Returning TV Shows, Captain Cook, Extreme Danger, and Other Explorers

1. Dreamed a dream that involved a crazy woman wanting to force someone to eat the Prime Minister, and choosing socks that might be unseasonably wintery. Then someone how that dream morphed into a dream about watching old episodes of  Neighbours. I realize I might be watching Neighbours on Hulu. I'm wondering if it came back, and I didn't even notice.  I question what I'll do if it has come back. Will I immediately go back to watching it or wait until Random.org picks it for me? I consider that I can make it my next show, since I'm almost done with one of the ones I've been watching.

I'm not sure if the future-meal Prime Minister was Australian or not. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Malcolm Turnbull.

It might have been Julia Gillard.

2. Started watching an episode of Sea Patrol.

3. Saw from IMDb that Emelia Burns, from The Elephant Princess, is in the episode.

I've already seen her. I thought she looked vaguely familar but didn't put much effort into remembering where I've seen her before.  

4. Planned to start watching a Crash Course video about Captain Cook.  I'm doing it for our homeschooling curriculum.  I'm going to watch the video and make a Quizlet for Jack to do later.

I used to make Quizlets without watching the videos first. I would end up with questions that were not talked about in the video. Jack didn't like this. My argument was that I'm not testing him. The Quizlet is just another way of teaching him.  I'm giving him a broader view about the subject.

But then I decided to try Jack's idea—watch the video and make a quizlet off of that. It turns out it's more easier and enjoyable that way. (For me and him!)

I still try to give him (us, really) a broader view on things. We will often read other websites and watch other videos about the subject Crash Course is teaching us that day. 

5. Saw John Green celebrate because he's finally mentioned Australia and New Zealand. He says, Now you Australians have to shut up about how we've never mentioned you.

I wonder if there had been many complaints from Australians.

6. Saw Emelia Burns again, and felt stupid for not recognizing her earlier. 



7. Thought about how Sea Patrol is about Navy sailors working during peacetime. Yet, in every episode, their lives are in grave danger.

Is there really that much excitement in the navy?

8. Wondered about other jobs—such as firefighters and police officers. Are their lives often in grave danger? I don't imagine that's the case. I think many of their days would be mundane.  

Really. Everyday, each of us has a chance of dying. I'm sure that's the same for people who have dangerous jobs. But there are situations where death is much more imminent.  I picture those situations happening for peacetime military folks, police officers, and firefighters, but I don't imagine it's a daily occurrence.  

 9. Thought it might be unfair to say that the Navy on Sea Patrol is working during peacetime. Australia is at peace, but the navy is dealing with some island that's having a war.  

10. Finished watching the Crash Course video about Captain James Cook. There was very little said about Australia. Most of the video was about Cook's death in Hawaii.

11. Looked for supplementary stuff for our Crash Course history lesson today.

I think one of the things I'm going to use is a list of explorers who visited Australia before Cook. 

I'm pretty sure Jack already knows that Cook wasn't the first European to find Australia, but I don't think he knows the details.

12. Thought about why Cook is considered to be the guy who discovered Australia.

I think it's because he's the one who led to the British colonizing New South Wales. He was British, and the people who came eighteen years later were from the UK as well.  

But then again, Christopher Columbus is most often credited with discovering America, and he wasn't the same nationality as the main group that ended up settling there.

Really. Why is Cook given so much credit? Why are the others so often ignored?

Maybe it's just a basic case of one person getting more than their share of the glory. From what we've been learning, it seems to happen a lot in science, technology, and exploration.  

13. Looked at the list of explorers.

It seems a lot of them didn't actually land on the mainland. They landed on islands off the coast of Australia, and/or they mapped the coastline of the mainland. Maybe? I'm having a hard time understanding.  It seems to me, though, that they didn't actually get off their ship to hang out on the big mysterious continent. 

14. Saw that there were also a lot of shipwrecks.  

Maybe Cook is special, because he and his crew survived...well, at least the Australian leg of the adventure.  

15. Confused about William Dampier, so I Googled. What I was trying to figure out is whether he was the first European to step on the mainland.  

He was.

I think the reason he gets less credit than James Cook is Dampier landed in Western Australia. From what I remember, Western Australia became part of the nation of Australia a bit after New South Wales was part of the country.  

Actually...wasn't Western Australia the last to join the Federation? 

16. Consulted Lord Wiki.

He says I'm right. Western Australia was the last to join Australia.  All this joining the Federation stuff happened at the very end of the 1800's.  By then the story of Captain Cook and the First Fleet were over a hundred years old. The story was probably already engrained in people's brains. William Dampier was probably just some guy who discovered that area far away.  

17. Thought of all the extraterrestrials who are exploring Earth—kidnapping earthlings to study their anuses. Hardly any of us believe in them, and they're probably not going to get any credit for discovering us. They're probably part of some fringe group from their planet—ignored and ridiculed.

Then someday, some alien is going to come and make herself known to us.  Her face is going to be plastered on all our native magazines and all the magazines from her planet. She's going to get credit for being the extraterrestrial who first discovered Earth, and all the other past explorers are going to be ignored.  

It's a sad thing.  

18. Started watching the last episode of season two of Underbelly.

19. Watched Terry Clark (Matthew Newton) disprove the manta, only the good die young. 

I did feel a little sad for him when he had his heart attack. It looked somewhat scary.  

I imagine that it's a better death, though, than being murdered by another person. 

Maybe?  

20. Wondered why death has to be so painful and dramatic.

Isn't it bad enough that our life is coming to an end?

21. Decided maybe it's fitting since birth is also painful and dramatic.

22. Appreciated Underbelly for getting somewhat metaphysical at the end.

This week we watched a SciShow video about hallucinations, and it was extremely anti-metaphysical.  They pushed the idea that visitations from dead people, out of body experiences, and other such things are all just tricks of the mind. I wish they had provided a more open-minded viewpoint. I definitely believe in hallucinations, but I do imagine that sometimes it's something more.  

With Underbelly, a dying man is visited by an already dead man. It's ambiguous. You can believe what you want to believe—ghosts, or you can choose hallucination.  

23. Looked at SciShow's description of themselves. They say,  With equal parts skepticism and enthusiasm, we go a little deeper...without going off the deep end.

Yeah. That annoys me.

I'm not a fan of that type of skepticism. I think you can do science and talk about science without trying to crush spiritual and religious ideas.

24. Went to Random.org to find my next TV show.

It's more Underbelly!

A week or so ago, I wouldn't have been happy with that news. But by now I've grown to like the show.

25. Looked at the other Underbelly on Hulu. It's called Underbelly Razor, and it takes place in the 1920's.

26. Looked at the cast of the first episode of Underbelly Razor. There are a few names and/or faces I recognize.

I know Danielle Cormack from Wentworth and Rake.

I know John Batchelor from Sea Patrol.

I know Guy Edmonds from A Moody Christmas. Though I had to click on his name to see why I recognized him.

27. Saw that there's another Sea Patrol actor in the cast—Jeremy Lindsay Taylor.

28. Recognized Justin Rosniak's name, but couldn't remember what I knew him from.

It's Home and Away and Packed to the Rafters.

29. Saw Richard Brancatisano.  I know him as Migraine-boy from The Elephant Princess, and he was also on Reef Doctors.

30. Realized I recognized Anna McGahan's face.  I know her from House Husbands.

31. Clicked on Chelsie Preston Crayford's name even though I didn't recognize her name or face. It turns out I have seen her in something before. She was on The Code.  Now I remember her.

32. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

My song for today is the 92nd song. It's "Love Me Less" by One day.

33. Started listening to "Love Me Less".

I like the beginning—the instrumental part.

The rest is okay, too. I don't love it, but I also don't dislike it.  

34. Wondered how Toadie (Ryan Moloney) is doing on Neighbours.

Is he still paralyzed?

I bet he is.

But I doubt he'll be for much longer.

I'm betting by 2016, he'll be walking again.

35. Thought it would be kind of cool if he's not walking again.

It would be horrible to wish a severe disability on a real person, but I think it's okay with a fictional person. Right?

Or maybe not. I'm feeling kind of bad about it.

Maybe it's because Toadie FEELS real to me. I want him to be okay again.

I like him.

For me, it's not so much about whether he walks again or not. What I hate is the idea of him spending the rest of his life depressed.  If he remains paralyzed, I hope he can adjust to it eventually and find some happiness.