1. Dreamed about Australia Day.
I start to question the concept of Invasion Day. I remember that the white Australians didn't actually arrive on January 26. I remember that they arrived a few days before this.
I wake up. I want to write down my dream and do research. I'm also not sure, though, if I want to write a blog post, because we are with a lot of family over the weekend. I want to have time with them. I consider taking a blogging break for one of the days (Saturday or Sunday). I decide I might as well blog today, since I want to talk about my Australia dream.
I leave the bedroom at 6:45, so I don't bother Tim and Jack while writing. To my surprise, most people seem to already be up. I struggle to find a quiet place to write.
At some point, I decide Australians should change either the date of Australia Day or the national anthem. My idea is that Australians should votes on which to change. I start to write about how people who want to keep both, and people who want to change both, will have to compromise.
2. Forced myself to write my dream down on my phone in the middle of the night, though I was feeling tired and lazy.
I did that; then went back to sleep and had more dreams. Two of them were Australia related.
In one, I see a Time Magazine that has Bo and Hope, from Days of our Lives, on the cover. I see the picture was taken at Darling Harbour. For some reason, it makes me a bit sad. Jealous maybe.
In the other dream, Jack and I are at at animal park. We see a kangaroo that's about the size of a hummingbird. Jack gets it to jump up into his arms. I complain about this. I tell him that the kangaroo could jump or fall. It would be too high for something so small.
Jack goes to talk to people who work at the animal park about the kangaroo. Then he reports back to me. The kangaroo doesn't have a mother. There's no way to feed it, and it's destined to die. I'm wondering if there's something we can do to help the kangaroo, but I'm feeling a bit hopeless and helpless.
3. Consulted Lord Wiki about the First Fleet.
He says the ships arrived between January 18-20.
Why not have an Invasion Day on one of those dates? That can be the day that people complain, mourn, feel guilty, etc. Then a few days later, Australians can celebrate the positive aspects of Australia. I mean it's kind of a miracle that a penal colony managed to transform itself into such a spectacular country.
4. Started to watch an episode of Wicked Science.
5. Continued to think the so-called good guys of Wicked Science are actually quite cruel.
I think sometimes people, in both real life and fiction, are divided into good guys and bad guys. The good guys can be as cruel as they want and still maintain their label of good.
Dina (Saskia Burmeister) is downright mean in this episode. She rejects Russell's (Benjamin Schmideg) flirtations in a very cold-hearted way. She threatens to end her friendship with Toby (Andre de Vanny) when he makes a mistake. And she says to Elizabeth (Bridget Neval), People would rather have food poisoning than have anything to do with you.
Now, Dina's insult is in response to Elizabeth's insults to her. It wasn't unprovoked. I'm just saying that the so-called good guys in this story can be just as mean as the so-called villain.
The kids at the school are so mean to Elizabeth. It makes me wonder. Are they mean to her because she's been awful through the years? Or has she turned into a wicked bitch in response to being ostracized for many years?
6. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
7. Didn't understand Spencer's (Andrew J. Morley) way of thinking.
He talks to Maddie (Kassandra Clementi) who tells him she's tired of people wanting to talk only about cancer with her. She talks about needing a friend who isn't so cancer-focused. Spencer talks about being this friend for her. Then he decides to be nice to Maddie by organizing a school fundraiser for cancer.
Yes, it's nice he wants to raise money for cancer. But maybe he can do that later. At this point, I think his focus should be on making life fun for Maddie and not focusing on cancer.
8. Wondered how Maddie is going to react to the fundraiser plan. Will she appreciate it, or not?
9. Wondered about a book sample I'm reading—Silence by Natasha Preston.
The main male character is named Cole, which makes me think of Cole on Charmed, played by Julian McMahon. Then the second most frequent name in the book I've seen is Julian.
Is the author a fan of Julian McMahon, or am I reading too much into things?
On top of the Julian and Cole, though, there is a Ben. Julian McMahon played Ben on Home and Away.
10. Saw that Home and Away was NOT Julian McMahon's first screen appearance.
Yikes. I'm feeling like I'm having one of those Mandela Effect things.
Have you heard of that? Jack told me about it recently. It's where you find out you've been wrong about something and then find other people who have the same falsehood as you. The idea behind it is that these wrong things come from parallel universes.
One of the big examples is hearing someone died and thinking, wait, I thought they died years ago!
The other one involves that certain children's book series with a brother and sister bear learning to eat less junk food, clean their room, etc. How do YOU spell their last name?
But, anyway. Yeah. In my parallel universe, Julian McMahon started his acting career on Home and Away. Apparently, I'm a in a new universe now, and Julian McMahon started his career with The Power, the Passion.
11. Wondered if Vincent Price is alive or dead in this universe.
12. Back to the Julian book.
It could be a coincidence. It probably is.
Once, though, I wrote this time traveling screenplay and used first names of actors I liked at the time.
There was a Gillian for Gillian Anderson; Scott for Scott Wolf; Holly for Holly Marie Combs. I might have had an Alyssa too.
Who else?
I think I had the guy from Now and Again. What's his name?
13. Remembered the name—Eric Close.
14. Couldn't remember the others.
15. Looked at the screenplay. There's also a Richard, Christopher, and Samuel.
I don't know what actors inspired those names.
Maybe Christopher Walken?
16. Wondered if Samuel was for Samuel Jackson.
17. Saw from IMDb that The Power, the Passion had zero episodes.
That's strange.
I don't know what to make of that.
18. Went to the Tropfest website.
Tonight I'm going to watch a 2009 film called "Left Unspoken".
19. Started watching the film.
20. Saw that the film involves friends who've begun dating.
21. Saw the characters confessing secrets to each other.
The man irons his underwear and cries when he watches Titanic.
The woman drinks milk from the carton and likes Brittany Spears.
I think it's cute.
22. Thought the audio in the film was a bit poor.
There's a lot of background noise—like the stuff you hear in home videos.
23. Wondered if the noises are there on purpose. Maybe it's supposed to make it feel more real?
Or was the filmmaker unable to find a good sound technician?
24. Thought the film had a powerful ending.
It reminds me of bad dreams I've had.
25. Watched the credits and saw that the song playing towards the end was a Kate Miller-Heidke song.
26. Looked at the filmography of Avi Lewin, the writer and director. "Left Unspoken" is his only listed credit.
27. Saw that the film DID have a sound department.
28. Saw that Elan Zavelsky, the actor in the film, appeared in three episodes of season two of Underbelly. I can't say I remember him, but he did look slightly familiar to me when I watched "Left Unspoken"
29. Saw that Zavelsky was also in a TV show called Spirited.
I think I've seen this on filmographies, but don't remember ever looking closely at it.
Claudia Karvan was the star.
It was a fantasy thing.
I wrote a post once about how Australia doesn't seem to have a lot of science fiction/fantasy that's not geared towards kids and teens. So, here's an exception. That's very cool.
I hope I can watch it one day.
30. Saw that Claudia Karvan was one of the creators of the show.
31. Went to Avi Lewin's Twitter. He lists his job as being an information security and audit professional. I'm not sure what that is. Something technological, I think.
He also says he's an aspiring screenwriter and director.
32. Saw that Avi Lewin was disappointed that the Steve Jobs movie wasn't being released until January in Australia.
I wonder if it's out by now, and if Lewin has seen it.
33. Checked IMDb.
They're saying the movie's not being released in Australia until February 4.
It's already been released almost everywhere else.
Why is Australia getting it almost last? The only one behind them is Japan.
34. Saw that Avi Lewin got an Apple Watch.
I know someone who got one. She was very excited about it. Then recently, she told me she no longer like its.
35. Liked this Tweet from Lewin. Given the choice of painting any plaster item in the shop, my 3 year old went straight for Darth Vader. I just won parenting. Job done.
That's very cute.
At Disney World, there is a promotional video that talks about how Star Wars is something shared between parents and children.
It's amazing how some pop cultural things are so intergenerational.
Star Wars, Doctor Who, Batman, Superman....
36. Couldn't think of anymore examples.
I suppose I could keep listing superheroes.
37. Liked Lewin's The Walking Dead Tweet.
38. Felt that Lewin is obsessed with the Apple Watch.
He has a LOT of Tweets about it.
39. Googled Sarah Becker, the actress in "Left Unspoken", and ended up on the Australian Theatre For Young People website.
40. Learned that Sarah Becker's advice to young people is, My advice to young people who want to take on the theatre world? Don’t be afraid to have a point of view. Know what it is you stand for and this will give you courage!
Do I know what I stand for?
I'm not sure.
41. Didn't understand how having a point of view would give someone courage.
Are strongly opinionated people more brave than wishy-washy ones?
42. Saw that Becker ended up working with the Australian Youth Orchestra.
I wonder if she plays an instrument.
43. Went to Elan Zavelsky's Instagram.
There's a plate of food that looks really gross to me.
The piece of meat looks like a flattened penis, and then there' something else that looks like leaking brains.
44. Read the caption and learned it's Swedish food.
If anyone Swedish reading this is offended, they can get back at me by commenting on gefilte fish.
45. Didn't think this plate of food looked good either.
I don't think I have the same food likes as Elan Zavelsky.
46. Disliked this food picture.
47. Did like the broccoli in this picture.
I'm trying to be positive here.
48. Liked the quote on this post. Gardening is cheaper than therapy, and you get tomatoes.
49. Thought about how the quote isn't always true.
What if you don't grow tomatoes?
If you don't grow tomatoes and you get tomatoes, you might become obsessed with the mystery of why the tomatoes are growing. It might drive you insane, and then you might end up needing therapy, after all.
50. Saw more and more food that looks very unappetizing to me.
2. Forced myself to write my dream down on my phone in the middle of the night, though I was feeling tired and lazy.
I did that; then went back to sleep and had more dreams. Two of them were Australia related.
In one, I see a Time Magazine that has Bo and Hope, from Days of our Lives, on the cover. I see the picture was taken at Darling Harbour. For some reason, it makes me a bit sad. Jealous maybe.
In the other dream, Jack and I are at at animal park. We see a kangaroo that's about the size of a hummingbird. Jack gets it to jump up into his arms. I complain about this. I tell him that the kangaroo could jump or fall. It would be too high for something so small.
Jack goes to talk to people who work at the animal park about the kangaroo. Then he reports back to me. The kangaroo doesn't have a mother. There's no way to feed it, and it's destined to die. I'm wondering if there's something we can do to help the kangaroo, but I'm feeling a bit hopeless and helpless.
3. Consulted Lord Wiki about the First Fleet.
He says the ships arrived between January 18-20.
Why not have an Invasion Day on one of those dates? That can be the day that people complain, mourn, feel guilty, etc. Then a few days later, Australians can celebrate the positive aspects of Australia. I mean it's kind of a miracle that a penal colony managed to transform itself into such a spectacular country.
4. Started to watch an episode of Wicked Science.
5. Continued to think the so-called good guys of Wicked Science are actually quite cruel.
I think sometimes people, in both real life and fiction, are divided into good guys and bad guys. The good guys can be as cruel as they want and still maintain their label of good.
Dina (Saskia Burmeister) is downright mean in this episode. She rejects Russell's (Benjamin Schmideg) flirtations in a very cold-hearted way. She threatens to end her friendship with Toby (Andre de Vanny) when he makes a mistake. And she says to Elizabeth (Bridget Neval), People would rather have food poisoning than have anything to do with you.
Now, Dina's insult is in response to Elizabeth's insults to her. It wasn't unprovoked. I'm just saying that the so-called good guys in this story can be just as mean as the so-called villain.
The kids at the school are so mean to Elizabeth. It makes me wonder. Are they mean to her because she's been awful through the years? Or has she turned into a wicked bitch in response to being ostracized for many years?
6. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
7. Didn't understand Spencer's (Andrew J. Morley) way of thinking.
He talks to Maddie (Kassandra Clementi) who tells him she's tired of people wanting to talk only about cancer with her. She talks about needing a friend who isn't so cancer-focused. Spencer talks about being this friend for her. Then he decides to be nice to Maddie by organizing a school fundraiser for cancer.
Yes, it's nice he wants to raise money for cancer. But maybe he can do that later. At this point, I think his focus should be on making life fun for Maddie and not focusing on cancer.
8. Wondered how Maddie is going to react to the fundraiser plan. Will she appreciate it, or not?
9. Wondered about a book sample I'm reading—Silence by Natasha Preston.
The main male character is named Cole, which makes me think of Cole on Charmed, played by Julian McMahon. Then the second most frequent name in the book I've seen is Julian.
Is the author a fan of Julian McMahon, or am I reading too much into things?
On top of the Julian and Cole, though, there is a Ben. Julian McMahon played Ben on Home and Away.
10. Saw that Home and Away was NOT Julian McMahon's first screen appearance.
Yikes. I'm feeling like I'm having one of those Mandela Effect things.
Have you heard of that? Jack told me about it recently. It's where you find out you've been wrong about something and then find other people who have the same falsehood as you. The idea behind it is that these wrong things come from parallel universes.
One of the big examples is hearing someone died and thinking, wait, I thought they died years ago!
The other one involves that certain children's book series with a brother and sister bear learning to eat less junk food, clean their room, etc. How do YOU spell their last name?
But, anyway. Yeah. In my parallel universe, Julian McMahon started his acting career on Home and Away. Apparently, I'm a in a new universe now, and Julian McMahon started his career with The Power, the Passion.
11. Wondered if Vincent Price is alive or dead in this universe.
12. Back to the Julian book.
It could be a coincidence. It probably is.
Once, though, I wrote this time traveling screenplay and used first names of actors I liked at the time.
There was a Gillian for Gillian Anderson; Scott for Scott Wolf; Holly for Holly Marie Combs. I might have had an Alyssa too.
Who else?
I think I had the guy from Now and Again. What's his name?
13. Remembered the name—Eric Close.
14. Couldn't remember the others.
15. Looked at the screenplay. There's also a Richard, Christopher, and Samuel.
I don't know what actors inspired those names.
Maybe Christopher Walken?
16. Wondered if Samuel was for Samuel Jackson.
17. Saw from IMDb that The Power, the Passion had zero episodes.
That's strange.
I don't know what to make of that.
18. Went to the Tropfest website.
Tonight I'm going to watch a 2009 film called "Left Unspoken".
19. Started watching the film.
20. Saw that the film involves friends who've begun dating.
21. Saw the characters confessing secrets to each other.
The man irons his underwear and cries when he watches Titanic.
The woman drinks milk from the carton and likes Brittany Spears.
I think it's cute.
22. Thought the audio in the film was a bit poor.
There's a lot of background noise—like the stuff you hear in home videos.
23. Wondered if the noises are there on purpose. Maybe it's supposed to make it feel more real?
Or was the filmmaker unable to find a good sound technician?
24. Thought the film had a powerful ending.
It reminds me of bad dreams I've had.
25. Watched the credits and saw that the song playing towards the end was a Kate Miller-Heidke song.
26. Looked at the filmography of Avi Lewin, the writer and director. "Left Unspoken" is his only listed credit.
27. Saw that the film DID have a sound department.
28. Saw that Elan Zavelsky, the actor in the film, appeared in three episodes of season two of Underbelly. I can't say I remember him, but he did look slightly familiar to me when I watched "Left Unspoken"
29. Saw that Zavelsky was also in a TV show called Spirited.
I think I've seen this on filmographies, but don't remember ever looking closely at it.
Claudia Karvan was the star.
It was a fantasy thing.
I wrote a post once about how Australia doesn't seem to have a lot of science fiction/fantasy that's not geared towards kids and teens. So, here's an exception. That's very cool.
I hope I can watch it one day.
30. Saw that Claudia Karvan was one of the creators of the show.
31. Went to Avi Lewin's Twitter. He lists his job as being an information security and audit professional. I'm not sure what that is. Something technological, I think.
He also says he's an aspiring screenwriter and director.
32. Saw that Avi Lewin was disappointed that the Steve Jobs movie wasn't being released until January in Australia.
I wonder if it's out by now, and if Lewin has seen it.
33. Checked IMDb.
They're saying the movie's not being released in Australia until February 4.
It's already been released almost everywhere else.
Why is Australia getting it almost last? The only one behind them is Japan.
34. Saw that Avi Lewin got an Apple Watch.
I know someone who got one. She was very excited about it. Then recently, she told me she no longer like its.
35. Liked this Tweet from Lewin. Given the choice of painting any plaster item in the shop, my 3 year old went straight for Darth Vader. I just won parenting. Job done.
That's very cute.
At Disney World, there is a promotional video that talks about how Star Wars is something shared between parents and children.
It's amazing how some pop cultural things are so intergenerational.
Star Wars, Doctor Who, Batman, Superman....
36. Couldn't think of anymore examples.
I suppose I could keep listing superheroes.
37. Liked Lewin's The Walking Dead Tweet.
38. Felt that Lewin is obsessed with the Apple Watch.
He has a LOT of Tweets about it.
39. Googled Sarah Becker, the actress in "Left Unspoken", and ended up on the Australian Theatre For Young People website.
40. Learned that Sarah Becker's advice to young people is, My advice to young people who want to take on the theatre world? Don’t be afraid to have a point of view. Know what it is you stand for and this will give you courage!
Do I know what I stand for?
I'm not sure.
41. Didn't understand how having a point of view would give someone courage.
Are strongly opinionated people more brave than wishy-washy ones?
42. Saw that Becker ended up working with the Australian Youth Orchestra.
I wonder if she plays an instrument.
43. Went to Elan Zavelsky's Instagram.
There's a plate of food that looks really gross to me.
The piece of meat looks like a flattened penis, and then there' something else that looks like leaking brains.
44. Read the caption and learned it's Swedish food.
If anyone Swedish reading this is offended, they can get back at me by commenting on gefilte fish.
45. Didn't think this plate of food looked good either.
I don't think I have the same food likes as Elan Zavelsky.
46. Disliked this food picture.
47. Did like the broccoli in this picture.
I'm trying to be positive here.
48. Liked the quote on this post. Gardening is cheaper than therapy, and you get tomatoes.
49. Thought about how the quote isn't always true.
What if you don't grow tomatoes?
If you don't grow tomatoes and you get tomatoes, you might become obsessed with the mystery of why the tomatoes are growing. It might drive you insane, and then you might end up needing therapy, after all.
50. Saw more and more food that looks very unappetizing to me.