Youthful Cast, Herbert Hoover, Kevin Rudd in NYC, and Cairnes' Horror Stuff

1. Started to watch an episode of Scooter: Secret Agent.

2. Saw that Bud Tingwell is in this episode.

He looked familiar to me, but I didn't know who he was. IMDb had to inform me.

Another person I recognized, on the episode, is Nikolai Nikolaeff from The Saddle Club.  I knew right away it was him, but this might because I saw his name, a few weeks ago, when I first looked at Scooter: Secret Agent on IMDb. 

3. Started watching an episode of Home and Away. 

4. Decided I might enjoy Home and Away more if I consider it a teen show.

It's more similar to shows like Charmed, Pretty Little Liars, Vampire Diaries, and Beverly Hills 90210 than it is to shows like Neighbours and Coronation Street

The other day I tried comparing it to Days of our Lives, but from what I used to watch on DOOL, it was not as youth-oriented as Home and Away.

The main characters of Home and Away seem to all be under thirty and very attractive. There are some older adults, but they don't seem to really have their own storylines. Their roles seem to be more about supporting the younger cast.   

5. Thought of 1988-1990 Home and Away. It was definitely less youth-oriented.  

6. Learned about Herbert Hoover in our history class today. It turns out he spent a lot of time in Australia doing mining work.  

7. Saw that Herbert Hoover actually has an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Wow! I'm not sure if I've ever seen a non-Aussie in there. 

8. Learned that Hoover came to Western Australia when he was in his early twenties. 

9. Got the idea that Hoover's contributions to Australian mining were more positive and impressive than his contributions to the US as our president.  

10. Learned about the Herbert Hoover Bed and Breakfast in Gwalia Western Australia.

Hoover directed the building project but then moved away to China before it was finished.

He did, however, stay in the lodging for some time in 1902. 

11. Saw from Google Maps that Gwalia is around nine hours west of Perth.  

12. Thought it would be a good driving trip for those interested in mining. You'd also pass through Kalgoorlie. 

13. Saw that the rates for the Herbert Hoover Bed and Breakfast are quite reasonable. It's $150 for an ensuite room.  

Since the price is low, it kind of makes me wonder if it's lacking air-conditioning.  

I would think it gets very hot in that area.

14. Read some reviews of Herbert Hoover Bed and Breakfast on Trip Advisor. They're very positive. And the place DOES have air-conditioning. 

15. Wondered if Herbert Hoover spent more time in Australia than any other US president.

16. Wondered which Prime Minister of Australia spent the most time in the US?  Did any of them ever live here? I don't think any did, but I could be wrong.  

17. Learned from Lord Wiki that Kevin Rudd lived in the US in 2014.  He did/does foreign policy type work.

Is he still there?

18. Found an article/interview, from October 2015, about Rudd living in NYC. I'm guessing, since it's only three months later, that he's still there. 

19. Learned that Rudd goes to China about every two months. This makes sense, because his job in New York is being head of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

20. Liked what Rudd says here. By instinct I’m a global citizen, and I have lived out of Australia for many years – I feel very much at home in different parts of the world.

I like the mindset of being a global citizen.

21. Liked what Rudd calls his three-year-old granddaughter—a threenager.  Did he make that term up?

We had a threenager in our family, and now she's a REAL teenager.

22. Googled and saw that Rudd didn't invent the term threenager.

23. Read definitions of threenager, and it pretty much sounds like a typical three-year-old to me—moody and stubborn.

I was picturing something else, but I'm not sure I can explain it.

Maybe it would be a child who seems quite keen to join the teen and/or adult world.

I picture little divas who want to be the center of attention.

24.  Thought about something I read in my old blog post that I read today. It was along the lines of behavior not being determined by age.

Age is a factor to some degree. Of course. But I think temperament trumps that. A flexible, easygoing teenager was probably fairly flexible and easygoing as a toddler. A shy ten-year-old was likely also shy when she was three. A bossy preschooler will probably be bossy when she's college-aged.

Then again, it could go in the opposite direction. An easygoing three-year-old might have bottled up feelings of rebellion that she finally lets out when she's fourteen.

25. Felt I might be wrong, but I don't know.

Is our behavior determined more by age or our general temperament?  Does my personality have more in common with other people in their early forties; or does it have more in common with Dina at age seven and Dina at age twenty-two?

26.  Went to the Tropfest website.

Today I'm going to watch a 2008 film called "Beggar's Belief".

27. Started watching the film.

A beggar is telling people his wife has cancer and their car was stolen.

Is he telling the truth?

28. Saw that the guy is probably lying.

It's another case of someone lying about cancer.

With all this fake cancer in the world, how are the real cancer victims going to be believed?

29. Thought that film was a great morality tale.

It was creepy and suspenseful.

30. Looked at "Beggar's Belief" on IMDb.

It was filmed in Ballarat, which makes sense. It takes place in Ballarat.

31. Saw that the movie was written by Colin and Cameron Cairnes.

I'm going to guess they're brothers.

32. Saw that Colin Cairnes was the director. I wonder if he wrote most of the movie or if the writing was split pretty evenly?

33. Wondered why I'm asking dumb questions.

34. Felt I was actually being a bit dishonest.

I don't really give a crap what percentage of the film was written by which Cairnes brother.

I think I was just trying to be conversational.

It's like when you're at some social event stuck talking to someone you'd rather not talk to. And then you ask rhetorical questions you really don't give a crap about just to fill the silence.

35. Saw that Cameron Cairnes was the writer and director for 100 Bloody Acres.

I might have heard of that before. It sounds familiar.

36. Saw that I knew of some of the actors in the 100 Bloody Acres cast—Damon Herriman, John Jarrett, Anna McGahan, Angus Sampson,

37. Noticed that Cameron AND Colin Cairnes wrote and directed 100 Bloody Acres.

I missed that before.

I'm tired.

38.  Watched the trailer for 100 Bloody Acres.

It looks gruesome.

The jokes didn't make me laugh, but maybe they work better in the actual film than the trailer.

Sometimes I think jokes in trailers feel too forced.

Or there's that feeling that the movie is saying, Look I'm funny! I have jokes. Come see me!  

And then I want to reply.  Are those all your jokes? Are they your funniest? If those are your best jokes, why do I need to see the movie?

If I see a trailer for a comedy and nothing makes me laugh, it's hard to feel motivated about seeing the movie. If it does make me laugh, then I wonder if that's it. Is there any point in seeing the movie? What if the funniest parts are in the trailer, and it doesn't get any better?

I think sometimes, though, it works out that the movie is funnier than the trailer...or at least more entertaining.

There are movies better than their trailers.

There are also trailers that are better than their movies.

39. Looked at the Cairnes' upcoming film. It's a horror movie called Scare Campaign.

Ian Meadows, from The Moody's, is one of the stars.

40. Saw that John Brumpton is in the movie.

I feel like I've seen his name on IMDb recently, but I don't know why.

He was on many episodes of season one of Tangle, but I don't remember him.

41. Saw that the cast of Scare Campaign has two actresses from SeaChange—Sigrid Thornton and Cassandra Magrath.

I remember Thornton's character. I don't know who Magrath played.

42. Wondered if maybe Magrath played Thornton's daughter.

43. Got idea from Lord Wiki that I'm right.

Thornton's and Magrath's characters both have the last name Gibson.

44. Watched the teaser trailer for Scare Campaign.

It looks scary and gruesome.

45. Felt that from what I saw in "Beggar's Belief" and the two trailers, the Cairnes brothers are good with horror.

46. Hoped I wasn't making a mistake about the brother thing.

47. Saw, that in 2007-2008, Colin Cairnes directed a TV show in Singapore called Parental Guidance. 

Surprisingly, it doesn't seem to be a horror thing.

48. Learned from Lord Wiki that 100 Bloody Acres received positive reviews from critics.  I actually saw that mentioned in YouTube comments, but I didn't give it much attention.

One of the critics compared the movie to Shaun of the Dead.  I liked that movie, so maybe I'd also like 100 Bloody Acres.

49. Saw that the movie was nominated for awards—best screenplay, best supporting actor, best actor, and best actress.

50. Found an interview with Colin and Cameron Cairnes.

I think I'm going to read that, and then end this.

I'm really tired.

51. Learned that the brothers have been working together since they were teenagers.

52. Felt relieved to learn that they are indeed brothers.

It seemed highly likely that they were—same last name and the first name alliteration.

But I felt guilty making assumptions.

53. Reminded of my own sibling relationship when reading that Cameron and Colin watched a lot of 1970's and 1980's horror movies.

My sister and I did that; though probably more 80's than 70's.

54. Looked at another article even though I said I wouldn't. It's just I feel conflicted about quitting too soon.

Plus, the article is in Fangoria. I remember looking at that magazine back in the 80's. I might have even bought a few issues.

Anyway, the article/interview says that 100 Bloody Acres has more Aussie references than the other Australian horror movies that have been released recently.

Because of that, I'd really like to see it. Maybe it's on Netflix or Hulu?

55. Checked my to-watch list and saw 100 Bloody Acres is already on it.

So...that's probably why it sounded familiar to me.

Hopefully, I'll end up watching it soon.


Edited to add 4/12/2024- Last night I was listening to the most recent episode of the podcast Weird Crap in Australia.  The episode is about the Cowra breakout.  But what stood out to me is in their rambling they mentioned the new movie Late Night with the Devil. I looked it up and watched the trailer.  I'm very intrigued.  I haven't been this hyper-focused on possession since around Halloween time in October 2022 when I happened to learn about Ronald Hunkeler .

In the past few days, I've taken a few steps back into watching short films.  I decided to watch one of the films from the writer/director of Late Night with the Devil and ended up seeing indication that I had watched or at least started to watch Beggar's Belief already.  And then I saw that I had already given it a thumbs up.  I figured I had watched it for my blog...since it's Australian.  I expected to find I had mentioned it briefly and was pleasantly surprised to find I had blabbed on quite a bit about it.

Also I had recently watched an interview with Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement where one of them complained about American movie trailers.  While watching it, I thought about how I agreed with them.  And so I was also pleasantly surprised that 2015-Me not only agreed but had written about it.





Read my novel: The Dead are Online