1. Saw that one of the top Australian Twitter trends right now is Groundhog Day.
I'm not sure why so many Australians would care about this American holiday.
Maybe they're planning to visit soon and are hoping for warm weather? Though with the US dollar now being much higher than the Australian dollar, I can't imagine the US being a popular destination for Australians.
I'm guessing the more likely reason for the trend is Groundhog Day. That movie probably popularized the holiday around the world.
2. Started watching an episode of Wicked Science.
3. Saw a guest star that looks familiar to me.
4. Looked at IMDb, but I don't see the guest star listed.
It looks like they only list the regulars for the episode.
5. Learned the character I'm wondering about is named Tuck.
He's not listed on IMDb.
Maybe I can get a cast list elsewhere.
6. Went to the Australian Television website, and learned the character is named Tarq, not Tuck.
The actor playing Tarq is Brodie Young. Have I seen him in anything before?
7. Saw from IMDb that Brodie Young is a reality TV person, maybe. He was on Big Brother. Though it seems he just made an appearance. I don't know if he was an actual contestant.
No, you know what. I think Brodie Young is NOT a reality TV star. I think he was a celebrity for some other reason and then started doing reality TV things.
Maybe he's a music star. I think he's playing a music star on this episode of Wicked Science. So, it would make sense.
8. Went to Brodie Young's website.
It looks like he's an MC for various events.
9. Learned that Brodie Young's main claim to fame was being the host of a TV show called Quizmania.
10. Thought about fame, because that's the title and theme of this episode of Wicked Science.
On the episode, Toby (Andre de Vanny) uses his genius power to invent special gloves for Russell (Benjamin Schmideg) that make Russell very good at playing the guitar.
Russell suddenly becomes very popular, and he enjoys the popularity.
Toby realizes the wrongness of the situation and tries to backtrack from the scheme, but Russell refuses.
I have a hard time understanding this mindset.
I do understand the desire for fame and popularity. I've had it many times in my life. But for me, the desire for fame is about validation. It's the world telling you that you're talented enough or interesting enough.
What's the point of being famous and popular for something you haven't done?
11. Had vague memories of my dad exaggerating about my accomplishments.
I think he felt he was doing a nice thing. But it didn't make me feel good. It made me feel like he was saying my real accomplishments aren't good enough, so he has to make things up.
12. Thought that maybe it's about a difference in needs and desires.
Maybe people like me have a stronger need for self-love. We need to think highly of ourselves and that outweighs what other people think of us.
Then other people might have a stronger need for love from others. They are okay lying and exaggerating about their accomplishments and talents, because they value the applause of others over how they feel about their own self.
13. Wanted to say that I DO care very much about what other people think about me. But how I feel about myself strongly outweighs that.
14. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
15. Felt bad for Maddie (Kassandra Clementi), because the chemotherapy is making her feel sick and tired.
I really like her.
I think I'm at the stage where I'm starting to fall in love with the characters on the show. I'm forming an emotional attachment.
16. Felt bad for Phoebe (Isabella Giovinazzo).
She's been kidnapped by her stalker.
I'd probably rather have cancer.
17. Decided kidnapping would be less bad than cancer if I was kidnapped by a sympathetic, gentle person, and I was quickly rescued.
Does that ever happen?
Are there cases where a stalker kidnapped someone and treated them decently?
18. Learned from Lord Wiki that there was a kidnapping victim named Mary McElroy who claims to have been treated well by her kidnappers.
She would visit her kidnappers in prison and protested against one of them receiving a death penalty.
She ended up committing suicide, and left a note that said, My four kidnappers are probably the four people on earth who don't consider me an utter fool.
It seems like she was probably treated better by her kidnappers than other people in the world.
That, though, was a ransom-kidnapping. The kidnappers were probably mentally stable and had nothing against Mary McElroy.
I think a stalker kidnapping would be different. Like the kidnapping in Misery, it would probably involve delusional thinking, possessiveness, and controlling behavior. It's hard for me to picture it NOT being abusive.
19. Thought if you try to force someone to be with you, or love you, you're not being respectful of their wishes. You don't love them. You love the idea of them.
20. Finished watching the episode.
21. Went to the Tropfest website.
Today I'm going to watch a 2009 Finalist film called "One in a Million".
22. Started watching the film.
23. Saw that the film brings me back to the subject of kidnapping—or at least keeping someone prisoner.
It's about a boy whose father keeps people captive and tortures them.
I'm guessing he also kills his victims, but I haven't gotten to that part yet.
24. Thought some of the acting in the film isn't convincing enough.
25. Loved the ending of the film. It's brilliant. It makes up for the rest of the film. I don't think the beginning and middle were awful, but maybe a bit mediocre.
26. Saw from YouTube comments that a sequel was made to the film.
I'll have to look for it.
27. Saw that "Redemption", the sequel, doesn't have the same writer, but it does have the same director.
Tom Vogel directed both films, but for the first he used a separate writer, and for the second, he did his own writing.
28. Saw that Vogel used crowdfunding to raise money for the sequel.
I don't think it's available online yet.
29. Saw that Tom Vogel also does some acting. I think usually he has small roles.
30. Found a page about Tom Vogel on this Melbourne filmmaking site.
Vogel was born in Germany and is an Australian resident. So, I guess he's not a citizen...yet.
31. Saw that Vogel is the director of a film festival called Angry Film Festival.
32. Learned that Vogel is working on a feature film—a horror movie called The Dinner Party.
That sounds fun.
33. Followed a link to Vogel's website and ended up on a Japanese website.
I think he's been hacked.
34. Went to the Angry Film Festival Facebook page.
It looks like their last festival was in 2013. Or they haven't updated the Facebook page lately.
35. Watched Tom Vogel's showreel.
It's very short, and the end is quite gruesome.
36. Went to Tom Vogel's Twitter.
It looks like it's pretty much all self-promotion.
37. Found an exception.
On December 25, he promoted a Kickstarter campaign for a film called "Sheborg goes to Comic Con"
Mostly, though, Vogel just talks about his own projects.
It seems like she was probably treated better by her kidnappers than other people in the world.
That, though, was a ransom-kidnapping. The kidnappers were probably mentally stable and had nothing against Mary McElroy.
I think a stalker kidnapping would be different. Like the kidnapping in Misery, it would probably involve delusional thinking, possessiveness, and controlling behavior. It's hard for me to picture it NOT being abusive.
19. Thought if you try to force someone to be with you, or love you, you're not being respectful of their wishes. You don't love them. You love the idea of them.
20. Finished watching the episode.
21. Went to the Tropfest website.
Today I'm going to watch a 2009 Finalist film called "One in a Million".
22. Started watching the film.
23. Saw that the film brings me back to the subject of kidnapping—or at least keeping someone prisoner.
It's about a boy whose father keeps people captive and tortures them.
I'm guessing he also kills his victims, but I haven't gotten to that part yet.
24. Thought some of the acting in the film isn't convincing enough.
25. Loved the ending of the film. It's brilliant. It makes up for the rest of the film. I don't think the beginning and middle were awful, but maybe a bit mediocre.
26. Saw from YouTube comments that a sequel was made to the film.
I'll have to look for it.
27. Saw that "Redemption", the sequel, doesn't have the same writer, but it does have the same director.
Tom Vogel directed both films, but for the first he used a separate writer, and for the second, he did his own writing.
28. Saw that Vogel used crowdfunding to raise money for the sequel.
I don't think it's available online yet.
29. Saw that Tom Vogel also does some acting. I think usually he has small roles.
30. Found a page about Tom Vogel on this Melbourne filmmaking site.
Vogel was born in Germany and is an Australian resident. So, I guess he's not a citizen...yet.
31. Saw that Vogel is the director of a film festival called Angry Film Festival.
32. Learned that Vogel is working on a feature film—a horror movie called The Dinner Party.
That sounds fun.
33. Followed a link to Vogel's website and ended up on a Japanese website.
I think he's been hacked.
34. Went to the Angry Film Festival Facebook page.
It looks like their last festival was in 2013. Or they haven't updated the Facebook page lately.
35. Watched Tom Vogel's showreel.
It's very short, and the end is quite gruesome.
36. Went to Tom Vogel's Twitter.
It looks like it's pretty much all self-promotion.
37. Found an exception.
On December 25, he promoted a Kickstarter campaign for a film called "Sheborg goes to Comic Con"
Mostly, though, Vogel just talks about his own projects.
