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"