on the same soap opera. It seems fun to me.
I guess actors want variety, though. It might get old playing the same character. And maybe confusing? If you play the same character for twenty years, do you start to get confused between yourself and them?
I think what I'd do is be on the same soap opera for like fifty years. Then I'd ask for time off to do other things like theater and a film or two. Are soap opera bosses good at giving actors time off?
37. Saw from IMDb, that Morgan Baker's first episode of Neighbours was June 8. 2009.
Brett Tucker was on the episode! I don't think I knew he was on Neighbours.
38. Looked at Morgan Baker's birthday. It's May 11, 1997. So he would have been eleven when he started working on the show.
I say eleven, because they would have filmed the episode months before June, 2009.
39. Did some math in my head. Baker is eighteen now.
40. Saw that Baker recently appeared in an episode of a TV show called Sammy J and Randy. It's a comedy thing involving puppets.
I saw the name Sam Healy in the credits and thought it looked familiar. I followed the link.Healy played Jaz on All Saints—the sweet receptionist that got date-raped.
41. Saw that Morgan Baker was in a film short back in 2006. It's called Goggles, and it's available online. Cool. I'm going to watch it.
42. Saw that the film was a Tropfest finalist.
43. Paused the movie, because I really had to pee.
While I was on the toilet, I had a very deep thought: Young actors leaving Neighbours makes it easier for the older actors to take vacations.
Morgan Baker left Neighbours. The story is that Callum went to San Francisco. So when Eve Morey needs time off, Callum can get an injury that results in Sonya having to fly out to the US.
Rebekah Elmaloglou needs time off? Well, then let's say it's time to visit Piper in Canada.
If Kate Kendall needs a break, she can visit Mason...wherever he is. I don't know. And now she can also visit Bailey in Queensland.
44. Realized my idea is probably silly. I'm sure every resident of Erinsborough has a friend or relative they can go and visit.
Or if they don't, they can escape to find themselves, go on a journey to obtain mental clarity, work on their dream photography job, cure themselves of stalker-behavior, etc.
45. Wondered if there are any actors on Neighbours who haven't gone away for a few days in the last year or so.
I can't remember Stefan Dennis being gone for a significant amount of time.
46. Thought maybe Daniel (Tim Phillips) hasn't left for awhile, but then I remembered that he went to visit his parents in Queensland.
47. Went back to watching Googles.
48. Thought that this is probably Morgan Baker.
Well, yeah. Now that I see him paused in the screenshot, I can tell it's definitely him.
He's cute, and his voice is cute too.
49. Liked Morgan Baker's character. He's adorable. So sweet, innocent, and upbeat. These two older girls are brats to him—give him a hard time about his dad being unemployed. Baker's character tells them that until his dad gets a new job, he can play with him whenever he wants.
50. Thought the movie was very short and simple, but lovely.
It was about bullying but nothing extreme or dramatic. It's just two girls being not-so-nice to a younger boy. That's the kind of bullying I saw and experienced as a child and the type of behavior I've seen with all our kids at the lake house. It's just a certain tone of voice, and a certain way of trying to make someone feel they're not good enough or they don't belong.
51. Learned from Lord Wiki that Morgan Baker has been told he's too quiet on the set.
He doesn't seem quiet at all on the backstage videos—not just the ones staring him, but other backstage videos as well. He seems very outgoing.
Maybe he's the type of person who's shy until a camera is pointed at him?
Or maybe he's not shy. Maybe he's just quiet and thoughtful.
52. Followed Lord Wiki's link to an article about Baker leaving Neighbours.
It says he left so he'd have more time to concentrate on his high school work.
Is he going to a regular school, or is he homeschooling?
53. Saw that there was confusion about the news, because it was published on April Fool's Day. Then on Twitter, Baker said something that made people think it was a joke?
54. Went to Baker's Twitter.
I'm not going to scroll all the way back to April Fool's Day of last year. But I'll read some current stuff.
55. Saw that Baker saw Mad Max: Fury Road. He liked it a lot—thought it was epic.
56. Thought that Baker's bad spelling in this Tweet reminded me of Jack. Jack does the same thing sometimes—purposely uses crazy spelling.
It's all in fun. But then sometimes I worry that people will see it, and think, Dina and Tim have really failed Jack with this whole unschooling thing.
57. Followed Baker's link to a YouTube video. It's a fun thing of him doing a dance with some other girl...maybe a Neighbours actress?
58. Liked what Baker said using two Tweets (which is kind of cheating!) Thoughts on the pitfalls of online humour (e.g Twitter). On one hand, I want to be hilarious and have people understand my level of humour. Yet on the other hand I don't want to become controversial or referred to as "That outspoken douche" just because of one poor-taste joke...
I can relate to that. I think whenever you have a prolific presence on the Internet, there's the chance you're going to end up saying something that makes a lot of people hate you.
I get scared that one day I'm going to say something many people dislike, and I'm going to go viral...in a bad way.
You don't have to shoot a lion to get the whole world to suddenly hate you.
59. Went over to Baker's Instagram. Most of his Tweets are links to that.
60. Saw that Baker's most recent post is about him playing Gus in Cats! That's awesome.
61. Tried to figure out what MLMC stands for, because Baker mentioned it in his Tweet.
It's Mount Lilydale Mercy College.
I'm guessing that's where Baker is doing his high school studies?
62. Saw a post from 13 weeks ago. Baker did another school play.
It looks like he's quite involved with theater at school. That's pretty cool.
63. Wondered if Baker attended MLMC while he was on Neighbours. Maybe he loved school, and didn't like the fact that he was missing out on a lot of it by having to work so much. OR did he not go to school, and felt like he wanted to try out that type of life?
64. Saw that Baker played The Walking Dead video game, and it gave him the feels.
I didn't play it, but I watched other people playing it on YouTube. It had a really good storyline. I really liked Clementine and the main male character. What was his name again?
65. Found the name, thanks to Lord Wiki's cousin. It's Lee.
66. Saw that Baker made a really awesome face using tomato sauce.
I'm impressed.
I tried making art with my food on Fourth of July weekend. I was much less successful. It's not fully my fault, though. I had the wrong materials. I wanted to make the Close Encounters mountain, but I had the insides of a baked potato instead of mashed potatoes. Also, I was refusing to use my hands. I think if I used my hands, I might have had more success.
67. Thought that people should play with their food more often.
No, it shouldn't be wasted. The priority should be to eat it. But if you get full, before throwing it in the trash, why not make art?
68. Saw a photo of young Baker during his early days on Neighbours.
69. Saw that Baker got to hold an orangutan. Probably in Indonesia.
I hope the orangutan was treated well.
I mean I hope it's a tourist attraction done by people who want to save orangutans and not people trying to exploit orangutans for money.
70. Saw that Baker visited Uluru.
I was a little annoyed that he called it Ayers Rock.
It turns out I'm not the only one. A few people people commented about his use of the name.
Here's one of the conversations.
Ruebendavis: Ummmm I believed it's Uluru not Ayers Rock
Morgan Baker: I call it Ayers rock. Both names are perfectly valid.
Ruebendavis: as a proud indigenous man Uluru is the original name before cook got here
Yeah, but it wasn't Cook who named it Ayers Rock. I don't think Cook ever made his way to that area of Australia. So...kind of funny.
Morgan Baker: I absolutely and wholeheartedly agree with your rights to call it Uluru, as the traditional custodians of this land, your noble people, have for countless generations. I just call it Ayer's Rock. It's other name. It goes by both names.
Noble people? Kind of makes me think of the term noble savages.
I'm sure some Aboriginal people are noble, but I don't think it's a universal trait of any group of people.
71. Wondered if my preference for Uluru over Ayers Rock goes beyond anything besides the need to be politically correct.
What's in a name?
72. Thought that there are probably many places in Australia that have original Aboriginal names.
73. Wondered why Baker prefers to say Ayers Rock. Does it mean something?
And does it mean something that I continue to call Hollywood Studios at Disney World "MGM", it's original name. Is it just a habit, or am I being stubborn?
Actually, do I still say MGM? Or do I say Hollywood Studios? I'm actually not sure.
74. Decided I do kind of have a stereotype about people who use Ayers Rock vs. the people who say Uluru.
I picture Uluru people being more politically correct. But not just that. I picture them being more to the left politically. I picture them to be the type who cares about Aboriginal issues.
I picture Ayers Rock people to be more politically to the right. It's not that they don't care about Aboriginal people, but I picture them to have a Anthony Dillon type mindset.
75. Imagined people who call the big orange-red thing Ayers Rock are the people who are more likely to climb the rock.
76. Imagined that people who use the term Ayers Rock are more likely to be happy with the Australian flag. People who call it Uluru are more likely to desire a new flag that's more inclusive.
I know. I'm totally stereotyping here.
77. Looked at a Northern Territory government page. They talk about how the big rock officially has two names.
Saying Ayers Rock might not be seen by all as being politically correct. But it IS factually correct.
78. Consulted Lord Wiki about the naming of the rock. He reminded me that a guy named William Gosse named it Ayers to honor the Chief Secretary of South Australia.
It almost sounds like the rock BELONGS to this Chief Secretary man...if you imagine there's an apostrophe in Ayers. Like hey, this is Ayer's rock. He owns it. That's kind of rude, since the rock was already an important spiritual place for Aboriginal people.
It's like aliens landing in Australia and calling it Sukalukamuka's Island. It would be like, Hello? We were here first. Sukalukamuka can go back to where he came from and get his own damn island.
It would be much nicer if Sukalukamuka and his friends called Australia "Australia".
It wold also be nice if he didn't eat the Australian earthlings.
79. Imagined that if aliens land on this planet, the story probably will be similar to what happened in Australia in the 1700's.
The aliens probably won't eat us or enslave us. But they'll see us as lesser beings who don't need to have a say in what happens to our planet. They'll kind of just take over. They'll probably take our children, because they think they're better at the whole parenting thing. They'll be nice to us as long as we keep in our place, don't complain, and always act 100% happy that all these newbies have come to change everything.
I like when people are generous with their art and let other people use it to create their own art.
The play that's using the song sounds interesting. It involves people in their seventies portraying high school students.
2. Looked at the website of the Belvoir Street Theatre—the one using the Taylor Swift song.
The regular price for a ticket to the play in question (Seventeen) is $72.
When they say they got permission to use the Swift song, does that mean permission to use it for free or permission to pay for it and then use it?
I know on YouTube, I can usually get permission to use the songs I want to use, but I can't monetize my videos if I use someone else's song. I think that's fair. Though it would be fun if I could make money using other people's songs. I can't say it would make that much of a difference to me, since my videos don't get a lot of hits.
3. Thought that since Taylor Swift is quite famous and wealthy, it would seem a bit stingy for her to insist that the theater group pay royalties for the song.
Then again, if she was always so generous and gave stuff away for free, she might not have become wealthy.
I think, though, that with struggling musicians, it would be wrong to use someone's song for free and then make a profit from it.
A part of me is saying, Well, there's the exposure thing! People will hear the music. Isn't that enough? It will help them sell their work.
Sometimes exposure might launch someone's career, but I don't think that's often the case.
4. Decided it's not a black and white issue. There are so many factors.
A. How wealthy and successful is the person who created the original piece of work?
B. How wealthy and successful are the people using the original piece of work?
C. Will the new project make a lot of money?
There's a difference between a small theater group using a song and a blockbuster TV show using it.
4. Wondered about Barry Otto. He's one of the actors in the play. I think he's a film actor. Right?
Maybe he was in Muriel's Wedding?
5. Looked at Barry Otto's filmography. He was on Dance Academy. I didn't realize that.
He was in a lot of stuff actually, including an episode of Farscape. But he wasn't in Muriel's Wedding.
6. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.
I wonder if Daniel (Tim Phillips) and Amber's (Jenna Rosenow) relationship will survive Josh (Harley Bonner) being the father of Amber's baby.
7. Thought about how Josh seems to think sharing a baby will bring him closer to Amber.
I don't think I know of any couple whose relationship got stronger once they had a baby together. What I usually see is lovely-dovey couples turning into bitching-at-each-other couples.
Maybe it's different, though, when the parents are not a couple. Then they're not sleeping together in bed, waiting for the other one to deal with the crying baby.
8. Decided it would likely not be the sperm donor who wins Amber's heart but the man who is willing to share in a lot of the childcare and the man who most often agrees with Amber's parenting plans and philosophies.
9. Loved Imogen's (Ariel Kaplan) line.
Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou) tells Brad (Kip Gamblin) that having a baby is a bit commitment; it's not like having a puppy.
In a cranky tone, Brad tells her he knows that.
Then Imogen says, Puppies are a pretty big commitment too.
That's very true, actually.
Maybe, in that situation, it would be better to say something like, It's not like buying a Cabbage Patch Doll. That's a bit outdated. So insert whatever toy is popular these days.
10. Proud of Daniel. He's behaving quite well.
He has a meeting with Josh and Amber. He tells Josh that since Josh is the baby's natural father, he should have a say in everything that happens; BUT he also adds that Amber gets to make the ultimate decisions.
Should that be the case after the baby is born? Probably not. But with pregnancy, the mother usually gets to be in the driver's seat.
11. Wanted to say that Josh's behavior is commendable as well. He tells Daniel and Amber he wants to be involved but doesn't want to step on any toes. I hope he sticks to that. And I hope he realizes that trying to break up Daniel and Amber's relationship would definitely be stepping on toes.
12. Felt it's best that Josh give up trying to get back with Amber and instead put all his heart and energy into the baby.
13. Started watching episode six of season two of Farscape.
14. Wondered if this episode is Gigi Edgley's last.
Chiana has died but I'm not sure if the death was real or just an illusion.
15. Realized that I kept writing Chiana as Chiani yesterday. I got confused about her name. Oops. I had to go back and change that.
16. Related to something that Eric said in his Japan blog.
It was an extremely hot day today and the humidity was very high! That muggy kind of heat that just completely saps all your energy. We have days like that in Brisbane too, though generally we don't go outside when it's like that...
Yeah. Texas is very hot in the summer. This week it's supposed to get up to 106. But we just don't go outside very much. If we go outside, we go to the pool. Or we walk from our car to the store. Sometimes I go out to fill the birdfeeders. At the lake house, we may spend some time outside in the morning before it gets hot.
It's different when we're tourists somewhere. Tourism usually involves a lot of walking, and it's not very pleasant when it's hot outside.
We went to Washington D.C a few summers ago. It wasn't that enjoyable. I think we would have had a much better time if we had gone in the spring or autumn.
17. Thought about our trip to NYC last summer. I actually don't remember suffering that much. Maybe it wasn't too hot when we went. Or have I blocked it from my memory?
18. Got the idea that the death on Farscape is not really a death. It looks like the Moya crew are being transferred somewhere.
I feel like I've seen a similar storyline somewhere else, but I can't think of where.
19. Started watching another episode of Farscape.
20. Wondered something.
The aliens on Moya all speak a different language; but there's something that automatically translates for them. We're hearing English, like John Crichton is. But then why are some words not translated? Why do we hear the swear word "Frell". What about "micronots" and "cycles". Why don't we instead hear the word "years" and "minutes"?
I guess cycle IS an English word.
21. Decided it could be a lost in translation kind of thing.
I think things like Google translate sometimes translates things in odd ways.
22. Remembered the YouTube video where someone sang "Let it Go" using lyrics from Google Translate.
23. Found the video.
The YouTuber translated "Let it Go" into various languages; then brought it back to English.
24. Took the first bit from this post; translated it to Icelandic; then translated it back to English.
That was pretty fun.
25. Started to watch some Neighbours backstage videos. There's a two-parter starring Morgan Baker, who played Callum.
Callum was on the show when I first started watching the episodes on Hulu. But he was soon off to the US for some kind of San Francisco program. I think maybe he was designing video games?
26. Wondered who films all these backstage videos.
27. Saw Morgan Baker doing a science test in the school room.
I'm guessing most of the youth actors are studio-schooled. Maybe some are homeschooled?
I wonder if any of them go to regular school.
28. Started watching part two of the video.
29. Thought about the education of actors.
I have an idea. I'm wondering if, in the past, there was more pressure for actors to attend school. Because then they'd be fitting into society's standards of what is a normal childhood. But these days, homeschool has become more socially acceptable. Maybe now there's less pressure for actors to go to school. If homeschoolers can skip school, why not actors as well?
30. Could not tell if Morgan Baker was joking or not about being a classically trained singer.
31. Heard Saskia Hampele give Baker a hard time for being on Neighbours for six years and not knowing the lyrics to the Neighbours theme song.
I don't think it's that strange.
I think it's like me living in my house and not knowing our phone number.
Is that a bad analogy?
Probably.
But just because you're on a show, it doesn't mean you watch it. Then even if you watch it, it doesn't mean you've watched it enough to memorize the theme song.
I've watched Neighbours many times in the last month or so. I've heard the theme song each time. I haven't memorized the lyrics.
32. Heard Morgan Baker singing. He didn't sound classically trained; but I'm not 100% convinced he was joking.
He might be singing bad, because he's nervous and giggly.
33. Thought that the Neighbours set looked like such a fun place to work.
But I'm skeptical. Many people who work there, and the ones dominating these videos, are actors. So it could all be an act. Actors are good at faking things and being believable at it. Right?
Most of the actors could be a bunch of uptight boring snobs.
34. Decided to try to believe what I'm seeing, because I like what I'm seeing.
Besides if I'm going to be overly skeptical about these videos, I'm going to need to be overly skeptical about all videos and pictures.
We all put on an act at times.
We have this family photo we took at the lake house once. I'm smiling. I look like a happy and nice person. But the morning we took the picture, I was very pissed off at both my sisters.
35. Figured the Neighbours crew are, for the most part, fun people. But they probably become a little bit more fun when the backstage camera is pointed at them.
OR in other cases, they might become less fun. You know...if they're shy.
36. Looked at Morgan Baker's filmography. According to IMDb, he was on 1,045 episodes of Neighbours. That's a lot.
I wonder if he plans to come back.
I hope he does.
I have a hard time understanding why soap opera actors leave their shows. Is it really hard work? Do they dream of bigger things?
If I was an actor, I think I'd want to be one of those actors who spends decades on the same soap opera. It seems fun to me.
I guess actors want variety, though. It might get old playing the same character. And maybe confusing? If you play the same character for twenty years, do you start to get confused between yourself and them?
I think what I'd do is be on the same soap opera for like fifty years. Then I'd ask for time off to do other things like theater and a film or two. Are soap opera bosses good at giving actors time off?
37. Saw from IMDb, that Morgan Baker's first episode of Neighbours was June 8. 2009.
Brett Tucker was on the episode! I don't think I knew he was on Neighbours.
38. Looked at Morgan Baker's birthday. It's May 11, 1997. So he would have been eleven when he started working on the show.
I say eleven, because they would have filmed the episode months before June, 2009.
39. Did some math in my head. Baker is eighteen now.
40. Saw that Baker recently appeared in an episode of a TV show called Sammy J and Randy. It's a comedy thing involving puppets.
I saw the name Sam Healy in the credits and thought it looked familiar. I followed the link.Healy played Jaz on All Saints—the sweet receptionist that got date-raped.
41. Saw that Morgan Baker was in a film short back in 2006. It's called Goggles, and it's available online. Cool. I'm going to watch it.
42. Saw that the film was a Tropfest finalist.
43. Paused the movie, because I really had to pee.
While I was on the toilet, I had a very deep thought: Young actors leaving Neighbours makes it easier for the older actors to take vacations.
Morgan Baker left Neighbours. The story is that Callum went to San Francisco. So when Eve Morey needs time off, Callum can get an injury that results in Sonya having to fly out to the US.
Rebekah Elmaloglou needs time off? Well, then let's say it's time to visit Piper in Canada.
If Kate Kendall needs a break, she can visit Mason...wherever he is. I don't know. And now she can also visit Bailey in Queensland.
44. Realized my idea is probably silly. I'm sure every resident of Erinsborough has a friend or relative they can go and visit.
Or if they don't, they can escape to find themselves, go on a journey to obtain mental clarity, work on their dream photography job, cure themselves of stalker-behavior, etc.
45. Wondered if there are any actors on Neighbours who haven't gone away for a few days in the last year or so.
I can't remember Stefan Dennis being gone for a significant amount of time.
46. Thought maybe Daniel (Tim Phillips) hasn't left for awhile, but then I remembered that he went to visit his parents in Queensland.
47. Went back to watching Googles.
48. Thought that this is probably Morgan Baker.
He's cute, and his voice is cute too.
49. Liked Morgan Baker's character. He's adorable. So sweet, innocent, and upbeat. These two older girls are brats to him—give him a hard time about his dad being unemployed. Baker's character tells them that until his dad gets a new job, he can play with him whenever he wants.
50. Thought the movie was very short and simple, but lovely.
It was about bullying but nothing extreme or dramatic. It's just two girls being not-so-nice to a younger boy. That's the kind of bullying I saw and experienced as a child and the type of behavior I've seen with all our kids at the lake house. It's just a certain tone of voice, and a certain way of trying to make someone feel they're not good enough or they don't belong.
51. Learned from Lord Wiki that Morgan Baker has been told he's too quiet on the set.
He doesn't seem quiet at all on the backstage videos—not just the ones staring him, but other backstage videos as well. He seems very outgoing.
Maybe he's the type of person who's shy until a camera is pointed at him?
Or maybe he's not shy. Maybe he's just quiet and thoughtful.
52. Followed Lord Wiki's link to an article about Baker leaving Neighbours.
It says he left so he'd have more time to concentrate on his high school work.
Is he going to a regular school, or is he homeschooling?
53. Saw that there was confusion about the news, because it was published on April Fool's Day. Then on Twitter, Baker said something that made people think it was a joke?
54. Went to Baker's Twitter.
I'm not going to scroll all the way back to April Fool's Day of last year. But I'll read some current stuff.
55. Saw that Baker saw Mad Max: Fury Road. He liked it a lot—thought it was epic.
56. Thought that Baker's bad spelling in this Tweet reminded me of Jack. Jack does the same thing sometimes—purposely uses crazy spelling.
It's all in fun. But then sometimes I worry that people will see it, and think, Dina and Tim have really failed Jack with this whole unschooling thing.
57. Followed Baker's link to a YouTube video. It's a fun thing of him doing a dance with some other girl...maybe a Neighbours actress?
58. Liked what Baker said using two Tweets (which is kind of cheating!) Thoughts on the pitfalls of online humour (e.g Twitter). On one hand, I want to be hilarious and have people understand my level of humour. Yet on the other hand I don't want to become controversial or referred to as "That outspoken douche" just because of one poor-taste joke...
I can relate to that. I think whenever you have a prolific presence on the Internet, there's the chance you're going to end up saying something that makes a lot of people hate you.
I get scared that one day I'm going to say something many people dislike, and I'm going to go viral...in a bad way.
You don't have to shoot a lion to get the whole world to suddenly hate you.
59. Went over to Baker's Instagram. Most of his Tweets are links to that.
60. Saw that Baker's most recent post is about him playing Gus in Cats! That's awesome.
61. Tried to figure out what MLMC stands for, because Baker mentioned it in his Tweet.
It's Mount Lilydale Mercy College.
I'm guessing that's where Baker is doing his high school studies?
62. Saw a post from 13 weeks ago. Baker did another school play.
It looks like he's quite involved with theater at school. That's pretty cool.
63. Wondered if Baker attended MLMC while he was on Neighbours. Maybe he loved school, and didn't like the fact that he was missing out on a lot of it by having to work so much. OR did he not go to school, and felt like he wanted to try out that type of life?
64. Saw that Baker played The Walking Dead video game, and it gave him the feels.
I didn't play it, but I watched other people playing it on YouTube. It had a really good storyline. I really liked Clementine and the main male character. What was his name again?
65. Found the name, thanks to Lord Wiki's cousin. It's Lee.
66. Saw that Baker made a really awesome face using tomato sauce.
I'm impressed.
I tried making art with my food on Fourth of July weekend. I was much less successful. It's not fully my fault, though. I had the wrong materials. I wanted to make the Close Encounters mountain, but I had the insides of a baked potato instead of mashed potatoes. Also, I was refusing to use my hands. I think if I used my hands, I might have had more success.
67. Thought that people should play with their food more often.
No, it shouldn't be wasted. The priority should be to eat it. But if you get full, before throwing it in the trash, why not make art?
68. Saw a photo of young Baker during his early days on Neighbours.
69. Saw that Baker got to hold an orangutan. Probably in Indonesia.
I hope the orangutan was treated well.
I mean I hope it's a tourist attraction done by people who want to save orangutans and not people trying to exploit orangutans for money.
70. Saw that Baker visited Uluru.
I was a little annoyed that he called it Ayers Rock.
It turns out I'm not the only one. A few people people commented about his use of the name.
Here's one of the conversations.
Ruebendavis: Ummmm I believed it's Uluru not Ayers Rock
Morgan Baker: I call it Ayers rock. Both names are perfectly valid.
Ruebendavis: as a proud indigenous man Uluru is the original name before cook got here
Yeah, but it wasn't Cook who named it Ayers Rock. I don't think Cook ever made his way to that area of Australia. So...kind of funny.
Morgan Baker: I absolutely and wholeheartedly agree with your rights to call it Uluru, as the traditional custodians of this land, your noble people, have for countless generations. I just call it Ayer's Rock. It's other name. It goes by both names.
Noble people? Kind of makes me think of the term noble savages.
I'm sure some Aboriginal people are noble, but I don't think it's a universal trait of any group of people.
71. Wondered if my preference for Uluru over Ayers Rock goes beyond anything besides the need to be politically correct.
What's in a name?
72. Thought that there are probably many places in Australia that have original Aboriginal names.
73. Wondered why Baker prefers to say Ayers Rock. Does it mean something?
And does it mean something that I continue to call Hollywood Studios at Disney World "MGM", it's original name. Is it just a habit, or am I being stubborn?
Actually, do I still say MGM? Or do I say Hollywood Studios? I'm actually not sure.
74. Decided I do kind of have a stereotype about people who use Ayers Rock vs. the people who say Uluru.
I picture Uluru people being more politically correct. But not just that. I picture them being more to the left politically. I picture them to be the type who cares about Aboriginal issues.
I picture Ayers Rock people to be more politically to the right. It's not that they don't care about Aboriginal people, but I picture them to have a Anthony Dillon type mindset.
75. Imagined people who call the big orange-red thing Ayers Rock are the people who are more likely to climb the rock.
76. Imagined that people who use the term Ayers Rock are more likely to be happy with the Australian flag. People who call it Uluru are more likely to desire a new flag that's more inclusive.
I know. I'm totally stereotyping here.
77. Looked at a Northern Territory government page. They talk about how the big rock officially has two names.
Saying Ayers Rock might not be seen by all as being politically correct. But it IS factually correct.
78. Consulted Lord Wiki about the naming of the rock. He reminded me that a guy named William Gosse named it Ayers to honor the Chief Secretary of South Australia.
It almost sounds like the rock BELONGS to this Chief Secretary man...if you imagine there's an apostrophe in Ayers. Like hey, this is Ayer's rock. He owns it. That's kind of rude, since the rock was already an important spiritual place for Aboriginal people.
It's like aliens landing in Australia and calling it Sukalukamuka's Island. It would be like, Hello? We were here first. Sukalukamuka can go back to where he came from and get his own damn island.
It would be much nicer if Sukalukamuka and his friends called Australia "Australia".
It wold also be nice if he didn't eat the Australian earthlings.
79. Imagined that if aliens land on this planet, the story probably will be similar to what happened in Australia in the 1700's.
The aliens probably won't eat us or enslave us. But they'll see us as lesser beings who don't need to have a say in what happens to our planet. They'll kind of just take over. They'll probably take our children, because they think they're better at the whole parenting thing. They'll be nice to us as long as we keep in our place, don't complain, and always act 100% happy that all these newbies have come to change everything.
