1. Dreamed about being in Australia.
Jack has an especially good time on this visit. I realize that he seems to like going to museums and other such tourist attractions rather than just walking around and looking at stuff.
I start thinking about our next trip—making plans for where we'll go. I decide we should visit places in New South Wales, most within a few hours of Sydney. This time we stayed within the Blue Mountains area; though we didn't visit the main Blue Mountains attractions. I decide we should return to The Blue Mountains. There's another place near Sydney I want to visit. I add that to my list. I think of other places and consider Tamworth. But then I wonder, why would I want to go there? I don't even really like country music. I think about how my Dad likes it. I decide, if I ever go to Australia with my dad, we can go to Tamworth together.
Tim likes country music too but probably not enough to make him very interested in Tamworth.
I imagine my dad would like it, because he's a major music fanboy, especially when it comes to country and pop music.
2. Thought about how my dream kind of contradicted itself. Jack liked the touristy things; yet in the Blue Mountains, we didn't go to the main touristy things.
I think the explanation is that the Blue Mountains in my dreams was different than the real life one. In my dreams, maybe there was some kind of town in the area that had museums and stuff.
Well, and I'm sure there are museums in the Blue Mountains but probably not the type that Jack would prefer.
3. Looked at a website about museums in the Blue Mountains.
I've heard about the toy museum. We'd probably find it interesting.
I'm not sure the others would be of interest to us. Maybe the fire one?
4. Remembered that there is some kind of Nazi display at the toy museum.
5. Read an article about a woman who wanted the toys removed. The toy museum's responded by saying, We feel obliged to present toys as they have been presented throughout history so we can't therefore choose to not present toys that were hugely influential at the time.
I don't remember how I felt about this in the past. But now I'm agreeing with the museum.
The place is not a toy store. It's a toy history museum, and Nazis are part of history.
I think it would be different if they allowed children to actually play with the Nazi toys or if you could buy replicas of the Nazi toys at the gift shop. That would be disturbing.
6. Did think there should probably be more information at the museum about the Holocaust. According to the article, there's only a small sign mentioning that the propaganda toys led to war crimes.
Maybe if they had something a little more than that, people might be less offended.
7. Figured that in order for me to have a more definite opinion about the exhibit, I'd need to see the toys and the sign in it's entirety.
Maybe I'd think it was fine as it is, or maybe I'd find it offensive.
I don't know.
I don't remember how I felt about this in the past. But now I'm agreeing with the museum.
The place is not a toy store. It's a toy history museum, and Nazis are part of history.
I think it would be different if they allowed children to actually play with the Nazi toys or if you could buy replicas of the Nazi toys at the gift shop. That would be disturbing.
6. Did think there should probably be more information at the museum about the Holocaust. According to the article, there's only a small sign mentioning that the propaganda toys led to war crimes.
Maybe if they had something a little more than that, people might be less offended.
7. Figured that in order for me to have a more definite opinion about the exhibit, I'd need to see the toys and the sign in it's entirety.
Maybe I'd think it was fine as it is, or maybe I'd find it offensive.
I don't know.
8. Uploaded a video of wild emus to YouTube.
I've been going through all my videos lately and either deleting them, uploading them to Flickr, or uploading to YouTube. I want to delete them off my computer, because my computer is running out of space. Also, I'm guessing eventually I'll have to upgrade, and I don't want to lose all these videos.
Most of the videos I've marked as private, but I figure the emus can be a public thing. I actually used the footage in one of my montage videos. But someone out there might be interested in seeing just the emus.
9. Saw that my video failed to upload.
I decided to try Flickr; but then realized I already uploaded the video to Flickr.
Oops.
10. Started watching an episode of Scooter: Secret Agent.
11. Saw that this is the episode that includes Kym Gyngell. He plays a toy train enthusiast. He'd probably enjoy the Blue Mountains toy museum. I mean his character would. I have no idea if Gyngell is into toys or not.
12. Recognized an actress on Scooter: Secret Agent—Kate Fitzpatrick.
From IMDb, I can see she appeared on season one and two of Packed to the Rafters. She played a character named Marjorie Stevens. I'm not sure who that is.
13. Remembered.
Sort of.
Maybe she's one of the women who dated Ted (Michael Caton).
Yeah! Now I do remember. She's the one who has the lesbian daughter, and that causes friction between her Ted.
14. Glad I figured it out.
15. Started to watch the last episode of Review with Myles Barlow.
16. Saw from IMDb that there was a Christmas special that aired after the last episode.
It's not available on Hulu, though.
17. Saw that this episode deals with the aftermath of faking cancer—or what happens to people when their deception is discovered. It's also about trying to cling to happiness when things aren't going well in your life.
18. Thought about happiness while cleaning the pool.
I had a bunch of thoughts that would be too long to write here, and a lot of it would probably be bullshit.
So I'll just write down the last thought—a kind of conclusion.
My idea is that we shouldn't try to be happy people. We should try to be people who have happy moments.
Shit. That sounded much better in my head.
Now I'm having an unhappy moment.
Can frustration and happiness coincide within ourselves?
I don't think so.
I've been going through all my videos lately and either deleting them, uploading them to Flickr, or uploading to YouTube. I want to delete them off my computer, because my computer is running out of space. Also, I'm guessing eventually I'll have to upgrade, and I don't want to lose all these videos.
Most of the videos I've marked as private, but I figure the emus can be a public thing. I actually used the footage in one of my montage videos. But someone out there might be interested in seeing just the emus.
9. Saw that my video failed to upload.
I decided to try Flickr; but then realized I already uploaded the video to Flickr.
Oops.
10. Started watching an episode of Scooter: Secret Agent.
11. Saw that this is the episode that includes Kym Gyngell. He plays a toy train enthusiast. He'd probably enjoy the Blue Mountains toy museum. I mean his character would. I have no idea if Gyngell is into toys or not.
12. Recognized an actress on Scooter: Secret Agent—Kate Fitzpatrick.
From IMDb, I can see she appeared on season one and two of Packed to the Rafters. She played a character named Marjorie Stevens. I'm not sure who that is.
13. Remembered.
Sort of.
Maybe she's one of the women who dated Ted (Michael Caton).
Yeah! Now I do remember. She's the one who has the lesbian daughter, and that causes friction between her Ted.
14. Glad I figured it out.
15. Started to watch the last episode of Review with Myles Barlow.
16. Saw from IMDb that there was a Christmas special that aired after the last episode.
It's not available on Hulu, though.
17. Saw that this episode deals with the aftermath of faking cancer—or what happens to people when their deception is discovered. It's also about trying to cling to happiness when things aren't going well in your life.
18. Thought about happiness while cleaning the pool.
I had a bunch of thoughts that would be too long to write here, and a lot of it would probably be bullshit.
So I'll just write down the last thought—a kind of conclusion.
My idea is that we shouldn't try to be happy people. We should try to be people who have happy moments.
Shit. That sounded much better in my head.
Now I'm having an unhappy moment.
Can frustration and happiness coincide within ourselves?
I don't think so.
19. Went to Random.org to pick my next show.
It's the movie Oranges and Sunshine.
Is that the one about the British children brought to Australia—the one that takes place in Perth but was filmed in Adelaide? Or maybe it's the opposite. It could have been filmed in Perth and takes place in Adelaide.
20. Saw from Hulu that I'm at least right about the subject matter of the movie.
21. Saw an interesting antisemitic comment on the movie. Johanna Wagner from Phoenix Arizona says, I have no dough that behind this The Hand of Zion to put their children into even two good family but who know how meny this provided a "hidden" id angal name in the " Protocols Of The Learned Elders Of Zion " and what better then to stick it in the male childs .....this is a hidden war that has been against the WASP starting in the late 1850"s and their goal is almost complete wake up. Don't believe read the book the goyim are nothing but cattle to serve the chosen
I wonder if that's related to the movie or if Wagner just wants to spread her message and randomly put it there.
22. Thought that Wagner might enjoy playing with the Nazi toys at the Blue Mountains museum.
23. Consulted Lord Wiki about the filming location. He says it was Adelaide.
What I remember reading is that the location in which the story takes place no longer had a look that was old-fashioned enough.
24. Found an article that talks about what I'm talking about.
It turns out the setting is not that old-fashioned. I thought they had tried to recreate 1940's Perth in 21st century Adelaide.
But no. They recreated the late 1980's Perth in Adelaide.
25. Learned from Twitter that Christopher Pyne went to Palestine...well, the West Bank specifically.
26. Started to read this article about the visit. A Palestinian Minister is not happy about the visit.
27. Saw that the Palestinian Minister is the Minister of Education. His name is Sabri Saidam. Or is that a female name? I'm not sure.
28. Felt I should mention that Bronwyn Bishop and Tim Wilson were there too.
Who's Tim Wilson?
29. Learned from Lord Wiki that Tim Wilson is the Australian Human Rights Commissioner.
The article says that as well, but I was hoping to get extra information from Lord Wiki. I might...if I continue reading.
30. Learned that Tim Wilson used to be a member of the Liberal Party, but he resigned when he got the Human Rights job. I wonder if he was required to resign, or if he made that choice on his own.
Wilson is openly gay, and supports gay marriage. That's good. Well, it's much better than closeted gay people who are against gay marriage.
31. Went back to reading the article.
Sabri Saidam wasn't fond of Pyne, Bishop, and Wilson, because they were too blunt and didn't have the information and viewpoint that Saidam wanted them to have.
They had just visited Israel, and from what I understand, they were a bit too pro-Israel.
I think I can understand where Saidam is coming from. It's like when someone asks you a lot of questions—kind of bombards you with them. And you know they're really not on your side.
It's like a scene on Coronation Street where Leanne meets the mother of her new boyfriend, and the mother bombards her with uncomfortable questions.
32. Wondered also if maybe Pyne, Bishop, and Wilson were a bit drunk?
33. Felt compelled to admit that I do like hearing that Australian government officials were more on Israel side. Because I'm more on Israel's side. So I like that they're on the same side as me.
However, it might not be true.
SOMETIMES people are a little oversensitive, and they misinterpret neutrality as not-being-on-our-side.
It's like the JK Rowling fiasco. She pissed off the Palestinians by signing a letter saying she's one of several celebrities who will not be joining a boycott against Israel. However, in a strange editorial she pretty much says that Israel is evil—like Voldemort or another Death Eater. But she just doesn't think closing off lines of communication is the right way of going about things.
To me, it seems she's VERY pro-Palestinian; and anti-Israel. But she received some very angry Tweets from Palestinians. Why? Because she didn't do enough with her anti-Israel stance. She didn't take all the steps they wanted her to take.
On the other hand, someone could say that I'm too picky. Isn't it enough that she didn't join the boycott? Does she also have to be all lovey dovey towards Israel?
34. Reread JK Rowling's editorial and am thinking maybe I got things wrong.
I think she might be saying that Israel is Severus Snape.
If she is, that's pretty awesome.
Well, sort of.
Snape is a hero, but he's also an asshole.
Actually, that does kind of fit for Israel.
It probably fits for most countries, though.
35. Wondered which country is Dumbeldore and decided it would probably be Finland.
Yeah. Finland is totally Dumbeldore.
36. Decided Kreacher would be Palestine.
The United States would be Harry Potter; but not the ones in the book. It would be Harry Potter in the Saturday Night Live segment—the egomaniac that couldn't let go of the excitement and fame of his glory days. (And like the US, he did support slavery in his past)
37. Figured Australia would be Ron Weasley or Lavender Brown.
Why Lavender Brown? I don't know. It just popped into my head.
38. Had no idea which country would be Hermione.
And which one would be Sirius Black?
39. Wondered which country is Voldemort and decided almost every country has a little bit of Voldemort in its soul.
Some have more than others.
40. Remembered that I had more thoughts about happiness and wanted to share them.
It happened when I was taking out the trash. I looked up and saw a crescent moon. It was so beautiful. I thought to myself about how we need to appreciate the little things in life.
Then I thought. No, wait a minute! The moon isn't a little thing. The moon is HUGE. I then saw the stars and thought about how there is this amazing universe, and I'm a part of it. That was totally a happy thought.
Often we wish we were part of the Harry Potter Universe, the Star Wars Universe, The Game of Throne Universe...whatever. But really. The universe we actually live in is quite magnificent.
Jack and I have been learning all this world, US, and biological history. It's amazing to me that I'm a part of it.
Our world isn't perfect. It's not all goodness. But is has so many things—good guys, bad guys, corruption, mystery, horror, adventure, drama, comedy, music, irony, fantastic inventions, progress, failure, etc.
I don't think we always need to be happy about being part of the universe, but I do think we should always feel honored about being included.
It would be really cool if there's life after death, and we can go on and on. But if there's not, at least we can leave a note saying, I WAS HERE.
We are all part of the story.
It's the movie Oranges and Sunshine.
Is that the one about the British children brought to Australia—the one that takes place in Perth but was filmed in Adelaide? Or maybe it's the opposite. It could have been filmed in Perth and takes place in Adelaide.
20. Saw from Hulu that I'm at least right about the subject matter of the movie.
21. Saw an interesting antisemitic comment on the movie. Johanna Wagner from Phoenix Arizona says, I have no dough that behind this The Hand of Zion to put their children into even two good family but who know how meny this provided a "hidden" id angal name in the " Protocols Of The Learned Elders Of Zion " and what better then to stick it in the male childs .....this is a hidden war that has been against the WASP starting in the late 1850"s and their goal is almost complete wake up. Don't believe read the book the goyim are nothing but cattle to serve the chosen
I wonder if that's related to the movie or if Wagner just wants to spread her message and randomly put it there.
22. Thought that Wagner might enjoy playing with the Nazi toys at the Blue Mountains museum.
23. Consulted Lord Wiki about the filming location. He says it was Adelaide.
What I remember reading is that the location in which the story takes place no longer had a look that was old-fashioned enough.
24. Found an article that talks about what I'm talking about.
It turns out the setting is not that old-fashioned. I thought they had tried to recreate 1940's Perth in 21st century Adelaide.
But no. They recreated the late 1980's Perth in Adelaide.
25. Learned from Twitter that Christopher Pyne went to Palestine...well, the West Bank specifically.
26. Started to read this article about the visit. A Palestinian Minister is not happy about the visit.
27. Saw that the Palestinian Minister is the Minister of Education. His name is Sabri Saidam. Or is that a female name? I'm not sure.
28. Felt I should mention that Bronwyn Bishop and Tim Wilson were there too.
Who's Tim Wilson?
29. Learned from Lord Wiki that Tim Wilson is the Australian Human Rights Commissioner.
The article says that as well, but I was hoping to get extra information from Lord Wiki. I might...if I continue reading.
30. Learned that Tim Wilson used to be a member of the Liberal Party, but he resigned when he got the Human Rights job. I wonder if he was required to resign, or if he made that choice on his own.
Wilson is openly gay, and supports gay marriage. That's good. Well, it's much better than closeted gay people who are against gay marriage.
31. Went back to reading the article.
Sabri Saidam wasn't fond of Pyne, Bishop, and Wilson, because they were too blunt and didn't have the information and viewpoint that Saidam wanted them to have.
They had just visited Israel, and from what I understand, they were a bit too pro-Israel.
I think I can understand where Saidam is coming from. It's like when someone asks you a lot of questions—kind of bombards you with them. And you know they're really not on your side.
It's like a scene on Coronation Street where Leanne meets the mother of her new boyfriend, and the mother bombards her with uncomfortable questions.
32. Wondered also if maybe Pyne, Bishop, and Wilson were a bit drunk?
33. Felt compelled to admit that I do like hearing that Australian government officials were more on Israel side. Because I'm more on Israel's side. So I like that they're on the same side as me.
However, it might not be true.
SOMETIMES people are a little oversensitive, and they misinterpret neutrality as not-being-on-our-side.
It's like the JK Rowling fiasco. She pissed off the Palestinians by signing a letter saying she's one of several celebrities who will not be joining a boycott against Israel. However, in a strange editorial she pretty much says that Israel is evil—like Voldemort or another Death Eater. But she just doesn't think closing off lines of communication is the right way of going about things.
To me, it seems she's VERY pro-Palestinian; and anti-Israel. But she received some very angry Tweets from Palestinians. Why? Because she didn't do enough with her anti-Israel stance. She didn't take all the steps they wanted her to take.
On the other hand, someone could say that I'm too picky. Isn't it enough that she didn't join the boycott? Does she also have to be all lovey dovey towards Israel?
34. Reread JK Rowling's editorial and am thinking maybe I got things wrong.
I think she might be saying that Israel is Severus Snape.
If she is, that's pretty awesome.
Well, sort of.
Snape is a hero, but he's also an asshole.
Actually, that does kind of fit for Israel.
It probably fits for most countries, though.
35. Wondered which country is Dumbeldore and decided it would probably be Finland.
Yeah. Finland is totally Dumbeldore.
36. Decided Kreacher would be Palestine.
The United States would be Harry Potter; but not the ones in the book. It would be Harry Potter in the Saturday Night Live segment—the egomaniac that couldn't let go of the excitement and fame of his glory days. (And like the US, he did support slavery in his past)
37. Figured Australia would be Ron Weasley or Lavender Brown.
Why Lavender Brown? I don't know. It just popped into my head.
38. Had no idea which country would be Hermione.
And which one would be Sirius Black?
39. Wondered which country is Voldemort and decided almost every country has a little bit of Voldemort in its soul.
Some have more than others.
40. Remembered that I had more thoughts about happiness and wanted to share them.
It happened when I was taking out the trash. I looked up and saw a crescent moon. It was so beautiful. I thought to myself about how we need to appreciate the little things in life.
Then I thought. No, wait a minute! The moon isn't a little thing. The moon is HUGE. I then saw the stars and thought about how there is this amazing universe, and I'm a part of it. That was totally a happy thought.
Often we wish we were part of the Harry Potter Universe, the Star Wars Universe, The Game of Throne Universe...whatever. But really. The universe we actually live in is quite magnificent.
Jack and I have been learning all this world, US, and biological history. It's amazing to me that I'm a part of it.
Our world isn't perfect. It's not all goodness. But is has so many things—good guys, bad guys, corruption, mystery, horror, adventure, drama, comedy, music, irony, fantastic inventions, progress, failure, etc.
I don't think we always need to be happy about being part of the universe, but I do think we should always feel honored about being included.
It would be really cool if there's life after death, and we can go on and on. But if there's not, at least we can leave a note saying, I WAS HERE.
We are all part of the story.