1. Started watching an episode of Wicked Science.
2. Realized I like the Wicked Science theme song.
3. Finished watching the episode.
4. Started to watch episode three of The Justice Lease.
I recommended it to Tim yesterday. I think he'd like it.
5. Learned from IMDb, that every episode, they get a new Robin—which, on this series, is a girlfriend for Batman.
6. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
7. Saw that they're showing the comatose Leah (Ada Nicodemou) in this episode.
That makes me think she's going to wake up eventually.
I can't imagine they'd bring back the actress just so she could lie there in an episode.
Well, she is lying there in this episode. I'm guessing she's going to be just-lying there in other episodes as well. But that makes more sense to me if the actress is actually going to get back to moving and talking eventually.
8. Thought of a weird interview I read, on my phone, in the middle of the night.
I didn't read the whole thing, actually. I just read a section. The guy being interviewed talked about brain dead patients being hooked up to machines. When they unplug them from life support, there's a spike in brain activity. The guy being interviewed thought that might be evidence of consciousness after death.
9. Decided to try to find the interview.
10. Found it to hard to scroll back on my phone to find the interview. Instead I found an article about the research the interviewee was referring to.
11. Saw that I either read things wrong last night or this is another study.
The patients talked about in this article weren't brain dead patients. They were patients that were dying. At the moment of death, there was a surge of brain activity. The scientists believe this might be what causes near-death-experiences.
The sense I get from the article is that scientists aren't taking this as evidence of life after death. I think it's more likely they're viewing it as evidence that near death experiences are brain-related phenomena rather than metaphysical phenomena.
The guy in the interview, I read last night, believed differently.
12. Reminded myself that the guy may have been referring to another study.
13. Saw that I just needed to give my phone some time.
I have the interview now.
It's in The New Yorker and is with a guy named George Saunders.
It seems to be a different study. The people were in a vegetative state—like Leah on Home and Away. When they were taken off life support, there was a surge in brain activity.
I don't think it proves there's life after death, because eventually the brain activity stops. Does consciousness stop as well? Who knows.
I sure don't.
My belief/opinion, though, is that there is spiritual stuff out there, and it has an effect on our brains.
14. Thought Andy (Tai Hara) had a very weak excuse for why he didn't want to get intimate with recently-paralyzed Hannah (Cassie Howarth).
He says it was because he thought she was only doing it because she felt she had to...in order to keep him interested.
OR maybe she actually was interested in getting back to the physical with him. Did he ever consider that?
Andy then tells Hannah she should take as much time as she needs.
I'm thinking he's the one who needs the time.
15. Didn't disbelieve that Andy loves Hannah.
I think he still has feelings for her.
But I think maybe he's not turned on by her anymore.
16. Felt sad for VJ (Matthew Little)
He's not doing well with having his mother in a coma.
People do things to help cheer him up, but nothing works. It just makes him angry.
I don't blame him.
Zac (Charlie Clausen) points out to VJ that he was angry previously because he felt abandoned. Now he's angry because people are trying to help.
It all makes perfect sense to me.
I think there are times when life feels incredibly bad for people. They don't want to be alone, but there's not one thing anyone can do to make things better.
Well, no. The one person who can do something to make VJ happy is Leah. She can wake up.
Otherwise, my guess is the only thing that will improve life for VJ is time.
Eventually, he'll probably feel a little better.
17. Went to the Tropfest website.
Today I'm going to watch a 2009 finalist film called "NYE".
Is that New Years Eve?
18. Started watching the film.
It IS New Years Eve.
19. Finished watching the film.
I think so far, out of all the Tropfest films I've watched, I liked this one the least.
The basic story is a young girl goes missing on New Years Eve. It's not one of those stories, though, where the parent looked away for a minute and then their child was gone. This mother had literally fallen asleep...in the midst of the New Years crowd!
Also, it seems most of the seven minutes didn't deal with the storyline. It was just shots of Sydney on New Years Eve.
It felt to me that the director had taken video on New Years Eve, and thought she had some good stuff. She didn't want to waste it, so then thought, I know. I can weave a drama into the footage and enter Tropfest.
20. Read comments on YouTube, about the film, and it got me thinking.
The mother passed out because she was drunk. She's probably an alcoholic. Or she's just very irresponsible.
I might be in a glass-full kind of mood, but I imagine the little girl would be found by kind people who'd help her out.
Yes, there's a chance a kidnapper could grab her— or a child molester. But I think there's more of a chance that she'd be found by the right people.
What's sad is that being reunited with her mother might not be a happy ending for the child. Nor do I imagine her having a happy life if she's put into government care.
21. Imagined it could be the case that the mother is usually fine at mothering and just made one big mistake.
22. Watched the ending again. The mother seems sad about her missing child, but not very panicked.
I'd say emotions were similar to someone hoping to get a B on a test but instead got a C+
Yeah. You know, actually...the mother actually seems more disappointed than sad.
23. Wondered if, on some level, the mother purposely drank herself to sleep, in a crowd, where it would be easy to lose her daughter.
24. Wondered if the movie is not so bad, after all. It did get me thinking a lot. That's a positive in terms of filmmaking.
25. Saw, from IMDb that I've already seen a film from the director of "NYE".
Duane Fogwell made the 2007 Tropfest film "Fore!" That was the golf one. I liked it better than "NYE".
26. Decided to watch another episode of Home and Away.
I'm getting more and more into the storylines.
27. Thought about how the show has a lot of women-in-medical-distress storylines.
Maddie (Kassandra Clementi) has cancer.
Leah is in a coma.
Hannah is paralyzed.
Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) is pregnant, which isn't really a medical problem. Except the father of the baby just got sent to prison for twenty years. So it's kind of distressing for her.
28. Thought that Marilyn (Emily Symons) has a big heart.
I like her.
I remember when she was more of a comic relief character.
She dated one of the doofus guys. What was his name again?
29. Reminded by Lord Wiki that it was Lance Smart (Peter Vroom).
30. Learned that Marilyn dated Adam (Mat Stevenson). I remember him! He was the guy with the boat.
I don't remember him dating Marilyn, though. That must have happened after I stopped watching.
31. Learned that Marilyn dated Steven (Adam Willits) for awhile.
I don''t think I knew that.
I did know, however, that she dated or was married to Donald Fisher (Norman Coburn).
32. Learned that Marilyn and Donald had a son together, but he died of liver cancer.
Poor Donald! He had really bad luck with his kids. One died young of an aneurysm, one died young from drowning, and then another died of cancer.
Did he have any kids that survived into older adulthood?
33. Saw that Emily Symons was gone from Home and Away from 2001-2010.
34. Learned that Marilyn's husband John (Shane Withington) was previously married to a character played by Sonia Todd.
35. Felt that VJ's people finally came up with a decent way to be supportive to him.
He's angry. He needs an outlet. So they got him into boxing.
36. Decided then that maybe I was wrong before.
Maybe there is something we can do for people who are in great pain.
Instead of trying to cheer them up—put a smile on their face.
We can accept their anger but find healthy and reasonable outlets.
Boxing might work for some. For other people, it might be a video game.
37. Found an advice article about channeling negative emotions.
Some of the things they suggest are: play an instrument, paint or draw, write, find a place where you can yell, do yoga, go on a nature walk, lift weights, gaze at the stars.
I only mentioned the ones that I agree with—those that didn't annoy me.
But different things help different people, so it's probably good that the list has a lot of variety.
2. Realized I like the Wicked Science theme song.
3. Finished watching the episode.
4. Started to watch episode three of The Justice Lease.
I recommended it to Tim yesterday. I think he'd like it.
5. Learned from IMDb, that every episode, they get a new Robin—which, on this series, is a girlfriend for Batman.
6. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
7. Saw that they're showing the comatose Leah (Ada Nicodemou) in this episode.
That makes me think she's going to wake up eventually.
I can't imagine they'd bring back the actress just so she could lie there in an episode.
Well, she is lying there in this episode. I'm guessing she's going to be just-lying there in other episodes as well. But that makes more sense to me if the actress is actually going to get back to moving and talking eventually.
8. Thought of a weird interview I read, on my phone, in the middle of the night.
I didn't read the whole thing, actually. I just read a section. The guy being interviewed talked about brain dead patients being hooked up to machines. When they unplug them from life support, there's a spike in brain activity. The guy being interviewed thought that might be evidence of consciousness after death.
9. Decided to try to find the interview.
10. Found it to hard to scroll back on my phone to find the interview. Instead I found an article about the research the interviewee was referring to.
11. Saw that I either read things wrong last night or this is another study.
The patients talked about in this article weren't brain dead patients. They were patients that were dying. At the moment of death, there was a surge of brain activity. The scientists believe this might be what causes near-death-experiences.
The sense I get from the article is that scientists aren't taking this as evidence of life after death. I think it's more likely they're viewing it as evidence that near death experiences are brain-related phenomena rather than metaphysical phenomena.
The guy in the interview, I read last night, believed differently.
12. Reminded myself that the guy may have been referring to another study.
13. Saw that I just needed to give my phone some time.
I have the interview now.
It's in The New Yorker and is with a guy named George Saunders.
It seems to be a different study. The people were in a vegetative state—like Leah on Home and Away. When they were taken off life support, there was a surge in brain activity.
I don't think it proves there's life after death, because eventually the brain activity stops. Does consciousness stop as well? Who knows.
I sure don't.
My belief/opinion, though, is that there is spiritual stuff out there, and it has an effect on our brains.
14. Thought Andy (Tai Hara) had a very weak excuse for why he didn't want to get intimate with recently-paralyzed Hannah (Cassie Howarth).
He says it was because he thought she was only doing it because she felt she had to...in order to keep him interested.
OR maybe she actually was interested in getting back to the physical with him. Did he ever consider that?
Andy then tells Hannah she should take as much time as she needs.
I'm thinking he's the one who needs the time.
15. Didn't disbelieve that Andy loves Hannah.
I think he still has feelings for her.
But I think maybe he's not turned on by her anymore.
16. Felt sad for VJ (Matthew Little)
He's not doing well with having his mother in a coma.
People do things to help cheer him up, but nothing works. It just makes him angry.
I don't blame him.
Zac (Charlie Clausen) points out to VJ that he was angry previously because he felt abandoned. Now he's angry because people are trying to help.
It all makes perfect sense to me.
I think there are times when life feels incredibly bad for people. They don't want to be alone, but there's not one thing anyone can do to make things better.
Well, no. The one person who can do something to make VJ happy is Leah. She can wake up.
Otherwise, my guess is the only thing that will improve life for VJ is time.
Eventually, he'll probably feel a little better.
17. Went to the Tropfest website.
Today I'm going to watch a 2009 finalist film called "NYE".
Is that New Years Eve?
18. Started watching the film.
It IS New Years Eve.
19. Finished watching the film.
I think so far, out of all the Tropfest films I've watched, I liked this one the least.
The basic story is a young girl goes missing on New Years Eve. It's not one of those stories, though, where the parent looked away for a minute and then their child was gone. This mother had literally fallen asleep...in the midst of the New Years crowd!
Also, it seems most of the seven minutes didn't deal with the storyline. It was just shots of Sydney on New Years Eve.
It felt to me that the director had taken video on New Years Eve, and thought she had some good stuff. She didn't want to waste it, so then thought, I know. I can weave a drama into the footage and enter Tropfest.
20. Read comments on YouTube, about the film, and it got me thinking.
The mother passed out because she was drunk. She's probably an alcoholic. Or she's just very irresponsible.
I might be in a glass-full kind of mood, but I imagine the little girl would be found by kind people who'd help her out.
Yes, there's a chance a kidnapper could grab her— or a child molester. But I think there's more of a chance that she'd be found by the right people.
What's sad is that being reunited with her mother might not be a happy ending for the child. Nor do I imagine her having a happy life if she's put into government care.
21. Imagined it could be the case that the mother is usually fine at mothering and just made one big mistake.
22. Watched the ending again. The mother seems sad about her missing child, but not very panicked.
I'd say emotions were similar to someone hoping to get a B on a test but instead got a C+
Yeah. You know, actually...the mother actually seems more disappointed than sad.
23. Wondered if, on some level, the mother purposely drank herself to sleep, in a crowd, where it would be easy to lose her daughter.
24. Wondered if the movie is not so bad, after all. It did get me thinking a lot. That's a positive in terms of filmmaking.
25. Saw, from IMDb that I've already seen a film from the director of "NYE".
Duane Fogwell made the 2007 Tropfest film "Fore!" That was the golf one. I liked it better than "NYE".
26. Decided to watch another episode of Home and Away.
I'm getting more and more into the storylines.
27. Thought about how the show has a lot of women-in-medical-distress storylines.
Maddie (Kassandra Clementi) has cancer.
Leah is in a coma.
Hannah is paralyzed.
Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) is pregnant, which isn't really a medical problem. Except the father of the baby just got sent to prison for twenty years. So it's kind of distressing for her.
28. Thought that Marilyn (Emily Symons) has a big heart.
I like her.
I remember when she was more of a comic relief character.
She dated one of the doofus guys. What was his name again?
29. Reminded by Lord Wiki that it was Lance Smart (Peter Vroom).
30. Learned that Marilyn dated Adam (Mat Stevenson). I remember him! He was the guy with the boat.
I don't remember him dating Marilyn, though. That must have happened after I stopped watching.
31. Learned that Marilyn dated Steven (Adam Willits) for awhile.
I don''t think I knew that.
I did know, however, that she dated or was married to Donald Fisher (Norman Coburn).
32. Learned that Marilyn and Donald had a son together, but he died of liver cancer.
Poor Donald! He had really bad luck with his kids. One died young of an aneurysm, one died young from drowning, and then another died of cancer.
Did he have any kids that survived into older adulthood?
33. Saw that Emily Symons was gone from Home and Away from 2001-2010.
34. Learned that Marilyn's husband John (Shane Withington) was previously married to a character played by Sonia Todd.
35. Felt that VJ's people finally came up with a decent way to be supportive to him.
He's angry. He needs an outlet. So they got him into boxing.
36. Decided then that maybe I was wrong before.
Maybe there is something we can do for people who are in great pain.
Instead of trying to cheer them up—put a smile on their face.
We can accept their anger but find healthy and reasonable outlets.
Boxing might work for some. For other people, it might be a video game.
37. Found an advice article about channeling negative emotions.
Some of the things they suggest are: play an instrument, paint or draw, write, find a place where you can yell, do yoga, go on a nature walk, lift weights, gaze at the stars.
I only mentioned the ones that I agree with—those that didn't annoy me.
But different things help different people, so it's probably good that the list has a lot of variety.