Actors Portraying Themselves, Underbelly Composer, Lack of Tears, and the Good Old Days

1. Had a dream about Neighbours; or really, backstage Neighbours.

Ariel Kaplan portrays herself.  She agrees to spend time with a guy backstage. In the past, she said no to sleeping with him. But that was when she was a virgin. Now that she's not a virgin, she's okay with having sex with him.  

It's confusing.  I think, though, that it wasn't the real Ariel Kaplan having the minor drama. It was the character of Ariel Kaplan. You know how actors portray versions of themselves sometimes—like in the TV show Extras and Life's Too Short

2. Looked at the credits for the next episode of Underbelly: Razor I'll be watching. 

Ashleigh Cummings, from Puberty Blues, is on it.  I think Cummings is the one who plays Claudia Karvan's daughter; through I could be wrong.  

3. Had the Underbelly:Razor musical score in my head. 

I'm not sure why I'm noticing the musical scores of Australian TV shows these past two days.

I often notice movie scores, but I don't think I usually pay attention to the scores of TV shows.  

4. Saw that the composer for Underbelly is Burkhard von Dallwitz. It looks like he composed the music for all the seasons of Underbelly.  

He also did the music for The Truman Show.

5. Had an awkward TV moment.

It's where you know a TV show is wanting and expecting you to cry, but you feel nothing.

These types of awkward moments are rare for me, because usually TV shows are mighty successful at jerking my tears. But sometimes....

Well, something go awry. 

Today's failed scene has someone singing "Danny Boy" while the 1920's Underbelly men head off to some big violent fight.

I had another one of these awkward moments a week or so ago with a scene from Sea Patrol.  I forgot what it was exactly, but it involved the Navy sailors saluting each other.

6. Thought that John Batchelor is one of the most adorable Australians. 

He displays a nice mixture of strength and vulnerability. 

7. Started to watch another episode of Underbelly.

8. Thought that people who say things like, the good old days and simpler times should watch Underbelly: Razor.

But then I remembered all the stuff we've been learning in Crash Course World History—the invasions, revolutions, wars, massacres, slavery....

I don't think there has ever been a time period full of happy, easy simplicity.  

When we long for the good old days, maybe what most of us are longing for is our childhood.  If we had a relatively easy childhood (free of disease, starvation, war, exploitation, and molestation), then the decades in which we were young might seem quite nice to us. 

To me, the 80's weren't about the Cold War and the beginning of AIDS. They were about Jolly Ranchers, Pac-Man, The Goonies, Cabbage Patch Dolls, etc.  

9. Felt I was oversimplifying my life a bit. It wasn't all easy. There was some loneliness and a tragic death plus some other not-so-nice things. But the good and easy stuff overshadowed the bad.  

Though my life wasn't perfect, it was better than the drama we see on the front pages of the news. And when we're young, I don't think we give that much attention to the news.   

10. Realized I'm being stupid.

What the hell am I saying?

I'm an adult, and I still don't give much attention to the news. It's background noise to me. 

I live my superficial, easy life.  I know about terrorism and school shootings, but these past few years, for me, have been more about Australia-blogging, going to Disney World, having fun with my family, and watching my TV shows.

But I'm not sure I look back at past decades and think of the good old days. I think I've been educated enough to know that where there are humans there shall be spilled blood and cruelty.  

11. Concluded that the good old days might mean different things to do different people.

For bigots, it might be a time where there was less ethnic mixing and no gay marriage.

For some people, it might be about fashion. They might long for bell bottoms or Poodle Skirts.

Some people long for the time when there were no cell phones and no Internet.

I long for the time where it wasn't scandalous for children to play outside in the neighborhood without adult supervision.  

12. Started to think that I long for the days when The Cosby Show didn't make me think of rape and/or sexual exploitation.  In that regard, the 1980's do seem like the good old days.

The thing is, though, it wasn't the good old days for the women who were sexually abused.

So....that made me think what the good old days really equals is a time when we were ignorant.

When we don't know about bad things; it makes life seem much easier and much more pleasant.

13. Went to the Triple J 2014 list .

Today I'm going to listen to the 99th song, which is a Ball Park Music one. That's cool. I like them. Or at least I like their song "Surrender".

14. Started watching the video for "Trippin the Light Fantastic". 

15. Thought that the video was a lot of fun.

I'd enjoy watching music videos more if more videos were like that one.  

16. Decided the Ball Park Music singer reminds me of these guys from an awesome Disney blog I read.  It's called the Disney Hipster Blog.  

Adam and Andrew also make videos. They're weird, but lovely.