Bad Behavior, Good Behavior, Search Warrants, and Mysterious Prime Ministers

1. Started watching an episode of Sea Patrol.

2.  Saw, from IMDb, that one of the stars of Sea Patrol, Matthew Holmes, was on two episodes of True Blood. 

In season seven, he played Charles Dupont. 

I think that was the last season. Right?

3. Consulted Lord Wiki's cousin about Charles Dupont.

The cousin doesn't have much to say except that Charles Dupont was a minor character.

5. Felt bad for Spider (Jay Ryan). Within a very short time, he was both praised and severely reprimanded.

He got in trouble for stealing the French flag soon after doing something courageous.

Actually, now that I think of it. This was the theme of an episode I saw a few days ago. In that one, Chef Rebecca (Kirsty Lee Allen) did something very brave that made up for her inappropriate outbursts of anger.

I guess both stories are sort of opposite of each other. With Spider, he was praised for bravery; then got in trouble. With the chef, she got it trouble; then later did something brave. Although both Chef and Spider did their misdeed before their good deed. The only difference really is that it took awhile for Spider to get caught.

6. Figured the general message is most humans do a mix of good and bad things.We can be very pleased with what someone has done for us and soon after, be very angry at them. Or someone can totally disgust us; then turn around and do something wonderful.

7. Started watching an episode of Underbelly.

8. Intrigued by something on the episode.

The police approach a man and tell him they're going to search his car. The man says the police will need a warrant. The police laugh and say he's been watching too many yank TV shows.

So, does that mean Australian police don't need a warrant for searching? Or...the show takes place in the 1970's. Maybe back then there was no need for a warrant?

9. Found this website about New South Wales police procedure. It says police can search a car if they have reasonable suspicion about drugs.

It could be the same in the US as well. It probably is.

10. Thought that the police officer's comment might be more about television vs reality than it is about Australia vs. United States law.

11. Found this website, which I think is American.

It says pretty much the same thing as the New South Wales site. With probable cause the police can search your car.

12. Read about probable cause. The same website says, Probable cause for arrest exists when facts and circumstances within the police officer's knowledge would lead a reasonable person to believe that the suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. Probable cause must come from specific facts and circumstances, rather than simply from the officer's hunch or suspicion.  
I'm thinking that both in the United States and Australia the police can't legally search your car just because they have a bad feeling about you. At the same time, if they have evidence against you, they don't need to go through the process of getting a search warrant.

13. Tried to figure out which Prime Minister this is supposed to be.

At first, I was thinking Hawke...even though he doesn't look like Hawke. I was just thinking about the late 1970's-1980's time period. I associate Hawke with the 80's but offhand don't know if he was PM in the late or early 80's.

Then I realized that it's probably Malcolm Fraser. I don't think he looks too much like Frazer, but I know Frazer was PM in the late 70's.

14. Looked at the IMDb credits for the episode. It's interesting. They don't name the Prime Minister. Tony Llewellyn-Jones is listed as simply "Prime Minister".

15. Saw that Llewellyn-Jones also played a Prime Minister in a 2008 TV movie called The Prime Minister is Missing. He didn't play the missing PM. He played John McEwen.

16. Consulted Lord Wiki about Malcolm Fraser's time in office. It was from 1975-1983.

At the beginning of each episode of Underbelly, there is a little message saying the show takes place between 1970-something and 1980-something. I forgot what it is, exactly.

Anyway, maybe the creators of the show aren't sure when the particular meeting with the Prime Minister took place. And maybe they're not sure which Prime Minister we should be seeing.

Maybe Tony Llewellyn-Jones is playing a sort of Hawke-Fraser hybrid.

17. Finished watching the episode of Underbelly.

I'm sort of starting to like it more. I'm less bored by it, at least.

18. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to be listening to the song "Wrong Direction" by British India.

What if I'm going in the wrong direction?

19. Started to watch the video for "Wrong Direction"

It seems pretty cool...in a horror movie kind of way.

There's a guy and a dog on a camping trip.

20. Thought that the singer sounds like Paul Kelly.

21. Thought the scenery in the video was pretty.

22. Wondered about the eerie camera angles.

Is there someone following the camping guy?

23. Liked the song.

24. Went back to the TV Guide feature I've been looking at lately.

I'm going to continue on my quest to find Australian actors in new American TV shows.

Today's TV show is Scream Queens. I've heard of that. I didn't realize it was new.

It looks like it's a spin off of American Horror Story. It has the same creators; and like AMS, it's an anthology thing.

25. Started looking at the cast list for Scream Queens.

26. Looked through most of the cast of Scream Queens.

I don't see any Australians.

27. Heard really weird noises coming from outside. Maybe I'm about to become a scream queen.

Though it sounds more supernatural horror than slasher.

Maybe Nicole Kidman, Not Sympathetic, Packed to the Rafters Actors, and the Toothpick Man

1. Dreamed about looking at photos of Julian McMahon in Charmed.

2. Dreamed about Nicole Kidman. Maybe. I remember thinking/feeling it was her, but I don't think it really looked like her.  I might have dreamed this, because the other day I was looking at movie make-up articles, and there was a photo of Kidman looking not-like Kidman in The Hours.

Anyway, in the dream, I'm sitting next to Maybe-Kidman at some kind of exotic and controversial religious ceremony. Neither of us are of this religion. We're more like guests, and a lot of people there seem to be guests. It's like the people of this religion are putting themselves and their practices on display, so we can all learn about it. There's an orb of light that goes in front of each of us. It feels like a 3D movie.  Someone says something prejudice that Kidman hears. She angrily complains about it. 

3. Started to watch an episode of Sea Patrol.

This is the one that has James Stewart from Packed to the Rafters. He plays a villain—takes the navy ship hostage. His accent isn't Australian. I'm not sure what it is. 

4. Thought that this episode of Sea Patrol is full of suspense and excitement. There's a lot of cleverness between the good guys and bad guys. They're a good match for each other. I'm glad, though, that the good guys are going to win in the end.

5. Watched some of Underbelly, on the phone, in my car. 

That was kind of fun.

I found myself more interested in the show than usual. I don't know if it was more exciting to watch it in the car. Or maybe I'm growing attached to the show.

6. Tried to remember if I knew there was going to be a remake of Pete's Dragon.

I think maybe I did hear of it awhile back. Or maybe I just expect everything to be remade these days.

Anyway, I came across the information while looking at the filmography of someone on Underbelly.

Gareth Reeves is going to be playing Pete's Dad.

I don't think Pete had a dad in the original. I thought he was an orphan. 

7. Recognized a drugged up naked girl on Underbelly; then realized the actress (Ria Vandervis) was on Packed to the Rafters.  She played Layla, the woman who seduced Nathan (Angus McLaren).

8. Felt happy to see Terry (Matthew Newton) get caught by the police in the hotel. They find drugs, a gun, and money.

Should I feel happy, though?

In shows like this, are you supposed to have sympathy for the bad guys?  I kind of thought you were, but maybe I'm wrong.

I do have sympathy for the other drug users and smugglers in the movie. But it seems Terry is the main character.  I feel it might have been better to make someone else the main character. Or at least I would have preferred the show better that way.

9. Thought of the show Wentworth.  Many of the characters are criminals, but I think most of them are very sympathetic and likable. The one, on Wentworth, that I'd say is equivalent to Terry is Jacs (Kris McQuade).  I think, though, that the show focuses more on the other inmates. If Jacs was the center of the show; if she was the protagonist, I'm not sure I'd like Wentworth.

Is Terry the protagonist of Underbelly?

I'm not sure, really.

He seems to the character that's shown the most. 

I'm also not sure if he's supposed to be seen as an anti-hero.

10. Felt that Underbelly should be making me feel more morally confused. I think the thing I should feel is anxiety about Terry being caught by the police. I should want things to be okay for him and then feel conflicted about feeling this way.

I did feel a little bit like that during the airport scene. Though I thought it was wrong that Terry and his girlfriend (Anne Hutchison) were smuggling a huge amount of drugs, I felt relieved when they made it through security. That might be, though, because the girlfriend IS more sympathetic to me.  

11. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to "Dreamers" by Hopium; featuring Phoebe Lou.  

12. Realized I wrote things backwards. I wrote Hopium as the song and Dreamers as the singer.

I had to fix that.

13. Started listening to "Dreamers". 

I sort of like it.

14. Looked at the lyrics.

Nothing there really excites me.

I think I just like the sound of the song.

15. Went to the TV Guide fall preview.

I'm going to continue my project of looking for Australian actors in new American TV shows. 

The next show, on the list, is Rosewood. It's a pathologist thing.

16. Started looking at the cast for Rosewood. 

17. Finished looking at most of the cast. I didn't see any Australians.

18. Decided to do one more TV show. 

19. Saw that it's Rush Hour.

It's based on that Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker film from several years ago.

20. Looked at the cast of Rush Hour. 

Henry Ian Cusick from Lost is on it.

Any Australians?

21. Did not find any Australians.

Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow. 

22. Started to look at the new X-Files series.

I'm not sure if it's on the TV Guide article, but I saw a trailer for it while looking at my YouTube recommendations.

So...anyway. Alan Dale is going to be on that. He's going to be the Toothpick Man.

Can I assume the Toothpick Man is going to be a rich and powerful man?

Since his Neighbours days, has Dale played any character that's not rich and powerful?

The Fletcher Foster Kids, Anti-Minecraft, Teasing, and Outbursts of Anger

1. Had a confusing and irrational dream about Home and Away. I'm going to assume it was inspired by seeing Kate Ritchie on Underbelly.

First there was a dream with someone attacking someone else—maybe trying to murder them. I might have been the victim...or just an observer. I have no idea. I'm really confused.

Then, it turns out the attacker is one of the Fletcher foster kids. She's gone bad. Another fletcher foster kid cries out hysterically, saying something like, "We've lost her! We've lost her!"  I am agreeing with this sentiment, and concluding the foster kid has gone to the dark side. But then I remember she ends up with Ben, Julian McMahon's character. So, I get the idea things will be okay.

When I woke up, I had a hard time making sense of it all, because the Fletcher foster kid who cried out, We've lost her! looked very much like Carly. But then it was also Carly who had supposedly gone to the dark side, because she's the one who ends up with Ben. Though I feel the attacker seemed more like Bobbie Simpson.  From the little I remember, she had a Bobbie aura more than a Carly aura.

Later I was thinking, though, that the girl-gone-bad could have been Carly, because maybe the person who cried out was actually Carly's twin sister, Samantha. 

But no. It seemed more like Carly. 

2. Thought that another alternative interpretation is that maybe everyone in the dream was Carly. Maybe it was like that scene in Being John Malkovich, where everyone is John Malkovich.  

3. Remembered that I had another Australia-related dream.  I learn my dad likes the theme song to Wonderland. I let it be known that I can send him the song. But then he changes his mind about liking it. 

4. Annoyed by Kat Abianac's article about keeping tweens away from Minecraft during the school holidays.

She doesn't really explain why she's against Minecraft. I get the idea she's just against technology in general. She says,  In our technology filled environments, I hate the thought of my tweens spending valuable and limited holiday time sitting on Minecraft. So here's 5 hacks to get them off the couch.

I'm not against the idea of getting kids off the couch...at least for part of the holiday. Physical activity is a good thing.  But two of the not-Minecraft activities that Abianac suggests are coloring books and board games.

Really?! How are those activities better than Minecraft? Minecraft is an activity that involves creativity, problem solving, and in some cases, cooperation.  What does a coloring book provide? Well, I guess it's good for fine motor skills. But ever try fighting a hoard of zombies? That takes fine motor skills as well.

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 

5.  Started watching an episode of Sea Patrol.

6.  Felt sorry for the new chef, Rebecca (Kirsty Lee Allen).  The guys tease her about her health-conscious cooking, and it turns out to be a bet over how long it would take for her to lose her temper and throw food. Then they tease her again during a training activity. She gets mad and breaks the rule about not touching your opponents. She gets reprimanded, and now some people on the ship are giving her the cold shoulder.

It's not that I support violent, angry outbursts. But it's not fair to tease someone with the purpose of making them have an outburst; then be self-righteous when it happens.

8. Saw that once again Alan Dale is playing a wealthy, powerful man. He played the same type of character on Lost, Ugly Betty, and Torchwood.  Those are just the ones I know about. There might be more.

9. Saw that James Stewart from Packed to the Rafters is on the next episode of Sea Patrol.

I'll probably watch that tomorrow.

10. Sang the Wonderland theme song...well, the bits that I know or pretend to know.

Then I decided, if I had a choice between Hulu bringing back Neighbours or adding more Wonderland episodes, I'd pick the Wonderland episodes.

11. Saw the very large saltwater crocodile at the zoo.

He (or she?) is pretty amazing.

12. Started watching an episode of Underbelly.

13. Saw that Chopper Read is a character in this episode.

I think I know who that is.

Or at least I know that Eric Bana played him in a movie.

14. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to "Quit Your Job" by the Thundamentals.

I listened to something of theirs before.

What it was it?

15. Found the song.

It was "Something I Said", which is the 30th song on the list.

Did I like it?

I have no idea.

16. Remembered the song after peeking on YouTube.

It's the one with a burial.

The song and video made me blab on and on about...something. Maybe, bitching about people?

17. Started watching video for "Quit Your Job".

18. Thought the song was kind of cute.

From what I can hear, it's pretty simple. It's about wanting to quit a job because of a difficult coworker.  Or boss, perhaps.

19. I like the chorus of the song.

You make me want to quit my job, but I can't.
So instead I wrote this song about you.

Some of my novels and blog posts would have that chorus, if they could sing.

20. Realized the quit my job part wouldn't fit.

It's more along the lines of, I want to write you a mean email, or scream at you, and totally bitch you out, but instead I'm writing this blog post about you. 

21. Went to TV Guide to do more searching for Australian actors in new American TV shows.

Guess who is in the next TV show?!

Martha Plimpton!

Yeah. I know. She's not Australian. But still. It's kind of exciting—at least for someone, like me,  who's had an 80's childhood.

The show is called The Real O'Neals.

22. Started to look at the cast list for The Real O'Neals.

23. Finished looking at the cast.

I didn't see any Australians.

We'll try again tomorrow.

I mean, not with that show.

I'll look for Australians in another show.

Sea Patrol Actors, Songs on Underbelly, Kate Ritchie, and Planting Seeds

1. Started to watch an episode of Sea Patrol.

It feels kind of strange, because between watching season one and season two, I saw some of the actors in other things.

I saw Lisa McCune in Reef Doctors, so now I see her as a doctor.

I saw Saskia Burmeister in Pirate Islands, so now I see her as a sadistic pirate.

I think eventually, though, I'll get used to them being their Sea Patrol characters.

2. Excited! Alan Dale is on this episode. I don't think I've ever seen him on an Australian show...except for Neighbours.

3. Saw that Kristian Schmid from Packed to the Rafters is on the show.  He was on season one as well. I didn't realize that. When I saw him on Packed to the Rafters, I thought that he was new to me.

I know I looked him up, though. Did I see that he had been on Sea Patrol?

Maybe I learned all of this already, and I just forgot it all.

4. Remembered Kristian Schmid's character from Sea Patrol. It's all starting to come back to me. He's the unfriendly one who had difficulty when his dad died.

5. Remembered that I also saw Jeremy Lindsay Taylor in something recently—Puberty Blues. He played Claudia Karvan's husband. Well, it wasn't recently, but it was between seasons one and two of Sea Patrol.

6. Got the idea that I've probably seen most of the cast of Sea Patrol in between watching the two seasons.

7. Enjoyed the episode of Sea Patrol. I like it much more than Underbelly.

But who knows. Maybe, after awhile, Underbelly will start to grow on me.

What would our world be like if we

knew for sure there 

was life after death, and 

we could easily talk to our 

dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts 

8. Started watching an episode of Underbelly; and remembered that yesterday I made plans to count the songs used in the episode.

So far, I have one.

9.  Saw that Kate Ritchie is one of the guest stars of this episode.

So now I have to watch Sally Fletcher shooting up heroin? Thanks a lot, Underbelly.

10. Hoped I don't have to see Sally Fletcher naked.  I think that might traumatize me.

11. Hoped that Kate Richie will be playing a cop or something like that.

12. Heard a second song on Underbelly.

13. Saw Kate Ritchie.

She looks suburban.

She might be playing the wife of a criminal.

14. Heard a third song on Underbelly.

And I'm only eight minutes into the episode.

My feeling is they play too many songs.

I love music in television shows. But I think with Underbelly, it's overkill.

14. Heard a fourth song.

15. Saw Kate Ritchie cleaning blood off of a man.

I think she (well, her character) is connected to the criminal world somehow.

16. Wondered if I wrote about Ritchie being on Underbelly when I did my post about her.

17. Heard a fifth song. In typical Underbelly fashion, a cheerful song is played during a violent fight scene.

18.  Saw that Charlie-Rose MacLennan , the girl who plays Kate Richie's daughter on Underbelly, is like her onscreen mother in that she too was a child star on Home and Away.

19. Heard a sixth song.  It was played for a very short time, though.

20. Heard a seventh song. It's a creepy lullaby type thing played after Kate Ritchie's family was attacked. The music plays as we see her dead husband's blood splattered all over the bathroom.

21. Heard an eighth song. Once again, it's a cheerful song played during a violent scene.

I've actually heard the song before. It's "Tiny Bubbles".

22. Consulted Lord Wiki. He says the song was sung by a Hawaiian pop singer named Don Ho.

I think I've heard of him before.

23. Wanted to say that I'm not against using cheerful music in a violent or sad scene. I think the juxtaposition can be quite effective and interesting.

My feeling, though, is that Underbelly overuses this technique.

24. Wondered if maybe I also feel that Underbelly overuses violence.

Does it glorify violence?

Is that why I don't like the show.

Would I equally dislike Breaking Bad?

25. Felt that I don't mind ultra-violence, probably, as long as there's something that I do like to balance it all.

26. Thought of violent shows I've liked.

Wentworth and The Walking Dead are two things that come to my mind.

There might have been others.

27. Thought about how the episode of Sea Patrol I watched today had some violence. There was violence and a major injury. There was some gruesomeness.  But it was one incident instead of multiple ones.

28. Heard a ninth song—though it might be the same eerie lullaby that was played earlier.

29. Heard a tenth. This one's a Christmas tune.

30. Started to read article about the real life Les Kane. This was the man that Kate Ritchie's character (Judi Kane) was married to.

The article talks about how women were sucked up into the violent world of the men they loved.

It sounds like Judi Kane didn't eagerly choose this kind of life. It's more like she fell in love with the wrong person.

31. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to "Micro Wars" by Kingswood.  It's the 76th song on the list.

My browser shows I visited Lord Wiki's page on Kingswood before. Maybe they have a song higher up on the list? Or I might have looked up Kingswood for other reasons.

32. Found the Kingswood song I already listened to. It's 56th on the list—"I Can Feel That You Don't Love Me". I can't remember if I liked the song or not.

33. Revisited "I Can Feel That You Don't Love Me".

It's sad. I remember the song and video now, but I can't remember whether or not I liked it.

34. Found the post where I talked about the song.

I said I liked both the song and video.

You'd think I could just see a clip of the video and say, Oh! I remember that. I liked that song.

But, no. That's not the case here.

I think I'm a bit mentally confused today.

I'm not sure what I like or don't like, and I'm not sure why I like or dislike things.

35. Started watching "Micro Wars" which is actually a whole ten minute thing.

I don't like it already, because of it's length. I don't feel like watching something that long.

But maybe it will win me over.

36. Saw that, like Underbelly, "Micro Wars" is about gang fighting.

37. Thought the song was fairly nice but not the type to become one of my favorites.

I'm not very interested in the video yet.

38. Saw that the video is made up of two songs—"Micro Wars" and "Eye of the Storm".

I finished watching the "Micro Wars" bit. I don't think I'm going to watch the rest of the film.

I'm tired of gang stuff.

39. Wondered if I just don't like gang stories. Is that my problem with Underbelly?

I did like Bikie Wars, though.

40. Wondered if maybe I shouldn't worry so much about why I'm not a big fan of Underbelly.

41. Wondered if I could buy Australian flower seeds.

That's one of my obsessions right now. Gardening. Which is kind of funny, because I don't have a green thumb.  I have a stubborn, uneducated thumb.  I like to just stick things in the ground and hope for the best.

Although this time I have been kind of following directions.

I soaked the seeds that needed to be soaked.

Today I bought some proper potting soil.

Earlier this week, I planted some seeds with this not very nutritious soil that comes in patties. You add water and it expands.

Still, despite the lack of good nutrition, some of the seeds have sprouted.

It's exciting to me.

I don't really care about having a finished product that we can use in our kitchen.  I just get excited to see green stuff coming out of a seed.

I'm imagining, though, that maybe I'll get into this, and my thumb will turn green. That's why I was wondering about Australian flowers. Are any available in the United States? Are any legal?  I know there are floral and fauna laws in every country. I don't want to do any Johnny Depp type things.

42. Saw that a San Francisco site has information about the Golden Wattle; though they don't specify if it's legal, or where to buy it.

Maybe I should assume people are allowed to grow it in San Francisco. Otherwise, they'd probably tell Californians not to grow it.

43. Wondered if laws could vary by state. Maybe what's legally grown in California is not legal in Texas.

44. Looked at Google Shopping for Acacia pycnantha (golden wattle) seeds. They have golden wattle pillows, golden wattle prints, a whole book about golden wattle, golden wattle skirts, and  golden wattle iPhone case.

I don't see any seeds.

45. Realized that Australians go online too to buy things. I'm not seeing many Australian opportunities to buy Golden Wattle. So far, all I've seen, is something on eBay.

I guess it's not something people buy online.

46. Searched again, and found a place for Australians to buy golden wattle seeds.

I guess I searched in the wrong place before.

47. Found a website that talks about growing golden wattle sites in the US.

I'm getting the idea that it's legal, and I think I'm in the right USDA zone (8).

I just don't know where to get the seeds.

Although I'm kind of jumping way ahead of myself here.

I'm totally not advanced enough for planting something exciting and international.

48. Saw that, in California, there's a native Australian plants nursery.  That's very cool.

I should move to California.

49. Saw that I can buy Banksia seeds online!

That is so cool!

If I get good at this, I'm going to buy some.

Although if I get good at it, I'll probably do my research, and learn it's impossible to grow Banksia in Texas.

50. Bookmarked the Australian plants nursery website. They have all kinds of seeds I can order.

The only thing that confuses me is they say, Minimum of ten seeds per packed.  I'm guessing and hoping that means each seed packed has ten seeds. When I first saw it, I thought they meant you had to BUY a minimum of ten seed packets. That wouldn't make much sense, though, now that I think of it.  But, I was worried at first, because each packet is about $7.00. That means I would have to buy around $70 worth of seeds.  I'm not sure I want to invest that much.

51. Read the about page for the Australia Plants Nursery.

It was founded by a woman named Jo O'Connell. I think she's an Australian who moved to California.  She studied horticulture at the University of West Sydney. She's done horticulture work in Australia, South Africa, the United States, etc.

She helped rejuvenate areas in Australia affected by mining.

This woman has a very impressive resume. One of the things I love most is she's been used as a consultant for zoos in the United States. I think sometimes they have plants that are native to the places where the various animals are from.

52. Tempted to go on a shopping spree and go crazy now, but I'm trying to tell myself to calm down.

I will see how my current plants turn out.

Then maybe next year I'll try doing an Australian garden.

53. Consulted Lord Wiki about Fort Worth's climate. I'm thinking I can find out which area of Australia is most similar to us.

So....

We have a humid subtropical climate. That surprises me. I thought we were pretty dry.

54. Saw that Fort Worth gets 33 inches of rain per year, which is 84 centimeters.

Maybe it would help to find cities in Australia that have about that much rain.

55. Learned that rain is measured in millimeters; not centimeters.  Oops.

So I'm looking for a place that gets about 838 millimeters of rain.

56. Saw from this website that Perth's rain amount is fairly close to Fort Worth's rain amount.

57. Learned from Lord Wiki that it's south-eastern Australia that has a subtropical climate.

58. Figured I'm probably making too big of a deal about this. We live on different continents not different planets.

Plenty of people, throughout history, have planted things that are not native to their area.

59. Thought about skipping my TV Guide game today, because this post is already long.

But I want to do do at least one TV show.

60. Saw that the next show is Quantico.

I've seen commercials for it on Hulu. The premise sounds exciting.  There's a bunch of FBI students, and one is a terrorist.

61. Started looking at the cast list for Quantico.  I'm searching for Australians. It's my new game.

62. Did not find an Australian actor...yet.

But I did find a Lost one! One of my favorites—Mark Pellegrino.

The cast, though, has a nice international mix. The star is from India. Then there's a woman who was born in Lebanon to an Egyptian mother and Palestinian father.

There's someone from Cuba...

63. Looked at a cast member of Quantico, which brought me to a TV show Satisfaction that is NOT the Australian Satisfaction.

Yesterday I saw that the Australian actor Matt Passmore was in Satisfaction; and I assumed IMDb was talking about the Australian show. They weren't. Matt Passmore was on the American Satisfaction.

64. Finished looking at the Quantico cast list. I didn't click on everyone's name, but I clicked on most.

I didn't find any Australians.

65. Thought more about gardening.

I'm looking at this last-freeze website for Dallas-Fort Worth.  I'm getting the idea that late March to mid April would probably be the best time to start growing things.

I'm very excited!

Well, I'm excited about the plants.

There are other things in my life that are making me a bit anxious and depressed.

So...it's nice to have gardening to distract myself; even if I do end up being bad at it.

66. Felt guilty about vague-blogging.  I feel it's a little rude towards the people reading this, but especially rude to my future self. I'm going to end up reading this a few years from now and wonder what was wrong with me.

Or...well, I hope I'll be wondering.

If I know exactly what was wrong, it will probably mean something dreadful happens and these months become etched in my memory as the beginning of the nightmare.

Anyway, I'm having a desire to express my feelings, but I'm not up to expressing the exact reasons why I'm feeling that way.

67. Realized I'm wrong.

I do remember past times of anxiety—both the whens and whys.  With those things, everything turned out okay.  So even if things also turn out fine this time, I might still remember what I was talking about when I read my blog posts in the future.

Actors, Music Overkill, Living it Up, and Biographical Information

1. Had various dreams related to Australia.

I'm not sure how many I remember.

In one, I find an outside deck that I forgot we had.  It has two bouncy animal-riding toys looking out over the water. One is a koala. I'm happy and excited to remember we have this deck.

In another, I look outside our front yard and realize we have a tree that loses its bark. A lot of bark is just lying there on the ground. I'm wondering if the tree is Australian.

Also: I start to wonder if my family knows that my favorite Australian animals are birds.  I think about how it might be a good idea to make a birthday wish list and mention bird books on there. I consider the possibility that my family might end up buying me a bird book I already have. I feel that's okay, but then I start to have second thoughts. 

2. Started watching an episode of Underbelly. 

3. Saw that Samuel Johnson is in this episode.

He plays one of those people who puts on gloves and checks bodies for drug smuggling. 

4. Found Warwick in the credits for this episode. I couldn't find him in yesterday's episode even though he was mentioned in the plot synopsis and the episode.

Warwick is played by Matt Passmore. I would have also seen him on Satisfaction. But I don't remember.

5. Thought that Matt Passmore looks a bit like Corey Stoll from the Strain,

6. Felt that Underbelly is giving me more sympathy for the anti-drug business.

I've always hated the certain countries that have such strict laws. I guess it's because I pictured drug smugglers as being either a) desperate or b) framed.  

Underbelly is showing me that sometimes the smugglers are just very greedy and opportunistic. 

In one scene in this episode, a woman nervously risks her life and freedom. She wins the quest and ends up bringing millions of dollars worth of heroin into Australia.

7. Felt that Underbelly has too much music.

I love hearing songs in TV shows, but it seems to me that Underbelly has too many.

Or maybe it has the normal amount, and I'm being picky, because I don't like the show.  

8. Looked at a season of The Walking Dead on Tunefind.  Music-wise, the show is one of my favorites.  

It looks, to me, like most episodes have one or two songs; then the rest is instrumental/score music. Every so often, there are episodes with three or four songs.

9. Decided that maybe tomorrow I'll count the songs on an episode of Underbelly.

If I remember.

10. Felt also that all the songs had the same kind of mood. It's this message of, Look! We're criminals doing bad things while fun upbeat music plays in the background.  I think that type of musical juxtaposition is effective but only if used sparingly.  

11. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to the 75th song, which is "Live it Up" by 360, featuring Pez.

I may have listened to something of his before. He sound vaguely familiar. 

12. Looked through songs 1-74 on the 2014 Triple J list. I didn't see 360, but that doesn't guarantee he's not there. I tend to miss things.

13. Started to watch the video for "Live it Up". 

14. Liked the song—at least the way it sounds.

I'm not sure about the message. 

At first I thought it was about seizing the day—enjoying life to the fullest.  But then it started to seem more along the lines of the whole positive attitude thing—if you want something enough, it will come true.

Then I got the idea that this living it up isn't about embracing life but more about embracing the extreme wealth that comes with rare successes. 

15. Thought that song was sort of the opposite of Lorde's "Royals".

If I'm interpreting things correctly. 

16. Looked a the lyrics for "Live it Up"

17. Loved these lines.

And I'm grateful they shot me down or the person I am I would not be now 
Yeah, it ain't good to be bullet proof cause in the end that bullet will be good for you 
When I think of all the things that I wouldn't do now if it wasn't for that one little bullet wound

It's like the conversation on Doctor Who.

Clara Oswald: When did you get to be so wise?

Danny Pink: The same as everyone else. I had a really bad day.

I love that.

I think I'm a big believer in difficult things making us stronger. To a point.

If someone has an extremely bad day, they might commit suicide. Then they won't have a chance to become stronger.

18. Liked this line from the song.  Head up in the clouds where it oughta be cause they say life's ordinary, but it not.

I totally agree, at least with the last part. Life is far from ordinary. It's full of crazy stuff.

I don't think our head should be up in the clouds all the time. But it should be there some of the time.
I think it's good to have fantasies and dreams.

I think it's not a bad thing to be a little bit delusional at times.  It shouldn't go too far, though. Sometimes we need to return to the ground and be realistic about things.

19. Liked the song more without the video.

The lyrics themselves seem more about embracing life.

The video seems to be saying that embracing life is about flying on private jets.

20. Learned from Lord Wiki that the 360 rapper has major eye problems. He's legally blind in one eye and is losing site in the other.

Shit.

21. Returned to the TV Guide feature about new TV shows.

I'm looking for Australians who are going to be on American TV.  

22. Saw that my next show is called The Grinder. It stars Rob Lowe, Fred Savage, and some other people.  Are any of them Australian?

23. Looked at the cast of The Grinder.

I don't see any Australians.

24. Looked at the next show. It's called The Guide to Surviving Life.  It seems to be a pseudo-reality TV type thing.

25. Saw that IMDb doesn't have a cast list for The Guide to Surviving Life yet.

Maybe it will come into existence later.

26. Thought the woman in the picture for the next TV show (Heartbreaker) looked Australian, but I wasn't sure who she was and didn't know whether I was right about her being Australian.

Well, it turns out it's Melissa George, and she's definitely Australian.

27. Saw from TV Guide that Heartbreaker has at least TWO Australians. Don Hany from Offspring is one of the stars of the show.

28. Looked at the credits for Heartbreaker. I don't see any other Australians in the cast, but two is quite impressive.

29. Thought of other American TV shows that had more than one Australian star.

The two that come immediately to mind are Fringe and Without a Trace.

I'm sure there are others.

I'm not including Camp.

30. Wondered if Don Hany has ever done American work before. I know Melissa George has...several times.

31. Saw that, in 2006, Hany had a small role in an American TV movie called The TV Set.

He was also in a movie called Big Top.

32. Saw that Don Hany is going to be appearing in an American TV show about military doctors.

33. Skipped over Heroes Reborn in TV Guide, because I think I already looked at the cast list for that.

I hope I didn't miss any Australians.

34. Saw that the next show is a comedy about a family called Life in Pieces. Dianne Wiest is one of the stars. I remember loving her back in the 80's—Parenthood and Lost Boys.

35. Started to look at the cast list of Life in Pieces.

36. Finished looking through the cast. I didn't find any Australians.

37. Saw that the next show on TV Guide is Limitless. It's about drug-induced superpowers.

The guy in the photo looks like the guy from Happy Endings and FlashForward. I wonder if it's him.

38. Looked at the cast list of the MOVIE Limitless, because the TV Show is based off of that.

This did have an Australian—Abbie Cornish.

39. Saw that the star of Limitless, Jake McDorman, is not the guy from Happy Endings and FlashForward.

Jake McDorman is  also not Australian, but he did appear in an American movie with an Australian—Aquamarine with Claudia Karvan.

40. Found an Australian in Limitless.

It's Lucy Taylor.  I think she appears in only one episode.

She hasn't been on many Australian things. I think she's more of a character actress...or a struggling one.

Well, if someone just does guest-star work, it's hard to know whether this is the kind of work they want to do or if this is the only work they're able to get.  I think it's usually the latter. Though I imagine, in the world of actors, any appearance on a show is a pretty big accomplishment.

41. Saw that Lucy Taylor actually did have a pretty significant role in something. She starred with Alex Dimitriades in a TV movie called Stepfather of the Bridge.

42. Stopped looking at the credits for Limitless, because it was starting to feel limitless. There are a lot of people on that show!

43. Saw from TV Guide that there's a new show called Lucifer. It's about the dark angel.

Maybe I'll try watching that show someday...if it gets good reviews. I like angel mythology.

44. Started looking at the cast of Lucifer.

I'm not seeing any Australians yet, but I do see Kevin Alejandro. We saw him on True Blood and Ugly Betty.

45. Continued to not see any Australians on Lucifer, but I do see another True Blood star. Bailey Noble. She played the surviving half-human/half-fairy girl.

46. Saw that the next show in TV Guide is Minority Report.  I might have looked at the cast list before. I'm not sure.

The movie is based on the Tom Cruise movie.  TV Guide says it takes place ten years after what happened in the movie.

I wonder if it will be any good.

47. Started looking at the cast list for Minority Report.

48. Didn't see any Australians.

There are quite a few Canadians, though!

49. Saw that the show is filmed in Toronto.

I can't say I'm surprised.

50. Wondered if I should skip over the new Muppets, but then I remembered the Muppets always have human characters as well.

51. Looked at the cast of The Muppets.

52. Decided to listen to the Wonderland theme song, while looking at The Muppets cast.

I love that song.

53. Did not see any Australians in The Muppet's cast.

54. Saw that the next show on TV Guide is Of Kings and Prophets. It's a biblical type thing.

There's someone named Simone Kessell on the show.  The name sounds familiar. Maybe she's Australian?

55. Saw that Simone Kessell is a Kiwi, but she's been in a lot of Australian things, including Wonderland.

She's also one of the stars of Underbelly. I saw her today—in the rare moments that I looked up from my QuizUp game.

I'm joking.

Well, I did play a lot of QuizUp. But I also made a conscious effort to watch the show.  I think I remember Kessell.

56. Guessed that Of Kings and Prophets is filmed in South African, because there are a lot of South Africans in the cast. IMDb doesn't have a filming location, though.

57. Consulted Lord Wiki.

He says the show takes place in Israel and is filmed in Cape Town, South Africa.

58. Turned to the next TV show which is Blood and Oil. At the same time, I heard a YouTube commercial for Blood and Oil.

59. Started looking at the cast for Blood and Oil.

60. Did not find any Australians in Blood and Oil.

61. Saw that the next show on TV Guide is called People are Talking. It's about two couples that are friends. It doesn't sound very exciting, but maybe it's one of those shows that's much more exciting than its description.

Some shows are good, because they're simply good and not because they have an intriguing premise.

I need to remember that.

62. Started to look at the cast.

63. Did not find any Australians.

64. Listened to "The Gambler" from Blackpool, as I clicked on the next button on the TV Guide feature. I got to The Player, which is about Las Vegas.  I thought that was quite fitting.

I love when things work out that way.

65. Found an Australian in The Player.

Thank you! I feel like it's been so long. I kept coming up empty.

Anyway, the Australian is Daisy Betts.

If I had a good memory, I'd remember Daisy Betts from Sea Patrol. She appeared in three episodes of season one.

The good news is she comes back for an episode in season two. I'm watching that soon. If I remember, I'll look out for her.

66. Saw that Daisy Betts is one of the several Australians starring in the upcoming science fiction series Childhood's End.

67. Started to notice that some struggling/rising American actors have IMDb biographies like that American actor I once saw on Water Rats. They provide very detailed and personal biographies.

I'm not sure why. Maybe they're hoping that someone will read it, and say, She sounds very interesting. Let's hire her for our TV show! When we're not filming, we can get coffee, and she can tell me more about her life.

Or it could be that these actors are eager to get to the point in their life where they're famous enough that people will want to interview them. So maybe they kind of take it upon themselves to provide an interview before being asked.

68. Decided I'm tired of searching through cast lists.

I'm tired.

I need a break, so I'll continue with this tomorrow.

69. Listened to Vance Joy's "Riptide".

Have I mentioned that I love this song?

70. Wondered about fame and success.

Maybe getting adoration or validation is not the biggest thing.  Maybe it's the idea that if we're famous, people will want to know all about us. Every detail of our lives will be fascinating to the world. They'll want to know what we ate for breakfast; what color socks we wear, who's our favorite comic book character; how we felt when our dog died; who was mean to us in elementary school; the name of our beloved stuffed animal; what's our favorite flavor of Ramen noodles....

We all have stories to tell—even those of us who aren't famous. The problem is there usually aren't that many people who are interested....or good at pretending they're interested.

Aussie Bob, Villains, Change, and Adjustment

1. Started watching an episode of Underbelly.

2. Realized there's another Wonderland actor on Underbelly. It's the guy who played Warwick. What's his name again?

Looking....

3. Saw from the Underbelly plot description that there's a character named Warwick in this too.

It would be interesting if it's the same actor.

4. Found the name of the actor. It's Peter Phelps.  He does not play Warwick on Underbelly.

5. Confused. I can not find a Warwick in the cast list.

Maybe there's a mistake somewhere; or my eyes are missing something.

6. Saw an actor that looked familiar to me on Underbelly. I finally got his character name, so I could find him on IMDb.

The actor is Nathan Page.  He played Charlie on The Secret Life of Us.

I wasn't sure who Charlie was, but now I think I remember. I think he was the guy who was dating Richie (Spencer McLaren).

7. Continued to not be that thrilled by Underbelly.

There's nothing really grabbing my attention or interest.

I have no attachment to any of the characters.

Maybe all that will come in time.

8. Felt guilty about playing QuizUp. Maybe if I played less, I'd pay more attention to Underbelly. and like it more.

Or am I playing QuizUp a lot, because Underbelly is boring to me?

8. Thought that the villains in Underbelly are extremely awful and not at all sympathetic. First, they kill a woman's husband. Then they poison her dogs. Plus, they bribe people.

9. Decided to read about the real-life Aussie Bob, the worst of the villains on Underbelly.

The Australian Dictionary of Biography has a post on Aussie Bob, whose real name was Robert Trimbole.

10. Confused. The biography dictionary says Robert was named Bruno, but then people, at the playground started calling him Bob. Then where does the Robert come from?

11. Confused again. The biography dictionary says Robert/Bruno/Bob was born in Griffith but then it talks about the family migrating from Calabria Italy. They make it sound as if Robert/Bruno/Bob migrated too.

12. Started to understand. 

I think the family maybe lived in Griffith but then returned to Italy and then returned to Griffith.

Maybe.

Or I might have it totally wrong.

13. Learned that Robert/Bruno/Bob was an auto mechanic. Things went sour because of taxation issues, and he had given too many discounts to friends.

14. Learned that in the 1970's, Robert/Bruno/Bob got into the business of selling amusement machines and marijuana.

I think amusement machines refers to pinball, because I've seen pinball machines on Underbelly.

15. Learned that Robert/Bruno/Bob owned a steakhouse called Texas Tavern.  

16. Learned that Robert/Bruno/Bob got involved with something called the Mr. Asia heroin syndicate.  They're the ones who started calling Robert/Bruno/Bob "Aussie Bob". It was to distinguish him from the Kiwis and British people they knew.

17. Learned that Robert/Bruno/Bob died of a heart attack, probably. 

He died in Spain.

18. Thought about villains.  Some are hateful but fascinating to me. Some are sympathetic and fascinating. Then some are hateful and just boring to me.

Aussie Bob is boring to me in the same way Dimato, from Neighbours, was boring to me. 

Norman Bates is sympathetic and fascinating.

Dolores Umbridge is hateful, but fascinating.

Voldemort is hateful, but I also felt some sympathy for him.  And I found him fascinating. 

19. Thought that maybe the worst villains are the ones who do things for money and greed, and they're controlling. They use a lot of bribery and extortion.  

20. Had deep thoughts swirling through my head after watching an episode about Doctor Who.

It's about this blog post I read several weeks ago. I don't even think I mentioned it here after reading it, but it's been stuck in my head.

The post was written by Nikki, the Australian who's lived in Hong Kong, South Africa, and now resides in Atlanta, Georgia. It's her 2014 Thanksgiving post.

Nikki talks about  change becoming the norm. She says, Recently my belly button contemplations have centred around when the change becomes the norm. When things that used to stand out and confuse, surprise, unsettle or just plain irk you, don’t any more.

And then later she asks, When was the last time you realised a change had become the norm?

That question has stuck with me since reading that.

One easy answer is Doctor Who.  I've been watching Clara Oswald running around with Peter-Capaldi-Doctor—hardly bothered that I'm no long seeing the the ninth, tenth, and eleventh doctor. And I'm hardly missing Amy, Rory, Rose, Donna, River, etc.  I've just grown to accept the change.

I've already grown to accept that I'm no longer watching Neighbours, just as I once grew to accept that I could no longer watch 1980's Home and Away.

Yes. My life is all about TV shows.

Okay, maybe there are other things too.

Such as....

It feels normal to have no grandparents.

It feels normal that I have only one cat now.

It feels normal that we live in this house now and not in our past one.

A few months ago, it kind of felt like our world would be ending, because we were starting a more formal homeschooling curriculum. It was scary imagining that we'd have to give up three hours a day for school work.  Now it seems totally normal. It feels weird to think that we once didn't do this studying.

Last January, Tim started working in another state. It felt quite unsettling to think he'd usually be home only on weekends.  Now it seems strange that he once lived with us full time.

21. Reminded myself of all the changes I've been through.

At one time, I didn't have a child. I didn't have a laptop or the Internet. I didn't have a phone that I carried with me when I went out.

I wasn't obsessed with Australia.

22. Wondered what crazy changes we will go through in the next few years and how long will it take for them to feel normal to us.

Maybe we'll communicate with the dead or aliens from another planet.

Maybe we'll be teleporting.

Maybe we'll be on the run from zombies.

Who knows.

23. Felt that there are some changes we never adjust to.

For example, I have my doubts that I could accept Michelle Keegan as the Doctor's next companion.

24. Went to the TV Guide fall preview for more searching for Australian actors in new American TV shows.

25. Saw that my next show is called Grandfathered.  It stars John Stamos as a man who discovers he's a father and grandfather.

See? It goes back to the whole change becoming the norm thing. At first, the guy is probably shocked. Then eventually, it will get to the point where he can't imagine not having a son and grandchild.

26. Started looking at the cast list of Grandfathered.

Any Australians?

27. Did not find any Australians, but I did find that Josh Peck from Drake and Josh is one of the stars of the show.

We used to watch that show. But now NOT-watching Drake and Josh is our norm.

28. Did not find any Australians.

It looks like the cast is made up of mostly Americans... and a Canadian.

29. Finished watching the one non-Australian show on my to-watch list.

Now I shall go to Random.org to pick my new show.

It's Sea Patrol  Season Two.

I'm glad to be getting back to that!

Underbelly, Matthew Newton, Picking TV Shows, and Mysterious Quote Origins

1. Dreamed that, I'm staying with part of my family at a resort (Maybe for Thanksgiving?)

There are periodic Hawaiian luaus. 

There's a big window where I can see people swimming along with a bear (who may or may not be real vs. a costumed-human).

I talk to my mom, and ask about my sister, brother-in-law, and nephews. Why aren't they with us? Where did they go?

My mom tells me they're in Melbourne.

I'm thinking, though, that we might be in Melbourne too. But I'm not sure, because our resort might be in Sydney.  

We get the idea that my sister and her family might be in the same city as us, and they might, by coincidence, end up coming to the hotel.

It was funny, because Australia was so casual in the dream. It didn't seem like a big deal that my whole family was all that way away.

I guess it felt like we actually lived in Australia. Or Melbourne and Sydney were cities wherever we did live.  

2. Read a 2011 blog post where I talk about not being interested in seeing Underbelly.

It's funny, because I'm planning to watch that today. 

I'm still not overly interested in watching it, but I imagine there's a good chance I end up liking it.

In the 2011 blog post, I also talk about not wanting to see Rake.  I ended up loving that.

3. Started to watch an episode of Underbelly.

It's about organized crime, which usually doesn't interest me.

4. Thought that the narrator of Underbelly sounds like Toni Colette. But I don't think it's her. I don't remember seeing her name in the credits yesterday.

5. Looked at the credits again. 

The narrator is Caroline Craig.  She also plays a character on the series. Well, I'm guessing the character IS the narrator.

6. Watched ten minutes of Underbelly.

So far, it's not really attracting my attention. I'm kind of bored—playing QuizUp while I watch.

I hope it starts getting more interesting to me.

7. Started to realize that Matthew Newton, from Farscape, is the main star of this Underbelly episode—or at least this episode.

It's kind of interesting seeing him without creature make-up. Actually, it's probably the most interesting thing, about the show, for me.

In a way, it kind of just makes me wish I was watching Farscape.

8. Wondered if I'd be better off picking what shows I watch instead of allowing Random.org to do it for me.

I don't think so.

I'd have way too hard of a time picking which show. Yeah, I want to watch Farscape,  but I also want to watch Packed to the Rafters. And Satisfaction. Rake. Wentworth. Sea Patrol. Maybe Home and Away....

Plus, sometimes I expect not to like something. Or I don't like it in the beginning. But then I end up liking it. 

9. Saw Damien de Montemas on Underbelly. 

I saw him yesterday when looking at the cast list, but forgot to mention it.

10. Consulted Lord Wiki about the real life Donald Mackay.  He was an anti-drug campaigner who was murdered in the episode I just watched.

Lord Wiki says there's a memorial statue of Mackay, in Griffith, New South Wales, that has an inscribed plaque saying, All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

I thought that was an Eli Wiesel quote, but now I'm thinking maybe it's from Churchill

11. Learned from Google that the quote doesn't come from Churchill or Wiesel. 

It's from Edmund Burke. 

12. Figured I might be wrong about Edmund Burke.

Lord Wiki says it's false that the quote came from him.

13. Skimmed over article that seems to say no one really knows who came up with that quote. 

Maybe it was just a guy hanging out with his friends watching Star Wars.

14. Decided to do some more playing on TV Guide.

I'm looking for Australian actors in new American TV shows.

What Aussies had success during pilot season?  

15. Saw that the show I'm on is The Frankenstein Code. It's about a cop who's brought back from the dead.

16. Looked at the description of the show. It reminds me a lot of that show from several years ago. Now and Again. Remember that? With Eric Close and John Goodman?  

Both shows involve a man dying and then being reborn into the body of a younger man.  

In The Frankenstein Code, the younger version of the guy is played by Hoyt from True Blood.

17. Wanted to mention that while doing this research, I'm listening to Michael Giacchino's "Moving On" from Lost.  I'm kind of getting re-obsessed with the soundtrack, because I recently realized there are bits from Inside Out that are very similar. Giacchino did some recycling.  I think now that might be one of the reasons I cried so hard at the movie. I thought I was crying for Riley and Bing Bong, but maybe my subconscious was crying over Charlie, Clair, Ben, Locke, Jack, etc.  

18. Saw from IMDb that The Frankenstein Code may have changed it's name to Lookinglass. 

19. Wondered why there's a G missing in the title. Did IMDb make a mistake?  Does the misspelling mean something clever?

20. Started looking at the cast list. 

21. Saw that I'm totally wrong about Hoyt from True Blood.

Sorry, but in the TV Guide picture, it looks very much like Hoyt.

But no. It's actually Macklyn Warlow from True Blood.  Who the hell is that?

Is that the fairy guy?

22. Consulted Lord Wiki's cousin.

I'm half right. Hybrid, right actually.

Macklyn was half fairy and half vampire. I remember him now.

23. Found someone in the cast who MIGHT be Australian.  His name is Rod Hallett. He's kind of a hybrid himself. He seems to be in both Australian and British things.  One of his first roles was on Home and Away, though. So I'm going to go with him being more Australian.  

He appeared on Eastenders. That's British.

He was on Terra Nova. That's American, I think, but filmed in Australia. 

There's a lot of other stuff I don't recognize, so I'm going to guess it's British  

24. Found this website, which says Rod Hallett is a British actor.

25. Looked up one of the episodes of Home and Away that Hallett appeared on.  

It was filmed in London. So, there you go.  

26. Found an Australian.

I actually kind of recognized her name in the credits.

Nicky Whelan. She played Pepper on Neighbours in 2006-2007.  I'm not in the mood to figure out who that is.  She's before my time. And after my time.  

27. Looked at the next show. It's called Game of Silence.  The description says,  An attorney's perfect life is put in jeopardy when his long-lost childhood friends unexpectedly reappear after 25 years and dark secrets resurface.

Does it involve an evil clown?

Actually, this seems to be more about adults who did bad things during their childhood rather than adults who fought against bad things when they were kids.

28. Found an Australian in the cast.

It's David Lyons.  Maybe he's a descendent of the Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons.

29. Saw that Lyons was one of the stars of Sea Patrol.

I don't think I remember him.

30. Looked at photos of Lyon on Sea Patrol.

Maybe I remember him. A little bit.

31. Saw that Lyon had significant roles on two American TV shows—ER and Revolution.

32. Found another Australian—Claire van der Boom from Rush!

33. Wondered if Neighbours misses their American audience.

Do they care about us at all?

Honestly, I feel a bit abandoned.

34. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to the 71st song, which is another Amity Affliction thing. It's called "The Weigh Down".

35. Started watching the video for "The Weigh Down".

There's a burial, and the screamer guy is screaming.

36. Saw that the video is about child abuse. Or at least child abuse is one part of it.

37. Thought about how this video has fire getting to the band, while one of the other ones I've seen had water.

38. Reminded by Lord Wiki that the water song was "Pittsburgh"

Starting New TV Shows, IMDb Fun, Dominic Purcell, and Rarmian Newton

1. Thought that most of this blog post will be about Australians in American TV shows.

I'm not watching any Australian show today, because my rule is that I don't start my new TV show until two days after I pick it on Random.org.

Why do I have that rule?

I don't know.

Actually, I do.

It's mostly to give me time to catch up on other shows. Then sometimes it gives me time to mourn the show I've just lost.

2. Decided that I liked Review with Myles Barlow. Sort of. I didn't love it. Sometimes I was bored by it. Sometimes I found it interesting.

But I certainly don't need to mourn it.

3. Went to the TV Guide fall preview feature.

The next show for me to look at is called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It's about a woman who moves from Manhattan to Los Angeles.

Why is that supposed to be interesting?

I'm just wondering.

The star of the show is Rachel Bloom. I've never heard of her. Maybe she's Australian.

4. Learned from IMDb that Rachel Bloom is American not Australian.

5. Looked at the cast list for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.  I don't see any Australian actors I recognize.

I'll click on some names to see if there are Australians that are new to me.

6. Saw that Hans from Frozen is on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. He's not Australian, but I thought that was a fun piece of trivia.

Who is Hans? I'm guessing he was Anna's love interest.

7. Done with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I did not see any Australians.

8. Went to the next TV show. It's Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, starring Gary Sinise.

Any Australians?

9. Looked at the cast list.

10. Did not find any Australians on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders; but did see that Noah, from The Walking Dead, is on the show. That's kind of exciting.

11. Worried I won't find any Australians today.

12. Ate a Tim Tam.

I think I might prefer the originals over the caramel ones.

13. Looked at the next American TV show on TV Guide.  It's called Crowded.

I don't know if there are any Aussies, but there are some Yanks I recognize.

First, there's iCarly herself—Miranda Cosgrove! We used to love iCarly. 

Then there's Carrie Preston from True Blood.  I also know her as being married to Michael Emerson from Lost.

The premise of Crowded is a husband and wife that suddenly have their grown children and parents moving in with them. Sound a bit familiar?

It's not exactly Packed to the Rafters, but there are some major similarities.

14. Started looking at the cast list for Crowded.

15. Found an actor that's not Australian, but he looks Australian to me. Ryan Dorsey.

Maybe he was Australian in a past life.

Sometimes people just have an Aussie aura.

16. Did not find any Australians on Crowded.

17. Looked at the next TV show. It's called DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

Guess who's the star?!

Arthur Darvill!  No, he's not Australian, but he's from Doctor Who, and that's equally exciting.

18. Saw from IMDb that Legends of Tomorrow isn't starting until 2016. That's not exactly fall. Not to be picky, or anything.

19. Found an Australian on Legends of Tomorrow.

Dominic Purcell was born in England, but grew up in Australia.

Purcell was on three episodes of Home and Away in 1991.

He was on two episodes of season three of Water Rats.

He was on Heartbreak High.

I think that's it for the major Australian shows. Most of his work has been done in the US. He has a pretty extensive filmography.

20. Saw that Dominic Purcell is probably most known for Prison Break.

21. Saw another Walking Dead star popping back onto television—Sarah Wayne Callies, who played Lori Grimes.

22. Saw at least three of the stars of Legends of Tomorrow were also stars of Prison Break.

23. Added one to the three. Now I have four.

And there's probably more.

24. Moved up five....

25. Saw that the creator of Legends of Tomorrow is the same guy who created Prison Break.

I kind of guessed that.

26. Went to the next show on TV Guide.  It's called Dr. Ken. It's a family comedy about a doctor who's good with the medical bits, but not so good with the patients.

27. Saw a man in the cast picture who reminds me of Kevin Rudd.

28. Saw from the cast list of Dr. Ken that the Kevin Rudd guy is Dave Foley.  I remember him.

29. Thought that maybe Tim told me about this show.  I vaguely remember him telling me about an Asian actor who's also a doctor. And that's the case with Ken Jeong, the guy who plays Dr. Ken.

When we had the conversation, I brought up Jeremy Cumpston from All Saints. He's not a doctor playing a doctor, but he's pretty close. He's a doctor who played a nurse.

30. Looked at the next show. It's a thriller called The Family.  It's about a family who lost a child; then he returns ten years later. The thing is, they don't know if it's really him or not.  I guess they didn't save a DNA sample when the child was lost?

Maybe that's not usually done with missing children.

31. Found an Australian in The Family!

It's Rarmian Newton. He's from Melbourne.

Newton plays young Danny.  I'm not sure who that is—probably not the missing child, because Newton is in his twenties. And from what I gather from TV Guide, the child was supposed to be young when he got lost.

32. Saw that Rarmian Newton was in four episodes of Dance Academy—the second season. He played Michael Slade.

I don't remember him.

33. Learned, from Lord Wiki's cousin, that Michael Slade was a dancer from a Tasmanian school. He competed against the Sydney kids.

34. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to the 70th song, which is "Is it a Banger" by Odd Mob.

What is a banger?

Google says it's a sausage or a a bad car.

Oh! Yeah. I think I've heard the sausage one. Bangers and mash.

35. Could not find an official video for "Is it a Banger".

Or maybe this is official but isn't labeled official. I'm not sure.

36. Liked the beginning of the song.

37. Liked the sound of the song, though, not sure why he's so against the Lumineers.

I love the Lumineers.

38. Started to look at the cast list of the first episode of season two of Underbelly.

I plan to watch that tomorrow.

39. Saw Roy Billing's name.

I know him from Wonderland.

40. Saw that there's an actor from Water Rats—Scott Burgess.

I don't know if I remember him.

His name sounds familiar, though.

41. Found a photo of Scott Burgess.

Now I remember him on Water Rats.

42. Recognized Damon Gameau's name.

I didn't remember who he was at first but then saw that he was on Slide.

43. Saw Asher Keddie!

I think I knew she was on the Underbelly; or I least knew that some Offspring stars were also Underbelly stars.

44. Wondered from where I knew Matthew Newton.

It turns out he's from Farscape! He played the long lost son of Ka D'argo.

45. Saw Myles Pollard's name.

I know him from McLeod's Daughters.

Spring, Hearing Things, Regret, and Surrender

1. Had Australia-brain this morning.

I thought spring was approaching here rather than fall.

It was only for a split second, though. I wanted to know the first day of spring and was about to Google. Then I remembered that fall is coming not spring.

2. Wondered if all countries in the Southern Hemisphere start their seasons on the first day of the month as Australians do. Or do they wait for the Equinox day like we do?

3. Consulted Lord Wiki about Spring. He says Australia and New Zealand see Spring as starting on September 1. He doesn't mention South Africa, but Google says it's the same. They start on September 1.

Lord Wiki says that some Americans begin Spring in February—either after a holiday called Candlemas or after President's Day. I never heard of that before.

4. Saw that Peta Credlin is top news this morning.

I feel stupid, because I have no idea who she is. I don't think I've heard of her before. 

5. Learned from this article that Peta Credlin was Tony Abbott's chief of staff. 

6. Thought that Peta Credlin sounded a bit up herself. The article quotes her as saying, People say to me You're really lucky to have the best job in the country', and I was like, 'There's no luck involved, I worked my guts out for six years to go from opposition to government.

First of all, luck is always involved. People with good luck work hard and have good results. People with bad luck work hard and get no substantial awards or benefits. Really. If hard work was guaranteed to bring good fortunate, all sweatshop workers would become millionaires.

Second, it sounds like Credlin is saying she's the one who pulled the Liberal Party out of opposition and in to government. Or am I misreading things?  I can imagine she played a part, but I don't think she did it single-handedly.

7. Wondered if I'm misinterpreting Credlin. Maybe what she means is she had to work very hard in order to be accepted as Abbot's Chief of Staff once he became Prime Minister.

Yeah. That's probably it. I hope.

8. Started to watch an episode of Review with Myles Barlow.

9. Thought I heard Brendan Cowell's voice on the episode.

Is he guest-starring again? Or is it just someone who sounds like him?

10. Looked at the credits for the episode.

Brendan Cowell didn't play the people I heard. One guy was Brad Jelfs, and the other was Duncan Fellows.

11. Wondered if I'm having Brendan Cowell delusions. Maybe every person is going to start sounding like Brendan Cowell to me.

12. Confused by sounds I was hearing on Review with Myles Barlow. Then I realized it was a commercial coming from another browser window that I had open.

I'm not a big fan of that kind of thing.

It's annoying.

13. Watched some of Mary Poppins with Jack.

It's hard for me to watch it now without thinking of the Australian author (P.L. Travers) and all the grievances she had about the film.

14. Remembered that I once wrote a post about P.L Travers. That was way before we saw Saving Mr. Banks.

While watching Mary Poppins, I didn't think about the woman I learned about while writing my post. I thought about the one I saw played by Emma Thompson. Though they're not two completely different people; I think they're also not quite the same.

It's just like movie Mary Poppins is somewhat the same person as the book Mary Poppins, but they're also quite different.

15. Decided we're all different people depending on who's telling our story.

16. Started to watch another episode of Review with Myles Barlow. 

The first segment is about paying for sex. They make it look much less glamorous than Satisfaction.

17. Liked that Myles Barlow gives sex with a prostitute five stars while it's happening but then later moves it down to two stars.

18. Thought that pigging out on food is also like that. It feels great eating the two big donuts but later there's usually regret...and sometimes a belly ache.

19. Wondered, though. If someone pays for sex with a beautiful high class prostitute, do they usually regret that?

I guess it would depend on various factors. Are they married? Are they seriously involved with someone else? Does it seem unlikely they'll ever have sex with someone without having to pay for it? What are their morals?  If they don't believe in sex without marriage, they're probably going to regret what they did.

20. Started watching another episode of Review with Myles Barlow.

This is the last episode for season one. After I watch it, I'll go to Random.org to pick my next show.

21. Finished watching the episode.

22. Went to Random.org to pick my next show.

It's Underbelly!

I imagine that's going to be interesting.

23. Saw that Hulu only has season two, so I guess that's what I'll be watching.

I think I already knew that about Hulu, actually.

24. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to the 69th song, which is "Surrender" by the Smith Street Band.

25. Thought about "Surrender" by Ball Park Music.

I like that song a lot.

I wonder if I'll like this other "Surrender".

26. Started watching the video for "Surrender"

27. Thought the singer sounded like a drunk man singing karaoke at a party.

It's cute, though.

28. Guessed that this type of singing was probably done on purpose.

Maybe it's supposed to be very casual.

29. Wanted to look for more Australians in American TV shows, but it's late—past my bedtime. I'm tired. I've had a very bad day, and I'm kind of depressed.

I'll do more searching for Aussie actors tomorrow.