1. Dreamed about a Helen and a Helena. I'm not sure why. But it made me wonder if there are any Helen or Helena places in Australia.
2. Saw that there's a clothing company based in Australia called Helen Kaminski.
They use a lot of something called raffia, and they source theirs from Madagascar.
3. Consulted Lord Wiki about raffia. It comes from a palm tree. It looks papery and not very comfortable. I imagine it more in a basket or mat than clothing.
4. Realized Helen Kaminski might be using it in their hats. They mentioned having those. Hats don't need to be all soft and fluffy.
5. Started to look through Helen Kaminksi's merchandise. I'm going to see if there's anything I like.
6. Felt mildly attracted to this bag. Or I dislike it less than I dislike the other stuff.
I don't think Helen Kaminski has my type of style.
7. Learned that Helen Kaminski is a hat and bag store. They don't sell clothing stuff.
8. Looked at more Helen stuff.
In Ballarat, there is a division of Federation University Australia called Mt Helen Campus.
Is Federation University Australia a Ballarat thing? I don't think I've heard of it before.
9. Decided it probably is. Their flag looks like the Eureka flag.
10. Saw that the school is mostly in Ballarat, but they also have campuses elsewhere, such as Gippsland and Horsham.
11. Wondered if there's a mountain in Ballarat called Helen.
I don't see anything about that, but Lord Wiki says there's a suburb in Ballarat called Mount Helen.
12. Googled Helena Australia.
13. Saw that there's a company called Helena Laboratories. They sell clinical diagnostic products.
14. Learned that the Helena company isn't based in Australia. They're based in Beaumont Texas!
Their Australian division was established in 1981.
15. Looked at Google Maps to find Beaumont; then realized I looked at Beaumont just a few days ago.
We learned about the Cajun people, and how they're displaced Acadians from Canada and Maine. That totally fascinated me, and I was looking into doing a short road trip to Louisiana. I saw Beaumont was fairly close to us, and I was hoping it was on the Louisiana side. But it ended up being part of Texas.
16. Saw that, like Erinsborough, Helena Laboratories, is in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. Actually, it's only a thirteen minute drive away from Vermont South—the place that stands in for Ramsey Street.
17. Learned from Lord Wiki that there's a suburb in Perth called Mount Helena.
Perth also has something called Helena Valley.
18. Learned that there is a St Helena Island in Moreton Bay Queensland. Like Port Arthur, it's a prison thing. In the past, it was a place of suffering. Now it's a place for tourism.
19. Started reading one of my old blog entries (as I do everyday) and found a quote from a Helen— Helen Razer. It's a quote about the TV show, Go Back To Where You Came From in regards to complaints that the show was preaching to the choir. Helen said: SBS did not "preach to the choir". Instead, they kicked the choir off its bum, booted it out of the Church of the Holier Than Thou and made a popular reality show that people who'd never sung the Battle Hymn Of The Smug Progressive watched and discussed.
20. Wondered if I will encounter more Helens today.
21. Started watching the last episode of season two of Sea Patrol.
22. Saw that there's a character on this episode named Helen!
No, I'm joking. There's not.
But wouldn't it be funny if there was?
23. Finished watching Sea Patrol.
24. Went to Random.org to pick my next show.
It's the miniseries, Howzat: Kerry Packer's War.
25. Wondered if I will dislike Howzat. It's about sports, and I'm not very interested in that.
But who knows. I might end up being surprised.
26. Started to look at the cast of Howzat.
Lachy Hulme from Offspring plays Howzat. Though I already knew that.
Other actors that are familiar to me: Damon Gameau, Brendan Cowell, Mathew La Nevez! Richard Davies, Nicholas Bell, and Paul Ireland.
The show has at least three actors from Offspring. Maybe I'll like it for that.
27. Looked at an actor from Howzat named Angus Sampson. He's on Fargo.
28. Saw that I would have seen Sampson in Paper Giants: Magazine Wars. He played the diver who had a tragedy.
29. Learned, from Lord Wiki, that Sampson was born in Sydney in 1979.
30. Got ready to start watching Underbelly Razor.
It seems strange to do that, since I've been talking about Howzat. But I'm going to start that series on Sunday.
31. Somewhat excited to see Australia in the 1920's.
32. Enjoyed seeing Charge (John Batchelor) in his 1920's garb.
He's one of my favorites on Sea Patrol.
33. Liked the 1920's clothes and furniture I'm seeing.
Maybe I'm a a fan of 1920's fashion, and I didn't even know it.
34. Read a very sad post from Connie on the Love Your Sister Breast Cancer Blog. Connie says, We had a very touching little chat with a small group of kids experiencing sadness and I felt honoured that they talked to us about their loss. It gave me a glimpse into what my children will experience, and affected me profoundly. I cried with these children, and later when I was alone and reflected on it, I cried for these children, then I cried for my boys, who, before long will lose their own mummy.
I think there's something so incredibly sad about children losing their parents. I think it would be horrible to have to anticipate that happening to your child—whether you're the parent who is dying or the other parent.
35. Felt it was much better when people die when they're elderly, and their offspring are adults.
36. Figured out that the reason I recognize Jack Campbell from Underbelly: Razor is that I saw him on All Saints. Well, because I've been wondering while watching.
37. Decided that Jeremy Lindsay Taylor reminds me of Crispin Glover—especially in Puberty Blues.
It might be more about personality and mannerisms than physical appearance.
38. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.
Today I'm going to listen to the 94th song, which is "Liquorlip Loaded Gun" by Sticky Fingers
39. Started watching the video for "Liquorlip Loaded Gun".
40. Liked the song.
41. Saw from comments that the song was heard on something called Beard Ninja. I think it's a cartoon of some kind.
42. Felt like I was in the mood to listen to cover songs—not from famous people but struggling artist types. Or just people having fun on YouTube.
43. Impressed with Francisco Cream's cover of Vance Joy's "From Afar".
44. Amazed by the talent that can be found on YouTube.
45. Wasn't sure if I liked Laurence Baker's cover of Angus and Julia Stone's "Love Will Take You There".
It's very different from the original. And I usually like when people do this with their covers. I guess the problem is I really love the sound of the Angus and Julie Stone's version.
Baker's cover is nice, though.
I just prefer the original.
46. Mentioned holiday parks to Jack, and then he wanted to find the websites of the holiday parks we stayed at.
We did that for awhile.
There was One Mile Beach Resort in the Port Stephens area. We stayed there in 2007. Then in 2009, we stayed at Seven Mile Beach Holiday Park in Gerroa.
47. Decided to count up the points I've accumulated for all the Australian places I want to go to.
I've been accumulating points for Aussie places. Then, if and when we decide to go back to Australia, I'll count up the points, and that will help me decide where we'll go.
So. far....
I have 8 points for the North Queensland/Great Barrier Reef area.
I have 5 points for the Brisbane area of Queensland. That would include stuff like the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, etc.
I have 6 points for the northern bits of Queensland that are less coastal—places like Charter Towers and Emerald.
I have 3 points for Darwin, and 1 point for Broome.
I have 18 points for some type of road trip starting in Adelaide.
I have 5 points for Tasmania.
I have 10 points for New South Wales.
I have 8 points for Victoria and 8 points for Western Australia.
We're not going to Australia anytime soon, so there's plenty of time for things to change. But right now, it looks like Adelaide is on the top of my list.
48. Figured if we were going to go to Australia soon, I'd probably plan on us doing a driving trip in New South Wales, and a driving trip in South Australia.
It all sounds great to me.
49. Listened to Indi Sage's cover of Whitley's "More than Life". She sings with someone named Jayden Marie.
It's interesting.
They make me feel like I'm at summer camp.
50. Started to listen to Cookoustic's cover of Ball Park Music's "Surrender". It's so damn cute; it makes me want to cry.
51. Saw that Cookoustic has done several covers of Aussie songs.
52. Bookmarked their page so I can watch more later.
I'm going to watch one more video now before I go to bed.
53. Realized I'm wrong.
There's not a huge amount of Aussie songs. There's four or five—most of them Matt Corby.
54. Started to listen to Cookoustic's cover of Vance Joy's "From Afar"
55. Loved that our planet is full of singing people.
We should all make a musical...like a mass worldwide flashmob.
2. Saw that there's a clothing company based in Australia called Helen Kaminski.
They use a lot of something called raffia, and they source theirs from Madagascar.
3. Consulted Lord Wiki about raffia. It comes from a palm tree. It looks papery and not very comfortable. I imagine it more in a basket or mat than clothing.
4. Realized Helen Kaminski might be using it in their hats. They mentioned having those. Hats don't need to be all soft and fluffy.
5. Started to look through Helen Kaminksi's merchandise. I'm going to see if there's anything I like.
6. Felt mildly attracted to this bag. Or I dislike it less than I dislike the other stuff.
I don't think Helen Kaminski has my type of style.
7. Learned that Helen Kaminski is a hat and bag store. They don't sell clothing stuff.
8. Looked at more Helen stuff.
In Ballarat, there is a division of Federation University Australia called Mt Helen Campus.
Is Federation University Australia a Ballarat thing? I don't think I've heard of it before.
9. Decided it probably is. Their flag looks like the Eureka flag.
10. Saw that the school is mostly in Ballarat, but they also have campuses elsewhere, such as Gippsland and Horsham.
11. Wondered if there's a mountain in Ballarat called Helen.
I don't see anything about that, but Lord Wiki says there's a suburb in Ballarat called Mount Helen.
12. Googled Helena Australia.
13. Saw that there's a company called Helena Laboratories. They sell clinical diagnostic products.
14. Learned that the Helena company isn't based in Australia. They're based in Beaumont Texas!
Their Australian division was established in 1981.
15. Looked at Google Maps to find Beaumont; then realized I looked at Beaumont just a few days ago.
We learned about the Cajun people, and how they're displaced Acadians from Canada and Maine. That totally fascinated me, and I was looking into doing a short road trip to Louisiana. I saw Beaumont was fairly close to us, and I was hoping it was on the Louisiana side. But it ended up being part of Texas.
16. Saw that, like Erinsborough, Helena Laboratories, is in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. Actually, it's only a thirteen minute drive away from Vermont South—the place that stands in for Ramsey Street.
17. Learned from Lord Wiki that there's a suburb in Perth called Mount Helena.
Perth also has something called Helena Valley.
18. Learned that there is a St Helena Island in Moreton Bay Queensland. Like Port Arthur, it's a prison thing. In the past, it was a place of suffering. Now it's a place for tourism.
19. Started reading one of my old blog entries (as I do everyday) and found a quote from a Helen— Helen Razer. It's a quote about the TV show, Go Back To Where You Came From in regards to complaints that the show was preaching to the choir. Helen said: SBS did not "preach to the choir". Instead, they kicked the choir off its bum, booted it out of the Church of the Holier Than Thou and made a popular reality show that people who'd never sung the Battle Hymn Of The Smug Progressive watched and discussed.
20. Wondered if I will encounter more Helens today.
21. Started watching the last episode of season two of Sea Patrol.
22. Saw that there's a character on this episode named Helen!
No, I'm joking. There's not.
But wouldn't it be funny if there was?
23. Finished watching Sea Patrol.
24. Went to Random.org to pick my next show.
It's the miniseries, Howzat: Kerry Packer's War.
25. Wondered if I will dislike Howzat. It's about sports, and I'm not very interested in that.
But who knows. I might end up being surprised.
26. Started to look at the cast of Howzat.
Lachy Hulme from Offspring plays Howzat. Though I already knew that.
Other actors that are familiar to me: Damon Gameau, Brendan Cowell, Mathew La Nevez! Richard Davies, Nicholas Bell, and Paul Ireland.
The show has at least three actors from Offspring. Maybe I'll like it for that.
27. Looked at an actor from Howzat named Angus Sampson. He's on Fargo.
28. Saw that I would have seen Sampson in Paper Giants: Magazine Wars. He played the diver who had a tragedy.
29. Learned, from Lord Wiki, that Sampson was born in Sydney in 1979.
30. Got ready to start watching Underbelly Razor.
It seems strange to do that, since I've been talking about Howzat. But I'm going to start that series on Sunday.
31. Somewhat excited to see Australia in the 1920's.
32. Enjoyed seeing Charge (John Batchelor) in his 1920's garb.
He's one of my favorites on Sea Patrol.
33. Liked the 1920's clothes and furniture I'm seeing.
Maybe I'm a a fan of 1920's fashion, and I didn't even know it.
34. Read a very sad post from Connie on the Love Your Sister Breast Cancer Blog. Connie says, We had a very touching little chat with a small group of kids experiencing sadness and I felt honoured that they talked to us about their loss. It gave me a glimpse into what my children will experience, and affected me profoundly. I cried with these children, and later when I was alone and reflected on it, I cried for these children, then I cried for my boys, who, before long will lose their own mummy.
I think there's something so incredibly sad about children losing their parents. I think it would be horrible to have to anticipate that happening to your child—whether you're the parent who is dying or the other parent.
35. Felt it was much better when people die when they're elderly, and their offspring are adults.
36. Figured out that the reason I recognize Jack Campbell from Underbelly: Razor is that I saw him on All Saints. Well, because I've been wondering while watching.
37. Decided that Jeremy Lindsay Taylor reminds me of Crispin Glover—especially in Puberty Blues.
It might be more about personality and mannerisms than physical appearance.
38. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.
Today I'm going to listen to the 94th song, which is "Liquorlip Loaded Gun" by Sticky Fingers
39. Started watching the video for "Liquorlip Loaded Gun".
40. Liked the song.
41. Saw from comments that the song was heard on something called Beard Ninja. I think it's a cartoon of some kind.
42. Felt like I was in the mood to listen to cover songs—not from famous people but struggling artist types. Or just people having fun on YouTube.
43. Impressed with Francisco Cream's cover of Vance Joy's "From Afar".
44. Amazed by the talent that can be found on YouTube.
45. Wasn't sure if I liked Laurence Baker's cover of Angus and Julia Stone's "Love Will Take You There".
It's very different from the original. And I usually like when people do this with their covers. I guess the problem is I really love the sound of the Angus and Julie Stone's version.
Baker's cover is nice, though.
I just prefer the original.
46. Mentioned holiday parks to Jack, and then he wanted to find the websites of the holiday parks we stayed at.
We did that for awhile.
There was One Mile Beach Resort in the Port Stephens area. We stayed there in 2007. Then in 2009, we stayed at Seven Mile Beach Holiday Park in Gerroa.
47. Decided to count up the points I've accumulated for all the Australian places I want to go to.
I've been accumulating points for Aussie places. Then, if and when we decide to go back to Australia, I'll count up the points, and that will help me decide where we'll go.
So. far....
I have 8 points for the North Queensland/Great Barrier Reef area.
I have 5 points for the Brisbane area of Queensland. That would include stuff like the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, etc.
I have 6 points for the northern bits of Queensland that are less coastal—places like Charter Towers and Emerald.
I have 3 points for Darwin, and 1 point for Broome.
I have 18 points for some type of road trip starting in Adelaide.
I have 5 points for Tasmania.
I have 10 points for New South Wales.
I have 8 points for Victoria and 8 points for Western Australia.
We're not going to Australia anytime soon, so there's plenty of time for things to change. But right now, it looks like Adelaide is on the top of my list.
48. Figured if we were going to go to Australia soon, I'd probably plan on us doing a driving trip in New South Wales, and a driving trip in South Australia.
It all sounds great to me.
49. Listened to Indi Sage's cover of Whitley's "More than Life". She sings with someone named Jayden Marie.
It's interesting.
They make me feel like I'm at summer camp.
50. Started to listen to Cookoustic's cover of Ball Park Music's "Surrender". It's so damn cute; it makes me want to cry.
51. Saw that Cookoustic has done several covers of Aussie songs.
52. Bookmarked their page so I can watch more later.
I'm going to watch one more video now before I go to bed.
53. Realized I'm wrong.
There's not a huge amount of Aussie songs. There's four or five—most of them Matt Corby.
54. Started to listen to Cookoustic's cover of Vance Joy's "From Afar"
55. Loved that our planet is full of singing people.
We should all make a musical...like a mass worldwide flashmob.