1. Woke up, from my dreams, with the song "Grease is the Word" going through my brain.
I have no idea why. As far as I know, it didn't connect to anything in my dreams.
I was wishing it connected to Australia so I could have an excuse to write about it on my blog. I thought maybe the song was sung by the Bee Gees but then decided it probably wasn't.
Instead of writing about it on my blog, I watched the Grease Live performance of the song. I've not had any interest in watching that program, but I thought the performance of the song was well done. Now I'm kind of wanting to see more.
I decided I should probably look at the lyrics of the song. See if the words have any spiritual guidance message for me.
I Googled for the lyrics online. That's when I saw it IS a Bee Gees song.
They didn't sing it in the Grease movie, though. That job went to Frankie Valli. I'm not sure who was singing it in the recent live version. Maybe Pink?
2. Googled and saw that it was Jessie J.
I have no idea who that is.
3. Googled and learned Jessie J. is an English singer.
Well, and that brings me back to the Bee Gees. I consulted Lord Wiki and he says "Grease is the Word" was written by Barry Gib. I clicked on his name, and Lord Wiki referred to him as being English rather than Australian.
The Gib brothers were raised in the UK; then moved to Redcliffe Queensland. It's in Queensland where they formed the Bee Gees. So, they might not be Australian, but Australia played a big part in their career.
One thing I was excited to see is that a lot of their English life took place in Manchester. That's one of my favorite places now, because it's the setting for Coronation Street.
4. Read this biography website and saw that the Gibb brothers were actually quite young when they moved to Queensland. I was picturing them as older teens or young adults. But no. The oldest (Barry) was around twelve, and the twins (Maurice and Robin) were around nine.
Since they came to Australia when they were that young, I would consider them pretty much Australian.
5. Started watching a concert video with the Bee Gees singing "Grease is the Word".
Olivia Newton-John is in the audience.
6. Wondered about Suzannah Bayes-Morton. I've been seeing a lot of Americans come to my blog post about her.
7. Checked Bayes-Morton's filmography to refresh my memory about her career.
She was on a Star Wars parody called Death Star PR. Star Wars is quite popular lately. I'm guessing that's why Americans are coming to my blog.
It could also be that The Straits has suddenly become popular on Hulu. That's definitely a possibility, but the Star Wars thing seems much more likely.
8. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
9. Surprised to learn that Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Zac (Charlie Clausen) hadn't been dating too long before the bus accident.
I assumed they had been in a very serious longterm relationship; with all that stuff about Zac feeling obligated to care for Leah's son (Matthew Little).
I thought there was tension there, because, despite Zac being VJ's almost stepfather, they didn't get along. But now I'm seeing that might not have been the case. Maybe they just didn't know each other very well.
10. Started watching more of The Hunter.
11. Wondered if there really are any Tasmanian Tigers left in Tasmania.
I hope there are.
That would be nice.
12. Thought that Morgana Davies is adorable in this movie. I especially love her cute little voice.
It's weird, because I didn't like her much in The Tree.
I didn't really dislike her.
Or maybe I did, which makes me feel guilty, because her character was grieving for her father.
Then again, her character in The Hunter is also missing her father.
13. Decided the child in The Tree was sympathetic but challenging.
We can have sympathy for someone while still feeling annoyed by their behavior.
14. Had an idea that I didn't know I disliked the child in The Tree until I saw the same actress in The Hunter, and sort of dreaded having to watch a movie with the same kid. I had a feeling of, oh no. Not her.
But now I'm liking her.
15. Thought about how the good guy in this movie is American, while the various villains are all Aussie men.
16. Wondered how many Australian films have an American as the protagonist.
The other movie that comes to my mind is Rogue. I'm pretty sure the main guy in that was American.
18. Saw that I might be wrong.
It looks like the main actor in Rogue is a French guy—Michael Vartan.
19. Looked closer.
Vartan is French-American.
I wasn't wrong after all.
20. Thought that I'd like to watch Rogue again someday.
There are several Aussie actors that are now familiar to me. When I saw the movie way back when, I don't think I knew of any of the actors.
21. Could not find Rogue on Netflix or Hulu.
That's sad.
Maybe one day....
22. Wondered if I misjudged when I labeled the American hunter as being good.
He just killed a man.
Well, I think he's good...for the most part. I think he's one of those people with interesting morals.
23. Thought I should mention that the killing was sort of self-defense.
Or maybe it was very self-defense.
I can't say I fully understood the situation.
24. Felt confused about something the American hunter did.
I think I'm going to see if I still have the novel The Hunter. Maybe the answers are there.
25. Found the book on my Australian bookshelf.
It took awhile.
I have a lot of Australian books. The sad thing is, there are some I don't remember reading or buying.
26. Saw that the book is written in third person present tense.
This makes me kind of excited and relieved.
The thing is, I wrote my novel The Dead Are Online that way. I didn't think it was a big deal. Present tense has become quite common and accepted. What I didn't realize is that most present tense novels out there are first person, not third.
Yes, I want a book that's original, but I don't want something SO original...so strange, that it repels people.
27. Skimmed through and read some scenes from The Hunter.
I might want to reread it someday. It seems better than the film. Though I think seeing the movie is good, because it helps to get the scenery in my head.
The book, though, gives much more insight into what the hunter is thinking.
There are some novels that have more thinking than talking. Sometimes those can be hard to translate to screen.
28. Finished watching The Hunter.
I liked it. It was interesting. The scenery was beautiful. The actors were lovely. Those are the positives.
The two main negatives: A) the film was slow and B) I was lost about what the characters were thinking and planning.
29. Thought about how sometimes we might like a character better when we CAN'T hear their inner monologue.
This happened to me with The Hunger Games. Though I liked the books, I found Katniss to be very annoying. I liked her better in the movies where I couldn't know hear/she what she was thinking.
That's the only example of that I can think of.
Do you have any?
30. Found Morgana Davies' show reel. I'm going to watch that. I'm eager to see how she looks now.
31. Saw that Davies continues to have the cute voice in her tween (or teen?) years.
32. Saw that Caroline Brazier is in one the clips.
It's from a short 2014 film called "Kharisma". It looks good. I'm going to see if it's online...after I finish with the show reel.
33. Saw that "Breath", another one of Davies' short films, stars Michael Dorman.
I shall have to look out for that one too.
I don't think I've seen it on the show reel, but I found it when looking through her filmography.
34. Could not find "Kharisma" online.
I don't think it's available yet.
35. Found "Breath".
I shall watch that.
36. Got the idea that "Breath" has the same storyline as that movie My Life—the one starring Nicole Kidman and Michael Keaton.
I think it's about a dying guy making a video for his child.
37. Thought the musical score in the film reminds me of something else...something that I like. But I can't think of what it is.
38. Saw that it might not be the man who is dying, after all.
The film has an interesting twist.
It's keeping my brain on my toes.
39. Wondered if the child in the film has Cystic Fibrosis.
40. Saw that the composer for "Breath" (Matteo Zingales) is the same person who composed the music for The Hunter. But that's not the music I was thinking about.
I think MAYBE I'm thinking of the music from that French movie Blue.
No....
I think it's something else, something I've seen more recently.
41. Thought that some of the scenes in "Breath" are quit gory.
42. Looked on YouTube, and saw that the French movie I was thinking about was probably Red, and not Blue. They're both part of the same trilogy, though.
Still. I don't think either of them is what the music in "Breath" reminds me of.
43. Finished watching the film.
It was a surreal, gruesome medical film about how parents love their children so much.
It's one of those films that make me want to go and hug my own child.
44. Went to Random.org to pick my next Australian show. It's going to be Agony Uncles.
45. Realized I might make it sound like Random.org actually has listings of Australian shows.
No, that's not the case.
I pick a number using Random.org, and then I have a list of TV shows and films that are numbered.
Random.org picked number 36 for me, and on my list, that was Agony Uncles.
46. Looked at Agony Uncles on IMDb and was dismayed that none of the stars were familar to me.
But then I saw Waleed Aly.
At least there will be one familiar face.
11. Wondered if there really are any Tasmanian Tigers left in Tasmania.
I hope there are.
That would be nice.
12. Thought that Morgana Davies is adorable in this movie. I especially love her cute little voice.
It's weird, because I didn't like her much in The Tree.
I didn't really dislike her.
Or maybe I did, which makes me feel guilty, because her character was grieving for her father.
Then again, her character in The Hunter is also missing her father.
13. Decided the child in The Tree was sympathetic but challenging.
We can have sympathy for someone while still feeling annoyed by their behavior.
14. Had an idea that I didn't know I disliked the child in The Tree until I saw the same actress in The Hunter, and sort of dreaded having to watch a movie with the same kid. I had a feeling of, oh no. Not her.
But now I'm liking her.
15. Thought about how the good guy in this movie is American, while the various villains are all Aussie men.
16. Wondered how many Australian films have an American as the protagonist.
The other movie that comes to my mind is Rogue. I'm pretty sure the main guy in that was American.
18. Saw that I might be wrong.
It looks like the main actor in Rogue is a French guy—Michael Vartan.
19. Looked closer.
Vartan is French-American.
I wasn't wrong after all.
20. Thought that I'd like to watch Rogue again someday.
There are several Aussie actors that are now familiar to me. When I saw the movie way back when, I don't think I knew of any of the actors.
21. Could not find Rogue on Netflix or Hulu.
That's sad.
Maybe one day....
22. Wondered if I misjudged when I labeled the American hunter as being good.
He just killed a man.
Well, I think he's good...for the most part. I think he's one of those people with interesting morals.
23. Thought I should mention that the killing was sort of self-defense.
Or maybe it was very self-defense.
I can't say I fully understood the situation.
24. Felt confused about something the American hunter did.
I think I'm going to see if I still have the novel The Hunter. Maybe the answers are there.
25. Found the book on my Australian bookshelf.
It took awhile.
I have a lot of Australian books. The sad thing is, there are some I don't remember reading or buying.
26. Saw that the book is written in third person present tense.
This makes me kind of excited and relieved.
The thing is, I wrote my novel The Dead Are Online that way. I didn't think it was a big deal. Present tense has become quite common and accepted. What I didn't realize is that most present tense novels out there are first person, not third.
Yes, I want a book that's original, but I don't want something SO original...so strange, that it repels people.
27. Skimmed through and read some scenes from The Hunter.
I might want to reread it someday. It seems better than the film. Though I think seeing the movie is good, because it helps to get the scenery in my head.
The book, though, gives much more insight into what the hunter is thinking.
There are some novels that have more thinking than talking. Sometimes those can be hard to translate to screen.
28. Finished watching The Hunter.
I liked it. It was interesting. The scenery was beautiful. The actors were lovely. Those are the positives.
The two main negatives: A) the film was slow and B) I was lost about what the characters were thinking and planning.
29. Thought about how sometimes we might like a character better when we CAN'T hear their inner monologue.
This happened to me with The Hunger Games. Though I liked the books, I found Katniss to be very annoying. I liked her better in the movies where I couldn't know hear/she what she was thinking.
That's the only example of that I can think of.
Do you have any?
30. Found Morgana Davies' show reel. I'm going to watch that. I'm eager to see how she looks now.
31. Saw that Davies continues to have the cute voice in her tween (or teen?) years.
32. Saw that Caroline Brazier is in one the clips.
It's from a short 2014 film called "Kharisma". It looks good. I'm going to see if it's online...after I finish with the show reel.
33. Saw that "Breath", another one of Davies' short films, stars Michael Dorman.
I shall have to look out for that one too.
I don't think I've seen it on the show reel, but I found it when looking through her filmography.
34. Could not find "Kharisma" online.
I don't think it's available yet.
35. Found "Breath".
I shall watch that.
36. Got the idea that "Breath" has the same storyline as that movie My Life—the one starring Nicole Kidman and Michael Keaton.
I think it's about a dying guy making a video for his child.
37. Thought the musical score in the film reminds me of something else...something that I like. But I can't think of what it is.
38. Saw that it might not be the man who is dying, after all.
The film has an interesting twist.
It's keeping my brain on my toes.
39. Wondered if the child in the film has Cystic Fibrosis.
40. Saw that the composer for "Breath" (Matteo Zingales) is the same person who composed the music for The Hunter. But that's not the music I was thinking about.
I think MAYBE I'm thinking of the music from that French movie Blue.
No....
I think it's something else, something I've seen more recently.
41. Thought that some of the scenes in "Breath" are quit gory.
42. Looked on YouTube, and saw that the French movie I was thinking about was probably Red, and not Blue. They're both part of the same trilogy, though.
Still. I don't think either of them is what the music in "Breath" reminds me of.
43. Finished watching the film.
It was a surreal, gruesome medical film about how parents love their children so much.
It's one of those films that make me want to go and hug my own child.
44. Went to Random.org to pick my next Australian show. It's going to be Agony Uncles.
45. Realized I might make it sound like Random.org actually has listings of Australian shows.
No, that's not the case.
I pick a number using Random.org, and then I have a list of TV shows and films that are numbered.
Random.org picked number 36 for me, and on my list, that was Agony Uncles.
46. Looked at Agony Uncles on IMDb and was dismayed that none of the stars were familar to me.
But then I saw Waleed Aly.
At least there will be one familiar face.